Editing Super Bowl VII (section)

===Fourth quarter===
Early in the fourth quarter, Washington threatened to score by mounting their most impressive drive of the game, driving 79 yards from their own 11 to Miami's 10-yard line in twelve plays. On second down at the Miami 10-yard line, Kilmer threw to Smith, who was wide open in the end zone, but the ball hit the crossbar of the goalpost and fell incomplete. Then on third down, Scott intercepted Kilmer's pass to Taylor in the end zone and returned it 55 yards to the Redskins 48-yard line.

Miami moved the ball to the Washington 34-yard line on their ensuing drive. Leading 14–0 on 4th-and-4, Shula could have tried for [[Fourth down conversion#F|a conversion]], but thought "What a hell of a way to remember this game" if they could end a perfect 17–0 season with a 17–0 Super Bowl final score.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> He called on Yepremian to attempt a 42-yard field goal in what is now remembered as one of the most famous blunders in NFL lore: "Garo's Gaffe". As had been the case all day, Yepremian's kick was too low, and it was blocked by defensive tackle [[Bill Brundige]]. The ball bounced to Yepremian's right and he reached it before holder [[Earl Morrall]]. But instead of falling on the ball, Yepremian picked it up and, with Brundige bearing down on him, made a frantic attempt to pass the ball to Csonka,<ref>Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick, with Dave Anderson, ''Always on the Run'', p. 218. Random House, 1973 {{OCLC|632348}}</ref> who blocked on field goals. Unfortunately for Miami, the ball slipped out of his hands and went straight up in the air. Yepremian attempted to bat the ball out of bounds,<ref name="Dave Hyde p264"/> but instead batted it back up into the air, and it went right into the arms of cornerback [[Mike Bass]], who returned the fumble 49 yards for a touchdown, the first fumble recovery returned for a touchdown in Super Bowl history, to make the score 14–7 with 2:07 left in the game.

Washington did not try an onside kick following the touchdown, but instead kicked deep. The Redskins were forced to use up all of their timeouts on the Dolphins' ensuing five-play possession, but did force Miami to punt (nearly blocking the punt) from their own 36-yard line with 1:14 remaining in the game, giving themselves a chance to drive for the tying touchdown and force overtime for the first time in Super Bowl history. However, Miami's defense forced two incompletions and a 4-yard loss on a swing pass, and then defensive ends [[Vern Den Herder]] and [[Bill Stanfill]] sacked Kilmer for a 9-yard loss on fourth down, sealing the Dolphins' victory. Following the ball being spotted on the change of possession, the clock was started, as per the rule which existed at the time, and no more plays were run before time expired in the game. Beginning the [[1973 NFL season|following season]] with a new rule change, the clock would not start until the snap following all changes of possession.

Griese finished the game having completed 8 out of 11 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. Csonka was the game's leading rusher with 15 carries for 112 yards. Kiick had 38 rushing yards, two receptions for six yards, and a touchdown. Morris had 34 rushing yards. Manny Fernandez had 11 solo tackles and six assists. Kilmer completed six more passes than Griese but finished the game with just 16 more total passing yards and was intercepted three times. Said Kilmer, "I wasn't sharp at all. Good as their defense is, I still should have thrown better."<ref name=Strother/> Washington's Larry Brown rushed for 72 yards on 22 carries and also had five receptions for 26 yards. Redskins receiver [[Roy Jefferson]] was the top receiver of the game, with five catches for 50 yards. Washington amassed almost as many total yards (228) as Miami (253), and actually more first downs (16 to Miami's 12) and more time of possession (32:31 to 27:29). As of 2023, this game is the only Super Bowl where the team with the advantage in time of possession did not score any offensive points.