AFC CHAMPIONSHIP: '73-MIA 27, '74-PIT 13

ORANGE BOWL (UPI) - The top two defenses faced off against each other in the AFC Title Game. The Steelers were fresh off of their dominating win over the '71 Chiefs and the Dolphins coming off a bye week due to their 11-1 first place finish. Both defenses decided to prove their mettle early. The first quarter saw the Steel Curtain cause 2 fumbles and setup the offense with good field position. Roy Gerela kicked a 28 yarder to break the ice. Garo Yepremian answered back 3 minutes later with a 27 yarder of his own to tie it. Gerela one upped him 2 1/2 minutes into the 2nd quarter to give the Steelers their final lead of the day. The Miami no name defense held strong and Bob Griese hit TE Marv Fleming with a 2 yard toss into the end zone to put the Dolphins up 10-6 by half time. The second half saw the both defenses clamp down on their opponents running game. Mercury Morris couldn't get on track running the ball, so Griese decided to include him in the passing game. Morris caught a ball in the flat and avoided 3 Steeler defenders as he galloped 44 yards for the score. This gave Miami a 17-6 lead. Yepremian added a 25 yard field goal to increase Miami's lead to 20-6 before the third quarter ended. Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam hit Lewis for an 18 yard strike to cut Miami's lead to a TD. With 8+ minutes to go the Dolphins couldn't be conservative and they weren't. A 7 play 55 yard drive culminated with a 8 yard Larry Csonka TD run to put the Steelers away for good. With the score 27-13 the Steelers had less than 2 minutes to create a miracle. Unfortunately for the Steel town crowd their were no miracles. Miami's defense bent and let the Steelers move toward their goal line, but stiffened up to close out the game. Bob Griese passed his team to victory with a near perfect performance. Griese was 12-16-263-2TD, with a QB rating of 156. Miami heads to New Orleans for the Super Bowl and will await the winner of Lions @ Rams NFC Championship Game.