Divisional Round: San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins (Orange Bowl), with a Conference Championship spot at stake. Kickoff: Sun January 16, 1983 at 12:30pm. Winner advances to the Conference Championship. The losing team's season is over.[1][2]
The divisional round is where the bracket is supposed to take its real shape. San Diego Chargers traveling to Miami Dolphins at Orange Bowl, with the league watching to see whether the better team or the better matchup wins. Bye-week home favorites carry the weight of expectation; the visiting wild-card winner walks in with no one expecting them and nothing to lose.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Orange Bowl shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
San Diego Chargers versus Miami Dolphins in the Divisional Round. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of San Diego Chargers-Miami Dolphins cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7-2 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6-3 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 4-5 | L1 |
| Houston Oilers | 1-8 | L7 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Miami Dolphins | 7-2 | W3 |
| New York Jets | 6-3 | L1 |
| New England Patriots | 5-4 | W1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4-5 | L3 |
| Baltimore Colts | 0-8-1 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Raiders | 8-1 | W5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6-3 | L1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4-5 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 3-6 | W1 |
| Denver Broncos | 2-7 | L3 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 5-4 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4-5 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 3-6 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2-7 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 5-3-1 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5-4 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-4 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 4-5 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 3-6 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Redskins | 8-1 | W4 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6-3 | L2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5-4 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 4-5 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3-6 | L1 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Dolphins | Nat Moore 3 yard pass from David Woodley (Uwe von Schamann kick) | 0-7 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Dolphins | Andra Franklin 3 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick) | 0-14 |
| Dolphins | Ronnie Lee 6 yard pass from David Woodley (Uwe von Schamann kick) | 0-21 |
| Dolphins | Uwe von Schamann 24 yard field goal | 0-24 |
| Chargers | Charlie Joiner 28 yard pass from Dan Fouts | 6-24 |
| Dolphins | Uwe von Schamann 23 yard field goal | 6-27 |
| Chargers | Chuck Muncie 1 yard rush (Rolf Benirschke kick) | 13-27 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Dolphins | David Woodley 7 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick) | 13-34 |
Miami Dolphins defeated San Diego Chargers 34-13 at Orange Bowl in the Divisional Round. The final scoring play was Dolphins: David Woodley 7 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick). The 21-point margin made it a one-sided afternoon. Top line of the day: David Woodley: 195 pass yards on 17-of-22, 2 TD, 1 INT. Miami Dolphins move on to the conference final.[1][2]
Miami Dolphins walked out of Orange Bowl as the team that survived a Divisional Round San Diego Chargers will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 34-13. This was a 21-point margin, which is unusual for this round of the postseason and tells a story about which staff out-prepared the other from the opening series. The final scoring play came from Dolphins: David Woodley 7 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Miami Dolphins move on to a conference championship.
Miami Dolphins 34, San Diego Chargers 13.
Round: Divisional Round.
Q1: 1 scoring play.
Q2: 6 scoring plays.
Q4: 1 scoring play.
Top performers:
- David Woodley: 195 pass yards on 17-of-22, 2 TD, 1 INT
- Andra Franklin: 96 rush yards on 23 carries
- Jimmy Cefalo: 2 catches for 69 yards
Divisional Round, played at Orange Bowl. Final: San Diego Chargers 13, Miami Dolphins 34, with Miami Dolphins taking the result by 21.
First quarter
- Dolphins: Nat Moore 3 yard pass from David Woodley (Uwe von Schamann kick)
Second quarter
- Dolphins: Andra Franklin 3 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick)
- Dolphins: Ronnie Lee 6 yard pass from David Woodley (Uwe von Schamann kick)
- Dolphins: Uwe von Schamann 24 yard field goal
- Chargers: Charlie Joiner 28 yard pass from Dan Fouts
- Dolphins: Uwe von Schamann 23 yard field goal
- Chargers: Chuck Muncie 1 yard rush (Rolf Benirschke kick)
Fourth quarter
- Dolphins: David Woodley 7 yard rush (Uwe von Schamann kick)
Top performers
- David Woodley: 195 pass yards on 17-of-22, 2 TD, 1 INT
- Andra Franklin: 96 rush yards on 23 carries
- Jimmy Cefalo: 2 catches for 69 yards
The 21-point margin says most of what needs saying about how the day went; the box score is the rest.
| Chargers | Dolphins | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 17 | 29 |
| Total Yards | 247 | 413 |
| Turnovers | 7 | 2 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 15/34 | 18/23 |
| Pass yards | 191 | 215 |
| Pass TD | 1 | 2 |
| Interceptions | 5 | 1 |
| Sacks taken | 3 | 1 |
| Sack yards lost | 23 | 16 |
| Net pass yards | 168 | 199 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 17 | 56 |
| Rush yards | 79 | 214 |
| Rush TD | 1 | 2 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 3 | 2 |
| Fumbles lost | 2 | 1 |
| Penalties | 7 | 6 |
| Penalty yards | 62 | 70 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDG | |||||
| Dan Fouts | 15/34 | 191 | 1 | 5 | 32.5 |
| MIA | |||||
| David Woodley | 17/22 | 195 | 2 | 1 | 114.8 |
| Tony Nathan | 1/1 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 118.7 |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDG | ||||
| Chuck Muncie | 11 | 62 | 1 | 16 |
| James Brooks | 3 | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| John Cappelletti | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Dan Fouts | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| MIA | ||||
| Andra Franklin | 23 | 96 | 1 | 11 |
| Tony Nathan | 19 | 83 | 0 | 13 |
| David Woodley | 3 | 14 | 1 | 7 |
| Woody Bennett | 7 | 14 | 0 | 12 |
| Tom Orosz | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Tommy Vigorito | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Jensen | 2 | -6 | 0 | -3 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDG | ||||
| Chuck Muncie | 6 | 53 | 0 | 18 |
| Wes Chandler | 2 | 38 | 0 | 22 |
| Charlie Joiner | 1 | 28 | 1 | 28 |
| James Brooks | 2 | 25 | 0 | 14 |
| Eric Sievers | 2 | 21 | 0 | 16 |
| Kellen Winslow | 1 | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| Pete Holohan | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| MIA | ||||
| Jimmy Cefalo | 2 | 69 | 0 | 53 |
| Tony Nathan | 8 | 55 | 0 | 10 |
| Bruce Hardy | 3 | 45 | 0 | 20 |
| Tommy Vigorito | 2 | 22 | 0 | 17 |
| Duriel Harris | 1 | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| Ronnie Lee | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Nat Moore | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
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