Safety Jake Scott was a force in the secondary.(Provided to SportsLine)

"I can't recall their names," Landry said, "but they are a matter of great concern to us." Thus was born the "No-Name Defense."

While they weren't too much of a concern to the Cowboys on Super Sunday as Dallas rolled to a 24-3 victory, Miami's unsung defense would go on to key pro football's only perfect season (17-0) and help deliver back-to-back Super Bowl championships in 1972 and '73.

Five offensive players from Miami's 1972 perfect team have made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (fullback Larry Csonka, guard Larry Little, quarterback Bob Griese, wide receiver Paul Warfield and center Jim Langer), but not one member of the defense has been enshrined.

"Bothersome," is how coach Don Shula reacts to that fact. "They took a lot of pride in being unselfish, but we had some great performances. Nick Buoniconti, Dick Anderson and Manny Fernandez are all deserving."

Bill Arnsparger, the defensive coordinator and architect of that group, thinks the unit should be enshrined collectively. "The No-Names as a group should be inducted into the Hall of Fame," Arnsparger said. "It would be unique, but it would be the only appropriate way to credit them. You can't single out one player. Nobody knew who they were, and they all played selflessly."

This collective group of No-Names were Fernandez, Bob Heinz, Vern Den Herder and Bill Stanfill, linebackers Nick Buoniconti, Bob Matheson, Mike Kolen and Doug Swift, cornerbacks Tim Foley and Curtis Johnson, and safeties Jake Scott and Dick Anderson. Individually, maybe they weren't the greatest players at their positions, but collectively, they were as good as any defense in the history of the game.

"They wouldn't beat you up physically," said Langer, who had to practice against this unit every day. "But they got the job done."

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw found this out in the 1972 AFC Championship Game. "The Dolphins didn't scare us," said Bradshaw, who was one week removed from having thrown the pass that resulted in the Immaculate Reception by Franco Harris, which beat Oakland in the divisional playoffs. "They didn't have those mean, intimidating people. That defense of theirs, basically nice guys. They didn't have a Mean Joe Greene or a Mad Dog White like we had." Those nice guys held the Steelers to just 13 first downs and 250 yards as the Dolphins won their second straight AFC title with a 21-17 win.

In 1972, the No-Name defense gave up just 18 touchdowns in 14 regular-season games, and five of those came in the fourth quarter of one-sided routs. The Dolphins intercepted 26 passes, recorded 33 sacks, and allowed NFL lows in yards (3,297) and points (171).

SPOTLIGHT

Manny Fernandez

Although Miami lost two games the following season, Arnsparger's unit played even better. It allowed a league-low 150 points and 15 touchdowns. It held seven opponents to single-digit scoring. In the team's two losses, to Oakland (12-7) and Baltimore (16-3), the defense allowed just one touchdown.

"The No-Name defense took a lot of pride in the 11-man concept," Shula said.

Up front, Den Herder and Stanfill were sleekly styled ends in the 250-pound range who could rush the passer and close down passing lanes because each stood 6-foot-5. "[Den Herder] is the finest defensive end I've ever had play for me," Shula once said. In the middle, Fernandez and Heinz were a pair of overachieving tackles who were sturdy against the run.

The linebacking crew had two things in common: All weighed in at about 220 pounds, and all were multi-faceted performers who weren't particularly excellent in one area. However, they weren't weak in any, either.

The hub of the defense was the 5-11 Buoniconti, a middle linebacker blessed with desire and intelligence, which were more than enough to offset his physical shortcomings. "When Butkus hits you, you fall the way he wants," Buoniconti once said. "When I hit you, you fall the way you want. But either way, you fall."

Swift and Kolen were athletic outside linebackers, and the other main cog was Matheson, a substitute whose jersey number 53 became the moniker for one of Miami's specialty calls. The "53 Defense" confused opposing quarterbacks because when Matheson entered, you didn't know what his role was going to be. He could drop into zone pass coverage, or he could run a stunt with a lineman and rush the passer. It was the forerunner of what became the 3-4 defense.

In the secondary, Foley and Johnson were solid man-to-man cover corners who were able to take some chances because the finest safety duo in the NFL was behind them in Scott and Anderson, who still rank 1-2 in the Dolphin record book for interceptions with 35 and 34, respectively.

"We put three linemen in, but we really rushed four," said Anderson. "They never knew which of the four linebackers was coming. In essence it multiplied the offensive line's responsibilities by four and that was the whole idea. Our scheme was more important than the individual players."

The unit and that scheme was the brainchild of Arnsparger whose philosophy was pretty simple. "You control the blocker and you find the football. And tackle. That's defensive football."

"Arnsparger was brilliant -- the consummate chess player," Anderson said. "He put us in the right position all the time, never a doubt."