Freak Plays, Clutch Performances Defined Super Bowl XIII

I really thought Dallas would win this one. But I realize now that Pittsburgh would have still won — despite all the freak plays.

Courtesy: Taylor Blitz Times

Superbowl XIII was a classic match up. The defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys came into the game with a 14-4 record, including eight wins in a row. The 1974 and 1975 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers came into the game with a 16-2 record, including seven wins in a row.

These two teams had played in Super Bowl X, which is perhaps the best Super Bowl ever. The Steelers won, 21-17.

The winner of this rematch would be the first team to win three Super Bowls.

The First Half

Dallas won the toss and started at their 25. They came out running. After three big runs by Tony Dorsett and a crushing block by guard Herb Scott on future HOF’er, Jack Lambert, the Cowboys had the ball on Pittsburgh’s 33- yard line.

The “Steel Curtain” defense was on its heels. The Cowboys tried a double reverse, hoping to catch the Steelers off guard. It not only didn’t work, it resulted in a fumble, which Pittsburgh recovered.

After two runs by Franco Harris resulted in no gain, the Steelers took to the air and Terry Bradshaw hit John Stallworth for a big gainer. After little gain on the next two plays, Bradshaw connected with TE Randy Grossman for a first down. Then Bradshaw hit John Stallworth in the end zone.

It appeared that Stallworth only had one foot in bounds, but the call stood. Touchdown! Steelers lead, 7-0.

The Cowboys were faced with a three-and-out on their next possession–until Roger Staubach connected with Butch Johnson for a first down. A four-yard run by Tony Dorsett gave him 46 yards on just five carries. The Cowboys elected to throw on 2nd Down, but Staubach was sacked. He was sacked again on Third Down. (Why not continue feeding Dorsett?)

Courtesy: YouTube

But now it was Pittsburgh’s turn to move the ball. The Cowboys’ defense was shutting down the Steelers’ running game. After a 22-yard gain on a completion to Franco Harris, Bradshaw connected with Lynn Swann for another first down. The Cowboys blitzed on the next play and linebacker D.D. Lewis intercepted a pass. But Dallas could do nothing with it and they were forced to punt.

The Steelers took over and Franco gained 9 yards, but Pittsburgh was called for holding on the very next play. After a four-yard gain by Franco, Bradshaw dropped back to pass, was hit by Harvey Martin, and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Ed “Too Tall” Jones.

The Cowboys capitalized on the turnover with a Staubach-to-Tony Hill touchdown strike. The touchdown tied the game 7-7. It was the first touchdown scored against Pittsburgh in the first quarter all season long.

The Steelers took over and Bradshaw hit tight end Randy Grossman for a quick first down. Three runs by Franco Harris got them another first down but, after two incomplete passes, Pittsburgh was faced with 3rd-and-10. The Dallas defense was starting to put pressure on Bradshaw.

Bradshaw dropped back to pass, but the snap exchange wasn’t clean and Bradshaw fumbled the ball as he was dropping back. He was able to scoop the ball back up, but didn’t have a good handle on it because linebacker Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson was on him. As Henderson held Bradshaw, linebacker Tom Hegman reached in, grabbed the ball, and ran for a touchdown. Cowboys lead 14-7.

Bradshaw appeared to injure his shoulder on the play and it seemed that Pittsburgh’s early momentum had now shifted to the Cowboys. But that didn’t last long. After two short gains by Franco Harris, Bradshaw tested out his injured shoulder. He connected with John Stallworth over the middle and Stallworth took it all the way to the end zone for the score.

Just like that the game was tied again, 14-14, and Stallworth was killing the Cowboys. He now had 3 receptions for 115 yards and two touchdowns.

Dallas took over but went three-and-out. A first down handoff to Robert Newhouse went for no gain. On second down, a handoff to Tony Dorsett also went for no gain. A third down pass attempt resulted in a fumble, recovered by Dallas.

A not-so-good punt gave Pittsburgh the ball on the Cowboys 48-yard line. A pass to Lynn Swann put the ball at the Dallas 22. A handoff to Harris resulted in a 3-yard loss.

It seemed like every time Harris got the ball he was chased down by Ed Jones.

Franco Harris (ESPN.com)

A defensive holding penalty gave the Steelers another first down. After an incomplete pass, Franco ran again, but the run neted only two yards.

The Dallas defense had done a good job of shutting down the Steelers running game. Franco had just 38 yards on ten carries up to that point.

On the next play Bradshaw was sacked for the third time and the Steelers settled for trying a 51-yard field goal.

No good!

Dallas took over and started with a nice 5-yard run by Tony Dorsett. Dorsett was having success. He had gained 48 yards on just 7 carries. (One can only wonder why they weren’t running him more, especially since the Cowboys other runner, Robert Newhouse, wasn’t finding running room.)

Nonetheless, a third down pass to former Steeler, Preston Pearson, gave Dallas a first down on its 45-yd line. Another pass to Tony Hill put it at the Steelers 45 with 2 minutes left in the first half. A pass to Dorsett got the ball down to the 32 but, on the next play, Mel Blount intercepted the pass to end the scoring threat.

Dallas TE Billy Joe Dupree hit Blount with an aggressive, but clean, tackle and was still flagged for a personal foul. Two passes to Lynn Swann put the ball at the Cowboys 16-yard line. An incomplete pass was followed with a 9-yard run by Franco Harris.

Then, on third-and-one, Bradshaw threw a high pass into the end zone that was brought down by running back Rocky Blier, who was not known for his leaping ability.

Dallas got the ball back with little time left and the first half ended with Pittsburgh ahead 21-14.

The Second Half

The Steelers received the ball and went three and out, forcing their first punt of the game. The Cowboys took over and continued trying to run Robert Newhouse, but without much success.

Staubach dropped back to pass and scrambled his way to a first down. A run by Dorsett went for no gain. Another scramble by Staubach gained 8, but a run by fullback Scott Laidlaw went for no gain. Dallas was forced to punt.

The Steelers took over and a run by Franco Harris lost 3 yards. A 2-yard run by Rocky Blier was followed by a penalty against the Steelers. On 3rd-and-16 Bradshaw went to the air, but the pass fell incomplete.

It appeared the defenses were starting to take charge after an offensive first half.

A punt gave the Cowboys the ball on Pittsburgh’s 42. On first down, Dallas tried a flea flicker, which fell incomplete in the end zone. A run by Dorsett gained 4 yards. A pass to Preston Pearson gave them a first down on the 30. A run by Dorsett gained two and a run by Scott Laidlaw gained 5.

A 5-yard run by Dorsett gave Dallas a first down on the 18. A first down pass fell incomplete. A run by Dorsett gained 7 to make it third-and-three from the 11.

Then came the play everyone remembers. TE Jackie Smith stood wide open in the end zone. Because he was so wide open, Staubach threw the ball a little softer than he normally would and Smith dropped it. Dallas settled for a field goal to narrow the Steelers lead to 21-17.

Smith had played 15 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and was arguably the best tight end of his era (1963-1977.) He retired at the end of the 1977 season, but was called out of retirement by Dallas Cowboys’ coach Tom Landry to back-up starting tight end, Billy Joe Dupree.

Smith, who had never even come close to playing in a championship game or Super Bowl, knew this would be his last chance to win big. So he took up Coach Landry on his offer and came out of retirement.

Little did he know his dream of finally getting to a Super Bowl would turn into a nightmare.

Jackie Smith will always be remembered for the dropped pass in Superbowl XIII, rather than for his 16-year Hall of Fame career. 

Pittsburgh took over and handed off to Franco who gained 3 yards. An incompletion on second down left them with 3rd and seven and a completion to Theo Bell gave the Steelers a first down. Two incompletions followed by a Randy White sack forced a punt.

Dorsett gained 2 yards just before the 3rd quarter ended. An incomplete pass gave Dallas a 3rd-and-8. A pass to Dorsett gained 12 yards for a first down. A handoff to Dorsett went for no gain, but another hand off to Laidlaw, who had replaced Robert Newhouse, gained five.

A third down throw was deflected and Dallas punted.

At this point there were 12 minutes left on the game clock and it appeared that the defenses had taken over the game. It seemed this game might go down to the wire and possibly end with a 21-17 Steelers victory, just as Super Bowl X had ended just three years earlier.

The Steelers possession started with a 2-yard gain by Franco Harris, followed by an incomplete pass. A third-and-8 completion to Randy Grossman gave Pittsburgh a first down, which was followed by a Lynn Swann completion and a 5-yard run by Franco.

Courtesy: Dallas Morning News

But then came the most controversial play of the game.

Bradshaw threw to Lynn Swann, who was covered closely by cornerback Benny Barnes. As both Swann and Barnes were looking back at the ball, their feet got tangled and both players toppled to the ground.

This play should have been called an incomplete pass with incidental contact, but the referee didn’t see it that way. He called Barnes for tripping Swann. (Replays clearly showed that Barnes and Swann were both going for the ball and their feet simply got tangled.)

The controversial penalty gave the Steelers a first down and great field position. A 3-yard pass, followed by a 2 yard run and a delay of game penalty, gave the Steelers a 3rd-and-9.

It looked like the Steelers might have to settle for a field goal and a 24-17 lead, but then the roof caved in on Dallas.

What happened? There were two bizarre plays in a row.

First, on the 3rd-and-9 play, the Steelers handed off to Franco Harris, whom the Cowboys had contained all day long. Franco burst up the middle and was about to be tackled by safety Charlie Waters but, just as Waters reached out to make the tackle, the referee stepped right in front of him. Franco ran it in for an easy touchdown. 28-17.

On the ensuing kickoff Pittsburgh kicker, Roy Gerela, slipped. That resulted in an unintentional squib kick. The ball was picked up by Randy White, who was playing the game with a cast on his hand (broken hand). White was unable to get a good grip on the ball and fumbled. Pittsburgh recovered. Then, on first down, Pittsburgh went for the kill: Bradshaw threw a touchdown strike to Lynn Swann. 35-17.

A clipping penalty on the kickoff gave Dallas the ball on their 10 with only 6 minutes left in the game. An 8-yard completion to Dorsett, followed by a sack, gave the Cowboys a 3rd-and-11.

Roger Staubach, who did not know the meaning of the word ‘quit,’ quickly went to work. He scrambled for a first down and then hit Drew Pearson at the 45-yard line. It was his first catch of the game.

Dorsett then ran for a 28-yard gain, putting the ball at the 27. A completion to Dupree, followed by a completion to Pearson, brought the ball all the way to the seven. A TD by Dupree made the score 35-24.

The Cowboys still had life, especially because Dallas was able to recover the ensuring kick with 2:23 remaining in the game. The first pass was incomplete, but on second down Staubach hit Pearson on the Steelers 30-yard line.

The next three plays totaled lost yardage but, on 4th Down, Staubach connected with Pearson at the Pittsburgh 13. Three plays later Butch Johnson grabbed at TD pass.

The score was now 35-31 with 22 seconds left. If Dallas could recover the onsides kick, there was still time to win it.

But it was not to be. Rocky Blier recoved the onside kick and Pittsburgh ran out the clock to become the first team to win three Super Bowls.

In Retrospect

As a Dallas Cowboys fan, it was a dissapointing loss. I could accept the Cowboys loss to the Steelers in Superbowl X. After all, Pittsburgh was the defending Super Bowl champ and Dallas was supposedly rebuilding.

But I really thought Dallas would win this one. And the outcome was difficult to accept. Freak plays were hard to get over.

What if Jackie Smith had caught that pass?

What if the referee had noticed that John Stallworth had only one foot in bounds when he scored the touchdown?

What if Dallas didn’t get that bad call on Benny Barnes for tripping Lynn Swann?

What if the referee hadn’t stepped in front of Charlie Waters just as he was getting ready to tackle Franco Harris?

What if Roy Gerela hadn’t slipped and accidently kicked the ball to Randy White?

But–as painful as it was to watch the game again–it made me realize that even with all those bad breaks, Pittsburgh would have likely still won.

Terrt Bradshaw was the difference (photo. NE Patriots)

The Cowboys defense did a great job of shutting down Franco Harris and the Steelers’ running game, but they couldn’t stop Pittsburgh’s passing attack.

Both Swann and Stallworth had over 100-yards receiving and MVP Terry Bradshaw threw for over 300 yards for the first time in his career. More than anything else, that’s what won it for Pittsburgh.

The Cowboys gained some measure of revenge … 17 years later … when they defeated the Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX.

But, perhaps, the biggest storyline here is the franchizes. The Cowboys have had eight Super Bowl appearences and have won five Vince Lombardi trophies. The Steelers also have had eight Super Bowl appearences and Pittsburgh has won six Vince Lombardi trophies.

That’s a combined 16 Super Bowl appearences and 11 Vince Lombardi trophies. It’s unlikely we’ll ever see two teams dominate like that again.