In this final installment, I take you through the third and fourth quarters of one of the best Super Bowls of all time.
Pittsburgh took the second-half kickoff at their 25-yard line. Two runs by Harris lost yardage, and a third-down pass was incomplete. The Steelers had to punt, and Dallas took possession at their 42. Two runs gained only three yards.
Then, on third-and-seven, Pittsburgh defensive back, J.T. Thomas intercepted a Roger Staubach pass and returned it to the Dallas 25-yard line.
Three straight runs by Franco Harris gained enough for a first down, a run by Bradshaw lost two yards, and two pass attempts fell incomplete. The Steelers lined up for a 33-yard field goal, but Roy Gerela missed again. Gerela had bruised his ribs while forcing Thomas Henderson out of bounds on the opening kick, and it was apparent the hit was affecting his kicking.
Dallas took over at their 20. A run by Preston Pearson gained nine yards, and then Robert Newhouse ran for two and a first down. Two more runs by Newhouse gained five yards and, on third-and-five, Staubach dropped back to pass, but was forced out of the pocket by a Pittsburgh blitz. He came up about a half-a-yard short of the marker.
Franco Harris (ESPN.com)
The Cowboys punted, and the Steelers took possession at their 24. A run by Harris gained three, and a pass to Swann got 12 more. But the drive stalled after the next series, and it was clear that this was becoming a defensive battle.
Pittsburgh punted, and Dallas took possession at their 19.
Three straight runs gave the Cowboys enough for a first down, and they got another first down. On the next play, a clipping penalty nullified a four-yard run by Staubach, and it put Dallas back to their 26-yard line with 25 yards to go.
Staubach ran for six yards, and a handoff to Newhouse gained two more. On third down, Preston Pearson caught a 15-yard pass, but it wasn’t enough for a first down.
That play marked the end of the third quarter.
It would be easy to say that the Cowboys offense was getting too conservative or that they were sitting on their lead, but saying that underestimates the impact of the Steelers’ defense. Staubach’s passing game was stifled by a heavy pass rush and strong secondary defense.
To open the fourth, Dave Brown fielded the punt and then fumbled. Had Dallas been able to recover, the Cowboys would have had the ball at the Steelers 17-yard line. A Dallas TD would have given them a ten-point lead and, the way the Cowboys defense was playing, that might have been enough to win. Instead, Pittsburgh kept the ball and went to the air quickly.
Bradshaw hit Franco for a 26-yard gain and a first down. On third-and-eight, Bradshaw dropped back to pass, but rookie reserve linebacker Randy White dropped him for a 15-yard loss.
After a booming 57 yard punt by Bobby Walden, the Cowboys started at their 18 but went nowhere. Things got worse when Reggie Harrison blocked the punt with the ball going out of the end zone for a safety. (Play commentary is by the great Myron Cope.)
With two more points, the Steelers were only a point behind.
A good return put the Steelers at the Cowboys 45 yard line, and five runs in a row gave Pittsburgh a third-and-one at the Dallas 20-yard line. There, the Cowboys’ defense rose to the occasion, and fans wondered if the Steelers might go for it on fourth down. Instead, Chuck Noll sent in Gerela, who had already missed two field goals from about the same distance.
But Gerela came thought this time. With just 8:54 left in the game, the favored Steelers took the lead 12-10.
In what could have been a disastrous play, Preston Pearson fumbled the kickoff but then recovered at his 15. On first down, Staubach threw to Drew Pearson using the same pattern used in the first quarter to score a TD. But this time, safety Mike Wagner read the play perfectly and intercepted. He returned it to the Cowboys six-yard line.
Staubach later said: “It was our bread and butter play all season long. It was the first time it didn’t work.”
The Dallas D dug in, and after three runs that gained only four yards, Gerela came through again, making the score 15-10.
Dallas took possession at their 24, but runs and passes didn’t bring a first down. Dallas punted again.
Pittsburgh took possession at their 30. Two short runs left the Steelers with a third-and-five, and, with only a five-point lead, the Steelers needed a first down to run down the clock. Instead, they gambled by throwing deep. The Cowboys gambled, too, by blitzing.
The Steelers’ gamble paid off–a 64-yard touchdown to Lynn Swann, who was named the game’s MVP. With a missed extra point, the lead grew to 21-10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXKQa0kt5h4
Dallas took over at their own 20. Forced into passing, Staubach first hit Young, and then he hit Pearson for a 30-yard gain. Then Staubach was sacked on the very next play (his seventh sack of the game).
Dallas had it’s back against the wall, but Staubach came through when he hit backup Percy Howard on a 33-yard TD, making the score 21-17.
With just 1:48 left in the game, Dallas tried an onside kick, but Pittsburgh recovered.
The Steelers needed to run out the clock, and Dallas tried to stop it with all of their timeouts left. But Bradshaw wasn’t at the controls at that point, having taken a vicious hit from Cowboys’ lineman Larry Cole on the TD pass to Swann. Out with a concussion, backup QB Terry Hanratty came into the game.
Chuck Noll (photo, SI)
After three straight runs that resulted in no gain, Pittsburgh faced a fourth-and-ten situation. Noll decided to gamble again, and he went for it on fourth down.
What seemed like a risky move probably wasn’t risky at all. A 50-yard FG was probably out of range for the injured Gerala, and a punt wasn’t a sure thing, either. And even though Noll knew it was highly unlikely that his team would make the first down, he was confident that his defense could hold the Cowboys.
A first down didn’t come (a handoff to Bleier gained only two yards), and Dallas took over at their 38 with 1:22 left in the game. They had used up all of their timeouts, too.
Another fierce pass rush forced Staubach to run but, instead of running to the sidelines, he ran straight ahead, gaining ten yards in a play that cost 30 seconds. A completion to Pearson put the ball at the Pittsburgh 37.
The clock now showed only 20 seconds left. After an incomplete pass, Staubach threw a Hail Mary pass to Howard in the end zone. The ball hit him in the helmet and fell to the ground. But replays showed that had Howard positioned himself just a little bit farther back, he might have caught the ball for a Dallas victory.
Undaunted, Staubach threw another Hail Mary, but this time Glen Edwards intercepted, and Super Bowl X was over.
It was a Super Bowl to remember. The two teams would meet again three years later to wage another epic battle. The Steelers would win again, this time 35-31.
