Quarter 3
Blount returned
Fritsch's kick 18y to the 26.
Henderson tackles Blount on second half kickoff.
If the
Steelers had anything new up their sleeves after halftime, it didn't show as they went three and out.
Harris gained 3, then lost 5, and S
Harris broke up a pass to
Larry Brown.
Walden's punt traveled just 34y into the wind.
Richards fair caught at the
Dallas 42.
The
Cowboys offense fared even worse that the
Steelers'.
Preston Pearson gained zilch before
Dennison got 3. Then
J. T. Thomas stepped in front of
Staubach's pass to
Richards and returned it 35y to the
Dallas 25.
The pick extended Pittsburgh's streak of games with an interception to 11.
Brad handed to
Franco three straight times for a 1st down - three, then six thanks to his patented cutback move, then two. But that's as deep as the
Steelers could go.
Bradshaw rolled right and seemed to want to give to
Swann coming the other way on an end-around. But
Too Tall burst in from left end and caused the quarterback to keep the ball for a loss of two. Two straight passes to
Swann misfired, bringing on
Gerela to try to tie the game from the 23. But despite donning a corset at halftime to alleviate the pain in his rib cage,
Roy's woes continued. Wincing in pain as he kicked, he watched the ball veer wide left again.
Lambert and
Cliff Harris engaged in a brief set-to after the kick, resulting in
Lambert throwing
Harris down. The referee broke it up but did not throw a flag.
Harris talks to Gerella after missed FG. Lambert is at the right.
The incident began when Harris, who had come close to blocking the kick, patted Gerela on the helmet. Gerella: Cliff Harris watches the ball miss, then says, "Hey, good kick. Keep it going." I push him with my forearm, trying to get him out of my face. Then Jack saw that and reacted instantly ... After blocking for the kick, Lambert didn't see the humor in Cliff's action, grabbing the Dallas S by the shoulder pads and slinging him to the ground. No one can be allowed to intimidate us, said Jack later. We're supposed to be the intimidators. Lambert rarely smiled on the football field but did so to referee Schachter, an action that may have avoided a 15y penalty.
Some Steelers credit Lambert's action with firing them up and causing them to play better the rest of the game.
Rocky Bleier: I was on the field, and as I'm heading off, I look back to see Lambert throw Harris down, then looming over him, pointing his finger. And I tell you, it jacked me up emotionally. I could sense it reverberating along our bench. Jack was the fire in our belly.
Joe Greene, watching from the sideline the second half agreed with Rocky. Lambert got us going. You could just feel it. Lambert was feeling it, as in between plays he was ranting and raving at everything, psyching himself into a frenzy.
But Jack Russell disagreed with that assessment. I thought it was completely insane, and I went over to Lambert and chewed him out. I said, "Jack, we can't afford for you to get thrown out of this game for doing that; that's silly. ..." but that was his nature. He was a feisty character, and he went with his gut. ... I know that a lot of the announcers claimed that was an inspirational moment for us. No way. It was the reverse of that.
In the locker room afterward, Noll was asked why Lambert went after Harris. Jack Lambert is the defender of all that is right.
Years later, Harris expressed regret. If I could have retracted that gesture to Gerela, I would. It was emotions of the moment. ... I didn't go out there with the idea of trying to intimidate Roy Gerela. I don't know what made me do it. It was more like a joke. ... It was a different kind of game changer. I was one of our game enforcers, and here I was getting thrown down by the Steelers' enforcer. But I was not foolish enough to charge after Lambert and draw a penalty on myself.
Preston ran the ball for the first time and gained 9 to the 29 before being tackled by
Lambert.
Staubach says Lambert kicked Preston after making the tackle. That set me off, said Roger. I hollered at Lambert, saying things I'd go to confession for. Oh, I was hot. One of the officials said, "Roger, I didn't think you talked like that!" I got up in Lambert's face, but then I realized I didn't really want to take him on. I kept hoping one of our linemen would come over and smack him.
Lee Roy Jordan: The referees, I don't know what they were thinking about. They could have thrown Jack Lambert out several times during the game. He was clotheslining, forearming guys. On one play we were rushing the extra point, and he tried to kill two of our guys with a karate chop in the area of the throat and head. And after the plays were over, their guys were spiking our guys on the ground, and nothing was being called. There were a lot of late hits, too. The officials were a little intimidated by the defensive team of Pittsburgh and were afraid to call them. If you go back and look at the film closely, you'll see a lot of instances where it certainly was a flagrant deal, like when Lambert one time kicked Preston Pearson in the groin while he was on the ground. I think the Steelers felt like we had a team where the best way to beat us was intimidation, and they did that very well.
Newhouse got only two before going down in
Lambert's grasp for that was enough for a first down. Two more runs by
Robert gained 0 and 6 on a draw.
Staubach wanted to pass on 3rd down but ran out of the pocket for 3. Although less than a yard remained to get the first,
Landry punted,
Hoopes' kick traveling 45y with the wind.
Dave Brown returned 9y to the 24.
After
Franco got 3,
Bradshaw hit
Swann for 12 on the right sideline for a first down.
Bleier gained 3 and
Harris 6 to create the same 3rd-and-1 situation the
Cowboys just faced. Like
Landry,
Noll sent in the punt unit.
Richards fair caught on the 18.
Cliff Harris tackles Franco Harris.
Dallas controlled the ball for the remaining 4:06 of the scoreless period.
Roger started by handing off four straight times, alternating between
Newhouse and
Preston: 6, 3, 2, and 2. On 2nd-and-8 from the 31,
Newhouse caught a pass at the left sideline for 8y.
Staubach faded to pass but ran up the middle for 2y. But one of the few flags of the afternoon fell - clipping by
Newhouse to the 26. What to you call on 1st-and-23?
Roger again tried to pass but had to run, gaining 6 to the 32.
Robert somehow gained a yard after ducking under a blitzer as he received the ball.
Allen-for-
Lambert.
Staubach connected with
Preston for 14, but he needed 16.
END Q3:
Dallas 10
Pittsburgh 7
Quarter 4
Hoopes now punted into the wind.
Dave Brown fumbled the punt, but
Thomas recovered for
Pittsburgh at the 17.
Bradshaw dropped back, scrambled to his right, and threw on the run to
Harris at the right sideline.
Franco broke into the clear, but the whistle blew because he stepped out at the 43 for a gain of 26y.
Brad passed again but overthrew
Stallworth. Then a draw play to
Harris lost two because
Jethro Pugh hit the ball carrier right after he took the ball. On 3rd down,
Bradshaw tried to pass, but
Randy White blew up the middle, just missed a sack, then chased the QB and threw him out of bounds for a loss of 14. Punting with the wind,
Walden launched a 59y rocket that
Richards caught over his shoulder running toward the goal line and returned 5y to the 19.
The
Cowboys tried a dipsy-do,
Staubach handing to
Preston who lateraled back to him. But as
Roger rared back to pass, he spotted his intended receiver covered. So he ran forward but lost a yard.
After the game, Staubach smiled when asked about the flea-flicker. In all the films, Pittsburgh's defensive backs move quickly to defense the run. So we figured we'd catch them with it. We didn't fool anybody, especially J.T. Thomas. He knew what was coming.
Dennison gained the yard back at right tackle to make it 3rd-and-10. After the whistle,
Richards shoved
Mel Blount, who had been covering him, but the officials quickly stopped the altercation.
Staubach again tried to pass but could find no one to throw to. He ran a few steps before
Greenwood dropped him for a loss of three.
Hoopes received the snap at the one but took a moment to get control of it before moving forward to kick.
Reggie "Boobie" Harrison came up the middle and blocked it out of the end zone for a safety.
Dallas 10
Pittsburgh 9 (11:28)
Harrison blocks Hoopes' punt.
For the first time in several years, the Steelers rushed 10 men on the punt. Noll explained later: We knew the game had settled into one where field position was increasingly important. We felt Hoopes took a little longer getting rid of the ball when he was trying to really boom one. That's why the punt block was on.
Harrison and Dave Brown were lined up over the C. At the snap, Reggie charged past the C's left and ran over a blocking back. Afterward, he said, I think I got it with my mouth. I thought I had it with my arm, but after the block I turned around and spit and nothing but blood came out. When I got back to the bench, I found out I had a split tongue. It would be his only punt block in 14 years of organized football. I was always afraid to block a kick for fear of someone kicking me. ... I was yelling and screaming so much, I didn't realize we'd gotten some points. I looked at the scoreboard and ... asked someone, "What happened?"
DT Jon Banaszak on the punt block: That was a part of a film study. We felt we had a shot at getting that thing. ... It was a big play, there's no question about that.
On the Cowboys sideline, DT Jethro Pugh feared the safety would be a turning point. I could see the balloon collapsing right then.
Landry also sensed something important had happened. That's when the game really changed. That blocked kick really amounted to a five-point play for them.
Greene on the other sideline saw it the same way. The blocked punt got us back to business.
Hoopes' free kick traveled to the
Pitt 30 where
Mike Collier took it and returned to the
Dallas 45.
Harris ran wide left and cut back for 5y. Then
Bleier took his turn, gaining four at left tackle.
Franco got the 1y needed and six more around left end again behind
Bleier's block on
Renfro. 1st-and-10 at the 29. After
Jones smashed down
Bleier 1y upfield,
Bradshaw called a keeper again, gaining 8y before
Washington's hard hit knocked the ball out of bounds. Mistiming on the handoff on the next snap caused
Harris to be stopped a foot short of the first down. Despite
Gerella missing two field goals earlier—as many as he had missed inside the 40 all season,
Noll sent him in and, with the wind,
Roy gritted his teeth against the pain and put the pigskin through the uprights from the 26 to give the
Steelers their first lead.
Pittsburgh 12
Dallas 10 (8:41)
The kickoff hit the ground at the 15,
Preston Pearson falling on the ball at that point just ahead on an onrushing
Steeler. The
Pitt fans waved their Terrible Towels and yelled "Defense, Defense" and that's what they got. Despite the poor field position,
Staubach took to the air, calling the same play that produced the touchdown to
Drew Pearson in the first quarter. But
Mike Wagner diagnosed it perfectly this time and intercepted on the run at the 26 and continued until T
Ralph Neely dropped him at the seven.
Wagner steps in front of Pearson for INT.
Staubach: I didn't even see Wagner. He wasn't supposed to be there. I bet Golden Richards was wide open, but I didn't see him either. Golden was Wagner's responsibility. Wagner just guessed and guessed right.
Wagner: To this day, Roger Staubach continues to say that I guessed on the pass I intercepted in that game, that I shouldn't have been there. They ran the same motion, and I just ran to that area - didn't play it safe - and I saw the football. My biggest concern was catching the ball. And of course they're saying how can the strong safety be 40 yards deep, he's supposed to be on the weak-side flat. Complete opposite.
Drew Pearson: Those turnovers certainly killed us. The pressure they were putting on Roger really hurt us. We tried to run the same play I had scored the TD on early in the game. Roger should have thrown it short to Billy Joe Dupree, who was running an underneath clearing route. They read it well and picked off the play and that kind of turned the game.
Knowing a touchdown would ice the game, the
Cowboy defense dug in.
Bleier swept to the right to the four.
Bradshaw took the snap and turned left. In what looked like a busted play, he had to keep the ball and turn upfield for 3y to the three.
Harris tried left tackle but lost the ball, putting the hearts of
Steeler fans in their throats. But
Franco pulled the pigskin back into his arms at the three.
Gerella came on for an 18y field goal.
Pittsburgh 15
Dallas 10 (6:37)
Preston returned the kick 19y to the 24.
Dallas had plenty of time to score a touchdown and regain the lead.
Staubach started by flipping a screen pass to
Newhouse on the right side.
Steve Furness, filling in ably for J
oe Greene, made the tackle from behind at the 28. The last outcome
Dallas needed was a sack, but that's what happened when
Staubach went back deep but had to run away from
White before
Greenwood got him for a loss of nine. Having to pass,
Roger could find no one downfield. So he flared to
Young in the left flat for 10y. On 4th-and-five,
Hoopes boomed an excellent 48y punt into the stiff breeze.
Edwards returned 7y to the
Pitt 30 with 4:25 on the clock.
Two
Franco runs gained six to set up the play of the game. Reading a blitz,
Bradshaw dropped back, sidestepped the rush by
D.D. Lewis, and threw the ball as far as he could down the middle.
Swann raced downfield from his right flanker spot,
Washington chasing him with no safety help because
Harris,
Lynn's tormentor, had blitzed.
Swann slowed slightly to adjust to the flight of the ball, which gave the cornerback a chance to make up a step on him. The ball dropped into
Lynn's hands at the six as the defender tried to grab him. But the receiver shed him and ran into the end zone for an electrifying 64y touchdown. The
Steeler celebration was cut short when the team realized that
Bradshaw was down on the turf after
Larry Cole smashed him in the chin right after
Brad threw the ball. After
Terry was helped off, his day finished,
Gerella bounced the PAT off the left upright - no good.
Pittsburgh 21
Dallas 10 (3:02)
The first Steeler to reach Swann after he scored was Lambert. Jack grabbed the wide receiver around the waist and lifted him high.
On the sideline, Pittsburgh president Dan Rooney shook hands with Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who had accompanied him from the press box for the trophy presentation afterward. It wouldn't be long before Rooney would start thinking he had jinxed his team by assuming victory too early.
Noll: We thought we might be able to slip in a few long passes during that game. We hit some of them and missed a couple just barely.
Bradshaw: Everybody knew if we made another first down, we could take much of the time remaining off the clock, so they expected us to go for the four yards we needed. That was the percentage play. ... But that's why defensive coordinators had such a hard time figuring out what we were going to run. I just hated to throw those dinky little passes. The play I called in the huddle was 68 Basic. I was just going to throw it as far as I could, and Lynn Swann was going to catch up to it. Man, this was going to be fun, we were going to fool everybody. Nobody could have expected it. Except the Cowboys. Dallas blitzed! They were going to get me before I could get rid of the ball. Webster hiked the ball, and I dropped back. Swannie got on his horse and took off. LB D.D. Lewis was coming from my blind side; ... Larry Cole was right behind him. I waited, maybe humming a little ditty, when I felt Lewis coming and stepped to my right. That truck just missed me as it went whizzing by. Okay, time to throw. I wound up and let it fly. Larry Cole hit me an instant after I released the ball. He caught me flush on the jaw. I was out cold before I hit the ground. ... Swann caught it without breaking stride and scored what turned out to be the winning TD. It was the play every boy spends his childhood dreaming about. I didn't know any of that. I was on the ground. If you like big loud marching bands, you would have enjoyed being inside my head. ... A couple of days later I learned that as they led me to the sideline, they told me about this great play. Then they told me again when I sat down on the bench. Man, that music was loud. I wanted someone to turn down the volume in my head. They told me again when they led me into the locker room. But I don't remember any of it. The first clear memory I have is my father standing right next to me when I opened my eyes. ... He kept hugging on me and telling me how proud he was.
Swann got excited when he heard Brad's call in the huddle. That's slick. ... we're going for it all. ... I just ran straight past Washington. No moves, no fakes, just straight-ahead juice.
Cliff Harris: It was a safety blitz. I hit him high enough that I wound up landing on top of him. In the booth, they said Cliff Harris knocked out Terry Bradshaw. I have seen that replay many times where Larry Cole hit him with his elbow right in the chin.
Bleier: I slowed down Harris, but their RT Larry Cole ... hit Bradshaw right in the jaw as he released the ball. Bradshaw kind of looked up to find out if Swann had caught it and then collapsed.
Washington: It will take a lifetime to forget that day.
Needing two scores,
Dallas had to pass, pass, pass and go for it on any fourth down.
Staubach was not called "
Captain Comeback" for no reason. However, the
Cowboys had not crossed midfield in the second half. After a touchback,
Roger hit
Young over the middle for seven. Then
Staubach made a beautiful throw to
Pearson on a slant to the sideline just before
Drew stepped out at the
Pitt 43 for a gain of 30. Then
Captain America went to the left side to
Preston Pearson, who went out of bounds on the 32 as
Bradshaw was led down the sidelines to the dressing room, his day over with "a possible concussion." Crowded by the rush,
Staubach ran forward until
White brought him down for a 2y loss at the two-minute warning.
Roger then threw to rookie TE
Percy Howard at the left edge of the end zone as
Blount fell down at the goal line.
Fritsch converted.
Pittsburgh 21
Dallas 17 (1:48)
The catch was the only reception of Percy Howard's career. He was on the field because Jean Fugett was injured. Howard never played another NFL game.
Drew Pearson: We got behind and then we started to open things up. That's what we should have been doing the whole game. 'Cause if you become conservative against that Steeler defense, you're playing right into their hands. But if you play like you're in a frenzy, then you got a chance to beat those guys, because maybe they'll make a mistake somewhere along the line. ... We never felt we were out of it no matter what the situation or what the score was. We get another chance to step back out on that field and hopefully create another miracle.
Staubach: We were trying to figure out a way to get Drew and Golden open. They were a big, physical team. They had big CBs who hit our backs downfield, and if a receiver went inside, the rule was you could hit him as long as the ball wasn't in the air. You could him him 20y downfield. Mel Blount and Glen Edwards were really killing our wide receivers, to the point where they hurt Drew and seriously hurt Golden Richards. His ribs were banged up, so Percy Howard to come in.
Dallas's film study caused them to target the onside kick at G
Gerry Mullins, the only player on the "good hands" unit who wasn't a wide receiver or running back. But "
Moon" had good hands too and played tight end in some formations. He handled the pooch kick on a knee at the
Dallas 42. When no one touched him down after several seconds,
Mullins got up and ran with the ball but the officials had blown it dead.
Terry Hanratty took the controls to try to run out the clock or at least make
Dallas use its three timeouts.
Harris lost two.
Dallas Timeout #1.
Harris for two. Timeout #2 (1:33).
Bleier +2. Timeout #3 (1:28). Then came a decision that was vigorously discussed after the game and that some rate one of the gutsiest calls in Super Bowl history.
Chuck Noll decided not to send in
Walton but to run another play. After consulting with
Noll,
Hanratty handed to
Bleier, who gained two at right tackle, at which point the clock stopped for the change of possession. The
Cowboys took over at their 39 with 1:22 left.
Hanratty on his timeout chat with Noll: We didn't even talk about a punt. We just discussed which running play to call.
Some members of the Steelers' offense couldn't belief what Noll called. But Walden had dropped the snap on his first punt and nearly had two others blocked.
Chuck explained his decision years later. I'd do it again. The move left them with no timeouts and needing a touchdown to win. If they had needed a field goal, then it would have been different. But we had them in a must-pass situation, and I like for my defense to have a team in that kind of spot. Our defense did just what we thought it would do. ... I would prefer to turn a situation like that over to the defense instead of taking a chance on getting a punt blocked.
When asked after the game if he was worried that Staubach would repeat what he did to the Vikings, Chuck replied, We're not Minnesota.
Steeler D-line coach George Perles said he wanted to punt to give the defense more room. Then I wouldn't have the monkey on my back. But Noll told him, If we don't stop them, we don't deserve to win.
Bleier was on the field with the offense. It was fourth-and-9. Dallas called its last timeout. Hanratty looked to the sidelines and it was a big surprise that we weren't going to punt. And I'm thinking, what the hell is going on? ... So while Hanratty is talking with Noll, I'm thinking maybe we'll throw it downfield, and even if it is intercepted it would be like a punt. If we're going to run the ball, we've got to give it to Franco. But Hanratty comes back to the huddle and ... I'm saying, "What is it? What is it?" ... He says, "All right, guys, here it is: 84-Trap, on 2." This was a tackle trap on the right side, in which I carried the football! I couldn't even concentrate on the play because I thought it was ridiculous. Then as we're breaking the huddle, Terry says to me, "Chuck wants you to eat up as much of the clock as possible." That ended any chance of my doing anything. So the ball was snapped, the guard pulls, and I'm underneath him, ball into my guts, boom-bam, 2 yards. If you wanted to eat the clock up, you gave it to Franco, and he'd run all day from sideline to sideline. Not me. Only 5 seconds had elapsed on the clock. We all walked off the field shaking our heads, thinking "What kind of play was that?" It was the stupidest play ever called in history. I didn't look for Chuck on the sideline. It wasn't that I was upset with him. Somehow I felt responsible that we didn't get a first down. I put the onus on myself.
Wagner on the sideline thought: Wow, Noll has really lost confidence in the punt team. But I'm saying to myself, number one, we have a great defense, and we've got to do this one more time and this is what you want.
Russell wondered if his coach was as nuts as Lambert. I wasn't going to second-guess Chuck Noll, but I couldn't figure it. We had a four-point lead and a chance to push them back. Instead we give Staubach the ball with field position.
Mullins: I was totally going berserk over the call at the time. To me, that was just stupidity.
Staubach: With 1:22 left, I felt we'd win, but we ran a lousy two-minute drill. We got off only five plays in 82 seconds. I believe we rushed ourselves into thinking we had to hit a long gainer.
Dallas receivers could not afford to be tackled in the field of play.
Staubach fumbled the shotgun snap, went back to pass, but had to run. He gained 11 but didn't get out of bounds. Then
Roger backed up and threw to
Preston over the middle. Instead of running to the sideline,
Pearson ran up the middle to the
Pitt 38 to keep the clock running. Now in range for another dramatic Hail Mary (which he named),
Staubach bobbled a low snap for the third straight play, scrambled forward to get away from the rushers, and threw off-balanced to
Drew Pearson incomplete at the seven. 0:12 left. The next snap was true, allowing
Roger to set his feet and get his weight behind a throw down the right side to the end zone for
Percy Howard. DB
J. T. Thomas mistimed his leap but seemed to obscure
Howard's vision enough so the ball appeared to bounce off the wide receiver's helmet. Three seconds.
Staubach had a different explanation for the incompletion to Howard. He went down the right side and he was jumping to catch the ball - he was a big basketball player - but he was interfered with in the end zone, but the refs just weren't going to call it. The Steelers didn't have a single penalty called against them in that game. The defensive back just pulled him down by his shoulders. And the ball was right there.
Howard agreed. It was interference. I felt I had a good shot at the ball. ... I'm ready to catch it and then I get hit. I look quickly at the official, expecting a flag. Then the guy who hit me looks quickly at the official too. He is expecting a flag. No flag.
Last play.
Wagner didn't bother to join the
Steelers' huddle. He just stayed on the goal line.
Staubach pumped short, then threw to the end zone where
Wagner jumped and tipped the ball away from
Drew Pearson into the hands of
Edwards. Instead of going down as his teammates ran onto the field,
Glen started up the field until he fell down at the 33. FINAL SCORE:
PITTSBURGH 21
DALLAS 17
Wagner: It was like a ... defensive back's dream. You want to be in the Super Bowl, and you want to have the ball being fired at you to win the game. Of course, you don't want to give up the winning score - that's always the biggest worry of a DB, blowing the game late. ... All of a sudden, there's Roger Staubach scampering around the 40- or 50-yard line throwing the ball into the end zone. So it's sort of good news/bad news. From a secondary standpoint, Chuck had tremendous confidence in our front four, our LBs, and our secondary to stop them.
Bleier: We had to fight for everything we got because they were a tough team defensively ... After the game, Dallas players would come over and congratulate us. No one likes to lose but the players had a mutual respect - I know I felt respect for Dallas.
Drew Pearson: Hail Mary II was just a little high.