"SUPERBOWL XIII"
Dallas Cowboys vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
In 1978, the Steelers coached by Chuck Knoll and the Cowboys coached by Tom Landry were again Conference Champions and won the right to meet in the thirteenth Superbowl. It seemed fitting that the last Superbowl of the 1970's would match the two teams that dominated the decade. Dressed in black and armed with a high powered offense, the Pittsburgh Steelers did away with the Cowboys infront of nearly 80,000 witnesses. Another Black Sunday?? Nah! Let's call this one a BLACK & GOLD SUNDAY!!!
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STALWORTH #82 BEATS 2 COWBOYS TO GIVE THE STEELERS A 7-0 LEAD
The Pittsburgh Steelers wasted little time scoring in Superbowl XIII when Terry Bradshaw tossed a 30 yard touchdown pass to #82 John Stalworth between 2 Dallas defenders giving Pittsburgh a 7-0 lead. Terry Bradshaw is a country boy and perhaps his touchdown pass to John Stalworth was inspired by the country proverb which advises: "When you're invited to the biggest party of the year, you dance with who brung ya." Bradshaw had gotten to the Superbowl by passing. So, it never occured to him to play cautiously and establish the running game first. Late in the first quarter on a third down, the Steelers moved 8 men to the scrimmage line on defense. With all their man power in the pass rush, they sacrificed themselves in the secondary and once #80 Tony Hill gathered in Staubach's quick pass, he scored easily tying the score of Superbowl XIII 7-7.
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DALLAS LINEBACKERS MIKE HEGMAN #58 AND THOMAS "HOLLYWOOD" HENDERSON #56 STRIP TERRY BRADSHAW OF THE FOOTBALL
The play that gave Dallas a 14-7 lead began as a rollout pass, but when Bradshaw collided with Franco Harris, the ball popped loose. While Bradshaw retrieved his fumble, Thomas Henderson (#56) and Mike Hegman (#58) stalked him like two burglars, one held him, the other robbed him. Hegman's touchdown was a bitter pill for the Steelers to swallow, but it was just the tonic they needed. When the Steelers regained the ball, John Stalworth turned a routine sideline pass into a marathon 75 yard touchdown run. Stalworth is from Alabama. Down there, the locals say he's like a blend of sipping whiskey and white lightening. Smooth, with a good strong finishing kick. With 5 minutes left in the first half, Superbowl XIII was tied again 14-14. To end the first half, at the Dallas 7 yard line, Bradshaw called a pass/run option play. Pursued by the Cowboys and no room to run, he finally spotted Rocky Blier (#20) in the endzone giving the Steelers a 21-14 halftime lead.
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DALLAS'S JACKIE SMITH #81 DROPS A WIDE OPEN TOUCHDOWN PASS
When the second half began, the Dallas offense struck quickly, to get back what it's defense so grudgingly given away in the closing seconds of the first half. Dallas drove to the Pittsburgh 10 yard line late in the third quarter. It seemed certain they would score the touchdown that would turn Superbowl XIII into a tie game again. But, Jackie Smith (#81) drops the ball on a wide open touchdown pass!!! A catch by Smith would have tied the score. Instead, Dallas had to settle for a field goal and trail Pittsburgh by 4 points at the end of the third quarter.
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FRANCO HARRIS #32 BARRELS THROUGH THE DALLAS DEFENSE FOR A STEELERS TOUCHDOWN
In the fourth quarter, the Steelers took advantage of a Dallas pass interference penalty of 33 yards setting up great field position in Cowboy's territory. What hurt the Cowboys just as much as the penalty was the manor that Pittsburgh easily converted their good fortune into a touchdown on the strength of a Franco Harris touchdown run. Franco Harris's touchdown run was an alert decision by Terry Bradshaw. He called the play at the scrimmage line when he noticed an opening in the center of the Dallas defense. Charlie Waters (#41) tried to close the hole, but he collided with an official, and Harris had an open road to the endzone making the score Pittsburgh 28, Dallas 17. While the Steelers celebrated their good fortunes, another touch of misfortune awaited the wrankled Cowboys. On the ensuing kickoff, Roy Gerela slipped and his kick bounced directly to defensive tackle Randy White (#54). A cast on White's injured thumb prevented him from getting a grip on the ball, and it squirted loose before he was hit and the Steelers recovered the fumble on the Dallas 18 yard line.
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LYNN SWANN #88 HAULS IN A BEAUTIFUL TOUCHDOWN PASS FROM TERRY BRADSHAW
Now on the Dallas 18 yard line, the Steeler's Terry Bradshaw goes to Lynn Swann in the endzone and Lynn Swann went up and made a circus catch!!! Swann's catch was Bradshaw's fourth touchdown pass of the day. It put Pittsburgh ahead 35-17 with just a little over 6 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Dallas trailed by 18 points. There were tears in the eyes of Texas, but seldom was heard a discouraging word by the Cowboys themselves. In 1963, Roger Staubach's legs won him the Heisman Trophy at the Naval Academy. Now, 15 years later, they served him well again. Staubach led two late fourth quarter touchdown drives, the first coming on a touchdown pass to the Cowboy's Billy Jo Dupree cutting the Steeler's lead to 11 points. After recovering an onside kick at the Steelers 49 yard line, the Cowboys drove down field for another touchdown to the Cowboy's #86 Johnson making the score 35-31 in Superbowl XIII!! Now, Dallas was caught in the deadly squeeze of the clock as there was only 22 seconds to play. Any hope for Dallas to win disappeared into the arms of Rocky Blier as he recovered the Cowboy onside kick. The Pittsburgh Steelers became the first team in history to win 3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!!
FINAL SCORE
Pittsburgh 35
Dallas 31
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