3. Super Bowl XIII – Steelers 35-31 Cowboys
One of the most anticipated matchups we have ever seen came in Super Bowl XIII where the Dallas Cowboys didn’t just return to the game as reigning champions, but they were also facing a rematch with the Steelers team that defeated them in SB X just years prior.
There were 9 touchdowns in this game and just one field goal, as two legendary franchises were battling it out. Roger Staubach led the Cowboys, and Terry Bradshaw put on his greatest ever performance.
Bradshaw struck first with a touchdown to John Stallworth, before the Cowboys scored twice in quick succession with a Tony Hill reception and then a fumble recovery that was returned early in the second quarter.
Pittsburgh claimed the lead back before halftime with two more passing TD’s from Bradshaw, with another going to Stallworth. The third quarter was mostly quiet with just a single Dallas field goal in the tense matchup making it 21-17. The field goal could have been more, with a wide-open Jackie Smith who dropped a touchdown which forced them to settle. This drop was a missed opportunity but the game was still very much in the balance. The fourth quarter is when it got crazy, though.
Super Bowl XIII was stacked (PIT – DAL):
PIT: Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Mike Webster, Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Mel Blount, Donnie Shell
DAL: Staubach, Dorsett, Rayfield Wright, Randy White, Cliff Harris, and Jackie Smith.
— LaDarius Brown (@ladarius_brown) February 4, 2021
There were a couple of controversial moments in the earlier period of the fourth quarter, with a debatable pass interference penalty, a delay of game that stopped a 12-yard sack and even a running play on which a referee seemed to get in the way of a Cowboys defender trying to make a tackle, and all of a sudden, the score was 28-17 to Pittsburgh.
The aforementioned run was a 22-yard TD score for Franco Harris. The kickoff which followed is one that Dallas regret to this day. The Steelers kicker slipped over and squibbed the kick awkwardly, however it just happened to head towards Randy White, who was on kickoff team despite having a broken hand in a cast. He fumbled the unexpected ball, and the Steelers recovered. Bradshaw threw a strike to Lynn Swann (who had dominated the Cowboys with his MVP winning efforts in SB X) making with a score of 35-17. Bradshaw had thrown four passing touchdowns as well as his 318 passing yards, and the game was all but over. The Steelers assumed so, anyway.
The Cowboys drove 89 yards on their next possession and Staubach threw his second touchdown of the game. 35-24.
Then, Dallas recovered the onside kick, with 2:19 remaining. Another impressive drive followed, and after their previous one took 8 plays, they went 52 yards in 9 this time. Staubach threw another touchdown pass, and they were down just four points at 35-31 [the two-point conversion wasn’t adopted until 1994] with 22 seconds left on the clock, as they lined up for yet another onside kick. Unfortunately, the second onside kick wasn’t successful, but the Cowboys still put in a serious effort to close the gap, and the Steelers won the game but they were sweating by the end. 35-31 makes the game sound exciting, but it doesn’t even begin to explain how wild of a game of football it was.
