The Steelers third Super Bowl victory may have been their most fortunate....Super Bowl XIII, pitted the first ever re-match of a prior Super Bowl game....
In Super Bowl X, the Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in Miami....three years later the two foes would meet again in the same place - the Miami Orange Bowl....
Prior to the game, Dallas linebacker Hollywood Henderson berated Steeler quarterback Terry Bradshaw by saying that Bradshaw was so dumb that he could not spell "cat" if you spotted him the "c" and "a".....Henderson’s rants only added fuel to the game’s fire....
After a dead even first quarter (7-7), Dallas jumped to a 14-7 lead early in quarter two when Henderson sacked Bradshaw and Larry Hegman stripped the ball from Bradshaw and ran 37-yards for a touchdown.....that lead last only 1:43 as Bradshaw struck back with a 75-yard pass to John Stallworth to tie the game.....
The Cowboys were marching deep into Steeler territory late in the half when Mel Blount killed the Dallas rally with an interception of Roger Staubach....with less than two minutes left, Bradshaw led the Steelers to a 21-14 halftime lead in just six plays....
Most of the third quarter was a series of punts....however, late in the quarter Dallas began marching toward a game tying touchdown.....with the ball third and three at the Steeler nine-yard line, Staubach hit a wide open Jackie Smith in the middle of the endzone, only to see Smith drop a guaranteed touchdown....Smith managed to get behind the Pittsburgh defense, but this future Hall of Famer who was acquired late in the year from the St. Louis Cardinals quickly became a goat....but the Cowboys misfortune was just beginning....
With the scoreboard showing a narrow Steeler lead at 21-17, Pittsburgh knew they had to score more points....with a drive going, Bradshaw threw a pass deep toward Lynn Swann, however, his legs got tied up with Dallas cornerback Benny Barnes.....at the very least it was incidental contact....but more than likely the official would say the ball was not catchable.....inexplicably, a flag was thrown – and it was called pass interference on Barnes....that would be the second bad break for the Cowboys, but not the last on this drive....
Four plays later, the Steelers had a third and nine at the Dallas 22 when Franco Harris galloped right through the middle of the Dallas defense for a touchdown.....but replays showed that Harris would have been stopped short of the first down as Cowboy safety Charlie Waters had a clear beat on Harris....however, the umpire got in Waters way which allowed Harris a clean alley toward the endzone....this was the third bad break....
The fourth bad break came on the ensuing kick-off when Roy Gerala slipped on his kick-off attempt and booted it right to Dallas’ Randy White....however, White was playing with a cast on his one hand and was unable to handle the kick....with the ball loose on the ground, the Steelers recovered....
And once again, Bradshaw wasted no time as he hit Swann in the back of the endzone on a sliding 18-yard touchdown to make it 35-17....
Any lesser team would have caved in, but behind the arm and spirit of Staubach, the Cowboys scored twice to make it 35-31 with 22 seconds left.....however the Steelers recovered the onside kick to seal the victory....
Within a nine minute span, the Cowboys watched a Super Bowl win slip through their hands because of four unfortunate plays....
The Steelers first Super Bowl appearance came in Super Bowl IX at a windy and wet Tulane Stadium in New Orleans against the Minnesota Vikings....
And on this day, the Steel Curtain was tightly closed.....the Pittsburgh defense held the Vikings to 17 yards rushing on 21 attempts for a feeble 0.8 yard average....Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton didn’t fare much better through the air as he passed for 102 yards....
On offense, the Steelers attack was simple – run, run, run.....they ran the ball 57 times for 249 yards.....Super Bowl MVP Franco Harris contributed to that total by rushing 34 times for a then Super Bowl record 158 yards.....Terry Bradshaw only had to co
mplete nine passes for 96 yards with one of those passes going for a touchdown....
Despite the Steelers dominance, Minnesota was only down 9-6 with 10 minutes left in the game.....but the only score the Vikings could muster came on special teams when Terry Brown blocked a Bobby Walden punt.....
Throughout the game, whenever the Vikings were in scoring position, they would turn the ball over which would snuff out any momentum....there was no way Minnesota could beat this Steelers defense by committing five turnovers.....
Right before half, Minnesota penetrated to the Steeler 25-yard line only to have a deflected pass get intercepted by Mel Blount....the Vikings collapsed again at the very start of the half when they fumbled the second half kick-off....four plays later Harris sc
ored for the Steelers.....
The best part of the game took place in the locker room when commissioner Pete Rozelle presented The Chief, Art Rooney, Sr., with the Vince Lombardi Trophy....after owning the Steelers for almost 45 years, Rooney was finally a champion.....
Next Sunday’s Super Bowl game will not be the first in Detroit....in 1982, Super Bowl XVI was played at the Pontiac Silverdome....it was the first time the Super Bowl was played in the northern half of the country....
It was also the first of four Super Bowl titles for San Francisco’s Joe Montana....two weeks earlier Montana’s waved his magic wand for the first time with his unforgettable touchdown pass to Dwight Clark with less than a minute left giving San Francisco the victory over Dallas....
On Super Bowl Sunday, the 49ers took advantage of the Cincinnati Bengals slow start and a great defensive stand en route to a 26-21 win....
Throughout the first half, the Bengals had chances to score, only to watch these opportunities fade away....after the 49ers fumbled the opening kick, Cincinnati moved to the San Fran five-yard line only to have Ken Anderson throw an interception.....at the beginning of the second quarter, the Bengals were driving again, but this time Cris Collinsworth fumbled at the 49er 27-yard line.....at halftime Cincinnati found themselves down 20-0....
In the third quarter the Bengals had another opportunity to cut into the 49ers lead....trailing 20-7, the Bengals had the ball first and goal on the 49ers three-yard line....with their backs to the wall and momentum hanging in the balance, the 49ers defense made the greatest goal line stand in Super Bowl history....
After Pete Johnson
picked up two yards on the first play, the Niners held him to no gain on second down.....with third down and goal from the one-yard line, the Bengals opted for a pass play.....but running back Charles Alexander cut off his route short of the end zone and 49ers linebacker Dan Bunz made a spectacular solo tackle holding the Bengals from paydirt....with fourth down looming, the Bengals sent big ole Pete Johnson into the middle of the line once again, only to get stuffed as the 49ers front line penetrated into the backfield and lineba
cker Jack Reynolds ended the play.....
The Bengals would close to within 26-21 but it was a day of lost opportunities for Cincinnati....
Despite an average game, by his standards, Montana won his first of three Super Bowl MVPs.....and head coach Bill Walsh was annoited a "genius" with his new style of offense....
