Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1977 season. The Cowboys defeated the Broncos 27–10 to win their second Super Bowl. The game was played on January 15, 1978, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. This was the first Super Bowl in a domed stadium, and the first time that the game was played in prime time in the Eastern United States.
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| Date | January 15, 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Harvey Martin, defensive end Randy White, defensive tackle | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Cowboys by 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Jim Tunney | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 75,583 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cowboys: Tex Schramm (team administrator), Gil Brandt (team administrator), Tom Landry (head coach), Tony Dorsett, Cliff Harris, Drew Pearson, Mel Renfro, Roger Staubach, Randy White, Rayfield Wright Broncos: Randy Gradishar | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | |||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Phyllis Kelly of Northeast Louisiana University | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coin toss | Red Grange | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | "From Paris to the Paris of America" with the Tyler Junior College Apache Belles, Pete Fountain, and Al Hirt | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 47.2 (78.94 million viewers) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Market share | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of 30-second commercial | $162,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS Radio | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jack Buck, Jim Kelly and Sonny Jurgensen | ||||||||||||||||||
The game pitted Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach against their former quarterback, Craig Morton. Led by Staubach and the Doomsday Defense, Dallas advanced to its fourth Super Bowl after posting a 12–2 record in the regular season and home playoff victories over the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. The Broncos, led by Morton and the Orange Crush Defense, made their first-ever postseason appearance after a franchise-best 12–2 regular season record. Also with home-field advantage, Denver posted playoff wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders.
The Cowboys defense dominated Super Bowl XII, forcing eight turnovers and allowing only eight pass completions by the Broncos for 61 yards. Two interceptions led to 10 first-quarter points. Denver's longest play of the game was 21 yards, which occurred on their opening drive. Dallas extended its lead to 20–3 in the third quarter after wide receiver Butch Johnson made a diving catch in the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown reception. An ineffective Morton was replaced by Norris Weese late in the third quarter. He drove the Broncos downfield to score a touchdown to close the gap on the lead to 20–10, capped by a Rob Lytle one-yard touchdown run. However, the Cowboys put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter when fullback Robert Newhouse threw a 29-yard touchdown pass on a halfback option play to receiver Golden Richards.
For the first and only time, two players won Super Bowl MVP honors: defensive tackle Randy White and defensive end Harvey Martin. This was also the first time that a defensive lineman was named Super Bowl MVP.