History of The Dallas Cowboys - 1970s

1970s

In the 1970s, the NFL underwent many changes as it absorbed the AFL and became a unified league, but the Cowboys also underwent many changes. Meredith and Perkins retired in 1969 and new players were joining the organization, like Cliff Harris, Lee Roy Jordan, and Pro Football Hall of Famers Rayfield Wright, Mike Ditka, Herb Adderly and Roger Staubach. Led by quarterback Craig Morton, the Cowboys had a 10-4 season in 1970. A 38-0 shutout by the Cardinals was the low point of the year, but recovered to make it to the playoffs, where they defeated Detroit 5-0 in the lowest-scoring playoff game in NFL history. They then made it to their first Super Bowl, a mistake-filled Super Bowl V, where they lost 16-13 to the Baltimore Colts courtesy of a field goal by Colts' kicker Jim O'Brien with five seconds remaining in the contest.

The Cowboys moved from the Cotton Bowl to Texas Stadium in week six of the 1971 season. Although the first game in their new home was a 44-21 victory over New England, Dallas stumbled out of the gate by going 4-3 in the first half of the season, including losses to the mediocre New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears. Landry named Staubach as the permanent starting quarterback to start the second half of the season, and Dallas was off and running. The Cowboys won their last seven regular season games before dispatching of the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs to return to the Super Bowl. In Super Bowl VI, behind an MVP performance from Staubach and a then Super Bowl record 252 yards rushing, the Cowboys crushed the upstart Miami Dolphins, 24-3, to finally bury the "Next Year's Champions" stigma. That game remains the only Super Bowl to date where one of the teams involved did not score a touchdown.

The 1972 season was another winning one for the Cowboys, but their 10-4 record was only good for them to make the playoffs as a wild-card team. In the divisional playoffs they faced the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers had a 28-13 lead and seemed to have avenged their playoff losses to Dallas in the two previous seasons. But after Landry benched Morton, Staubach threw two touchdown passes with less than two minutes remaining—including the game-winner to Ron Sellers -- for a miraculous 30-28 Dallas win, the first of several dramatic comebacks led by Staubach during the 1970s.

The Cowboys were now beginning to grow in popularity not just in Dallas, but nationwide. Their televised appearances on Thanksgiving Day games beginning in 1966 helped bring the Cowboys to a nationwide audience. Under Coach Landry, the so-called "Doomsday Defense" became a powerful and dominating force in the NFL and their offense was also exciting to watch. Dallas had also established itself as the most innovative franchise off the field. It was the first to use computers in scouting, the first to have a modern cheerleading squad performing sophisticated choreographed routines, and the first to broadcast games in Spanish. General manager Schramm became the most powerful GM in the NFL; it was he who pushed the league to adopt changes such as relocating the goal posts to the back of the end zone and (in the 1980s) the use of instant replay. While Pittsburgh would win more Super Bowls in the 1970s, Dallas emerged as the "glamour" team of the decade. The 1979 film North Dallas Forty, based on a book written by former Cowboys wide receiver Peter Gent, presented a veiled portrayal of the team's on-and-off field culture during this time.

The Cowboys faltered slightly in 1974, finishing 8-6 and missing the playoffs for the first time in nine years. However, the team drafted well in the following year, adding defensive lineman Randy White (a future Hall of Fame member) and linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson. The fresh influx of talent helped the Cowboys back to the playoffs in 1975 as a wild card, beating the Vikings and going to Super Bowl X, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-17. In 1976, the team went 11-3, reaching the top of the NFC East, but falling to the Rams in the playoffs.

The Cowboys began the 1977 season 8-0 before losing in consecutive weeks to the St. Louis Cardinals in a Monday night home game and the Steelers in Pittsburgh. After the losses, however, the Cowboys won their final four regular season games. Dallas had both the #1 defense and #1 offense in the NFL. In the postseason, the Cowboys routed the Chicago Bears 37-7 and Minnesota Vikings 23-6 before defeating the Broncos 27-10 in the Super Bowl in New Orleans. As a testament to Doomsday's dominance in the hard hitting game, defensive linemen Randy White and Harvey Martin were named co Super Bowl MVPs, the first and as of 2012 the only time multiple players have received the award.

After a slow start in 1978, Dallas won its final six regular season games to finish the season at 12-4. After an unexpectedly close divisional playoff game against the Falcons at Texas Stadium, the Cowboys traveled to Los Angeles and shut out the Rams in the NFC Championship Game 28-0. Dallas then faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII at the Orange Bowl in Miami. The Steelers outlasted the Cowboys 35-31, despite a furious comeback that saw Dallas score two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter; the game was not decided until the final 20 seconds, when a Dallas onside kick failed. Bob Ryan, an NFL films editor, would dub the Cowboys "America's Team" following this season, a nickname that has earned derision from non-Cowboys fans but has stuck through both good times and bad.

Dallas finished the 1979 season 11-5. The team slumped in November, but rallied to win its next two games. This set the stage for the regular season finale against Washington; the winner would capture the NFC East title while the loser missed the playoffs. In the game, Texas Stadium fans were treated to one of Staubach's greatest comebacks. The Cowboys trailed 17-0, but then scored three touchdowns to take the lead. Led by running back John Riggins, the Redskins came back to build a 34-21 lead, but the Cowboys scored 2 touchdowns in the final five minutes—including a Staubach touchdown pass Tony Hill with less than a minute remaining—for an amazing 35-34 victory. The season ended with a whimper, however, as the underdog Rams traveled to Dallas and upset the Cowboys 21-19 in the opening round of the playoffs. This game marked the end of an era, as repeated concussions compelled Staubach to announce his retirement a few months later in an emotional press conference at Texas Stadium.