Super Bowl V - Game Summary

Game Summary

The first 3 possessions of the game ended with punts after the respective teams went three-and-out on each one. Then on the first play of the Colts' second drive, Dallas linebacker Chuck Howley intercepted a pass from Johnny Unitas and returned it 22 yards to Baltimore's 46-yard line before being tackled by Unitas himself. However, the Cowboys could not take advantage of the turnover because of a holding penalty on the drive and had to punt. But Colts punt returner Ron Gardin fumbled the punt and Cowboys safety Cliff Harris recovered the ball at the Baltimore 9-yard line. Despite their great starting field position, Dallas was unable to score a touchdown and thus had to settle for kicker Mike Clark's 14-yard field goal to give them a 3 – 0 lead.

Dallas forced the Colts to punt on their next possession, and several plays later, quarterback Craig Morton completed a 47-yard pass to Bob Hayes at the Colts 12-yard line, with a roughing the passer penalty adding 6 yards (half the distance to the goal). But Dallas was still unable to score a touchdown. On first down, linebacker Ted Hendricks deflected Morton's pass, and then running back Duane Thomas was tackled for a 1-yard loss on the next play. Then on third down, Morton committed a 15-yard intentional grounding penalty, pushing the Cowboys back to the 22-yard line and forcing them to settle for Clark's 30 yard field goal, giving them a 6-0 lead.

But on the ensuing drive, the Colts got a break. Baltimore defensive back Jim Duncan returned the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to their 25-yard line. Then after throwing 2 incompletions, Unitas threw a pass to Eddie Hinton that was both high and behind the receiver. The ball bounced off Hinton's hands, was tipped by Dallas defensive back Mel Renfro, and finally ended up in the arms of tight end John Mackey, who took the ball 75 yards for a touchdown, tying the score 6 – 6 after Jim O'Brien's extra point attempt was blocked. O'Brien later said that he was "awfully nervous" and hesitated a second too long before kicking it.

In the second quarter, Dallas took a 13 – 6 lead when Morton threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Thomas at the end of a drive that was set up after Unitas lost a fumble while being tackled by Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy Jordan. The next time the Colts had the ball, Unitas was hit as he threw a pass, resulting in an interception by Renfro. On the play, Unitas was knocked out of the game with a rib injury, and was replaced by Earl Morrall, who was widely blamed for the Colts loss in Super Bowl III. The Cowboys were unable to get any points off the turnover and had to punt. After the punt, Morrall completed two passes for 47 yards, with a personal foul on Jordan adding another 7 yards and giving them a first down on the Cowboys 2-yard line with less than two minutes left in the half. But Colts running back Norm Bulaich failed to gain any yards with three rushing attempts, and on fourth down, Morrall threw an incomplete pass, turning the ball over on downs.

Duncan fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half to Dallas, and the Cowboys moved the ball down to the Colts' 1-yard line. But then Thomas returned the favor when Curtis knocked the ball loose before the goal line. Duncan was awarded the recovery and the Colts took over on a touchback - a controversial call because when the resulting pile-up was sorted out, Dallas center Dave Manders was holding the ball. The Colts then drove to Dallas' 44-yard line, but came up empty when O'Brien's 52-yard field goal attempt fell short of the goal posts. However, instead of attempting to return the ball, Renfro let it bounce inside his own 1-yard line where it was downed by center Tom Goode (NFL rules prior to 1974 allowed a field goal that fell short of the goal posts to be downed just like a punt). "I thought it would carry into the end zone", he explained after the game.

The Colts defense then forced Dallas to punt after 3 plays, and would have gotten the ball inside Dallas territory following Ron Widby's punt, but Colts rookie running back Jack Maitland committed a 15-yard clipping penalty during the punt return, pushing his team back to their own 39 for their ensuing drive. Two plays later, Morrall completed a 47-yard pass to running back Tom Nowatzke at the Cowboys 15-yard line. Baltimore gained 4 yards on their next 2 plays, but on the first play of the fourth quarter, Morrall's pass was intercepted by Howley in the end zone.

After forcing the Cowboys to punt, Baltimore got the ball back on their own 18-yard line. On first down, Morrall's pass was incomplete. Then on the next play, Morrall fumbled the snap. Fortunately for the Colts, he managed to recover the fumble and throw the ball away, preventing a loss of yards or a turnover. On third down, Morrall threw his third consecutive incompletion, which would have forced Baltimore to punt from deep in their own territory, but Renfro was called for a 13-yard pass interference penalty while trying to cover Hinton, giving the Colts a first down.

Aided by a 23-yard completion from Morrall to receiver Roy Jefferson, the Colts drove to Dallas' 30-yard line and attempted to fool the Cowboys with a flea-flicker play. Running back Sam Havrilak took a handoff from Morrall and was supposed to throw it back to Morrall, but a charging Jethro Pugh disrupted the pattern. Havrilak (who had been a quarterback in college) instead threw a pass intended for Mackey. Hinton cut in front of Mackey to make the catch and then took off for the end zone, but he lost a fumble at the 10-yard line while being tackled by defensive back Cornell Green. After several players from both teams tried to recover it, the ball rolled through and out of the end zone for a touchback, giving the Cowboys the ball at their 20-yard line.

Three plays after the turnover, Morton threw a pass that was intercepted by safety Rick Volk and returned 30 yards to the Cowboys 3-yard line (Morrall later referred to play as the play of the game). Two plays later, Nowatzke scored on a 2-yard touchdown run and O'Brien's extra point was good to tie the game, 13 – 13. (O'Brien says he was much calmer and more confident on this extra point than on the first one, which was blocked.) Dallas was forced to punt on their ensuing drive, and Widby managed to pin the Colts deep in their own territory with a 40-yard punt that was downed on Baltimore's 5-yard line. Dallas' defense forced Baltimore to punt after 3 plays, and got the ball back with great starting field position after receiving David Lee's 38-yard punt at the Colts 48-yard line with less than 2 minutes left in the game.

On the first play of the drive, Thomas was tackled for a 1-yard loss by Colts defensive tackle Bubba Smith. On the next play, Dallas committed a 15-yard holding penalty on the 42-yard line, which was a spot foul, pushing the team all the way back to their own 27-yard line (the NFL did not reduce the penalty for offensive holding to 10 yards until 1974). Then on second down and 35 to go, Morton threw a pass that went through the hands of running back Dan Reeves and into the arms of linebacker Mike Curtis, who returned the ball 13 yards to the Cowboys 28-yard line. Two plays later, O'Brien kicked the go ahead 32-yard field goal, giving Baltimore a 16-13 lead with 5 seconds left in the game. O'Brien says he was "on automatic" and was so calm and concentrating so hard that he didn't hear anything and saw only the ball. In an enduring image from Super Bowl V, after O'Brien's game-winning field goal Bob Lilly took off his helmet and hurled it through the air in disgust.

The Cowboys got the ball back on their 40-yard line with a few seconds remaining after O'Brien's ensuing squib kick, but Morton's pass to Garrison was intercepted by Logan at the Baltimore 29-yard line, and time expired.

Morrall was the top passer of the game, with 7 out of 15 completions for 147 yards, with 1 interception. Before being knocked out of the game, Unitas completed 3 out of 9 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, with 2 interceptions. Morton completed more passes than Morrall and Unitas combined (12), but finished the game with 118 fewer passing yards (127), and was intercepted 3 times (all in the fourth quarter). Mackey was the top receiver of the game with 2 receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown. Nowatzke was the Colts' leading rusher with 33 yards and a touchdown, while also catching a pass for 47 yards. Dallas running back Walt Garrison was the leading rusher of the game with 65 rushing yards, and added 19 yards on 2 pass receptions.

Referencing the numerous turnovers, Morrall said, "It really was a physical game. I mean, people were flying into one another out there." "It was really a hard-hitting game," wrote O'Brien. "It wasn't just guys dropping the ball. They fumbled because they got the snot knocked out of them." Said Tom Landry:

I haven't been around many games where the players hit harder. Sometimes people watch a game and see turnovers and they talk about how sloppy the play was. The mistakes in that game weren't invented, at least not by the people who made them. Most were forced.

"We figured we could win if our offense didn't put us into too many holes", said 35-year old Colts lineman Billy Ray Smith, who was playing in his last NFL game, "Let me put it this way, they didn't put us into any holes we couldn't get out of"

Don McCafferty became the first rookie head coach to win a Super Bowl.