Super Bowl V was anything but super. The Baltimore Colts and Dallas Cowboys combined for a record 11 turnovers (seven by the Colts), and the Cowboys were flagged for 10 penalties for 133 yards.
The one thing Super Bowl V did have, unlike the first four games, was a thrilling finish. Rookie Jim O’Brien, also a wide receiver, booted a 32-yard field goal with five seconds left to give the Colts a 16-13 victory and some measure of revenge for losing Super Bowl III to the Jets two years earlier.
Even the hero O’Brien was not immune to the sloppy play. The kicker missed an extra point and a field goal in the first half before rebounding for the game-winner.
LIVE BLOG: COUNTDOWN TO SUPER BOWL XLVIII
“I remember everything but not much,” O’Brien told the Daily News in 2010. “I remember concentrating very, very, very, very hard, probably as hard as I've ever concentrated on a kick. It happened so fast and all of a sudden it was over. You look up and the ball is going through the goal posts. I was pretty happy.”
The Super Bowl ring from the Baltimore Colts' 16-13 victory over the Cowboys.
The Colts, who along with the Steelers and Browns volunteered to join the new American Football Conference, topped the Raiders to reach the title game under rookie head coach Don McCafferty. The Cowboys got to the first post-merger Super Bowl on the strength of their Doomsday Defense. But on the other side of the ball, coach Tom Landry had a season-long quarterback controversy involving Craig Morton and Roger Staubach that Morton did not emerge from victorious until late in the season. Morton was terrible against the Colts, going 12-for-26 for 127 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions, with all the picks coming in the fourth quarter.
Fading star Johnny Unitas wasn’t much better than Morton, going 3-for-9 for 88 yards, two interceptions and a gift TD on a ball that was tipped by two players before John Mackey grabbed it on a dead run and took it 75 yards for a touchdown. Unitas was knocked out in the second quarter on a shot to the ribs from defensive end George Andrie. That gave Earl Morrall, the goat of Super Bowl III, a shot at redemption. Morrall didn’t exactly light it up, going 7-for-15 for 147 yards and an interception.
RELATED: SUPER BOWL V: COLTS SAVE KICK FOR FINAL 5 SECONDS
Morton’s second pick, by safety Rick Volk, set up the Colts at the Cowboys’ 3-yard line for the tying touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. Morton’s next interception set up O’Brien for the game-winning kick.
Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley was named Super Bowl MVP with two interceptions, the only time the MVP has gone to a member of the losing team.
Landry bristled at the notion of a sloppy game, crediting the miscues to two hard-hitting defenses. The only coach in Cowboys history was starting to take heat in Dallas for not winning the big game, having lost to the Packers two years in a row with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Landry would be back the next year, with the right quarterback, determined to shake that rep.
To post your comments, please, Sign in » . X