Date: Jan. 21, 1979
Attendance: 79,484
Venue: Orange Bowl
MVP: Terry Bradshaw
Super Bowl XIII
Play-By-Play
Complete with Drive Charts


This image of a blind referee is our tribute to bungling official Phil Luckett, who blew the coin toss on Thanksgiving Day, 1998.

Dallas won the coin toss and elected to receive.

FIRST QUARTER
Gerela kick to Dallas 5, Johnson 23 yard return (Winston).
Dallas Cowboys ball at 15:00, moving left to right.
1-10-DC2    Dorsett 9 yard sweep left (Shell).
2-1-DC37    Dorsett 16 yard burst up middle (Shell).
1-10-PS4    Newhouse run up middle, no gain (Greenwood).
2-10-PS47   Dorsett 13 yard sweep right (Ham).
1-10-PS34   D. Pearson fumble handoff from Dorsett on
            double reverse, Banaszak recovered for
            Pittsburgh at PS47.

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 12:59, moving right to left.
1-10-PS47   Harris sweep right, loss of 1 yard (Waters).
2-11-PS46   Harris 2 yard run up middle (Breunig).
3-9-PS48    Bradshaw 12 yard pass (under serious pass
            rush) to Stallworth (great juggling catch)
            middle (Harris).
1-10-DC40   Bradshaw pass to Stallworth incomplete
            (a nifty one-handed grab by Stallworth, but 
            caught out of bounds).
2-10-DC40   Bleier 2 yard run wide right (Barnes).
3-8-DC38    Bradshaw 10 yard laser beam to well-covered
            Grossman right sideline (Barnes). Man, what
            a strong arm!
1-10-DC28   Bradshaw 28 yard loft to wide-open Stallworth,
            who did an outstanding job of keeping his
            feet in bounds in the left corner of the
            endzone, touchdown (9:47). Gerela PAT.
Pittsburgh scoring drive: 53 yards, 7 plays, 3:12.
Pittsburgh 7, Dallas 0

Gerela kick to Dallas 12, Brinson 16 yard return (Cole).
Dallas Cowboys ball at 9:47, moving left to right.
1-10-DC28   Staubach runs into Dorsett in the backfield, 
            then unloads the pass to Newhouse, underthrown.
2-10-DC28   Dorsett 4 yard run off right tackle (Ham).
3-6-DC32    Staubach 26 yard pass to Johnson middle 
            (Johnson).
1-10-PS42   Dorsett 3 yard run left (Blount).
2-7-PS39    Staubach swarmed under & sacked, loss of 12
            yards (Furness).
3-19-DC49   Staubach sacked after scrambling around in
            backfield for seemingly hours (coverage sack),
            loss of 10 (White).
4-29-DC39   D.White 43 yard punt, Bell 12 yard return
            (Hughes).

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 6:09, moving right to left.
1-10-PS30   Harris 5 yard run left (Kyle).
2-5-PS35    Bradshaw pass to well-covered Swann right
            thrown away out of bounds.
3-5-PS35    Bradshaw 22 yard toss to wide open Harris
            middle (Harris).
1-10-DC43   Bradshaw 13 yard dart to Swann right sideline
            (Barnes).
1-10-DC30   Bradshaw pass to Stallworth left intercepted 
            at Dallas 15, Lewis 21 yard return
            (Stallworth). 

Dallas Cowboys ball at 4:18, moving left to right.
1-10-DC36   Newhouse 3 yard run up middle (Greenwood).
2-7-DC39    Newhouse sweep left, NAILED in backfield by
            streaking Jack Lambert for loss of 1.
3-8-DC38    Staubach pass to P. Pearson overthrown.
4-8-DC38    D.White 24 yard punt out of bounds.

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 2:37, moving right to left.
1-10-PS38   Harris 9 yard run of left tackle (Kyle).
2-1-PS47    Harris 1 yard run up middle, play nullified
            & Pittsburgh penalized 10 yards for holding
            (Davis).
2-11-PS37   Harris 6 yard run left (Kyle).
3-5-PS43    Bradshaw sacked while trying to step up in
            pocket to avoid pressure, loss of 2 (Martin),
            fumbled, recovered for Dallas by Too Tall
            Jones at Pittsburgh 41.

Dallas Cowboys ball at 1:00, moving left to right.
1-10-PS41   Newhouse 2-yard run up middle (Greenwood).
2-8-PS39    Staubach deep pass to Hill broken up in
            endzone (great play by Shell).
3-8-PS39    Staubach shows why he's in Canton by avoiding
            all-out blitz & hitting 39 yard pass to Hill
            up left sideline (caught at Pittsburgh 16),
            touchdown (0:00), Septien kick. Play was first
            TD allowed by Steelers in 1st quarter all year
            (came on last play of quarter).
Dallas scoring drive: 41 yards, 3 plays, 1:00.
Pittsburgh 7, Dallas 7
END OF 1ST QUARTER


SECOND QUARTER

Septien kick to Pittsburgh 26, Larry Anderson 1 yard return (Huther).

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 15:00, moving left to right.
1-10-PS27   Bradshaw 10 yard pass to Grossman left, who
            makes great diving grab (Waters).
1-10-PS37   Harris 7 yard run left (Jones).
2-3-PS44    Harris 1 yard run up middle (Jones).
3-2-PS45    Harris 3 yard run off left tackle (Lewis).
1-10-PS48   Bradshaw pass to Grossman middle overthrown.
2-10-PS48   Bradshaw pass to Swann broken up (Waters).
3-10-PS48   Bradshaw loses snap, picks up ball, rolls left
            with Cowboys swarming, sacked for loss of 11
            by Henderson, ball stripped away by Hegman,
            37 yard return for touchdown (12:08). Septien
            PAT. Bradshaw shaken up on play, smelling
            salts administered on sidelines.
Dallas scoring drive: 37 yards, 1 plays, 0:08.
Dallas 14, Pittsburgh 7

Septien kick into endzone, touchback.

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 12:08, moving left to right.
1-10-PS20   Harris 2 yard run left, hit hard & taunted by
            Martin.
2-8-PS22    Harris 3 yard run left (Cole).
3-5-PS25    Bradshaw 75 yard dart to Stallworth right
            (catch at Steeler 35), Stallworth then broke
            up middle (got great block from Swann) &
            streaked remaining 65 yards untouched for
            touchdown. Gerela PAT.
Pittsburgh scoring drive: 80 yards, 3 plays, 1:43.
Pittsburgh 14, Dallas 14

Gerela kick to Dallas 10, Johnson 21 yard return (Mosier).

Dallas Cowboys ball at 10:25, moving right to left.
1-10-DC31   Newhouse sweep left, loss of 4 yards
            (Banaszak).
2-14-DC27   Dorsett sweep right, cut off by Greene, nailed
            by Ham for loss of 3 yards.	
3-17-DC24   Staubach plastered by Mean Joe Greene for loss
            of 11 yards, fumbled, Steve Furness had ball
            in his hands at Dallas 11 but tried to pick it
            up instead of falling on it, ball squirted
            away & was recovered by Rafferty for Dallas
            at 13 yard line.
4-28-DC13   D. White 38 yard punt, Bell 3 yard return
            (Henderson).

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 7:43, moving left to right.
1-10-DC48   Bradshaw 26 yard strike to Swann right
            (Waters).
1-10-DC22   Harris sweep left, snowed under for loss of 8
            yards (Jones).
2-18-DC30   Bradshaw pass to Grossman down middle
            incomplete. Play nullified and Dallas
            penalized 5 yards for defensive holding
            (Henderson). Automatic 1st down.
1-10-DC25   Bradshaw pass to Stallworth over middle
            dropped.
2-10-DC25   Harris 2 yard run left (Stalls).
3-8-DC23    Bradshaw sacked on all-out blitz, loss of 11
            yards (Hegman).
4-19-DC34   Gerela's 51-yard field goal attempt hit the
            crossbar, no good.

Dallas Cowboys ball at 4:55, moving right to left.
1-10-DC34   Dorsett 5 yard run (Furness).
2-5-DC39    Newhouse sweeep left, no gain (Cole)
3-5-DC39    Staubach 7 yard pass to P. Pearson right (Ham).
1-10-DC46   Staubach 11 yard pass to Hill right (Wagner).
            Two-minute warning.
1-10-PS44   Staubach beautiful screen pass to Dorsett
            under incredible pass rush, Dorsett makes
            outstanding, stretching grab and races 12
            yards for 1st down (Johnson). Dorsett taunts
            Johnson by holding ball in his face & Johnson
            attacks Dorsett. Offsetting unsportsmanlike
            conduct fouls on against Dallas (Dorsett) and
            Pittsburgh (Johnson) after the play.
1-10-PS32   Staubach, who is "sawn in half" (to quote
            Myron Cope) on the play by Dwight White,
            heaves a pass toward D. Pearson in crowd over
            middle. Blount intercepts at  Pittsburgh 16 &
            returns ball 13 yards (D. Pearson) before
            being LEVELED by DuPree with  forearm to the
            head (DuPree flagged for 15 yard personal
            foul). 

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 1:41, moving left to right.
1-10-PS44   Harris sweep left, loss of 2 yards (Hegman).
            Play nullified and Pittsburgh penalized 10
            yards for illegal use of hands (Mullins).
1-20-PS34   Bradshaw flanker screen right to Swann, who
            makes an amazing run after catch, dodging,
            spinning & leaping over would-be tacklers
            until he's finally dragged down 29 yards
            downfield (Waters)
1-10-DC37   Bradshaw 21 pass to wide open Swann (Lynn's
            3rd consecutive catch), who soars high to make
            one of his patented, leaping grabs (Barnes).
1-10-DC16   Bradshaw pass over middle to wide open Harris
            dropped.
2-10-DC16   Harris 9 yard run left, nearly broke free for
            TD (Kyle). Pittsburgh uses first time out.
3-1-DC7     Bradshaw rollout right, lofts beautiful
            touch pass to Bleier, who makes an
            unbelievable leaping catch in right corner
            of endzone, touchdown (0:26). Gerela PAT.
Pittsburgh scoring drive: 56 yards, 5 plays, 1:15.
Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 14

Gerela kick to Dallas 9 yard line, Brinson 25 yard return
(Winston).

Dallas Cowboys ball at 0:26, moving right to left.
1-10-DC34   Staubach 1 yard run evading pass rush
            (Greenwood).
2-9-DC35    P. Pearson 6 yard draw right (Ham).
3-3-DC41    Staubach pass to P. Pearson hits him in the
            hands, dropped.
END OF 2ND QUARTER
Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 14


THIRD QUARTER

Septien kick to Pittsburgh 15, L. Anderson 24 yard return.
(Brown).

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 15:00, moving right to left.
1-10-PS39   Harris sweep right, loss of 4 yards (Breunig).
2-14-PS35   Bradshaw pass to Bleier left overthrown.
3-14-PS35   Bradshaw pass 9 yard pass complete to Bell 
            (subbing for Stallworth, who missed 2nd half
            with leg cramps), then forced out of bounds.
4-5-PS44    Colquitt 41 yard punt, Johnson fair catch.

Dallas Cowboys ball at 13:44, moving left to right.
1-10-DC15   Newhouse run off left tackle, loss of 2 yards 
            (White).
2-12-DC13   Staubach pass under pressure to Dorsett
            dropped. Play nullified and Pittsburgh
            penalized 5 yards for defensive holding
            (Shell). Automatic 1st down.
1-10-DC18   Newhouse 5 yard run right (Lambert).
2-5-DC23    Dallas penalized 5 yards for delay of game.
2-10-DC18   Staubach 11 yard scramble evading pass rush
            (Greene).
1-10-DC29   Dorsett 1 yard run left (Cole).
2-9-DC30    Staubach 7 yard scramble evading pass rush
            (Furness).
3-2-DC37    Laidlaw run left, no gain (Cole).
4-2-DC37    D. White 43 yard punt, Bell 4 yard return
            (Henderson).

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 9:15, moving right to left.
1-10-PS24   Harris run right, loss of 2.
2-12-PS22   Bleier 1 yard run left (Stalls).
3-11-PS23   Pittsburgh penalized 5 yards for false start
            (Kolb).
3-16-PS18   Bradshaw pass one-hopped to Swann right
            sideline, incomplete.
4-16-PS18   Colquitt 36 yard punt, Johnson 12 yard return
            (Peterson).

Dallas Cowboys ball at 7:31, moving left to right.
1-10-PS42   Staubach received lateral from Dorsett, pass
            to Hill in end zone badly overthrown &
            incomplete (Johnson).
2-10-PS42   Dorsett 4 yard sweep right (Greenwood).
3-6-PS38    Staubach 8 yard pass to P. Pearson left
            (Blount).
1-10-PS30   Dorsett 1 yard run right (Ham).
2-9-PS29    Laidlaw 7 yard draw right (Ham).
3-2-PS22    Dorsett 5 yard run right (COle).
1-10-PS17   Staubach pass to DuPree right overthrown out
            of bounds.
2-10-PS17   Dorsett bursts free for 7 yards up middle,
            touchdown-saving tackle made by Shell. Dallas
            uses first time out. 
3-3-PS10    Staubach beats all-out Steelers blitz & 
            finds Jackie Smith wide open in endzone.
            SMITH DROPS PASS!
4-3-PS10    Septien, 27 yard field goal (2:36).
Dallas scoring drive: 32 yards, 9 plays, 4:55
Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17
		
Septien kick out of bounds. Dallas penalized 5 yards for
illegal procedure (Septien). Septien kick to Pittsburgh 9
yard line, L. Anderson 20 yard return. (Thurman).

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 2:36, moving right to left.
1-10-PS29   Harris 3 yard run up middle (Breunig).
2-7-PS32    Bradshaw pass to Bell over middle overthrown.
3-7-PS32    Bradshaw rushed, gets creamed but gets pass
            away to to Bell for 12 yard gain right (Kyle).
1-10-PS44   Bradshaw pass to Swann right underthrown.
2-10-PS44   Bradshaw pass to Swann right broken up
            (Barnes).
3-10-PS44   Bradshaw sacked, loss of 3 yards (R. White).
4-23-PS41   Colquitt 52 yard punt, Johnson 21 yard
            return (out of bounds).

Dallas Cowboys ball at 0:09, moving left to right.
1-10-DC28   Dorsett 2 yard sweep right (Shell).
END OF 3RD QUARTER:
Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17


FOURTH QUARTER

Dallas Cowboys ball at 15:00, moving right to left.
2-8-DC30    Staubach pass to D. Pearson right overthrown.
3-8-DC30    Staubach 13 yard swing pass to Dorsett left
            (Dungy).
1-10-DC43   Dorsett run off right tackle, no gain
            (Lambert).
2-10-DC43   Laidlaw 5 yard draw right (Lambert).
3-5-DC48    Staubach pass to Dorsett batted down (Greene).
4-5-DC48    D. White 44 yard punt downed at Pittsburgh 8.
            Play nullified and Dallas penalized 5 yards
            for illegal man downfield (Thurman).
4-10-DC43   D. White 50 yard punt, Bell 8 yard return
            (Henderson).

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 12:08, moving left to right.
1-10-PS15   Harris 2 yard run off right tackle (Jones).
2-8-PS17    Bradshaw rushed, pass to Bell underthrown.
3-8-PS17    Bradshaw PERFECT pass to well-covered Grossman
            right at the sticks for 9 yard gain and a 1st
            down (Harris). This HUGE play kept the drive
            alive and best of all, frustrated the crap out
            of Cliff Harris, who actually kicked at
            Grossman after the play.
1-10-PS26   Bradshaw 13 yard dart to Swann right (Barnes).
1-10-PS39   Harris 5 yard sweep left (White).
2-5-PS44    Bradshaw pass to Swann deep right incomplete
            when Barnes got feet tangled up with Swann's &
            tripped him. Play nullified and Dallas
            penalized 33 yards for pass interference
            (Barnes).
1-10-DC23   Bradshaw 4 yard flanker screen to Swann right
            flat (Martin). Swann was bent completely
            backwards on the tackle and Cliff Harris dove
            on & drove Swann even further back, but no
            flag was thrown. Amazingly, Swann jumped up
            unharmed.
2-6-DC19    Harris 2 yard run wide left (Kyle).
3-4-DC17    Pittsburgh penalized fro delay of game. 
            Bradshaw actually took the snap & dropped back
            as the whistle blew the play dead, but 
            "Hollywood" Henderson leveled Terry anyway. 
            Franco took exception and exchanged a few
            nose-to-nose words with Henderson. The rest, 
            as they say, is history...
3-9-DC2     Harris 22 yard burst over left guard and up 
            middle, touchdown (7:10) Take THAT, Henderson!
            Gerela PAT. Dallas penalized 5 yards for
            offsides, assessed on kickoff.
Pittsburgh scoring drive: 85 yards, 8 plays, 4:58
Pittsburgh 28, Dallas 17
		
Gerela (who slipped as he kicked ball) kick to Dallas 24,
picked up by Randy White (no return) who fumbled the ball
before he was hit (due to a cast on his left arm),
recovered for Pittsburgh by Winston at Dallas 18.

Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 6:57, moving left to right.
1-10-DC18   Bradshaw 18 yard strike to Swann (another nice
            grab) in the middle back of endzone for the
            touchdown (6:51). Gerela PAT.  Dallas again
            penalized 5 yards for offsides, assessed on
            kickoff.
Pittsburgh scoring drive: 18 yards, 1 plays, 0:06
Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 17
Gerela kick to Dallas 3, Johnson 19 yard return. Dallas
penalized half the distance (11 yards) for clipping
(Brown).

Dallas Cowboys ball at 6:51, moving right to left.
1-10-DC11   Staubach 7 yard swing pass to Dorsett left
            (Lambert).
2-3-DC18    Staubach sacked, loss of 8 yards (Banaszak).
3-11-DC10   Staubach 18 yard run evading pass rush 
            (Lambert).
1-10-DC28   Staubach 17 yard pass to D. Pearson right
            sideline (the catch was Drew Pearson's 1st of
            the day... shows what an incredible job
            secondary did -- Mel Blount in particular).
1-10-DC45   Dorsett 29 yard draw up middle (Johnson).
1-10-PS26   Staubach 10 yard pass to DuPree left (Toews).
1-10-PS16   Staubach 9 yard pass to D. Pearson middle
            (Cole).
2-1-PS7     Staubach 7 yard pass to DuPree right flat
            (caught a Pittsburgh 7), touchdown (2:27).
            Septien PAT.
Dallas scoring drive: 89 yards, 8 plays, 4:24.
Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 24
Septien onside kick to Dallas 48, touched by Dungy,
recovered by Thurman for Dallas at Dallas 48 yard line.

Dallas Cowboys ball at 2:23, moving right to left.
1-10-DC48   Staubach pass to DuPree broken up (Ham).
2-10-DC48   Staubach 22 yard pass to Drew Pearson right
            (Johnson).
            TWO-MINUTE WARNING
1-10-PS30   Staubach sacked, loss of 11 (Greenwood).
2-21-PS41   Staubach 3 yard pass to Dorsett right (Ham).
3-18-PS38   Staubach pass to Hill end zone overthrown.
4-18-PS38   Staubach 25 yard pass to D. Pearson middle
            (Wagner). Dallas takes 2nd time out (0:41)
            Injury to D. Pearson, who was driven into the
            ground head-first by Wagner & friends).
1-10-PS13   Staubach 9 yard pass to Dorsett middle
            (Wagner).
2-1-PS4     Staubach pass to P.Pearson in end zone
            underthrown.
3-1-PS4     Staubach 4 yard pass to Johnson right end 
            zone, touchdown (0:22). Spetien PAT.
Dallas scoring drive: 52 yards, 9 plays, 2:01.
Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31
		

Septien onside kick covered by Bleier at Dallas 45, no
return.

Dallas Cowboys ball at 2:23, moving right to left.
Pittsburgh Steelers ball at 0:22, moving left to right.
1-10-DC45   Bradshaw knelt down, loss of 3. Dallas takes
            final timeout.
2-13-DC48   Bradshaw knelt down, loss of 2.
Final Score: Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31


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