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Staubach then led his team 80 yards in 5 plays on the ensuing drive, scoring on a 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Percy Howard and cutting their deficit to 21–17 (Howard's touchdown reception was the only catch of his NFL career; he was not mentioned by name by John Facenda in the highlight package produced by NFL Films). After Gerry Mullins recovered Dallas' onside kick attempt, the Steelers then tried to run out the clock on the next drive with four straight running plays, but the Cowboys defense stopped them on fourth down at their 39-yard line, giving Dallas one more chance to win. Some questioned why Noll would elect to go for it on fourth down but, as later explained by NFL Films, his entire kicking game had been suspect all game long with Gerela missing an extra point and two field goals while Walden fumbled a snap on a punt and nearly had two others blocked. (Gerela's problems may have begun on the opening kickoff when he was forced to make a touchdown saving tackle on Hollywood Henderson.)
With a modern tint, that seems insane, but what were people's thoughts at the time?
Staubach then led his team 80 yards in 5 plays on the ensuing drive, scoring on a 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Percy Howard and cutting their deficit to 21–17 (Howard's touchdown reception was the only catch of his NFL career; he was not mentioned by name by John Facenda in the highlight package produced by NFL Films). After Gerry Mullins recovered Dallas' onside kick attempt, the Steelers then tried to run out the clock on the next drive with four straight running plays, but the Cowboys defense stopped them on fourth down at their 39-yard line, giving Dallas one more chance to win. Some questioned why Noll would elect to go for it on fourth down but, as later explained by NFL Films, his entire kicking game had been suspect all game long with Gerela missing an extra point and two field goals while Walden fumbled a snap on a punt and nearly had two others blocked. (Gerela's problems may have begun on the opening kickoff when he was forced to make a touchdown saving tackle on Hollywood Henderson.)
With a modern tint, that seems insane, but what were people's thoughts at the time?
I think Noll was worried that Dallas would block the kick, and he felt the defense would come thru. With Bradshaw out of the game and Hanratty in at QB, a safe pass that would pick up the nine yards was not a high percentage play. If they were going for it, their best bet at that point was a run. If Bradshaw were still in the game, I think he would have gone for a sideline pass to Swann or Stallworth so that if the was overthrown it would go out of bounds.
"Every time you lose, you die a little bit. You die inside. Not all your organs, maybe just your liver." - George Allen
Andy Russell said, "I couldn't figure it out. I didn't know what (Chuck Noll's) plan was. But don't ask me to second guess the fellow. I won't do that."
Tom Landry said, "It was a judgment a coach must make. Noll has always had a lot of confidence in his defense. I've seen him do it before. Of course, when they didn't make it, it gave their defense a chance since we had good field position. I was a little surprised by the move, but at the end we had no timeouts remaining and we couldn't get the ball out of bounds."
Thanks, guys. A 4th-and-9 run in a competitive game seems pretty weird, even for that era. I guess the Bradshaw injury makes a run more likely than a pass, but were blocked punts materially more common back then to make the risk that significant?
Chase Stuart wrote:Thanks, guys. A 4th-and-9 run in a competitive game seems pretty weird, even for that era. I guess the Bradshaw injury makes a run more likely than a pass, but were blocked punts materially more common back then to make the risk that significant?
Blocked punts were pretty common for Chuck Knox's 1973-77 Ram teams.
Chase Stuart wrote:Thanks, guys. A 4th-and-9 run in a competitive game seems pretty weird, even for that era. I guess the Bradshaw injury makes a run more likely than a pass, but were blocked punts materially more common back then to make the risk that significant?
Blocked punts were pretty common for Chuck Knox's 1973-77 Ram teams.
And, I suppose, it did bite the Steelers against the Vikings in the Super Bowl the year before, for whatever that is worth.
The Steelers had blocked a Cowboys punt early in the fourth quarter for a safety, so the mere idea of a block was definitely still fresh in their minds.
Most football "experts" talk about the number 17 being important for a defense, as in the maximum number of points that should be allowed in order to win regularly. In '74, after Bradshaw was returned to the starting lineup, the Steelers didn't allow more than 17 in any of the remaining 11 games (including postseason) and went 9-2. In '75, in the 16 games prior to SB 10, they had only allowed teams to go past 17 twice and went 14-2. In short, Noll had good reason to trust his defense, which ironically had allowed 17 points up to that point.
The thing that always surprised me about the aftermath of Super Bowl X is that Noll did not replace Bobby Walden before the 1976 season, or at least drafted a punter in 1976. I haven't been able to find any information that Walden was challenged for his job in training camp in 1976. Going into the '76 season Walden was 38, and had been blocked once in a Super Bowl which directly resulted in a TD and was nearly blocked a couple more times in the following Super Bowl. Greg Coleman went in the 14th round in the 1976 draft, he would have solved the Steelers punting problems for a decade and they would have never needed Craig Colquitt. Speaking of Colquitt, looking at his age in PFR.com (born in early 1954) he may have graduated from Tennessee in 1976 and been a free agent which could have put him in Pittsburgh as early as 1976 instead of 1978.
"Every time you lose, you die a little bit. You die inside. Not all your organs, maybe just your liver." - George Allen
Rupert Patrick wrote:The thing that always surprised me about the aftermath of Super Bowl X is that Noll did not replace Bobby Walden before the 1976 season, or at least drafted a punter in 1976. I haven't been able to find any information that Walden was challenged for his job in training camp in 1976. Going into the '76 season Walden was 38, and had been blocked once in a Super Bowl which directly resulted in a TD and was nearly blocked a couple more times in the following Super Bowl. Greg Coleman went in the 14th round in the 1976 draft, he would have solved the Steelers punting problems for a decade and they would have never needed Craig Colquitt. Speaking of Colquitt, looking at his age in PFR.com (born in early 1954) he may have graduated from Tennessee in 1976 and been a free agent which could have put him in Pittsburgh as early as 1976 instead of 1978.
Barry Burton, who was also a tight end, was brought in. However, after he shanked a punt in the first NFL exihibition game, he was gone.
Colquitt was still playing at Tennessee in '76 and '77.
