Super Bowl 1978

Following an owner’s meeting that was held in San Diego on March 16, 1976, Super Bowl XII was awarded to New Orleans. Super Bowl IX had previously been scheduled to be played in this stadium, but construction delays had entailed that the game had been played at the Tulane Stadium instead.

Super Bowl XII was played between the AFC’s Denver Broncos and NFC’s Dallas Cowboys on January 15, 1978, to decide which team would be crowned champions of the 1977 football season.

The Cowboys cruised to a 27-10 victory to secure their second Super Bowl win.

Notable for:

• Super Bowl XII was the first time the game had been played in a domed stadium during prime time hours.
• This was the first, and only time to this day, that two players were awarded the MVP honor: Randy White and Harvey Martin. It was also the first time that the accolade of MVP went to a defensive lineman.

The game got off to an exciting start when Craig Morton, the Broncos’ quarterback, was intercepted by Denver’s Randy Hughes on the 25. Tony Dorsett subsequently completed a three-yard run to break into the end zone. Morton was intercepted for a second time, allowing the Cowboys to kick a 35-yard field goal and establish a lead of 10-0. They extended this to 13-0 shortly before halftime with a 43-yard field goal.

The Broncos were not going to take defeat lying down, and they responded in the third quarter with a drive that saw Johnson produce a 45-yard touchdown pass and reduce the score to 13-3. However, the Cowboys later extended their lead to 20-3 with a (contested) touchdown from Butch Johnson. The Broncos’ Jensen responded with a 16-yard run to reach the one-yard line, where Rob Lytle scored, taking the score to 20-10.

However, it was not to be the Broncos’ game, and Dallas secured the victory in the fourth quarter when fullback Robert Newhouse executed a successful pass to receiver Golden Richards who scored a 29-yard touchdown with just over seven minutes of the match remaining.

Rewarded for their outstanding defensive performance, Harvey Martin and Randy White shared the MVP award, becoming the first co-MVPs in the history of the Super Bowl.