NFL Super Bowl Winners

"The First Super Bowl Played After the Completion of the AFL-NFL Merger"

Super Bowl V played on January 17 1971, was won by the Champions of the AFC the Baltimore Colts who defeated the NFC Champions the Dallas Cowboys at the Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida. The game was played on an artificial surface for the first time.

This Super Bowl was the first to be played after the 1970 merger of America′s two major professional football leagues, those being the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). The NFL name and logo were carried forward as the name for the new league.

The teams on paper were probably fairly evenly matched. Both had won their respective divisions in the newly formed version of the National Football League (NFL). The Colts coached by Don McCafferty had won the 1970 AFC East Division with a regular season record of 11-2-1.

The Cowboys coached by Tom Landry had taken the 1970 NFC East Division with a regular season of 10-4-0.

However of 1970, despite the excitement of the new league, the season could not possibly be remembered as a vintage NFL Season. Both of the teams making Super Bowl were not prolific point scorers and neither was the best defensively. Nevertheless, this is where the difference between the grind of the regular season and the pulsating playoffs lie. Some teams can hold their form for long periods of time doing enough each week to get a result but when it comes to a one off game with more at stake, players can raise themselves to a different level. At which point past form is not always a reliable guide.

The Baltimore Colts Playoff Season started with a 17 - 0 whitewash of the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. This was followed by a 27 - 17 victory over the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship Game.

In similar fashion the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Detroit Lions 5 - 0 in the NFC Divisional Playoffs and then beat the San Francisco 49ers 17 - 10 in the NFC Championship Game.

Possibly as a result of there being more at stake through reaching a postseason, there did appear to be one similarity between the Baltimore Colts and the Dallas Cowboys during the 1970 NFL Playoffs and that was they both improved defensively (though neither improved offensively). In regular season play the Colts had averaged 16.7 points conceded per game but in the playoffs that average dropped to 10, whilst the Cowboys conceded an average 15.8 per game regular season and only a very miserly 8.7 throughout postseason. However, that is where a line can be drawn under stats because the Cowboys conceded over 60% of the points scored against them postseason in just one game - that game was Super Bowl V.

Super Bowl V saw the Cowboys take a 13 - 6 lead by half time but after a third quarter which was scoreless for both teams, the Colts in the fourth quarter moved up a gear to score ten points with no reply from the Cowboys. A thrilling victory was earned by the Colts after rookie kicker Jim O′Brien scored a 32 yard field goal in the final five seconds of the game. The Colts won a very close Super Bowl V 16 - 13.

One peculiarity of Super Bowl V was that the Most Valuable Player Award was given to Chuck Howley who was a linebacker on the losing side the Dallas Cowboys. So far it is the only Super Bowl MVP awarded to a member of the losing team.

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Baltimore Colts (AFC)	0	6	0	10	-	16
Dallas Cowboys (NFC)	3	10	0	0	-	13

Jim O′Brien Baltimore Colts Autographed Throwback Jersey with Inscription