NFL Super Bowl Winners

Super Bowl X played on January 18 1976, was won by the Champions of the AFC the Pittsburgh Steelers who defeated the NFC Champions the Dallas Cowboys at the Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had won the 1975 AFC Central Division coached by Chuck Noll with a regular season record of 12-2-0 and had achieved very respectable point scoring and point conceded averages. They had scored on average 26.6 points per game making them 5th of 26 in the NFL on offense and had conceded 11.6 points on average per game which made them second in the league for defense.

The two games the Steelers lost during regular season were against the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Rams.

The Buffalo Bills had only finished third in the 1975 AFC East Division and never made the playoffs but the interesting stat about them in 1975 is that they were the league′s top point scorers having the number one average for points scored per game. When the Steelers and the Bills met it was the Buffalo Bills who won 21 - 30.

The other game the Steelers lost was to the Los Angeles Rams by 10 - 3. The Rams were the top side in the league defensively in 1975.

All in all the Steelers regular season could be termed well above average as they only lost two games which were to the two top rated teams for offense and defense.

In the 1975 AFC postseason games the Steelers met the Baltimore Colts in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. The Colts had won the 1975 AFC East Division with a regular season record of 10-4-0 and were ranked 2nd of 26 in the NFL in offense although only 10th in defense.

The Pittsburgh Steelers strong defensive line worked well in this game and the Colts offense was limited to but a few chances. Steelers won well by 28 - 10.

In the AFC Championship Game the Pittsburgh Steelers played the Oakland Raiders who had finished 1st in the 1975 AFC West Division with a regular season record of 11-3-0 and were one of the better teams in the NFL at that time although a fair bit more "leaky" in defense than the Steelers. Going strictly by the book, the Raiders had lost three games in regular season those being to the Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Oilers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Whereas, the Steelers had beaten all three easily during regular season. Steelers were favorites but were made to work by the Raiders before eventually winning 16 - 10.

The Pittsburgh Steelers opponents in Super Bowl X were the Dallas Cowboys coached by Tom Landry who had finished second in the 1975 NFC East Division with a regular season record of 10-4-0. They were 8th of 26 in the NFL for offense with a point scoring average of 25 per game and only 9th for defense with a points conceded average of 19.1 per game. After the 1975 regular season the Cowboys were most definitely at the bottom end of those teams making the playoffs but exceeded all expectations through the postseason games.

The Cowboys met the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. The Vikings had won the 1975 NFC Central Division with a regular season record of 12-2-0 and had finished third in the league for both point scoring and points allowed.

Looking for pointers to this game from regular season, the Vikings had lost to the Detroit Lions but the Cowboys had beaten them. Whilst the Cowboys had lost to the Green Bay Packers who the Vikings had managed to beat. Not much really but the Vikings were the higher ranked side. Anyhow, in a close game the Cowboys showing a better side to their defensive game edged it and beat the Vikings 17 - 14.

In the NFC Championship Game the Cowboys opponents were the Los Angeles Rams who had finished 1st in NFC West Division with a regular season record of 12-2-0 and were the top defensive unit in the league during regular season. However, looking for form to link the two, the Cowboys and the Rams had met once during normal season and it was the Cowboys who had won 18 - 7.

The Cowboys won again and whilst still holding the Rams to scoring only seven points upped the tempo and scored 37 themselves.
Dallas Cowboys 37 - 7 Los Angeles Rams.

For Super Bowl X the two teams left looked to be an interesting clash. The Pittsburgh Steelers, the reigning Super Bowl Champs who had shown good form through regular season and had won their Conference in convincing fashion & the Dallas Cowboys who had really set themselves alight for the playoffs showing both better offensive and defensive qualities to win the NFC Championship but had the Cowboys improved enough?
Not a clear line of form could necessarily be drawn between the teams to distinguish if one was better than the other. Both teams had come up against the Los Angeles Rams throughout the course of the 1975 NFL season with the Cowboys holding the better record over the Rams with two victories to the Steelers loss. However, the Steelers had beaten two sides in regular season that the Cowboys had lost to, those being the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Super Bowl X saw the Cowboys get off to the better start and by half time were in a 10 - 7 lead.

After a third quarter which saw no points scored it was all to play for as the teams went into the 4th. The game took off!

The Steelers with nothing to lose, picked up the pace on offense and scored 14 points whilst their defense limited the Cowboys to just 7 points. The Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl X by 21 points to 17.

Lynn Swann of the Pittsburgh Steelers was named Super Bowl X MVP after gaining 161 yards on 4 receptions.

Note
The Pittsburgh Steelers had shown themselves to be a strong force and not far off the top of the pile throughout regular season and whilst not improving their scoring average during the playoffs with 21.7 points scored (26.6 regular season) they most definitely were starting to adopt a "siege mentality" in defense with 12.3 points on average allowed (11.6 regular season) which was achieved against some very good point scoring opposition.

The Cowboys definitely got better as the NFL Season progressed and ended with very good playoff averages. They scored 23.7 on average per game in the playoffs (25 regular season) and allowed only 14 points on average conceded per game (19.1 regular season). These figures compare quite well with the Steelers although it is worth pointing out that the Cowboys conceded 50% of their postseason points allowed in just one game and that game was Super Bowl X.

In Conclusion
The Cowboys, after only showing fair form in regular season may have come to the boil too quick in the playoffs. Their best game all season was more than likely the Conference Championship Game when they beat the Los Angeles Rams in emphatic style. Nevertheless, when it came to the crunch they were only found out by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who over the course of seventeen games proved themselves to be THE TOUGHEST NUT TO CRACK!

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Dallas Cowboys (NFC)	7	3	0	7	-	17
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC)	7	0	0	14	-	21

Lynn Swann Pittsburgh Steelers Autographed 16x20 Photograph

Lynn Swann was Pittsburgh Steelers number one draft pick in 1974. As a rookie, Swann led the NFL in punt returns with 577 yard on 41 returns. Blessed with speed, fluid movements and a tremendous jumping ability, Lynn Swann became a regular at wide receiver in his second year and quickly demonstrated that he was a complete player with phenomenal natural abilities. Swann eventually helped lead the Steelers to four Super Bowl Championships and was named the MVP of Super Bowl X where he caught four receptions for a then-Super Bowl record 161 yards.