NFL Super Bowl Winners

"Pittsburgh Steelers the first team to win three Super Bowl′s"

Super Bowl XIII played on January 21 1979, 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 1978 AFC Central Division coached by Chuck Noll with a regular season record of 14-2-0. The Steelers recorded a point scoring average of 22.2 per game making them 5th in the league in offense but their points allowed average of 12.2 per game put them first in the league in defense.

The Steelers postseason games began with the AFC Divisional Playoffs in which they played the Denver Broncos. The Broncos had won the AFC West Division with a regular season record of 10-6-0 but had found point scoring difficult and were only 15th of 28 in the NFL in offense. However, the Broncos had been solid in defense and their points allowed average was second best in the league.

The two teams had met once in the final game of regular season with the Steelers winning a close contest 21 - 17 but what a difference 14 days made to the rematch. This time the Steelers won with a maximum amount of authority by 33 points to 10.

In the AFC Championship Game the Steelers opponents were the Houston Oilers who had finished 2nd in the AFC Central Division coached by Bum Phillips with a regular season record of 10-6-0. The Oilers were not, by any stretch of the imagination, a highly ranked team having finished 14th in offense and 16th in defense overall in the league. The Oilers had squeezed into the playoffs via a Wild Card place and to give credit had appeared to improve when beating the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Wild Card Game and then beating the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

The Steelers and the Oilers had met twice in regular season with one victory apiece. The Oilers obviously had a big game in them but were not consistent enough and one could realistically expect the "wheels to come off" their postseason challenge.

The Pittsburgh Steelers turned the Conference Championship into an extremely one sided affair exposing the Oilers to be some way short of the required calibre. The Steelers won the 1978 AFC Championship by 34 points to 5.

The Pittsburgh Steelers opponents in Super Bowl XIII were the Dallas Cowboys who had won the NFC East Division coached by Tom Landry with a regular season record of 12-4-0 and were the Super Bowl defending champions. The Cowboys offense point scoring average was 24 per game which was 1st of 28 in the NFL. The Cowboys had achieved a highly respectable points allowed average of 13 points conceded per game which made them 3rd best overall in the league.

The Cowboys postseason started with the NFC Divisional Playoffs in which they played the Atlanta Falcons who had finished 2nd in the NFC West Division coached by Leeman Bennett with a regular season record of 9-7-0.

The two teams had not met in the regular season but the Falcons were a lowly ranked team in both offense and defense and another of the Wild Card teams. They should not have posed too much of a problem for the Cowboys.

Nevertheless, the Falcons obviously on something of a high after being given a second chance via a wild card playoff berth, performed with credit and made the Cowboys work quite hard for the victory. The Dallas Cowboys won 27 - 20.

In the NFC Championship the Dallas Cowboys played the Los Angeles Rams who had won the NFC West Division coached by Ray Malavasi with a regular season record of 12-4-0. The Rams point scoring average was 19.8 per game which made their offense 9th of 28 in the NFL. Their points allowed average was 15.3 per game which put their defense 4th best overall in the league.

The two teams had met once in an early regular season game when the Los Angeles Rams had won with some authority by 27 points to 14.

However, it was a far different story this time. The Dallas Cowboys made mincemeat of the Rams to win 28 points to 0.

Super Bowl XIII looked a mouth watering prospect. The best team in defense versus the best team in offense.

The crowds were not disappointed. The first quarter was fairly even with both teams scoring seven points but in the second the Steelers began to pull ahead and by half time they were in a 21 - 14 lead.

The Cowboys refused to give in and came back with three points of their own in the third to narrow the gap to 21 - 17.

The final quarter saw the Steelers boost their lead to 35 points to 17 before a late rally from the Cowboys which clawed them back to within touching distance of the Steelers but it was too little and all too late. The Pittsburgh Steelers had won Super Bowl XIII by 35 - 31.

Super Bowl XIII MVP was Terry Bradshaw who completed 17 of 30 passes for 318 yards, which was a personal high. Four of those passes went for touchdowns.

Note
The Pittsburgh Steelers playoff averages were 34 points scored per game (22.2 regular season) and allowed an average of 15.3 conceded per game (12.2 regular season).

The Dallas Cowboys playoff averages were 28.7 points scored per game (24 regular season) and allowed an average of 18.3 conceded per game (13 regular season).

In Conclusion
It is nice to see that the two top teams from regular season, one in offense and one in defense made Super Bowl.

The Steelers and the Cowboys both raised the tempo in offense for the playoff season and it was only when they met each other in Super Bowl XIII that their defenses were pushed to the limits and their points allowed averages dropped. It was more than likely not as a result of any defensive weakness but probably because of offensive strengths. Both teams played a "no fear" game and were there to win.

I would say with a good deal of confidence that this was probably one of the better Super Bowl′s played of all time with only a fraction dividing the teams at the end of the day.

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC)	7	14	0	14	-	35
Dallas Cowboys (NFC)	7	7	3	14	-	31