Super Bowl XIII
Super Bowl XIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1978 season. The Steelers defeated the Cowboys by the score of 35–31. The game was played on January 21, 1979, at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, the fifth and last time that the Super Bowl was played in that stadium.
"1979 Super Bowl" redirects here. For the Super Bowl that was played at the completion of the 1979 season, see Super Bowl XIV.
Pittsburgh Steelers (1)
(AFC)
(14–2)
January 21, 1979
79,484[3]
47.1
(est. 74.74 million viewers)[5]
74
$185,000[6]
Jack Buck and Hank Stram
This was the first Super Bowl that featured a rematch of a previous one (the Steelers had previously beaten the Cowboys, 21–17, in Super Bowl X), and both teams were attempting to be the first club to win a third Super Bowl. Dallas was also the defending Super Bowl XII champion, and finished the 1978 regular season with a 12–4 record, and posted playoff victories over the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Rams. Pittsburgh entered the game after posting a 14–2 regular season record and playoff wins over the Denver Broncos and the Houston Oilers. Super Bowl XIII is also the only Super Bowl to date that featured two teams (and quarterbacks) that had previously won two Super Bowls in the same decade. The Dallas Cowboys (quarterbacked by Roger Staubach) won Super Bowl VI during the 1971–72 season and Super Bowl XII during the 1977–78 season. The Pittsburgh Steelers (quarterbacked by Terry Bradshaw) won Super Bowl IX during the 1974–75 season, and Super Bowl X during the 1975–76 season.
Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw was named Super Bowl MVP for completing 17 of 30 passes for 318 yards and 4 touchdowns (both of which were Super Bowl records at the time) with 1 interception. He was the first quarterback since Staubach in Super Bowl VI to win the award. Bradshaw eclipsed Bart Starr's Super Bowl record for passing yards in the first half with 253 yards in the air as the Steelers led 21–14 at intermission. His 75-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter also tied Johnny Unitas in Super Bowl V for the longest pass in a Super Bowl. The Cowboys were able to stay close, only trailing 21–17 at the end of the third quarter, but Pittsburgh scored two touchdowns in a span of 19 seconds in the fourth period. Dallas also could not overcome turnovers, drops, and a controversial penalty during the second half. The Cowboys were able to score two touchdowns in the final minutes of the game, but still ended up being the first defending champion to lose in the Super Bowl and the first losing Super Bowl team to score 30 points or more.
Due to its thrilling nature and the performances by both teams leading to a close game, it is considered one of the greatest Super Bowls.[7][8][9]
The game featured a combined 26 Hall of Famers (15 from the Steelers and 11 from the Cowboys).
Background[edit]
Host selection process[edit]
The NFL awarded Super Bowl XIII to Miami on June 14, 1977, at the owners' meetings held in New York City. For the first time since 1973, multiple Super Bowl host sites were selected at the same meeting. It marked the fifth and final time the Orange Bowl was chosen to host a Super Bowl. A total of eight cities submitted bids: Miami, Pasadena (Rose Bowl), Los Angeles (Coliseum), Houston, New Orleans, Dallas (Cotton Bowl), Seattle (Kingdome), and Detroit (Pontiac Silverdome).[10][11] Seattle and Detroit were attempting to become the first cold-weather city to host a Super Bowl, albeit inside a domed stadium. Though neither were selected, Detroit was invited to bid for a future game at the next meeting.[12]
The selection of Miami was seen by some as a surprise, due to the aging condition of the Miami Orange Bowl. Representatives from Miami touted a proposed $8–15 million stadium improvement project, a plan to erect temporary bleachers to increase capacity to nearly 80,000 spectators, and offered the facility for low rent.[10][11] Observers noted that the owners stuck with familiar venues this time around, choosing Miami for XIII and Pasadena for XIV. Early favorite[13] Houston (Rice Stadium) reportedly fell out of favor with owners when it was revealed that birds were found in the showers of the Vikings training facility during Super Bowl VIII.[14] Likewise New Orleans was passed over since the Superdome was already set to host Super Bowl XII.
This was the first Super Bowl held on January 21 or later. For the 1978–79 season, the NFL extended its schedule from 14 regular season games to 16 and increased the playoffs from an 8-team tournament to 10, creating two extra playoff games. The three division winners from each conference would be ranked first through third and be given a week off, and two wild card teams from each conference, seeded fourth and fifth, would play a playoff game with the winner going on to play the first seeded team (or, if they were in the same division, the second seed).
Broadcasting[edit]
The game was televised in the United States by NBC, with Curt Gowdy handling play-by-play and sharing the booth with color commentators John Brodie and Merlin Olsen. Dick Enberg served as the pregame host for the broadcast. Also taking part in NBC's coverage were Bryant Gumbel, Mike Adamle (who also covered the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation ceremony), Donna De Varona, and recently retired former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton. For this game and Super Bowl XV, NBC used a custom, synthesizer-heavy theme in place of their regular music.
This was Gowdy's seventh and final Super Bowl telecast, and his last major event for NBC before moving to CBS later in 1979. Enberg had essentially succeeded Gowdy as NBC's lead NFL play-by-play announcer in the 1978 regular season, and network producers didn't decide until nearly the last minute which man would get the Super Bowl call.[18] As of 2023, Brodie is the last living television announcer, either play-by-play or color, from any of the first 18 Super Bowls.
The national radio broadcast of Super Bowl XIII was carried by the CBS Radio Network, with Jack Buck and Hank Stram calling the action and Pat Summerall hosting. Locally, Verne Lundquist and Brad Sham called the game for the Cowboys on KRLD-AM in Dallas, while Jack Fleming and Myron Cope called it for the Steelers on WTAE-AM in Pittsburgh. A technical glitch led to Fleming and Cope's commentary going out over NBC's television broadcast in place of the network's own audio during the coin toss ceremony.
NBC's Super Bowl lead-out program was the series premiere of Brothers and Sisters.
The game was later featured on NFL's Greatest Games as Battle of Champions.
Entertainment[edit]
The pregame festivities featured the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and several military bands. The Colgate Thirteen performed the national anthem, while the Stetson University Army ROTC Color Guard presented the Colors. The coin toss ceremony featured Pro Football Hall of Famer and longtime Chicago Bears owner/head coach George Halas, who was driven onto the field in a 1920 automobile to commemorate the 1920 founding of the NFL.
The halftime show was "Carnival: A Salute to the Caribbean" with various Caribbean bands.
This was the first Super Bowl to use a seven-man officiating crew. The side judge was added by a vote of NFL owners at their March 1978 meeting.
Jack Fette became the first official to work four Super Bowls. He added a fifth nine years later, which turned out to be his final game as an on-field official.