Super Bowl V, 1971: Baltimore 16 Dallas 13

Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1970 season. It was the fifth edition of the Super Bowl and the first modern-era NFL championship game. The Colts defeated the Cowboys by the score of 16–13 on a field goal with 5 seconds left in the game. The game was played on January 17, 1971, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, the first Super Bowl game played on artificial turf, on first-generation Poly-Turf.

The game was the first Super Bowl played after the completion of the AFL–NFL merger. Beginning with this game and continuing to the present day, the Super Bowl has served as the NFL's championship game, with the winner of the AFC Championship Game and the winner of the NFC Championship Game facing off in the culmination of the NFL playoffs. As per the merger agreement, all 26 AFL and NFL teams were divided into two conferences with 13 teams in each. Along with the Colts, the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to join the ten AFL teams to form the AFC; the remaining 13 NFL teams formed the NFC. This explains why the Colts represented the NFL in Super Bowl III, but the AFC for Super Bowl V. Baltimore advanced to Super Bowl V after posting an 11–2–1 regular season record. Meanwhile, the Cowboys were making their first Super Bowl appearance after posting a 10–4 regular season record.

The game is often referred to as the "Blunder Bowl," "Blooper Bowl," or "Stupor Bowl" due to it being marred with poor play, a blocked PAT, missed opportunities, penalties, turnovers, and officiating miscues. The two teams combined for a Super Bowl record 11 turnovers, with five solely in the fourth quarter. The Colts' seven turnovers remain the most committed by a Super Bowl champion. Dallas also set a Super Bowl record with 10 penalties, costing them 133 yards. It was finally settled when Colts rookie kicker Jim O'Brien made a 32-yard field goal with five seconds left in regulation time, then a Super Bowl record for least time in the lead for a champion. Baltimore overcame a 13–6 deficit after three quarters and the loss of its starting quarterback Johnny Unitas to an injury in the second quarter. To date, the game is the only Super Bowl in which the Most Valuable Player Award was given to a member of the losing team: Cowboys' linebacker Chuck Howley, the first non-quarterback to win the award, after making two interceptions (sacks and tackles were not yet recorded).

Due to its blunders, the game is often regarded among the worst Super Bowls played, but is also recognized as the title the Colts needed after losing Super Bowl III.

Game summary
First quarter
The first three possessions of Super Bowl V ended quietly with each team punting after a three-and-out. Then, on the first play of the Colts' second drive, Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley intercepted a pass from Johnny Unitas and returned it 22 yards to the Colts' 46-yard line, the first of 11 combined turnovers committed by both teams. The Cowboys failed to take advantage of the turnover, with a 15-yard holding penalty 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage pushing them back to a 3rd-and-33 situation. Walt Garrison gained 11 yards and Dallas had to punt. However, Colts punt returner Ron Gardin muffed the return, and the loose ball was recovered by Cowboys safety Cliff Harris at the Colts' 9-yard line. The Cowboys were unable to score a touchdown and settled for kicker Mike Clark's 14-yard field goal to establish a 3–0 lead.

After a Colts punt which they failed to keep from reaching the end zone, Cowboys quarterback Craig Morton completed a 41-yard pass to Bob Hayes (Morton's longest pass of the game) to reach the Colts' 12-yard line, with a roughing the passer penalty adding 6 yards (half the distance to the goal), but Dallas was denied the end zone by the Baltimore defense for a second time. Linebacker Ted Hendricks deflected Morton's pass on first down and running back Duane Thomas was tackled for a 1-yard loss on second down.

Second quarter
Morton committed a 15-yard intentional grounding penalty on third down to open the 2nd quarter, pushing the Cowboys back to the 22-yard line and forcing them to settle for Clark's 30-yard field goal, stretching the score to 6–0.

On their next possession the Colts offense got a break. After two straight incompletions to open the drive, Unitas uncorked a pass to Eddie Hinton that was both high and behind the receiver. The ball ricocheted off Hinton's hands, was tipped by Dallas defensive back Mel Renfro, then landed in the arms of tight end John Mackey, who sprinted 75 yards for a touchdown. The Cowboys subsequently blocked Jim O'Brien's extra point attempt to keep the score tied at 6–6, with O'Brien later saying that he was "awfully nervous" and hesitated a second too long before kicking it.

Six minutes into the second quarter, Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy Jordan tackled Unitas, causing him to fumble. Defensive lineman Jethro Pugh recovered the loose ball at the Baltimore 28 and Dallas capitalized three plays later, scoring on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Morton to Thomas to establish a 13–6 lead. The next time the Colts had the ball they quickly turned it over yet again, with Unitas unleashing a fluttering interception to Renfro while being hit fiercely on a pass. Unitas was knocked out of the game permanently on the play with a rib injury and was replaced by Earl Morrall, who was widely blamed for the Colts loss in Super Bowl III. The Cowboys, starting from their own 15, were unable to score any points off the turnover. After sustaining a 15-yard pass interference penalty, they punted. After regaining possession, the Colts offense, led by Morrall, stormed all the way to the Cowboys 2-yard line with less than two minutes remaining in the half. However, the Cowboys defense stiffened. Colts running back Norm Bulaich was stuffed on three consecutive rushing attempts from inside the 2-yard line. On fourth down, Morrall threw an incomplete pass, turning the ball over on downs and ending the half with Dallas leading 13–6.

Third quarter
The second half was a parade of turnovers, sloppy play, penalties, and missed opportunities.

Colts returner Jim Duncan fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half and Dallas recovered. Then the Cowboys drove to the Colts' 1-yard line, but Mike Curtis punched the ball loose from Cowboys running back Duane Thomas before crossing the end zone, and the Colts took over at the 1 as Duncan was credited with the recovery–-a controversial call because when the resulting pile-up was sorted out, Dallas center Dave Manders was holding the ball. The energized Colts then drove to the Cowboys' 44-yard line but came up empty when O'Brien's 52-yard field goal attempt fell short of the goal posts. However, instead of attempting to return the missed field goal, Renfro allowed it to bounce inside their own 1-yard line where it was downed by center Tom Goode (NFL rules prior to 1974 allowed a field goal that fell short of the goal posts to be downed just like a punt; that rule is still in effect in high school football). "I thought it would carry into the end zone", Renfro explained after the game.

Dallas, backed up to its own end zone, punted after three plays. The Colts would have received the ball inside Dallas territory following the punt, but a 15-yard clipping penalty pushed the Colts back to their own 39 to begin the drive. Two plays later, Morrall completed a 45-yard pass to running back Tom Nowatzke to reach the Cowboys 15-yard line.

Fourth quarter
Three plays later, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Morrall threw an interception to Howley in the end zone to preserve the Cowboys' 13–6 lead.

After forcing the Cowboys to punt, the Colts regained the ball on their own 18-yard line, still trailing 13–6. Aided by a pass interference call and a 23-yard completion, the Colts advanced into Dallas territory. Another pass interference call against the Cowboys gave the Colts a first down at the Dallas 39-yard-line. A run by Nowatzke moved the ball to the 31-yard line. The Colts then attempted to fool the Cowboys with a flea-flicker, resulting in one of the oddest plays in Super Bowl history. Running back Sam Havrilak took a handoff and ran right, intending to lateral the ball back to Morrall, but Pugh stormed into the backfield and prevented him from doing so. Havrilak (who played quarterback at Bucknell) then threw a pass intended for Mackey, but it was caught instead by Hinton, who promptly took off for the end zone. However, as Hinton raced toward a touchdown, Cowboys defensive back Cornell Green stripped him from behind at the 11. The loose ball bounced wildly in the field of play, evading recovery attempts by six different players until it was eventually pushed 20 yards through the back of the end zone for a touchback, thus returning the ball to the Cowboys at their 20.

Three plays after the turnover the Cowboys returned the favor. Morton threw a pass that was intercepted by Colts safety Rick Volk, who returned the ball 30 yards to the Cowboys' 3 (Morrall later referred to that play as the play of the game).[11] Two plays later, the Colts scored on a two-yard touchdown run by Nowatzke. O'Brien's extra point sailed through the uprights to tie the game at 13–13. (O'Brien says he was much calmer and more confident on this extra point than on the first one, which was blocked.)

The next two possessions ended in traded punts, with the Cowboys eventually taking over in excellent field position at the Colts 48-yard line with less than two minutes left in the game.

On the second play of this potential game-winning drive, Dallas committed a 15-yard holding penalty (its second offensive holding of the game) on the 42-yard line, which was a spot foul, pushing the team all the way back to its own 27-yard line (the NFL did not reduce the penalty for offensive holding to 10 yards until 1974). Then, on second down and 35, Morton threw a pass that slipped through the hands of running back Dan Reeves and bounced for an interception into the arms of linebacker Mike Curtis, who then returned the ball 13 yards to the Cowboys' 28-yard line.

Two plays later, with nine seconds left in the game, O'Brien kicked the go ahead 32-yard field goal, giving Baltimore a 16–13 lead. O'Brien says he was "on automatic" and was so calm and concentrating so hard that he didn't hear anything and saw only the ball. In an enduring image from Super Bowl V, after O'Brien's game-winning field goal Bob Lilly took off his helmet and hurled it through the air in disgust.

The Cowboys received the ball again on their 40 with a few seconds remaining after O'Brien's ensuing squib kick, but Morton's pass to Garrison was intercepted by Logan at the Baltimore 29, and time expired.

Postscript
Morrall was the top passer of the game, with 7 out of 15 completions for 147 yards, with 1 interception. Before being knocked out of the game, Unitas completed 3 out of 9 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, with 2 interceptions. Morton completed more passes than Morrall and Unitas combined (12), but finished the game with 118 fewer passing yards (127), and was intercepted 3 times (all in the fourth quarter). Mackey was the top receiver of the game with 2 receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown. Nowatzke was the Colts' leading rusher with 33 yards and a touchdown, while also catching a pass for 47 yards. Dallas running back Walt Garrison was the leading rusher of the game with 65 rushing yards, and added 19 yards on 2 pass rec.

Referencing the numerous turnovers, Morrall said, "It really was a physical game. I mean, people were flying into one another out there." "It was really a hard-hitting game," wrote O'Brien. "It wasn't just guys dropping the ball. They fumbled because they got the snot knocked out of them." Said Tom Landry:

I haven't been around many games where the players hit harder. Sometimes people watch a game and see turnovers and they talk about how sloppy the play was. The mistakes in that game weren't invented, at least not by the people who made them. Most were forced.

"We figured we could win if our offense didn't put us into too many holes", said 35-year-old Colts lineman Billy Ray Smith, who was playing in his last NFL game, "Let me put it this way, they didn't put us into any holes we couldn't get out of".

Colts defensive end Bubba Smith would later refuse to wear his Super Bowl V ring because of the "sloppy" play. In a similar action, Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley refused to accept the most valuable player award because it was meaningless to him after his team lost.

Don McCafferty became the first rookie head coach to win a Super Bowl. The feat was not repeated until George Seifert led the San Francisco 49ers to victory in Super Bowl XXIV. McCafferty was also the first Super Bowl-winning coach who did not wear coat and tie, opting for a short-sleeved T-shirt with a mock turtleneck.

This Super Bowl would also start a trend with the team that lost the game would come back the next year and win it. Dallas lost this game but they would come back and win it all the next year in Super Bowl VI while their opponents, the Miami Dolphins, lost that game, they would go on to win Super Bowl VII the following season.

Two rule changes that were adopted before the 1974 season were:

When the defensive team commits an illegal use of hands, arms, or body foul from behind the line of scrimmage, the penalty will be assessed from the previous spot instead of the spot of the foul.
The penalties for offensive holding, illegal use of hands, and tripping were reduced from 15-yards to 10-yards.
These would have reduced the severity of the two Dallas offensive holding penalties in Super Bowl V.

This was the first and only Super Bowl where the Trophy presentation was done by somebody other than the commissioner, in this case, Marie Lombardi the wife of recently deceased coach Vince Lombardi. Super Bowl V also marked the debut of the newly renamed Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Wikipedia