The Super Bowl is just 22 days away. Let’s look at the Super Bowl from 22 years ago to honor this not-that-significant occasion!
Tempe hosted Super Bowl XXX on January 28, 1996. The game pitted the NFC champion Dallas Cowboys against the Pittsburgh Steelers of the American Football Conference. This was the first and only time that franchises met in the Super Bowl on a third occasion. The Steelers won both tussles in the 70’s. This time, they were the decided underdog.
Dallas Cowboys 22 Years Ago
Under Coach Barry Switzer, the Cowboys were one of three very strong NFC teams. They would battle the 49ers led by Steve Young and the Packers with NFL MVP Brett Favre for conference supremacy. The Cowboys whisked Deion Sanders away from San Francisco during the offseason. Therefore, teams would frequently go after the “other” starting cornerback, Larry Brown.
The 1995 regular season was absolutely wild for the Cowboys. Switzer focused on the run game. Thus, Emmitt Smith broke the then-record with 25 touchdowns in one season – all rushing. Dallas secured several exciting wins amid their 12-4 campaign. On opening night, they blasted the Giants. A few weeks later, they got a great OT against Minnesota. And, on Thanksgiving, they showed the AFC-leading Chiefs who was boss with a 24-12 victory.
The season featured some confounding losses as well. They were swept by the 6-10 Redskins, crushed at home by the 49ers, and lost at Philadelphia in perhaps the most memorable game of the season. On a 4th and one with two minutes to go, the Eagles stuffed Smith on the Cowboys’ twenty-nine. The whistle had blown, so Dallas ran the same play. And…Philly stopped them again. The Eagles won, 20-17.
In the playoffs, Dallas walloped Philly and overcame Favre and the Pack in a fun NFC championship game. Dallas was on their way to their third Super Bowl in four seasons. Could they do the unprecedented and win it?
Pittsburgh Steelers 22 Years Ago
Alfredo Quintana
They would be facing the Steelers under young coach Bill Cowher. Cowher developed a team in his own image. They were tough, hard-nosed and relentless. Their best player on offense was WR Yancey Thigpen. Thigpen finished with over 1300 yards receiving. Overall, the Steelers finished 5th in the league in offense behind QB Neil O’Donnell and the running tandem of Erric Pegram and Bam Morris.
The Steelers 3rd-ranked defense was led by Kevin Greene, Carnell Lake and first team All-pro Greg Lloyd. During the early portion of the ’95 season, the Steelers’ defense underachieved. Hence, Pittsburgh limped to a 3-4 start. But, the Steelers got their act together and did not lose until the final week in the season when Thigpen dropped a potential game-winner at Green Bay.
The 11-5 Steelers survived a gutsy effort from the banged-up Bills to get to the AFC championship game. When Indianapolis shocked the top-seeded KC Chiefs, it meant the Steelers would get to host the AFC championship game. In a superb game, Pittsburgh came back to win with just 2 minutes to go. The Colts had one last-ditch “Hail Mary” thrown by Jim Harbaugh that barely fell incomplete. So, Pittsburgh won their first AFC championship in 17 seasons!
Surprise MVP
The Cowboys were not particularly sharp on this Super Bowl Sunday on offense. They only compiled 250 total yards. But, in the first half, they got a big gainer to Deion Sanders and a TD pass to Jay Novacek. This paved the way to a 13-0 lead. However, the Steelers kept hanging around. O’Donnell hit Thigpen to cut the lead to six points at the break.
Pittsburgh moved the ball well when they fed Morris. When they threw, though, the results were disastrous. O’Donnell tried to avoid Sanders. But, he lacked good communication with his receivers. He tossed three interceptions total. Two of those were by Larry Brown. Both of Brown’s returns ended up in the Steelers’ red zone and resulted in Emmitt Smith scores.
The Steelers got very close when they kicked a field goal and recovered an onside kick. Their TD moments later cut the lead to 20-17. Unfortunately, O’Donnell’s last interception sealed the deal. Dallas won their third championship in 4 seasons, the first team ever to accomplish such an achievement.
Those Cowboys have a secure place in NFL history. Aikman, Irvin, Emmitt, Deion, and Charles Haley are all in the Hall of Fame. However, the ’95 team is the last to play in the Super Bowl.
For the Steelers, coach Cowher would get his Super Bowl victory ten seasons later. Subsequently, Cowher passed the torch to Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh continues to be one of the top organizations in the NFL.
Tomorrow, we’ll read about the rise of a gunslinger and Super Bowl XXXI.
Brandon Fazzolari is a Super Bowl expert…@spot_Bills
