The week of the Super Bowl is upon us, as the 2024 NFL season will come to a close on Sunday in New Orleans with the Philadelphia Eagles facing the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
While the Cowboys won't be participating, they're tied with the San Francisco 49ers for the most Super Bowls in NFL history with five and captured their second in 1977 in Super Bowl XII in a 27-10 win over the Denver Broncos.
Let's take a trip down memory lane and dive into what made each of Dallas' five Super Bowl teams unique and examine some aspects of each team that the Cowboys need now in order to return to their championship ways.
Today, let's continue the series with a look at the 1977 Cowboys:
Super Bowl XII:
The Cowboys made sure they didn't have an early playoff exit like they did in 1976, wasting an 11-3 season with a home loss to the Rams. But in 1977, the Cowboys started out 8-0, the best record after eight games in team history. Despite two mid-year defeats, the Cowboys bounced back to win the last seven games, including a dominant effort in the playoffs.
The Cowboys outscored their three postseason opponents by a combined score of 87-23, including a 27-10 win over Denver in Super Bowl XII.
In that game, the Doomsday Defense delivered on the biggest stage, forcing eight turnovers by the Broncos. Randy White and Harvey Martin shared MVP honors, the only time in Super Bowl history to have two winners. Surprising enough, the Cowboys had at least three other defenders that could've made the case for those honors as well as Dallas won its second world championship in the decade of the 70's.
3 things the Cowboys had in 1977 but need now:
A rookie running back sensation? - With only two running backs on the roster heading into 2025, the Cowboys have decisions to make at the running back position this offseason. Rico Dowdle is fresh off a 1,000 yard rushing season, but did he do enough to establish himself as a bell cow running back? Even if the Cowboys do bring Dowdle back, adding a running back in the draft feels like a must. That's exactly what the Cowboys did heading into the 1977 season, drafting Heisman trophy winner Tony Dorsett with the 2nd overall pick. It more than paid off, as Dorsett ran for a franchise rookie record 1,007 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Giving Micah some pass-rushing help - Micah Parsons has been an absolute game wrecker in his first four seasons with the Cowboys and has the ability to take it to the next level. His career high in sacks was 14 in 2023, which is plenty good, but not quite close to the year that Harvey Martin had in 1977. He finished the regular season with 20 sacks and won the defensive player of the year award, leading the Cowboys to the #1 defense in the NFL on the way. But the Super Bowl XII victory is an example that Martin had some help. He won Co-MVP honors with Randy White in that game and had 12.5 sacks during the season. Ed "Too Tall" Jones had two sacks in the playoffs and six sacks during the season. While Parsons has all the talent in the world, and a 20+ sack season would make the Cowboys defense jump from good to great. He could also use a little more help like Harvey Martin had that season.
Return of a ball-hawking secondary - When the Dallas defense has been firing on all cylinders in recent years, a large part of it has been because of their ability to take the ball away. Think back to DaRon Bland's record breaking 2023 season, where he intercepted nine passes and returned five for touchdowns. It was a staple of the Cowboys defense then, and will have to be again if Dallas wants to take home their sixth Lombardi trophy. In 1977, Dallas' defense intercepted 21 passes, not to mention forcing 26 fumbles and recovering 22 of them.
