Better 'Boys: Ranking Cowboys' 5 Super Bowl Wins
FRISCO - Thanks to last month's humiliating blowout loss at home in the first round of the playoffs, our sad streak continues ...
There are 28-year-olds in Dallas-Fort Worth that this weekend will attend a Super Bowl party without having any idea what it's like to have the Dallas Cowboys playing in it. They'll be left to eat wings, rate commercials, grudgingly root for either the Kansas City Chiefs or San Francisco 49ers, and dust off the VCR tapes of an era when their favorite team actually played in the final game of the NFL season.
Since 1996 the Cowboys have remained popular and profitable, but not productive. And certainly not Super.
Sunday's LVIII will be the 28th consecutive Super Bowl without the Cowboys. Only nine teams have longer droughts, and three of those - Jaguars (29), Browns (55) and Lions (58) - have never been to one.
Super Bowls without the Cowboys are grand spectacles. But Super Bowls with them are Spectacular Bowls.
I was fortunate to attend three of the five Cowboys’ Super Bowl wins as a writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The other two I watched on TV and remember – both times – my parents letting me miss school the ensuing Monday because it was a “Cowboys holiday.”
Since it’s been sooo long – and because we’re just not that amped about any championship game involving the hated 49ers – let’s dig the Cowboys’ Super Bowl wins out of the moth balls and rank ’em. There are five. And they each represent the same thing – a championship season.
But for different reasons and personal preferences, some are better than others.
5. XII 1978 Cowboys 27, Broncos 10 – Beating former teammate Craig Morton and Denver’s hyped “Orange Crush” defense was satisfying, but topping a hapless opponent that committed a record eight turnovers hardly felt super. The defense dominated, with co-MVPs Randy White and Harvey Martin leading a pass rush that allowed only eight completions for 61 yards. The sloppy Cowboys committed 12 penalties, two turnovers and allowed Roger Staubach to be sacked five times – and still won in a blowout. By far Dallas’ worst-played championship.
4. XXVIII 1994 Cowboys 30, Bills 13 – About as ho-hum as a Super Bowl can get, it was another expected blowout over another overmatched Buffalo Bills’ team in the wake of Dallas’ bigger victory over the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. The Cowboys actually trailed at halftime, but dominated the second half, 24-0, by simply handing the ball to Emmitt Smith. The win gave Dallas back-to-back titles, something since duplicated only by the Denver Broncos (1998-99) and New England Patriots (2004-05).
3. XXX 1996 Cowboys 27, Steelers 17 – Finally, the Cowboys exacted revenge from the old rival that twice beat them in ‘70s Super Bowls. That in itself made this one memorable. But, honestly, the sensation was a tad dulled by Barry Switzer’s coaching, Larry Brown’s MVP and a hint that the dynasty was coming to an end. In hindsight, we should’ve enjoyed this one more at the time. Because we're still waiting for the next one.
2. XXVII 1993 Cowboys 52, Bills 17 – A 15-year wait for another title was worth it as Garth Brooks and Michael Jackson performed at the Rose Bowl. Troy Aikman threw four touchdown passes and only Leon Lett’s premature celebration prevented Dallas from setting a Super Bowl record for most points.
1. VI 1972 Cowboys 24, Dolphins 3 – There’s always a special place in your heart for your first love, and Super Bowl. Devastating title-game losses to the Green Bay Packers were finally softened by a dominating defense and Bob Lilly’s epic 29-yard sack of Bob Griese. “Next Year's Champions” no more. Tom Landry finally smiling still gives us chills atop our goosebumps. The feeling was 70-percent joy, 30-percent relief and 100-percent super.
