All NFL game summaries for 01/01/1978:
The Dallas Cowboys won their fourth NFC championship and advanced to a fourth Super Bowl by defeating the Minnesota Vikings 23-6 on a brilliant defensive effort in 30-degree temperature. Ed (Too Tall) Jones had eight solo tackles and four assists, and Harvey Martin, the other defensive end, recovered two of the three fumbles the Vikings lost as the defense limited Minnesota to two field goals by Fred Cox (32 and 37 yards) and 66 yards rushing.
The Cowboys struck quickly two plays after Robert Miller fumbled and Martin recovered on the Vikings' 40 on the first series of plays. Roger Staubach threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Golden Richards. Dallas scored again early in the second quarter on a five-yard run by Robert Newhouse to climax an eight-play, 46-yard march kept alive by Danny White's 14-yard run on a fake punt. Cox kicked both field goals in the second quarter and Efren Herrera kicked a 21-yard field goal for Dallas to give the Cowboys a 16-6 halftime lead. A Tony Dorsett fumble on the Vikings' 12 ended a third-quarter threat, but Dorsett scored the only touchdown of the second half at 11:06 of the fourth quarter on an 11-yard run after Jay Saldi recovered a fumbled punt return by Manfred Moore on the Vikings' 35 following a hard hit by Thomas Henderson.
Newhouse led the Cowboys' rushers with 15 carries for 81 yards and Dorsett went 19 for 71, each scoring once. Staubach hit 12 of 23 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown. Drew Pearson caught four for 62 and Preston Pearson three for 48. Chuck Foreman rushed 21 times for 59 yards for the Vikings, and Bob Lee, again starting for the injured Fran Tarkenton, completed 14 of 31 for 158 yards. Sammy White caught three for 46, and Ahmad Rashad three for 18. There were two interceptions: Henderson for the Cowboys and Nate Wright for the Vikings.
Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):
| Team | Rush Yds/Gm | Pass Yds/Gm | Tot Yds/Gm | Turnovers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | OFFENSE | 130.1 (21) | 169.1 (6) | 299.2 (14) | 46 |
| DEFENSE | 158.4 (21) | 112.9 (3) | 271.4 (11) | 29 | |
 | OFFENSE | 169.2 (4) | 174.5 (4) | 343.7 (1) | 24 |
| DEFENSE | 117.9 (3) | 111.6 (2) | 229.5 (1) | 31 |
Line: Cowboys by 11½
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Vikings (10-6-0) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Dallas Cowboys (14-2-0) | 6 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 23 |
MIN DAL
First Downs: 12 16
Rushes-yards: 30-66 39-170
Yards/rush: 2.2 4.4
Comp-Att-Yd-INT: 14-31-158-1 12-23-165-1
Sacked-yards: 2-10 2-7
Net pass yards: 148 158
Net yards/pass: 4.5 6.3
Total net yards: 214 328
Total plays: 63 (47% run) 64 (60% run)
Yards/play: 3.4 5.1
Fumbles-lost: 5-3 1-1
Turnovers: 4 2
Penalties-yards: 5-32 5-84
Attendance: 61,968
MIN: Bob Lee, 14 of 31 for 158 yards (1 int) DAL: Roger Staubach, 12 of 23 for 165 yards and 1 TD (1 int)
Rushing:
MIN: Chuck Foreman, 21 for 59 yards; Robert Miller, 8 for 5 yards; Sammy Johnson, 1 for 2 yards DAL: Tony Dorsett, 19 for 71 yards and 1 TD; Robert Newhouse, 15 for 81 yards and 1 TD; Roger Staubach, 4 for 4 yards; Danny White, 1 for 14 yards
Receiving:
MIN: Chuck Foreman, 5 for 36 yards; Sammy White, 3 for 46 yards; Ahmad Rashad, 3 for 18 yards; Robert Miller, 2 for 39 yards; Stu Voigt, 1 for 19 yards DAL: Drew Pearson, 4 for 62 yards; Preston Pearson, 3 for 48 yards; Golden Richards, 2 for 34 yards and 1 TD; Robert Newhouse, 2 for 5 yards; Billy Joe DuPree, 1 for 16 yards
Kick returns:
MIN: Manfred Moore, 3 for 74 yards; Sammy White, 1 for 37 yards; Mark Kellar, 1 for 11 yards DAL: Larry Brinson, 3 for 36 yards
Punt returns:
MIN: Manfred Moore, 3 for -2 yards DAL: Tony Hill, 3 for 44 yards; Butch Johnson, 2 for 13 yards
Interceptions:
MIN: Nate Wright, 1 for 0 yards DAL: Thomas Henderson, 1 for 1 yard
Punting:
MIN: Neil Clabo, 8 for 278 yards DAL: Danny White, 8 for 293 yards
Field Goals:
MIN: Fred Cox, 2/2 DAL: Efren Herrera, 1/1
Denver quarterback Craig Morton threw two touchdown passes to Haven Moses as the Broncos defeated the defending NFL champion Oakland Raiders, 20-17, and moved into their first Super Bowl. Morton, who was drafted and spent nine-and-a-half years with the Cowboys, would face his former Dallas teammates after completing 10 of 20 passes for 224 yards. It would be the second meeting in five weeks for the two teams -- Dallas won 14-6 in the regular season finale as Morton played only the opening series due to a bruised hip.
On a sunny, 18-degree day before 74,982 Denver partisans, the Raiders scored on their initial possession as Errol Mann kicked a 20-yard field goal to climax an 18-play drive. Morton hit Moses on their first scoring hookup two plays later on a 74-yard touchdown bomb, and the Broncos were on top to stay. Denver took advantage of two Oakland turnovers in the second half to win its second game in three meetings with the Raiders during the 1977 season. Defensive end Brison Manor recovered running back Clarence Davis' fumble at the Oakland 17 and running back Jon Keyworth scored from the 1 yard line to increase the margin to 14-3 in the third quarter.
Oakland quarterback Ken Stabler hit tight end Dave Casper on the first of two scoring passes to narrow the lead to 14-10 with 39 seconds elapsed in the final period. But on Oakland's next possession, linebacker Bob Swenson intercepted a Stabler pass and ran to the Raiders' 14. Morton then threw 12 yards to Moses for the Broncos' final touchdown. Oakland finished the scoring on the next series as Stabler threw 17 yards to Casper for the game's last touchdown. Denver controlled the ball for the final 3:08 and gave Red Miller the AFC title in his first year as a head coach. Moses, a 10-year veteran, had five receptions for 168 yards. The Denver defense, which was number one against the rush in the NFL during the regular season, held the Raiders to 94 yards on the ground.
Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):
| Team | Rush Yds/Gm | Pass Yds/Gm | Tot Yds/Gm | Turnovers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | OFFENSE | 187.6 (2) | 150.6 (11) | 338.3 (2) | 40 |
| DEFENSE | 125.3 (7) | 158.7 (22) | 284.0 (15) | 47 | |
 | OFFENSE | 145.9 (11) | 133.1 (18) | 279.0 (17) | 27 |
| DEFENSE | 109.4 (1) | 160.3 (25) | 269.6 (9) | 39 |
Line: n/a
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders (12-4-0) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 |
| Denver Broncos (14-2-0) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
OAK DEN
First Downs: 20 16
Rushes-yards: 36-94 37-91
Yards/rush: 2.6 2.5
Comp-Att-Yd-INT: 17-35-215-1 10-20-224-1
Sacked-yards: 1-11 1-7
Net pass yards: 204 217
Net yards/pass: 5.7 10.3
Total net yards: 298 308
Total plays: 72 (50% run) 58 (63% run)
Yards/play: 4.1 5.3
Fumbles-lost: 0-0 2-0
Turnovers: 1 1
Penalties-yards: 2-6 8-46
Attendance: 74,982
OAK: Ken Stabler, 17 of 35 for 215 yards and 2 TDs (1 int) DEN: Craig Morton, 10 of 20 for 224 yards and 2 TDs (1 int)
Rushing:
OAK: Mark van Eeghen, 20 for 71 yards; Clarence Davis, 9 for 1 yard; Pete Banaszak, 7 for 22 yards DEN: Lonnie Perrin, 11 for 42 yards; Jon Keyworth, 8 for 19 yards and 1 TD; Rob Lytle, 7 for 26 yards; Otis Armstrong, 7 for 16 yards; Craig Morton, 2 for -4 yards; Jim Jensen, 1 for 2 yards; Haven Moses, 1 for -10 yards
Receiving:
OAK: Dave Casper, 5 for 71 yards and 2 TDs; Fred Biletnikoff, 4 for 38 yards; Cliff Branch, 3 for 59 yards; Mark van Eeghen, 2 for 8 yards; Morris Bradshaw, 1 for 25 yards; Mike Siani, 1 for 12 yards; Pete Banaszak, 1 for 2 yards DEN: Haven Moses, 5 for 168 yards and 2 TDs; Lonnie Perrin, 2 for 20 yards; Jim Jensen, 1 for 20 yards; Riley Odoms, 1 for 13 yards; Jon Keyworth, 1 for 3 yards
Kick returns:
OAK: Carl Garrett, 3 for 111 yards; Clarence Davis, 1 for 25 yards DEN: Rick Upchurch, 2 for 33 yards; John Schultz, 1 for 20 yards; Rob Lytle, 1 for 14 yards
Punt returns:
OAK: Carl Garrett, 2 for 5 yards DEN: Rick Upchurch, 2 for 12 yards
Interceptions:
OAK: Floyd Rice, 1 for 11 yards DEN: Bob Swenson, 1 for 14 yards
Punting:
OAK: Ray Guy, 5 for 180 yards DEN: Bucky Dilts, 4 for 163 yards
Field Goals:
OAK: Errol Mann, 1/2 DEN: Jim Turner, 0/3