All NFL game summaries for 01/01/1978:

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

( 0- 6) DAL Golden Richards 32 yard pass from Roger Staubach (kick failed)
( 0-13) DAL Robert Newhouse 5 yard rush (Efren Herrera kick)
( 3-13) MIN Fred Cox 32 yard field goal
( 6-13) MIN Fred Cox 37 yard field goal
( 6-16) DAL Efren Herrera 21 yard field goal
( 6-23) DAL Tony Dorsett 11 yard rush (Efren Herrera kick)

                     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

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

( 3- 0) OAK Errol Mann 20 yard field goal
( 3- 7) DEN Haven Moses 74 yard pass from Craig Morton (Jim Turner kick)
( 3-14) DEN Jon Keyworth 1 yard rush (Jim Turner kick)
(10-14) OAK Dave Casper 7 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)
(10-20) DEN Haven Moses 12 yard pass from Craig Morton (kick failed)
(17-20) OAK Dave Casper 17 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)

                     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