NFL game summary 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