For the Minnesota Vikings, the 1976 season fits better with Part II of this series. In hindsight, their final failed Super Bowl run signaled the end, or the beginning of the end, of an era. Fran Tarkenton would struggle through his final two seasons in purple (1977-78) and the defense fell into mediocrity that would last until the late 1980s. Still, thanks to the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, perhaps the worst era in Green Bay’s history, and middling Chicago and Detroit teams, the Vikings stayed in the NFC playoff picture and had the third best record in the NFC during this period. After meeting in the 1975 NFC Championship, Dallas and Los Angeles won a combined 21 games in 1976, then dominated the NFC, with just a little resistance from Minnesota, for the rest of the decade. Roger Staubach, already 27 when he joined Dallas in 1969, would enjoy the best years of his career in his late 30s alongside a new generation of Cowboys stars (center Tom Rafferty, running back Tony Dorsett and wide receiver Tony Hill, to name a few). The Rams continued to try new coaches and quarterbacks, finally breaking through to the Super Bowl following the 1979 season.
Part I: Pre-merger
Part II: 1970-75
1976
Week 2: RAM 10 @ MIN 10
Divisional: RAM 14 @ DAL 12
NFC Championship: RAM 13 @ MIN 24
Los Angeles had quarterback issues right off the bat. James Harris started the year on the injured list. When Ron Jaworski went down in Week 1, rookie Pat Haden was forced into action. Still, all three teams started strong in 1976—the Rams were the first to lose a game but held out until Week 5 (when they were shut out at home by San Francisco). There was one blemish in the season’s first month: the Vikings and Rams played to a tie Week 2. Both teams moved the ball fairly well, but the score was just 3-0 heading into the 4th quarter. Tarkenton found Sammy White for a 56-yard score, but Los Angeles responded with 10 late points to force overtime, which ended with the score still 10-10. Haden and Tarkenton each threw two interceptions while the Rams got over 100 yards rushing from both Lawrence McCutcheon and John Cappelletti.
After Week 8, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Minnesota stayed in first place in their respective divisions until the end of the season, though the Rams suffered back-to-back losses to Cincinnati and St. Louis at midseason. The Cowboys started 5-0 then scattered three losses into the rest of the schedule, including a Week 14 home loss to Washington that gave Minnesota the NFC’s top seed and put the Redskins into the playoffs as the wildcard. One week later, Los Angles went to Dallas and won 14-12. Staubach and Haden each tossed three picks and a 1-yard McCutcheon touchdown run in the 4th quarter was the difference.
Minnesota’s early tie against the Rams nearly cost them home field advantage, but in the end everything broke their way. Their two losses were by a combined five points (Chicago and San Francisco) and Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman, White, and Ahmad Rashad scored more than enough points in support of the league’s second best defense. Washington was no match in the first round; Minnesota led 35-6 after three quarters. In the NFC Championship, Minnesota jumped on the Rams as well, leading 17-0 after a Foreman touchdown run in the 3rd quarter. Los Angles responded with scores by McCutcheon and wide receiver Harold Jackson to pull within 4, but backup back Sammy Johnson put the Vikings out of reach with a 12-yard touchdown run in the final quarter, giving Minnesota a 24-13 win and a trip to their fourth Super Bowl.
1977
Week 1: DAL 16 @ MIN 10 ot
Week 6: MIN 3 @ RAM 35
Divisional: MIN 14 @ RAM 7
NFC Championship: MIN 6 @ DAL 23
Dallas opened their 1977 schedule with an overtime victory over the Vikings. Minnesota turned the ball over five times, but managed to tie the game at 10 with a late Fred Cox field goal. Staubach ran in a four-yard score in extra time to win give the Cowboys a 1-0 record. The next week Dallas drubbed the Giants and never looked back, staying in first place in the NFC from start to finish.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Atlanta produced one of the best-ever defenses (they improved from 20th in yards allowed and 22nd in points allowed in 1976 to 1st in points allowed and 2nd in yards allowed in 1977). This new NFC West hurdle popped up immediately for Los Angeles—the Rams gained just 167 yards and scored six points in a Week 1 loss in Atlanta. The Falcons would hold the NFC West’s best record until Week 8, when the Rams finally overcame a slow start. Los Angeles ripped off five straight wins and controlled the division until the end of the year. [The Falcons gave up 129 points all season, but managed to score just 179. They finished 7-7.] A bright spot in the first half of the Rams schedule was a 35-3 win over Minnesota. The Vikings won four consecutive divisional games after losing to Dallas, but Los Angeles reminded them that the NFC Central was not the stiffest competition. Lawrence McCutcheon, rookie Wendell Tyler, and John Cappelletti helped the Rams pick up 283 yards on the ground and Tarkenton tossed two more picks. The Vikings went 6-1 against NFC Central teams and won the division over Chicago with the help of a convoluted tiebreaker. Minnesota was average across the board, finishing in the middle of the league on both sides of the ball and sporting only a slightly worse winning percentage with Bob Lee and Tommy Kramer (3-2) under center as with Tarkenton (6-3). They won games against Atlanta (7-7), Chicago (9-5), and Cincinnati (8-6), but otherwise beat up on lesser teams. Quality opponents—Los Angeles, St. Louis, Oakland—blew the Vikings out.
Dallas truly dominated the NFL in 1977. They gained the most yards and allowed the fewest (and ranked 2nd and 8th in points, respectively), won seven games by at least two scores, sent eight players to the Pro Bowl, and earned four All Pro selections. [Full disclosure/incomplete research warning: I’m not going to look at every season discussed in this series and see how many Pro Bowlers and All Pros these three teams had each year. I’m just pointing out that Dallas was really good.] Tony Dorsett was the league’s offensive rookie of the year and Harvey Martin was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Even with Dorsett’s rookie outburst, Robert Newhouse and Preston Pearson were able to combine for another 1,000 yards rushing for Dallas. The Cowboys crushed Chicago in the first round of playoffs, then watched to see whether they’d face Los Angeles or Minnesota.
With James Harris in San Diego and Ron Jaworski in Philadelphia, the Rams had turned to Joe Namath in September 1977. He had them at 2-1 going into a Week 4 Monday Night Football matchup with Chicago. After throwing four interceptions, Namath was benched in favor of Pat Haden—Broadway Joe would never play another snap in the NFL. Haden went 8-2 as a starter and earned a Pro Bowl spot. (Sidenote: the long line of Rams quarterbacks kept growing in 1977. Vince Ferragamo attempted 15 passes in 1977 as Haden’s backup. We’ll see more of him soon.) Unfortunately for the Rams, their excellent season and Minnesota’s relatively poor showing were not accurate predictors come playoff time. Bob Lee attempted only 10 passes and the Vikings gained just 189 yards, but they intercepted Haden three times on their way to a 14-7 win in Los Angeles in the divisional round. The Cowboys made short work of Minnesota the following week, winning 23-7 in Texas Stadium to earn another trip to the Super Bowl. Eight Denver turnovers helped make Dallas champions for the second time in seven years.
1978
Week 3: DAL 14 @ RAM 27
Week 7: RAM 34 @ MIN 17
Week 9: MIN 21 @ DAL 10
Divisional: MIN 10 @ RAM 34
NFC Championship: DAL 28 @ RAM 0
1978 was a year of important changes in the NFL. Teams would began playing 16 regular season games and the now familiar interconference schedule format was adopted—NFC teams would play teams from one AFC division each year (NFC East vs AFC Central, for example). The league also added a second wildcard slot to each conference’s playoffs. On the field, the five-yard bump was introduced, which prohibited defensive backs from contacting receivers downfield on passing plays. Passing was clearly on the league’s mind, as pass blocking rules were loosened and an additional official was added to the field to watch downfield action.
In Minnesota, change was coming slowly, if at all. Only seven of the 21 Vikings who started 10 or more games were under 28 years old. When they travelled to Los Angeles for a divisional playoff game on the final day of 1978, Jim Marshall was 41; Fran Tarkenton and Mick Tingelhoff were 38; and Carl Eller, Wally Hilgenberg, and Paul Krause were 36. The old crew was old, and it showed. A Week 7 34-17 loss to the Rams dropped Minnesota to 3-4 heading into a showdown with the 6-1 (NFC Central-leading) Packers. Maybe the only thing that saved the Vikings was a 5-2-1 division record. They handled the Packers in Week 8, which started a four-game win streak. Despite losses in their final two games, the Vikings snuck into the playoffs with an 8-7-1 record, thanks largely to Green Bay’s second half self-destruction. And despite his age, Tarkenton was put to work: he led the league in pass attempts, competitions, passing yards, and interceptions.
The Rams outscored Minnesota 21-0 in the fourth quarter of that Week 7 game to remain undefeated. Despite a -1 turnover ratio, Los Angeles went 12-4 and led the NFC West every week of the season. New coach Ray Malavasi (Chuck Knox had left for Seattle and George Allen had lasted just a few months in a second stint as Rams head coach before leaving the team in August) watched Pat Haden do anything but “take the next step”—Haden threw 19 interceptions and only 13 touchdowns. The Rams offense-by-committee (three backs shared the load on the ground and kicker Frank Corral made 29 field goals) was good enough thanks to one of the league’s best defenses, led by linebacker Jack Youngblood. Cornerbacks Pat Thomas and Rod Perry each intercepted eight passes; Perry took three of those back for scores and Thomas added one more pick six. More importantly, the Rams were busy with Minnesota and Dallas in 1978. Before drubbing Minnesota in Week 7, the Rams hosted Dallas in Week 3. They waited until the fourth quarter in this one too, scoring the game’s final 13 points to earn a 27-14 win (Perry sealed the victory with a 43-yard interception return for a touchdown).
In Week 9, Minnesota seemingly put themselves back on the map after their slow start. The Vikings jumped on the Cowboys at Texas Stadium, leading 14-0 after one quarter, then leaning on Chuck Foreman’s 100-yard game and four Dallas turnovers. The loss dropped the Cowboys one game back of Washington. That gap was widened the following week when the Cowboys lost in Miami. One of the many trends in this series is that Washington and St. Louis couldn’t build a lead big enough to stave off Dallas. The Cowboys won their final six games by a combined score of 184-47, including a 37-10 romp over Washington. Just two years younger than Tarkenton, Roger Staubach was still playing his best football, throwing 25 touchdowns and topping 3,000 yards for the first time (a more attainable feat with two games added to the schedule).
Los Angeles was the top seed in the NFC, but did not receive the winner of the Philadelphia-Atlanta wildcard game. Instead, the Rams hosted Minnesota. Tarkenton’s final game in the NFL went poorly, as Los Angeles cruised to a 34-10 win. Tarkenton threw two interceptions and Foreman was held to 31 yards rushing. Meanwhile, the Cowboys trailed Atlanta 20-13 at halftime, but outscored the Falcons 14-0 the rest of the way after Danny White took over for Staubach. With a home NFC Championship and a chance to reach their first-ever Super Bowl, the Rams fell apart in the second half against Dallas. Haden threw three interceptions before making way for Ferragamo, who tossed two more. Two lost fumbles further doomed the Rams, who actually out-gained the Cowboys in total yardage. Dallas scored all of the game’s points in the second half and won 28-0. In their fifth Super Bowl, the Cowboys lost a classic to Pittsburgh.
1979
Week 6: DAL 36 @ MIN 20
Week 7: RAM 6 @ DAL 30
Week 14: MIN 21 @ RAM 27 ot
Divisional: RAM 21 @ DAL 19
1979 was another busy year for these three teams, featuring four head-to-head matchups, but the tenor had changed slightly. Fran Tarkenton and Carl Eller were gone, but the Vikings were transitioning slowly. Rookie running back Ted Brown and quarterback Tommy Kramer were fresh faces along side youngsters like back Rickey Young and receiver Sammy White, but Ahmad Rashad hit 30, tight end Bob Tucker was 34, and most of the defense was beyond its prime. The Vikings still could win in the NFC Central (5-3), but sent just two players, Rashad and linebacker Matt Blair, to the Pro Bowl and finished 7-9. They missed the playoffs for only the second time since 1967.
Dallas, coming off their third Super Bowl loss, was 35-9 from 1976-78 and started as hot as ever in 1979. The Cowboys were 8-2 before they finally lost to an NFC opponent. They beat Minnesota 36-20 in Week 6 then throttled the Rams 30-6 the following week. Their only blemishes were losses in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. But a Week 11 home loss to Philadelphia started a three-game losing streak that temporarily knocked Dallas out of first place. With five key defensive contributors from the 1978 team off the field in 1979 (injuries, retirement, and Ed Jones‘ boxing career), Staubach and the offense struggled to keep the Cowboys rolling. Still, Dallas won three straight intra-division games to end the year, including a thrilling comeback win over Washington in Week 16 that decided the NFC East champion. Dallas led 21-17 after three quarters, but Mark Moseley and John Riggins reeled off 17 straight points to give Washington a 34-21 lead. Staubach threw two late touchdown passes to not only put Dallas in the playoffs, but make them the top seed in a depleted NFC.
After six straight 10-plus win seasons, the Rams stumbled through the regular season in 1979. After eight games, the Rams were 4-4 and tied with New Orleans for the NFC West lead. Pat Haden’s uneven play had continued and in Week 9 he threw four interceptions in an ugly loss to the Giants. In Week 10 he broke his finger in Seattle and was lost for the rest of the season. The defense managed a shutout of the Seahawks to keep Los Angeles at .500, but Jeff Rutledge and Bob Lee combined for a 7 of 15 outing against Chicago the following week in another ugly loss. Vince Ferragamo came off the injured list in Week 12, and began a wild final chapter in the 1970s Rams story.
In his third season with the Rams, Ferragamo’s first career start came on Monday Night Football against Atlanta, a struggling 4-7 team whose defense had come back to the pack since 1977. Ferragamo was just 9-22, but connected on 29- and 40-yard touchdowns in the first half and the Rams held on for a 20-14 win. The following week in San Francisco, Ferragamo again completed just 9 passes, this time throwing two interceptions. Ferragamo hit Wendell Tyler for a 71-yard touchdown in the third quarter, but Bob Lee finished the game for the Rams, hitting Preston Dennard for the game-sealing score. Minnesota came to California in Week 15, and again Lee filled in for Ferragamo and hit Dennard for a key second-half touchdown. Rashad tied the game with a 22-yard touchdown catch from Tommy Kramer to force overtime. The Rams drove to the Vikings 5 yard line in overtime, then won the game on a fake field goal, with defensive back (and holder) Nolan Cromwell running in for a touchdown. On their a second crack versus Atlanta, the Rams scored 28 points in the second quarter, including a Youngblood interception return for a score, to improve to 9-6 and clinch the NFC West.
Number one seed Dallas hosted Los Angeles in the divisional round. The Rams started slow—the only points in the first quarter came on a Dallas safety. But Ferragamo woke up in the second quarter, hitting Tyler for a 32-yard touchdown and wide receiver Ron Smith for a 43-yard score to give the Rams a 14-5 halftime lead. Dallas went back up 19-14 in the fourth quarter after a Ron Springs 1-yard run in the third and Roger Staubach’s final career touchdown pass, a 2-yarder to tight end Jay Saldi. With just over two minutes remaining, Ferragmo connected with Billy Waddy, who took a short pass 50 yards to put the Rams ahead 21-19. The defense held, and the Rams advanced to the NFC title game, where for the first time in five tries they faced a team other than Dallas or Minnesota. Three Frank Corral field goals were the only scores as Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay 9-0 and earned their first trip to the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh completed their Super Bowl sweep of these three NFC stalwarts, beating the Rams 31-19 thanks to a 14-0 fourth quarter. Ferragamo’s uneven but spirited run through the end of the 1979 season featured more interceptions than touchdowns, but he had his best game in the Super Bowl, going 15-25 for 220 yards (their only passing touchdown was a 24-yarder from McCutcheon to Ron Smith). Ultimately, Ferragamo was intercepted by Jack Lambert in the fourth quarter, ending a drive that could have put Los Angeles ahead, and Terry Bradshaw led a touchdown-scoring drive to seal the deal.
1980
Week 15: DAL 14 @ RAM 38 Wildcard: RAM 13 @ DAL 34
The story of 1970s Cowboys, Rams and Vikings was wrapped up pretty neatly in 1979. Los Angeles finally escaped from the NFC and overcame almost 15 years in the shadow of Dallas, and to a lesser extent, Minnesota. The Vikings finally collapsed and began to turnover their roster from the legends of the late 60s and early 70s, missing the playoffs. Dallas already was transitioning to a new, but still very good, version of the Cowboys. But in 1980 this three-team rivalry gasped one last breath, with Minnesota sneaking into the playoffs and Dallas and Los Angeles giving us one more playoff matchup. [They would renew the rivalry in the 1983 wildcard round, but that’s another story for another time. In fact, all three of these teams were relevant throughout the 1980s, but for the most part as part of a second-tier of teams in the incredibly dominant NFC.]
Dallas didn’t skip a beat in 1980. 28-year-old Danny White was the Cowboys full-time punter but had started just one game in his first four seasons in Dallas. He was ready for the spotlight, throwing for 28 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards as the Cowboys waltzed to a 12-4 record with the league’s top scoring offense. Tony Dorsett and Tony Hill hit 1,000 yards again and the Cowboys scored over 50 twice. The Rams were 11-5 and sported a top 10 offense and defense. Ferragamo had 30 touchdowns over 19 interceptions, and the running back corps featured four players with 400+ yards. Cullen Bryant led the way with 807 yards with Elvis Peacock close behind at 777. Cornerback Pat Thomas and safety Nolan Cromwell were all-pros. But neither of these teams even won their respective divisions. Philadelphia was also 12-4 and beat Dallas on a tiebreaker, while Atlanta was the NFC’s top seed, also 12-4 and holding a regular season win over the Eagles.
In the NFC Central, the stakes were considerably lower. Tampa Bay followed a surprise NFC Championship appearance a 5-10-1 stinker, despite some vengeance in a Week 2 win over the Rams, which fittingly ended 10-9. Detroit led the way most of the season, but the Vikings hung around and finally took the lead in Week 14. Hosting Cleveland the next week, Tommy Kramer connected with Ahmad Rashad on a hail mary (no push off this time) with no time left to improve to 9-6 and clinch the division. Tommy Kramer was a turnover machine, but running back Ted Brown gained over 1,500 yards (623 receiving) and Rashad, Sammy White, and tight end Joe Senser were very productive. The defense forced 38 turnovers and Matt Blair was an all-pro at linebacker. But the vikings were overmatched in Philadelphia in the divisional round, losing 31-6. Kramer threw five interceptions and Minnesota picked up just 36 yards rushing. [The Eagles trounced Minnesota 42-7 in Week 2 as well.]
In Week 15, Monday Night Football featured the 11-3 Cowboys in Los Angeles to face the 9-5 Rams. The score was 38-0 before Dallas finally got on the board. Rookie reserve back Jewerl Thomas ran for 147 yards, including a 61-yard scamper. Ferragamo threw three touchdowns and no interceptions while White tossed three picks. 13 days later the Rams were in Dallas, where both teams had been relegated to the wildcard game. The Cowboys started slow once more, but down 13-6 in the second quarter Dorsett found the end zone on a 12-yard run and the gates were blown open. Dallas won the second half 21-0 on three White touchdown passes, putting an end to the 1980 Rams season. This time both quarterbacks threw three interceptions, but the Cowboys racked up 338 yards rushing. Dallas outscored Atlanta 20-3 in the fourth quarter in the divisional round, winning a classic playoff comeback. But Dallas lost three fumbles and gained just 206 yards in Philadelphia, as the Eagles won 20-7 in the NFC title game. It was the first time since 1972 that a team other than Dallas, Minnesota, or Los Angeles represented the NFC in the Super Bowl.
1976-80 Summary
The third period of this series saw the Rams overtake Minnesota and Dallas continue to improve on an already dominant run. If the standings here show anything, it’s that the rest of the league began to catch up with these three teams. Minnesota was the first to fall, even though their division never improved all that much. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Dallas was that they stayed at the very top despite playing in the most competitive division throughout the 1970s. The NFC won only one Super Bowl from 1976-80. The 1980s would see the conference completely take over the league, with San Francisco, New York, and Washington all winning multiple Super Bowls while Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and, to a lesser extent, Minnesota and Philadelphia also sported strong teams.
I've got glue on my string 