January 4, 1976: Dallas Cowboys 37, Los Angeles Rams 7
The 1975 Cowboys were one year off their first missed postseason since 1965, and were a team in transition between the great teams of the early and late 1970s. Tom Landry’s team finished 10-4, second in the NFC East behind the St. Louis Cardinals, and their reward for beating the Vikings in a divisional round thriller in which the “Hail Mary” term was founded in an NFL sense was to face the Los Angeles Rams, the NFC’s best team that season. Chuck Knox’s Rams were especially known for a stingy defense, allowing just 135 points in the regular season and beating the Cardinals, 35-23, in the divisional frame. But these Rams had no answer for Roger Staubach, who threw four touchdown passes in just 16 completions, including three to Preston Pearson. Meanwhile, rookie quarterback Ron Jaworski was in over his head, completing half his passes and throwing two interceptions. When Staubach wasn’t riddling Ray Malavasi‘s defense with touchdown scores, the Cowboys were running the ball 50 times for 195 yards. Dallas went on to lose to the Steelers in Super Bowl X, the first truly thrilling Super Bowl.