I could hardly bring myself to watch the Giants/Packers game on Sunday, and I do not take much comfort in the fact that the team that beat Dallas is the one going to the Super Bowl. I am instead focusing on some history that may be obscure to some: the old Playoff Bowl (Bert Bell Benefit Bowl) that featured the teams that did not make the old NFL Championship Game. It was held from the end of the 1960 season through the end of the 1969 season, and Dallas participated three times. Here is a great site with historical stuff, including the stories of these games. I was, of course, born a year after the last one was played.
Note that if the Playoff Bowl were still around in its old format, Dallas would have faced Seattle this weekend. I’m not sure that would have been any better than watching the Giants game.
Here are the summaries of the three Playoff Bowls featuring our Dallas Cowboys:
Baltimore Colts 35, Dallas Cowboys 3 (January 9, 1966)
The game was not a pretty sight for Dallas, yet it was the beginning of what would turn out to be a common occurrence – the Cowboys in the NFL postseason. A crowd of 65,659 witnessed the battle of National Football League runners-up in windy, overcast weather in the Orange Bowl.
The story:
MIAMI, Fla. (AP)- Tom Matte, who almost quarterbacked the Baltimore Colts into the National Football League championship game, led them to a 35-3 victory over Dallas Sunday in the consolation tilt. The performances pose for Coach Don Shula the problem of what to do with Matte next season. “I don’t know,” said Shula. “I guess I’ll have to keep the Matte offense in our play book, though.
“Matte, in only his third professional game as quarterback, was voted the outstanding player in the playoff game before 65,569 in the Orange Bowl. He earned the award on his passing.
When he was first rushed into the quarterback breach because of injuries to John Unitas and Gary Cuozzo, Matte had a slim repertoire of plays, mostly running. Still the Colts defeated Los Angeles 20-17 and in a playoff for the Western Conference title and lost 13-10 in overtime to Green Bay.
Matte passed 17 times against the Cowboys, completing seven. Two of them were 15 and 20 yards to Jimmy Orr for touchdowns. Two more of 37 and 52 yards set up second period touchdowns which gave Baltimore a 14-3 halftime edge.
The Cowboys, who tied for second place in the Eastern Conference by winning five of their last seven games, ran into a fierce Colt defense. Dallas put together only one sustained drive on the passing of Don Meredith in the second quarter. The Cowboys reached the Colt four with a first down but were stopped in their tracks and Danny Villanueva kicked a 12-yard field goal.
The Cowboys reached the Colts 29 in the first period and the 31 in the third for their only other threats. They lost the ball on an interception by Jerry Logan the first time and on a fumble recovered by rookie end Roy Hilton the other time.
In addition to his interception, Logan recovered a fumble on the Dallas 25 in the third quarter and fullback Jerry Hill plunged for a touchdown five plays later. Hill also boomed three yards for a second quarter touchdown after catching a 52-yard rocket from Matte.
End John Mackey’s catch of a 37-yard pass from Matte set Baltimore’s first touchdown- a six-yard run by Lenny Moore- after a scoreless first period.
“I had a lot of respect before for Matte,” said Shula, “but he has gained a lot more the way he reacted to our situation.”
The 6-foot, 205-pounder had been a substitute halfback with the Colts for five seasons until the quarterback crisis developed.
The victory by the Colts underscored the mastery of the Western Conference NFL teams over the Eastern this season. It was the 15th victory in 16 contests for the West.
Dallas Cowboys 17, Minnesota Vikings 13 (January 5, 1969)
For the second straight year, the Cowboys won the Capitol Division with a 12-2 record. Don Meredith passed for 2500 yards. It was his best statistical season with a 55.3% completion percentage and the second-best quaterback rating in the league behind Johnny Unitas. Lance Rentzel had 1009 receiving yards and Bob Hayes added another 909. Don Perkins carried the ball for 836 yards. The Baltimore Colts had finished the regular season 13-1 and everyone anticipated a Cowboys-Colts showdown in the conference championship game with the winner advancing to Super Bowl III. But first the Cowboys had to play the Cleveland Browns in the Eastern Conference championship game. Having beaten the Browns 28-7 in the regular season, confidence was high for another victory. The game proved to be anything but easy for the Cowboys as the Browns handed them a 31-20 defeat. The loss sent the Cowboys to the Playoff Bowl.
The story:
MIAMI (AP)- The Dallas Cowboys beat the Minnesota Vikings 17-13 Sunday in what could be the last National Football League playoff Bowl game as it is now constituted- at least in Miami. The contract between the NFL and the Orange Bowl ended with Sunday’s dull game before 22,961 rain drenched fans. Bowl officials apparently feel the game between second place finishers in the NFL’s two conferences lacks interest for fans and players.
The NFL has two more years on a television contract for the game, and could decide to continue it at another site- New Orleans is believed interested- rather than change the format. The game has produced over a million dollars in nine years for the players’ pension fund.
As presently constituted, the game has nothing at stake, except the $1,200 share per player on the winning team and $500 for losing players. Dallas Coach Tom Landry said last week that this is a fun-work week and teams don’t give the game the 24-hour concentration needed for a top performance.
Landry said after Sunday’s game that the victory meant little, but his players were determined to show they could bounce back. “If we proved anything, we proved that this club can rebound.” Landry said.
Dallas was down after blowing the Eastern Conference championship two weeks ago to underdog Cleveland 31-20. Landry said earlier he wasn’t sure how his team would react from its big disappointment. He found out, although at the start it appeared Dallas was still suffering from its Cleveland hangover.
Minnesota, winner of the Central Division title, jumped to a 13-0 lead in the first period. Bob Bryant ran back punt 81 yards for a touchdown- longest return in the nine-year history of the Series- and Fred Cox kicked two field goals.
Landry had high praise for quarterback Don Meredith. He rallied the Cowboys from a 13-0 first quarter deficit to 13-10 at halftime. Meredith completed 15 of 24 passes for 243 yards and one touchdown and was voted the outstanding player of the game.
Landry sent Craig Morton in at quarterback for the second half. After Dallas linebackers Chuck Howley and Lee Roy Jordon pressured Minnesota punter King Hill into a 24-yard punt in the third period. Morton went to work. He completed a 21-yard pass to Craig Baynham for a first down at the 13. After losing to the 20, Morton hit Baynham again for the 20-yard winning touchdown.
Los Angeles Rams 31, Dallas Cowboys 0 (January 3, 1970)
The 1969 Cowboys won their division for the third straight year and again had to play the Cleveland Browns in the conference championship game. That year’s Cowboys tied an NFL record by allowing just two rushing touchdowns all season. But, just like the year before, the Cowboys were beaten soundly by the Browns; the final score was 38-14. Once again, the Cowboys found themselves in the Playoff Bowl, this time against the Los Angeles Rams. The Cowboys’ league playoff record for the decade was 1-4 and questions arose as to why the Cowboys, with all their talent, couldn’t win the big game. The Rams had won the Coastal Division with 11-3 record and QB Roman Gabriel was unanimous choice as NFL’s most valuable player. The Rams lost to Minnesota in a hard fought Western Conference title game on the road, 23-20.
The story:
MIAMI (UPI)- Roman Gabriel hurled scoring passes of 35 and 67 yards the first two times Los Angeles got the ball Saturday, added two more touchdown tosses in the second half, and the Rams pummeled the Dallas Cowboys 31-0 in the National Football League Playoff Bowl.
Gabriel, the NFL player of the year, hit Les Josephson for 35 yards, Jack Snow for 67, Bob Klein for 16 and Snow again for 49. Bruce Gossett added a 42-yard field goal.
The Cowboys’ offense sputtered under a gamelong drizzle, and even experimentation with reserve quarterback Roger Staubach in the second quarter failed to help. Gabriel was taken out early in the fourth quarter after hitting 12 of 17 passes for 224 yards and his four scores. For the second time in the Playoff Bowl’s history he was named most valuable player.
The shutout was the first in 10 Playoff Bowl games. Deacon Jones of the Rams was most valuable defensive player. The win snapped a four game losing streak for Los Angeles, the NFL’s Coastal Division champ. Dallas dropped its second in a row after losing to Eastern Division champion Cleveland 38-14 last week. Los Angeles dropped the Western Conference title to Minnesota Dec. 27, 23-20.
Gabriel’s first scoring throw with 13:23 left in the first quarter was set up when safety Richie Pettibon intercepted a Craig Morton pass on the Dallas 30 on just the second play of the game. Gabriel was belted for a five yard loss, but on the next play hit Josephson on a swing pass and he sprinted down the right sidelines for the touchdown.
Los Angeles then took over on the Ram 20 after an unsuccessful Dallas threat and moved 13 yards in four plays before Snow streaked past cornerback Cornell Green, caught Gabriel’s bomb on his fingertips and raced the remaining 20 yards for the 67-yard touchdown.
Gabriel’s third scoring pass climaxed a drive starting on the Dallas 39 after Larry Smith returned a short punt 17 yards. On a fourth and one play, Gabriel hit a swing pass to Josephson for 14 yards to the Cowboys’ 16 and on the next play he hit Klein for the score
After Dallas couldn’t move, another short punt for the Cowboys’ Ron Widby rolled dead on the Dallas 49. Gabriel wasted no time and hit Snow down the left sidelines for the score.
Gossett’s field goal came after punter Pal Studstill ran from punt formation on the fourth down to the Cowboy 30. After stalling, the Rams elected to try the field goal.
Dallas’ Mike Clark missed field goals of 16 and 22 yards in the first half. The Cowboys’ rookie running back Calvin Hill reinjured a toe and Safety Mike Gaechter apparently severed an achilles tendon early in the second quarter for Dallas. Neither saw any action the rest of the game.
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