Cowboys vs. Bengals, Ficticious Super Bowl XVI
Consider this: On January 10, 1982, the Cowboys visited Candlestick Park in San Francisco to face the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. The Cowboys took a late 27-21 lead thanks to a 21-yard touchdown pass from Danny White to Doug Cosbie. The defense had to keep Joe Montana and the San Francisco offense out of the end zone to earn the Cowboys their sixth trip to the Super Bowl. The 49ers moved the ball to the six yard line with 58 seconds left. Joe Montana rolled out to his right, but with nobody open, he threw the ball out of the end zone, missing the outstretched arms of receiver Dwight Clark. On fourth down, Montana’s pass was tipped at the line by Ed “Too Tall” Jones, and the Cowboys were on their way to Detroit to face Cincinnati in Super Bowl XVI.
Super Bowl XVI
Dallas Cowboys vs. Cincinnati Bengals, Super Bowl XVI
This background brings us to this evening’s simulation using What If Sports. What if The Catch had never occurred, and the Cowboys had faced Cincinnati in the Silverdome on January 24, 1982?
In the simulation, Dallas prevailed 27-13. Thanks to a touchdown pass from Danny White to fullback Ron Springs, Dallas jumped out to a 13-0 halftime lead. A second White-to-Springs touchdown extended the lead in the second half to 20-3, and Cincinnati was unable to catch up. The win gave Dallas its third NFL title, and folks generally got off White’s back for not being Roger Staubach.
At least in our fantasy world, that was so.
Danny White
If you weren’t aware of it, omnipresent Cris Collinsworth was a rookie with the Bengals in 1981. He gained more than 1,000 yards that season on 67 receptions, but in this simulation, he gained only 43 yards on three catches.
Cris Collinsworth
Here is the box score from our fantasy game:
| 1981 Dallas Cowboys |
10 |
3 |
7 |
7 |
27 |
| 1981 Cincinnati Bengals |
0 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
13 |
| 1st Quarter |
| DAL |
9:24 |
FG |
Rafael Septien 39 yds. |
3-0 |
| DAL |
4:22 |
TD |
Ron Springs 1 yd. pass from White (Septien kick) |
10-0 |
| 2nd Quarter |
| DAL |
0:11 |
FG |
Rafael Septien 37 yds. |
13-0 |
| 3rd Quarter |
| CIN |
10:37 |
FG |
Jim Breech 21 yds. |
13-3 |
| DAL |
5:01 |
TD |
Ron Springs 4 yd. pass from White (Septien kick) |
20-3 |
| CIN |
0:45 |
TD |
Charles Alexander 9 yd. run (Breech kick) |
20-10 |
| 4th Quarter |
| CIN |
6:02 |
FG |
Jim Breech 23 yds. |
20-13 |
| DAL |
1:52 |
TD |
Tony Dorsett 5 yd. run (Septien kick) |
27-13 |
|
|
| |
1981 Dallas Cowboys |
1981 Cincinnati Bengals |
| First Downs |
24 |
13 |
| – Rushing |
14 |
7 |
| – Passing |
10 |
6 |
| – Penalty |
0 |
0 |
| 3rd Down Eff |
7/12 |
4/10 |
| 4th Down Eff |
0/1 |
0/1 |
| Rushes-Yards |
41-208 |
29-186 |
| Avg Rush |
5.1 |
6.4 |
| Comp-Att-Int |
18-24-0 |
11-13-0 |
| Passing Yards |
181 |
86 |
| Sacks-Yards |
1-5 |
3-17 |
| Fumbles-Lost |
0-0 |
2-1 |
| Punts-Avg |
1-41.0 |
2-38.0 |
| KR-Avg |
4-14.3 |
6-22.7 |
| PR-Avg |
2-9.0 |
1-12.0 |
| Penalties-Yard |
1-3 |
3-15 |
| Time of Possession |
33:11 |
26:49 |
|
| 1981 Dallas Cowboys Individual Stats |
|
1981 Cincinnati Bengals Individual Stats |
| |
Att |
Yds |
20+ |
L |
TD |
| ‘81 Tony Dorsett |
23 |
144 |
2 |
43 |
1 |
| ‘81 Ron Springs |
13 |
49 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
| ‘81 Danny White |
5 |
15 |
0 |
16 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Att |
Yds |
20+ |
L |
TD |
| ‘81 Pete Johnson |
12 |
124 |
2 |
42 |
0 |
| ‘81 Archie Griffin |
4 |
23 |
0 |
13 |
0 |
| ‘81 Charles Alexander |
8 |
23 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
| ‘81 Ken Anderson |
2 |
11 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
| ‘81 Steve Kreider |
1 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
| ‘81 Jim Hargrove |
2 |
-1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| |
Rec |
Yds |
20+ |
40+ |
L |
TD |
| ‘81 Drew Pearson |
4 |
40 |
1 |
0 |
23 |
0 |
| ‘81 Doug Cosbie |
1 |
35 |
1 |
0 |
35 |
0 |
| ‘81 Tony Hill |
2 |
30 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
0 |
| ‘81 Ron Springs |
4 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
2 |
| ‘81 Tony Dorsett |
3 |
22 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
| ‘81 Billy Joe Dupree |
2 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
| ‘81 Butch Johnson |
2 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Rec |
Yds |
20+ |
40+ |
L |
TD |
| ‘81 Cris Collinsworth |
3 |
43 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
0 |
| ‘81 Dan Ross |
4 |
27 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
| ‘81 Pete Johnson |
2 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
| ‘81 Steve Kreider |
1 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
| ‘81 Charles Alexander |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
|
| |
Comp. |
Att. |
Yards |
TD |
INT |
| ‘81 Danny White |
18 |
24 |
186 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Comp. |
Att. |
Yards |
TD |
INT |
| ‘81 Ken Anderson |
11 |
13 |
103 |
0 |
0 |
|
| |
Tackles |
Sacks |
INT |
| ‘81 Ron Fellows |
8 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Michael Downs |
8 |
1 |
0 |
| ‘81 Everson Walls |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Bob Breunig |
4 |
1 |
0 |
| ‘81 Charlie Waters |
3 |
1 |
0 |
| ‘81 D.D. Lewis |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Guy Brown |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Steve Wilson |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Benny Barnes |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Dennis Thurman |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Tackles |
Sacks |
INT |
| ‘81 John Simmons |
6 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Glenn Cameron |
6 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Rick Razzano |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Bo Harris |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Ray Griffin |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Ken Riley |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Tom Dinkel |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Jim Leclair |
3 |
1 |
0 |
| ‘81 Bryan Hicks |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Louis Breeden |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Mike Fuller |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Clarence Chapman |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Reggie Williams |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| ‘81 Bobby Kemp |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
| |
Made |
Missed |
| ‘81 Rafael Septien |
39,37 |
49 |
|
|
| |
Made |
Missed |
| ‘81 Jim Breech |
21,23 |
48 |
|
|
2 Comments to “What If? Cowboys vs. Bengals in Super Bowl XVI”
[...] What If? Cowboys vs. Bengals in Super Bowl XVI By kickholder Dallas Cowboys vs. Cincinnati Bengals, Super Bowl XVI. Dallas Cowboys vs. Cincinnati Bengals, Super Bowl XVI. This background brings us to this evening?s simulation using What If Sports. What if The Catch had never occurred, … Know Your Dallas Cowboys: The Blog – http://www.knowyourdallascowboys.com [...]
[...] What If? Cowboys vs. Bengals in Super Bowl XVI By kickholder Dallas Cowboys vs. Cincinnati Bengals, Super Bowl XVI. Dallas Cowboys vs. Cincinnati Bengals, Super Bowl XVI. This background brings us to this evening?s simulation using What If Sports. What if The Catch had never occurred, … Know Your Dallas Cowboys: The Blog – http://www.knowyourdallascowboys.com [...]