NFL Old School Game of the Week: Rams Pull Off Playoff Shocker Over America's Team

Ron Smith runs away from the Cowboys as he scores the game-winning touchdown in the Rams' 1979 Divisional Playoff win over Dallas.

As they entered the 1979 Playoffs, the Los Angeles Rams were not considered a threat to make it to the Super Bowl.
In fact, they were just lucky to be in the playoffs with a 9-7 record, the worst record of the 10 teams in the NFL Playoffs that season.
But the Rams shocked the world as they put together a Cinderella run to the Super Bowl which began with thier Divisional Playoff upset over the Dallas Cowboys.
The Rams had been one of the winningist teams during the 1970s as they won the NFC West every year from 1973 through 1978.
But the Rams had earned a reputation as chokers as they had made it to the NFC Championship Game four times during that span, including three in a row from 1974-76, only to lose all four times.
The Rams were known then for a ground-control offense and a stout defense under head coach Chuck Knox, who coached the team from 1973-77 before leaving to become head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 1978 as he was replaced by defensive coordinator Ray Malavasi, who kept Knox's formula of running the ball and playing good defense.
It seemed the formula that had worked for so long began to show cracks in 1979 as the team was 5-6 in the middle of November and in danger of missing the playoffs.
That is when second-year quarterback Vince Ferragamo became the starter, taking over for  Pat Haden who Haden broke his pinkie finger on his right hand, and led the Rams to four straight wins to clinch their seventh straight NFC West division title, despite their 9-7 record.
Odds were long that this would finally be the year for the Rams would reach the Super Bowl as traveled to Dallas to take on the Cowboys, the #1 seed in the NFC.
Dallas had been to the Super Bowl the previous two seasons, winning in 1977 against the Denver Broncos and losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1978, and were expected to make another trip to the Super Bowl which would be their sixth in nine years.
Led by head coach Tom Landry and quarterback Roger Staubach, who despite being 37, had maybe the best season of his career as he had career highs in completions(267) passing yards(3,586) and touchdown passes(27) in leading Dallas to a 11-5 record which included a memorable come-from-behind 35-34 win over their division rival the Washington Redskins in the last game of the regular season to clinch the #1 seed in the NFC.

Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach would struggle during Dallas' playoff game with the Rams as he completed 12 of 28 passes for 124 yards, but threw two touchdown passes.

Most of the first quarter was a defensive stalemate as neither team could put together a respectable drive with the only points of the quarter coming on a safety.
With the Rams backed up at their seven-yard-line, Ferragamo dropped back to pass, but slipped in the end zone, leading to Cowboys defensive tackle Randy White sacking him in the end zone to give Dallas a 2-0 lead with 5:40 lead and the ball as the Rams had to kick the ball back to the Cowboys.
Dallas took over at their 46-yard-line following the free kick with a chance to increase their land but Staubach was intercepted by Rams free safety Eddie Brown, whose 21-yard return gave the Rams the ball at the Cowboys' 32-yard-line.
However, the Rams could not take advantage of the turnover as they gained only seven yards in three plays, forcing a 44-yard field goal attempt by Frank Corral, which he missed.
The game was still 2-0 midway through the second quarter when the Rams were backed up again, this time starting thier drive at their eight-yard-line.
But the Rams avoided another potential safety as running back Wendell Tyler ran for a 35-yard gain on the first play of the drive to get Los Angeles out of harm's way.
The running of Tyler and Cullen Bryant led the Rams to the Cowboys' 36-yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-1 when Malvasi decided to go for the 1st down.
The gamble paid off as Bryant ran for four yards to pick up the 1st down at the 32-yard-line, which was followed by  Ferragamo lofted a pass over the head of Cowboys linebacker D.D. Lewis and into the hands of Tyler, who made the catch at the 15-yard-line and then ran in to complete the 32-yard touchdown pass to give LA its first lead of the game, 7-2 with over five minutes left in the first half.
The Cowboys responded to the touchdown by putting together their best drive of the half as Staubach, who did not complete a pass in the first quarter, hit a pair of 17-yard passes, one to Drew Pearson and the other to tight end Billy Joe Dupree, to set up Rafael Septein's 33-yard-field goal to culminate the 10-play, 54-yard drive and cut the Rams' lead to 7-5 with 55 seconds left in the first half.
With the Rams at their 30-yard-line and such little time left, the Cowboys and many fans assumed that Los Angeles would just run out the clock and go into the halftime break with a 7-5 lead.
But the Rams shocked the Cowboys by being aggressive as Ferragamo completed a 15-yard pass to Preston Dennard, then hit Ron Smith for 12 yards to put the Rams at the Cowboys 43-yard-line with 17 seconds left.
Then after an incomplete pass, Ferragamo dropped back and fired a deep pass intended for Smith, who was double covered by cornerback Aaron Kyle and strong safety Randy Hughes.
But the ball was able to land in the hands of Smith, who made the catch in the end zone for the shocking 43-yard touchdown with three seconds left, increasing the Rams' lead to 14-5 as the first half came to a close.

During the halftime break, the Rams medical staff was trying to determine the extent of an injury to defensive end Jack Youngblood, who had been taken out of the game after a chop block.

They found out that his left fibula was broken and recommended that he return to the game.
But Youngblood told the doctors to tape up the leg and gave him two Aspirin which they did, allowing the all-Pro end to play the rest of the game
This began the legend of Youngblood as a warrior as he would play the rest of this game and the rest of the postseason, including the Pro Bowl, with a broken leg and still be effective as evident by this sack of Staubach in the second half.

Early in the third quarter, the Cowboys were given an opportunity to cut into the Los Angeles lead as defensive back Dennis Thurman intercepted a Ferragamo pass and made a 18-yard return to the Rams' 34-yard-line.
However, the Cowboys would lose three yards on three plays and were forced to punt the ball back to the Rams, who in turn punted the ball back to the Cowboys, who took over at their 46-yard-line.
The Dallas drive began with Staubach firing a pass over the middle for Drew Pearson, who made the catch and was tackled after a 29-yard gain at the Rams' 25-yard-line.
Then on the next snap, Landry decided to cross up the Rams with a halfback option pass from Ron Springs, whose pass was caught by Tony Hill in the end zone, but the pass was ruled incomplete as Hill's left foot stepped out of bounds before he had possession.
But that did not stop the Cowboys as they would were pick up 10 more yards on the running of Tony Dorsett and Robert Newhouse, setting up a 2nd-and-10 from the 15-yard-line where Staubach threw a pass intended for Dorsett in the end zone.
The pass was intercepted but LA linebacker Jim Youngblood(no relation to Jack)was called for pass interference, giving the Cowboys a 1st-and-goal at the one-yard-line, where on the very next play, Springs dove in for the touchdown to cut the Rams' lead to 14-12 with 7:35 left in the third quarter.
Following the touchdown, the Rams drove to the Cowboys' 43-yard-line with a chance to increase their lead, only to have Ferragamo get intercepted again, this time by free safety Cliff Harris, whose 21-yard-return gave Dallas the ball at their 43-yard-line.
Eleven plays later, the Cowboys had the lead as Staubach connected with tight end Jay Saldi for a two-yard touchdown to give Dallas a 19-14 lead with 12:46 left in the fourth quarter.
 Staubach had to be helped off the field following the touchdown as he was hit hard by Rams linebacker Jack Reynolds after he fired the pass, but he would return to the game.

Meanwhile, the Rams drove into Cowboys territory again, this time to the Dallas 32-yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-8 with over seven minutes to go.
Malavasi could have called on for a field goal to cut the lead to two points and hope his defense could stop Staubach to give his offense the ball back and a chance for the game-winning field goal.
But Malavasi decided to go for the 1st down and appeared to have gotten it when Ferragamo's pass for Drew Hill fell incomplete, only to have back judge Ray Douglas threw a flag, calling pass interference on Harris and giving the Rams a 1st down at the Dallas 19-yard-line.
But field judge Charley Musser overruled Douglas, and the flag was rescinded, meaning the Rams had failed on 4th down and Dallas would have the ball at the Los Angeles 32-yard-line with 6:59 left in the game.
It seemed like the Cowboys were going to increase thier lead as Dorsett ran for 26 yards on the next play from scrimmage to put Dallas at the Rams' 42-yard-line, only to have the LA defense rise up and force a Dallas punt, giving the Rams the ball back at their 20-yard-line with 4:22 to go.
Just like the Cowboys' possession before, the Rams got a big gain on the first play from scrimmage as Ferragamo connected with Billy Waddy for 36 yards to put LA at the Dallas 44-yard-line.
But a holding penalty helped kill the drive and the Rams were forced to punt the ball back to the Cowboys, who took over at their 21-yard-line with 2:45 to go and a chance to run out the clock.
However, the Rams defense came up large as they forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at exactly the 50-yard-line with 2:16 left and a chance to drive for the winning score.
That is when Ferragamo dropped back 10 yards and fired a pass down the middle, that was tipped by Cowboys linebacker Mike Hegman, but landed in the hands of Waddy, who made the catch at the Dallas 27-yard-line and then outran the rest of the Cowboys defense to complete the 50-yard touchdown and give the Rams a 21-19 lead with just 2:06 to go.

Even though the Rams had the lead, they knew they were not out of the woods yet, especially with Staubach at quaterback.
After the Cowboys returned the ensuing kickoff to the 21-yard-line, Staubach had 1:57 left to pull off another miracle.
The drive got off to a good start as Dorsett picked up 12 yards on a reverse for a Dallas 1st down at their 33-yard-line.
But Staubach's next two passes, both intended for Hill were incomplete, which was followed by Staubach being called for intentional grounding on 3rd down, leading to a loss of 10 yards and loss of down to force a 4th-and-20 at the 23-yard-line.
The Cowboys' hopes for a miracle were not answered as Staubach's pass went over the head of Pearson, turning the ball over on downs and allowing for Los Angeles to run out the clock which they did, to complete the Rams' 21-19 shocking upset over the Cowboys.

Vince Ferragamo only completed nine of 21 passes for 210 yards, but three of those completions were for touchdowns, including the game-winner with over two minutes to go.

The Rams rode the momentum of their upset of the Cowboys the following week into Tampa Bay where they defeated the Buccaneers 9-0 in the NFC Championship Game to earn thier first trip to the Super Bowl, where they faced off with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Despite being heavy underdogs, the Rams traded blows with the Steelers and held a 19-17 lead in the 4th quarter when Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Stallworth for the go-ahead touchdown, then connected with Stallworth for a 45-yard completion to help set up Franco Harris' one-yard touchdown run which put the game away as the Steelers won 31-19.
Ferragamo remained the Rams' starting quarterback the following season as he threw for 30 touchdown passes in the 1980 regular season and lead Los Angeles to the playoffs for the eighth consecutive year, only to be eliminated by the Dallas Cowboys 34-13 in the NFC Wild Card Game.
Ferragamo would leave the Rams for the Canadian Football League for the 1981 season after a contract dispute, but returned to the Rams in 1982 and regained the starting quarterback job as he led them to the playoffs in 1983 and another win over the Cowboys.
But Ferragamo's career took a turn for the worse in the third game of the 1984 season as he broke his right hand, knocking him out for the rest of the season and ending his career in Los Angeles as he would play for the Buffalo Bills in 1985 and was the backup for the Green Bay Packers in 1986 before he decided to retire the 1986 season.
As for the Cowboys, the loss to the Rams marked the end of an era as Staubach would announce his retirement in March of 1980, handing the reins over to Danny White, who lead the Cowboys to three straight NFC Championship Games from 1980-82, but with the Cowboys losing each time.
In 1985, Staubach was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is still regarded today as the greatest Dallas Cowboy of all time.