After all the hype about the Broncos' Orange Crush defense, Denver played like a team with a serious vitamin deficiency. Dallas intercepted Denver quarterback Craig Morton four times and recovered four Denver fumbles while holding the Broncos to only 156 yards. The game, a penalty-filled, mistake-riddled mess, was salvaged in some small way by Dallas running back Robert Newhouse, who was asked to attempt his first pass in almost three years. Newhouse was so unprepared for the task that, in the huddle moments before the play, he had to feverishly remove stickum from his hands so he could throw the ball. Newhouse's toss to wide receiver Golden Richards resulted in a 29-yard touchdown.

The Cowboys evened their Super Bowl record at 2-2 by defeating Denver before a sellout crowd of 75,583, plus 102,010,000 television viewers, the largest audience ever to watch a sporting event.

Dallas converted two interceptions into 10 points and Efren Herrera added a 35-yard field goal for a 13-0 halftime advantage.

In the third period Craig Morton engineered a drive to the Cowboys' 30 and Jim Turner's 47-yard field goal made the score 13-3.

After an exchange of punts, Butch Johnson made a spectacular diving catch in the end zone to complete a 45-yard pass from Roger Staubach and put the Cowboys ahead 20-3.

Following Rick Upchurch's 67-yard kickoff return, Norris Weese guided the Broncos to a touchdown to cut the Dallas lead to 20-10.

Dallas clinched the victory when running back Robert Newhouse tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Golden Richards with 7:04 remaining in the game. It was the first pass thrown by Newhouse since 1975.

Harvey Martin and Randy White, who were named co-most valuable players, led the Cowboys' defense, which recovered four fumbles and intercepted four passes.

Scoring Information