This was such an improbable comeback-the Cowboys were down 28-13 late in the 3rd quarter when Bob Hayes couldn't pull in a long would be TD from Craig Morton(its on the video clip posted by Star Gazer).Coach Landry pulls Morton with about 2 minutes to go in the 3rd,puts in Roger,who had barely played during the 72 season because of a shoulder injury.The 49ers sacked Roger 3-4 times on his first couple of possesions early in the 4th quarter and forced a fumble which they recovered,setting up a chip shot FG attempt by Bruce Gossett(i think it was 32 yards).Gossett missed it and the tide turned, the Boys got a long run from Calvin Hill which set up a Toni Fritsch FG to make it 28-16 about halfway through the 4th,and then Dallas got the ball back with about 2 minutes left at midfield following a bad 49ers punt.It was all Staubach and Billy Parks after that-he caught 3 passes on the last 2 drives,eating the 49ers alive.Dallas had Parks,Bob Hayes and Ron Sellers out there,and had there best CB,Jimmy Johnson on Bob Hayes,which left Parks open on Bruce Taylor,who could not stop him.The go ahead Td to Ron Sellers was a great blitz read by Staubach,who got nailed just as he let it go.
The ironic thing about this game was there were still 50 seconds left,and the 49ers started to get close to FG range,John Brodie hit a pass to either Gene Washington or Preston Riley(who bobbled the onside kick that Mel Renfro recovered) that got wiped out by an offensive holding call and if I am not mistaken,Charlie Waters intercepted Brodie to clinch the win.That 17 point 4th quarter did indeed begin the great legend of Roger Staubach as Captain Comeback which kept all us Cowboys fans thrilled during the 70's.
One last note on this great game,Dave Wilcox a LB for the 49ers was really giving it to the Cowboys verbally late in that game,screaming at the bench and rubbing it in,sayting over and over "how does it feel to lose a game like this?".When the game ended and he saw how joyous the Dallas bench was,he threw his helmet about as far as Bob Lilly did after the SB 5 loss,sweet revenge for the victorious Cowboys.
This game gets overlooked in NFL history because it was played the same day as the Immaculate Reception Game between Pittsburgh and Oakland,you talk about a bad day for the Bay area football fans!!But an all time great playoff win for America's Team
