Has anybody been able to rewatch Super Bowl XII

[L.C. Greenwood]

Maybe it is hard to make a comparison between the two teams because one team came at a time when rules were much more favorable to the offenses but since I have watched several of the '70's Cowboys games now I have gotten the impression that the '90's Cowboys were quite a bit better than the '70's Cowboys were. But again maybe that is just due to the different eras they played in.

Though Staubach was a great clutch qb he didn't seem to be as consistently good as Aikman was. The Dallas offense under Staubach may struggle for a good portion of the game but then hit a few big plays that would put them in the drivers seat. Where as the Dallas offense in the '90's during their Super Bowl years would bulldoze defenses from the first play of the game to the last. I'm not saying that I think that Aikman was better than Staubach but it just seems like in a lot of ways the '90's Cowboys offenses were better overall than the '70's Cowboys offenses. But again that is being said without me really knowing what many other teams from the '70's played like. Could very well be that the '70's Cowboys offense was still better relative to their competition than the '90's Dallas offense was. Not a whole lot of games were kept from the '70's so it is difficult to look back at that era now and see what the non Super Bowl type teams were like.

Both the 70s and 90s Cowboys were absolutely stacked with talent, but Staubach could beat you in more ways than Aikman. We also can't forget the 90s Cowboys had the benefit of playing in a more offensive-friendly era, Staubach only played two seasons after the significant 1978 rules changes took effect. You would have seen lots more offensive consistency from the 70s Cowboys if they had the advantage of playing under 90s rules. The SB 6 winning Cowboys ran a strong Miami defense into the ground, but they had a few years without a dominant RB in the 70s, before Tony Dorsett arrived. Also, those Cowboys teams had the bad timing of dealing with Pittsburgh in two Super Bowls, nobody confuses the defensive talent on those 90s Bills teams with the old Steel Curtain. YouTube does have a few Cowboys games from the 70s. It's amazing Staubach missed so much time in the beginning of his career, and was still great enough to easily earn the HOF.

[conace21]

Aikman had it all on paper: size, strength, toughness, and a magical right arm. He may have been more accurate than except for Montana, but his arm strength was much closer to Elway's than Montana's. I looked over his numbers; during his peak, his completion percentage and interception ratio were off the charts for the time period. One thing I've noticed, for a guy with a rocket, Aikman threw swing passes and dumpoffs with a light touch, and he threw plenty of them; Emmitt Smith averaged 57 catches from a year from 1992-95. I compare him to Drew Bledsoe, who could throw a 50 yard post or 15 yard out as well as anyone, but struggled sometimes on 5 yard swings.
Aikman had great talent around him, but Norv Turner's version of Air Coryell was perfect for him. Aikman had the work ethic to practice those 15 yard square-ins to Irvin, Novacek and Harper over and over until their timing was flawless.

Aikman may have had a higher peak, from at least 1992-1993, but I always thought Staubach was a better player. Until the emergence of Brady and Manning, I always had him rated 5th all time amongst QB's... just after the Mt. Rushmore guys.He eventually learned to run Landry's offense to a T, but he still changed Landry's playcalls on some of the biggest plays if his career: the Hail Mary, and the last touchdown pass of his career; Tony Hill against Wash.

[Rupert Patrick]

Maybe it is hard to make a comparison between the two teams because one team came at a time when rules were much more favorable to the offenses but since I have watched several of the '70's Cowboys games now I have gotten the impression that the '90's Cowboys were quite a bit better than the '70's Cowboys were. But again maybe that is just due to the different eras they played in.

Though Staubach was a great clutch qb he didn't seem to be as consistently good as Aikman was. The Dallas offense under Staubach may struggle for a good portion of the game but then hit a few big plays that would put them in the drivers seat. Where as the Dallas offense in the '90's during their Super Bowl years would bulldoze defenses from the first play of the game to the last. I'm not saying that I think that Aikman was better than Staubach but it just seems like in a lot of ways the '90's Cowboys offenses were better overall than the '70's Cowboys offenses. But again that is being said without me really knowing what many other teams from the '70's played like. Could very well be that the '70's Cowboys offense was still better relative to their competition than the '90's Dallas offense was. Not a whole lot of games were kept from the '70's so it is difficult to look back at that era now and see what the non Super Bowl type teams were like.

Both the 70s and 90s Cowboys were absolutely stacked with talent, but Staubach could beat you in more ways than Aikman. We also can't forget the 90s Cowboys had the benefit of playing in a more offensive-friendly era, Staubach only played two seasons after the significant 1978 rules changes took effect. You would have seen lots more offensive consistency from the 70s Cowboys if they had the advantage of playing under 90s rules. The SB 6 winning Cowboys ran a strong Miami defense into the ground, but they had a few years without a dominant RB in the 70s, before Tony Dorsett arrived. Also, those Cowboys teams had the bad timing of dealing with Pittsburgh in two Super Bowls, nobody confuses the defensive talent on those 90s Bills teams with the old Steel Curtain. YouTube does have a few Cowboys games from the 70s. It's amazing Staubach missed so much time in the beginning of his career, and was still great enough to easily earn the HOF.

I've always thought that Steve Young was Staubach 2.0. Both are very similar physically; Staubach 6-3 197, Young 6-2 215. Both are very religious people who led by example. It took both a few years to become stars in the NFL; Staubach because of the military service and Young because of playing for Tampa Bay and then playing behind Montana. I think both could have been successful in the NFL as running backs, both had good moves and sneaky speed. Had Roger played in San Francisco in the WCO with Rice and Seifert, I think he would have put up similar stats to Young.

That being said, I think Staubach was a greater QB than Young. Staubach was one of those guys, like Stabler and Bobby Layne, that no matter how far his team was down, you always had the feeling he was somehow going to pull out a victory. Staubach seemingly had eyes in the back of his head; his signature move (to me) was when he was in the pocket and the defender was swooping in for the sack, Staubach would duck and the guy would pass right over him. I must have seen Roger do that move a hundred times. I've never seen another quarterback make that move, and you can't teach that.

[conace21]

Maybe it is hard to make a comparison between the two teams because one team came at a time when rules were much more favorable to the offenses but since I have watched several of the '70's Cowboys games now I have gotten the impression that the '90's Cowboys were quite a bit better than the '70's Cowboys were. But again maybe that is just due to the different eras they played in.

Though Staubach was a great clutch qb he didn't seem to be as consistently good as Aikman was. The Dallas offense under Staubach may struggle for a good portion of the game but then hit a few big plays that would put them in the drivers seat. Where as the Dallas offense in the '90's during their Super Bowl years would bulldoze defenses from the first play of the game to the last. I'm not saying that I think that Aikman was better than Staubach but it just seems like in a lot of ways the '90's Cowboys offenses were better overall than the '70's Cowboys offenses. But again that is being said without me really knowing what many other teams from the '70's played like. Could very well be that the '70's Cowboys offense was still better relative to their competition than the '90's Dallas offense was. Not a whole lot of games were kept from the '70's so it is difficult to look back at that era now and see what the non Super Bowl type teams were like.

Both the 70s and 90s Cowboys were absolutely stacked with talent, but Staubach could beat you in more ways than Aikman. We also can't forget the 90s Cowboys had the benefit of playing in a more offensive-friendly era, Staubach only played two seasons after the significant 1978 rules changes took effect. You would have seen lots more offensive consistency from the 70s Cowboys if they had the advantage of playing under 90s rules. The SB 6 winning Cowboys ran a strong Miami defense into the ground, but they had a few years without a dominant RB in the 70s, before Tony Dorsett arrived. Also, those Cowboys teams had the bad timing of dealing with Pittsburgh in two Super Bowls, nobody confuses the defensive talent on those 90s Bills teams with the old Steel Curtain. YouTube does have a few Cowboys games from the 70s. It's amazing Staubach missed so much time in the beginning of his career, and was still great enough to easily earn the HOF.

I've always thought that Steve Young was Staubach 2.0. Both are very similar physically; Staubach 6-3 197, Young 6-2 215. Both are very religious people who led by example. It took both a few years to become stars in the NFL; Staubach because of the military service and Young because of playing for Tampa Bay and then playing behind Montana. I think both could have been successful in the NFL as running backs, both had good moves and sneaky speed. Had Roger played in San Francisco in the WCO with Rice and Seifert, I think he would have put up similar stats to Young.

That being said, I think Staubach was a greater QB than Young. Staubach was one of those guys, like Stabler and Bobby Layne, that no matter how far his team was down, you always had the feeling he was somehow going to pull out a victory. Staubach seemingly had eyes in the back of his head; his signature move (to me) was when he was in the pocket and the defender was swooping in for the sack, Staubach would duck and the guy would pass right over him. I must have seen Roger do that move a hundred times. I've never seen another quarterback make that move, and you can't teach that.

Young has said that Staubach was his hero and idol growing up. Staubach also was involved in a quarterback controversy to start his career, though Craig Morton wasn't nearly the established star that Montana was.