1978 Week 1 Baltimore at Dallas 1st Half

apparently has everything the baltimore colts have three times consecutively been the afc eastern division champions with receptions by lydell mitchell like that and the throwing of bars by bert jones and runs by elijah mitchell like that he gained over 1100 yards last year but now lydell mitchell is with the san diego chargers and bert jones was struck down by injury in the final preseason game on this very play smothered by the pass rush he suffered his separated shoulder so the colts appear to be in disarray i asked coach ted marsha broda about it teddy monday night football begins tonight the colts have the unhappy task of facing the super bowl champion dallas cowboys without the injured bert jones and without the departed lidel mitchell thus it's been said your team is in chaos true or not true well definitely not true howard i'm with my ball club every day and and we've had a excellent week of practice uh in preparing for dallas and i feel our ball club is ready to play tonight mitchell left under frankly ugly circumstances he had charged the management with racism was there anything to that charge as far as your concern nothing as far as i'm concerned howard because as i said our ball club in the three years i've been here we've played extremely well they have done the job week in and week out and that's exactly the way that they've practiced this year and i'm sure that they're going to do the same thing this this coming season tonight you must rely on a young quarterback named kirkland is it remotely possible that he can do the job howard this week in practice i've been extremely pleased with mike it's mike's first start ever in the national football league but he's picked up things and done things much better than what i had intense anticipated in practice so i'm hopeful this will carry over into the ball game so you think you can give them a good game and maybe even win it howard i've judged my ball club on the way they've practiced during the week and we've had an excellent practice session so that's my feeling going into the game ted marsha broder on the baltimore colts who go against the super bowl champion dallas cowboys tonight monday night football is back 20 seconds there stand by off camera stand by in videotape stand by slow-mo standby in graphics ready with your opening surfers stand by the announcers in the booth please rotate three two one [Music] take [Applause] [Music] [Applause] live from texas stadium in irving texas the season premiere of abc's nfl monday night football the afc eastern division champion baltimore colts against the super bowl champion dallas cowboys this abc sports exclusive is brought to you by dotson we are driven to give you a year-end deal on the greatest economy of all adopts and quality and by the miller brewing company brewers of miller highlife if you've got the time we've got the beer hello again everyone it's so good to be back for this the ninth year believe it or not of monday night football and of course teddy marcia broda probably said our storyline for the evening we'll get to that in a moment i just want to say that we think we've got the greatest year yet of monday night football and it's not an on-air promotion let me explain why an expanded season 16 monday night games four specials three sunday night games one thursday night games games that have matchups like these pittsburgh at los angeles denver in a ray freeze at oakland and new england at oakland and that's bound to be a stormy about tonight and teddy marcia brother setting the storyline well we've established it for you the colts despite teddy's disclaimers appear to be in total disarray they've lost 5 000 yards in a single season 11 men with the colts a year ago gone lydell mitchell raymond chester and others frank will enumerate more even on that and so what looked to be the richest kind of opening game may not be that because of the absence of bird jones we had an augury yesterday perhaps the jets beating miami smothering them because of the absence of the great quarterback greasy taking nothing away from the excellence of the jets and kansas city beating cincinnati because of and taking nothing away from marvin levy's great effort with his team taking nothing away from kansas city the absence of kenny anderson contributed a further problem dallas hasn't lost an opening day game since 1964. they lost that game with a quarterback who is back where he belongs then the don meredith absolutely against st louis as well as it was an easy end into the whole season we're going to set him up for it something like monster brother actually hasn't lost an opening day game since he's been with baltimore this is his fourth season but he may be in for it tonight because this is the first time as long as i've known tom landry that he sits there and he said tom what's wrong and he has to think a while before he can come up with something because they're not much wrong down here right now they've got it really pretty well together at least as good as they were last year at super bowl champs and maybe a little bit better four rookies make the team so i think that the cowboys they're off to a good start they've had a fairly good preseason uh he has said well we haven't run as well as i'd like well he's gonna get a shot to do that tonight baltimore last year was 25th out of 28 teams against the run so i imagine we'll see dallas run a little bit tonight thing i'm pleased with the time in my opinion after two super bowls and a great career down here has now moved himself into position to become a legend now to really be a legend you got to have a one-liner something like uh i shall return or i never met a man i didn't like are well i don't know winning is everything well tommy's come up with it tom's line to be a legend is you can't smile and think at the same time i think that's going to do it frank what do you that's where i missed the whole thing man i was smiling too welcome back don and they still love you in dallas they were crawling all over him coming into texas stadium tonight good to have you back partner good to be back to you thank you howard and baltimore i'm sure they don't feel it's too good to be here because they're in a whole lot of trouble howard mentioned some of the players vladimir mitchell gone burt jones injured out for who knows how long bill troop is back up quarterback out and they're starting a youngster named mike kirkland now mike kirkland if you haven't heard of him don't feel bad because i haven't heard it much either coming into tonight he's a three-year man out of arkansas he was six out of 24 in pre-season has never thrown a regular nfl pass and the complicated matter is david taylor the regular left tackle for the baltimore colts he's out of that lineup too maybe for the season with a broken ankle and he has a substitute in there tonight from mississippi a two-year man and wade griffin is going to really get initiated tonight because he's up against harvey martin and harvey martin you might remember they call him a manster or something down here but he led the nfl in quarterback sacks so griffin's going to be in a problem and if he has a problem well young mike kirkland has got a major problem tonight a lot of trouble for the baltimore colts but many times we've seen teams come back against adversity and play great football we hope so frankly we'll be back with the kickoff there's a sellout crowd a late sellout crowd here in texas stadium irving texas the baltimore colts against the dallas cowboys a game that we anticipated would be a tremendous football game they played 30-27 two years ago in a great battle between roger staubach through quarterback burt jones and of course we've already told you the players that are missing for the baltimore coast lydell mitchell a multiple thousand yard gainer over the past three years burt jones out with the separation for they don't know how long bill troop his backup is also out with a shoulder injury and this man is healthy and this man healthy is quite a quarterback he had a tremendous year last year he's had a tremendous pre-season and he is looking to get off to a good start tonight dallas has won the toss there are the two men dropping deep number is butch johnson dennis thurman a rookie from the university of southern california is back there number 32 and set to kick off for baltimore is tony linhart a lot of excitement here in dallas the super bowl champion dallas cowboys looking for an unprecedented third super bowl are kicking off their season right now it will be butch johnson from his own end zone [Applause] and johnson barrels out to the 20-yard line coughs it up and baltimore's got it baltimore appears to have recovered baltimore hustling down there was number 86 that's the number one draft pick reese mccall and baltimore's in good position look at it again butch johnson had to make a decision he took it out he carried it loosely bobbled it and rhys mccall the number one pick makes the recovery for baltimore johnson is so eager to make good that he made a mistake you don't run a ball back from the end zone unless you're absolutely certain in your own mind you can get past that 20. but butch has lost his job to the sensational tony hill so he was over evil you saw the lineup the key player mike kirkland third year man out of arkansas this will be his first snap ever in an nfl game quick handoff and it goes to roosevelt leaks the four-year veteran out of texas and lakes gets about two or three yards it'll be second down and seven defensively and they're familiar names so all you football fans across that front four the dallas cowboys harvey martin randy white jethro pugh ed jones the linebackers in the middle bob rooney the key spot for tom landry and his defense outside linebackers a sensational outfit athlete is number 56 tom henderson d.d lewis is the weak side linebacker second down and seven the ball at the 21-yard line you saw the defensive secondary [Applause] [Music] hand on holly and macquarie and met her number 79 harvey martin d.d lewis reading the run closed it down no gain maybe a foot will be third and long it's a whole new thing for don mcauley the long island boy was the number one draft choice of the baltimore colts nine years ago or eight years ago he's the spot man short yardage guy but now would you believe he's not only in there as a regular running back and he's a fine player but he could be another john mack if kirkland gets hurt mcauley becomes the quarterback kirkland passing down out to the right was dowdy 35 roger carter the left between them they've got five passes in pre-season they haven't played that much of that well draw play crowd play the roosevelt leagues far short of the first down in baltimore playing it very conservative as you might suspect with a quarterback basically a rookie who's never seen nfl action tony fourth down and five the ball resting at the 20-yard line good observation frank obviously it's marcia broda's game plan to play very conservatively with the young quarterback try and rely on his defense to hang in the game and seize whatever breaks they can get linhard about to kick and as you know dandy he has not had a good pre-season he hasn't i don't really agree with that philosophy of playing that conservative but we can talk about that a little while too [Applause] leonard no good oh year boy a tip shot from 30 yards out it remains scoreless we'll be back at a loud noisy texas stadium right after this the cowboys offensive unit on the field a 30-yard miss by tony linhart the pro bowl kicker last year there is the offensive unit roger starback tony dorsey robert neuhaus back there wide receivers drew pearson tony hill who has apparently beaten out golden riches as one wide receiver the second year marinado stamper the tight end the big man number 89 billy joe dupree and jay salty is also in there now number 87 the two tight end outfits for dallas first and ten the ball at their own 20-yard line new house left side big hole blue house pounds out for a seven yard gain to about the 27 it will be second down and three hit there by ed simeone who is the middle linebacker the baltimore's defense 17th overall in the nfl last year ninth against the rush there they are front four a healthy front four they weren't at the beginning of last year those are your linebackers and a good secondary norm thompson a one pointer at the other corner duck nettles medals of course the change of starters at the defensive right quarterback for the colts second down to three tony dorsett has a first down i think he'll be ruled down before he popped up the ball it was doug nettles who came up there and laid it on door set he did appear to have the yardage for a first down yes he does frank i think dandy touched on the key point about baltimore in the opening of the show when he said they're susceptible to the run in average yards per rush the cowboys were fifth a year ago in the league the colts on defense allowed 4.25 yards per rush they ranked 24 so as dandy said because the cowboys will be running at their own 31 first and 10 for dallas inside handoff dorset good defensive play moving across the line of scrimmage number 76 was joe ehrman gain of a yard second down and about nine [Applause] tony dorsett rookie of the year in the nfl last year over a thousand yards rushing exciting player set dallas records for runs from scrimmage he had a couple of beauties 12 touchdowns overall on the season a great year for the heisman award winner out of pittsburgh second down and nine ball up to 32 starback his first attempt of the night goes to tony dorsett and gorset holds on a flag gets down as gorset is down at the 36 yard line short of the first down stan white one of the fine linebackers of baltimore covering dorsett indication is going to go against the baltimore coast our referee tonight jim tunney who's in denver yesterday made a lot of time illegal chuck defense first down we're going to hear this many times at the beginning of the season those defensive backs are just not used to the new rule that allows them only to hit one time or ride the receiver within five yards you can't touch them when they go five yards down the field and doug nettles obviously has not become accustomed to that new rule it's going to make for long touchdown passes we saw it yesterday and quite frankly it's a bit of a safety device that was considered that as well as adding office to the nfl considered that by the nfl players and management committee the competition committee had that in mind you're right about that and wesley walker's touchdowns against miami prove what you just said first and ten for the cowboys their own 37-yard line the motion man tony hill an exciting athlete inside handoff new house working against the grain fools no one in the baltimore defensive front four squeaks out maybe a yard ed simonetti joe ehrman in there on the stop it will be second and nine they're running left at the moment behind donovan and scott with the help of fitzgerald at center of course she just looked at bobby neuhaus's statistics but if there is a weakness on dallas we'll have to keep our eyes on andy frederick second year man number 71 who has to handle fred cutt who is an all-pro second down and nine for the cowboys [Music] baltimore with their second break of the ball game and thompson comes back to the 40-yard line strawback under a lot of pressure hung it up for grabs and thompson accepted downfield and returned it to the 40. frank told you before what a first-rate player norm thompson is it was great as we look at it again dandy why don't you take over howdy threw a bad ball which is so unusual for roger to do it was it was a short yardage situation but they really didn't get close so the only thing you could say just threw a bad ball and we'll come back and see why all right how did you see right roger got hit pretty good i don't really know what the mix-up was he didn't have that much time to throw you see barnes coming in there cook was in there that was you mentioned that we're going to be taking a look at andrew frederick that was cook's man barnes came in from the other side over donovan baltimore's second break of the game dallas fumbled the opening kickoff they couldn't capitalize they get the interception and moving yeah for about three yards roosevelt leaks it'll be second down and seven the ball at the 37-yard line of the dallas cowboys you guys were saying while ago and i understand why you want to climb play a conservative with a rookie quarterback but i think when they come into a game like this they've got so many unknowns and so many players that are missing and they know dallas is a really conservative kind of team i would go out for him right quick and throw that ball do whatever i would run round the middle i try to get some points on the board quick the question mark is number 15. mike kirkland basically a rookie out of arkansas having to go with quarterback he hands off to don mccauley mccauley upset harvey martin who is working against another another basic rookie number 69 wade griffin and it's kind of a one-sided duel involving this man he might be the best defensive end in all of football you know right now when you talk nobody runs against them very well and uh they sure aren't going to run harder all right move him he didn't move a muscle right there it kept moving right back in play into the hands of the flex defense which we'll deal with later if you run run run especially on first down the way to take landry's computer is to use it in your favor well they're playing ball later third down seven kirkland his first attempt going to marshall johnson incomplete fourth down that was their prevent which they call a 4-0 there's not really a linebacker they take brutic and uh b.d lewis out of there and they really can double everybody that way they put they they take them short they take them long and that's when they only use that thing in the short very a longer situation so he waited until an obvious passing down to throw his first pass david lee the grey beard of the baltimore colts he's been here five years more than any other baltimore player he set the punt for baltimore butch johnson playing a short safety anticipating the attempt by lee out of bounds baltimore trying to draw the penalty they don't get it [Music] fair catch called for but not made obviously butch johnson lets it drift into the end zone he just wanted to slow down the defensive team coming downfield so baltimore has two breaks they capitalize on neither the score remains scoreless we'll be back in a moment frankenford almost held on meredith glad to be back with you again as monday night football is kicking off with well quite frankly a game that we had looked forward to all the off season however baltimore really decimated by the injury to bert jones vidal mitchell of course gone to san diego they received no washington we haven't seen him yet we might see him on kicks they have been given two breaks they could capitalize on either first and ten for dallas to ball up their own 20-yard line inside hand-off and new house ducks one rushing baltimore coat turns back to the middle and runs into a group headed by number 78 john dunton the boss of the yard will be second down 11. mike ponce was in there 63 first and slowed him up and dutton killed him off so thus far mike barnes is playing a well of a game that's twice he's had a call lawrence made a good move just yet as a while ago on the other side we had cook i mean uh john dutton made a quick move into the inside too we'll see if they don't come back up second eleven draw play tony dorsett left side [Music] that's back to the line of scrimmage tax on a couple more it'll be third down and eight stan white and joe ehrman in there defensively for baltimore stan white an opportunistic linebacker who has excelled at the intercept in recent years from ohio state always around the football or so it seems i'll tell you excel he has 23 interceptions in seven years he's always there passing down for staubach he was rushed on a similar situation and through the interception now out of the shotgun a lot of time all right preston pearson he's the man the cowboys always like to bring in third and passing yardy dan pierson gets the cowboys out of trouble they always bring him in on the passing down i think this is cook that kind of jumps over let's see they did a little crisscross there in the middle let me check that number no that's barnes comes over it's just a little delay pattern it comes in there it's used by i really think most of the successful offensive teams to utilize that back that comes out there late venezuela probably does it better than anybody it's amazing the way preston is always there on the third down as frank mentioned the only non-cowboy right along with seption their kicker that wasn't drafted or free agent for dallas justin pearson getting the call new house right side met there met hard by a really rugged defensive unit of the baltimore colts and i said it at the top of the show and don howard you've seen it over the years a team hit with problems often in many sports will play just a little bit over their head and defensively the colts are doing that i think it might be true frank it probably is but i also know that dallas in the first stages of the ball game and particularly early in the season they don't really show a lot of anything fancy it's just basic they're hitting the left to the right trying to find something that might loosen up second and nine the ball of the 43 of dallas tony dorsett i'm opening look out for that has the baltimore territory 47-yard line finally dropped by lyle blackwood and norm thompson as tony dorsett went over the right side andy frederick who is replacing the retired ralph neely number 71 on that side providing one of the blocks along with tom rafferty that's a pretty good holes over there wouldn't you say oh yes knocked out i had lunch with ralph as a matter of fact today and he was talking about this offensive line and tom bravery in particular and he says that he is going to be really one of the good ones he thinks pat donovan's one of the best offensive tackles in football right now that's saying a lot really really yep the first and ten inside the 47-yard line of baltimore the motion man is drew pearson spa back floods back to the left looking for an individual coverage he doesn't get it and the attempt to tony hill covered well by norm thompson and he got some assistance back there from number 40 bruce laird now you might want to know about tony hill this but you know when landry starts to brag about a player and he's been bragging unceasingly about tony hill he's got to be exceptional like most rookies under landry sat in the bench last year he comes from stanford he's a second year man he hasn't you're looking at mike kirkland now he hasn't dropped a pass in the preseason and he had to be extraordinary watch this now watch starback unloading i'll tell you they're getting to it well [Music] he misses on the attempted screen now look for a lot of that tonight that's why we told you about cook against andy frederick cook is one of the quickest defensive ends in the game the thing you got to do well he's right over you don't go down on your on your knees like that he's trying to throw a cut block all you really want to do is just slow him up so stand up hit him just a little bit and hold him up i'd have the conversation with that boy right there look here now let me tell you i think tom will when he looks at that i imagine roger will too roger getting little or no respect for baltimore tonight third down and ten the ball is still inside the 47 roger dropped to the shotgun out to the left through pearson billy joe dupree press comparison number 26 also and there's a wing back [Music] [Applause] i'm sorry frank ray oldham was defending well now the debate did he drop the ball was he touched [Applause] now you have consistently explained that frank in past games he touched the man the man was down and so clay was real dead at that point been a lot of conversations about the violence and how to correct it i think in that that area general area where a guy is bound or not down there's one area that it can be controlled a little bit more because the guys come in and they do take a shot when the guy is obviously not going to be able to make any more yardies fourth down dallas will go for that and by the way that was the seventh official that's been added this year that made that call no other official thought [Music] offside new house has the first down in any event at the 30-yard line flag down you saw ehrman or brother mike barnes number 63 move across the line of scrimmage i look for him to have a really outstanding year this year new house i'm talking about for a couple of reasons one obviously he's got dorset back there and they're going to be keen on it that's not robert newhouse or darcy but i think he will have a good one he's the kind of guy that just seems to he's a good blocker very consistent makes those short yardage situations and he's awfully hard to bring down okay thank you three and one in the preseason baltimore one and three on the preseason dallas lost to houston baltimore only beat detroit on the first and ten the ball goes to gorset bounces to the outside not a bad move nifty move by dorsett to get away from sanders shriver and he turned it what appeared to be a loser into a three-yard pickup all right that was also a heck of a try and play by john dunn number 78 he came in there but shivers having his hands full catching that urban caught up with it good pursuit down the line looks like john travolta you bet i wouldn't say that well somewhat frank just didn't i just said you bet 11th play for dallas four yard pickup for dorset second down six yards to go well inside the 27-yard line motion man tony hill sets into a wing [Music] [Applause] [Music] tom loves that play doesn't he not yeah i was talking to irma allen uh uh buddy thermal said if they ever get into this he actually told me that uh pearson was gonna throw it he didn't tell me tony hill if he waited just a little bit more got in there behind scott he threw a little bit off balance he was open there for a little while let's see what appears to be going to lull him to sleep don't you imagine breaking the inside he looked like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar he didn't fool anyone it was a good move by bruce laird though he saw that outside move key number 40. third down seven however you said landry loves that play remember the super bowl robert newhouse golden richards that put it on ice 27-10 over denver out of the shotgun saw back [Music] [Applause] that was some kind of kid i'll tell you while you were vacationing we talked watch him again we talked as we watched drew pierce and about the fact that the real science of drafting begins with the third boy you talk about lightning this little man howard don he can put some moves on like you've never seen well done said dallas doesn't show a lot in the early stages of a season and the record year in and year out backs him up as we look at the man who can't smile and think at the same time but and we look at the beleaguered one teddy ma shibroda who's gone through all kinds of terrible situations in the pre-season one setback robert neuhaus second down seven two tight ends are in new house gets it ball left side big hole nice look at new house bouncing away from ed simon to restore our normal quality service at any moment as we work to restore the quality of our signal we will continue our normal programming first game it looked like a championship team 15th play coming up first and goal the ball at the five yard line [Music] dorset losing yardage hoping to make more doesn't pay off and he's taken all the way back close to the 10-yard line as loud blackwood comes up there from his safety position that's the kid who shocked us all last year as we look at tom again the duo one blackwood came up with what 11 interceptions last year to leave the nfl frank at the nfl and he was a cast off in seattle dcu boy over here at fort worth did you know that well yeah i'm not sure it's relevant [Applause] screen pass new house all right new house gets away from number 40 drew slayer somehow stayed on his feet gets it down to the one-yard line and whether they call [Applause] a few years ago but this is as good an evidence of balance as you'll see look at that yardage pickup gun that well yeah he's just still that is really well you're right he's not a calvin hill cowan retired this year would you believe that he called tex ran wanted to come back yeah i believe that third and goal the ball for one no score inside one minute remaining in the first quarter dallas grinding it up [Applause] rolls out his receiver falls down he wanted to go to salty jay salty the tight end play action fake slowly it would have been an easy touchdown white soldier he's from south carolina [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we'll be right back [Music] field goal got in a little close i guess he kicked well for the rams last year a friend herrera held out for the cowboys this year they let him go he went to seattle they signed seption was that a bad kicker quite frankly oh they're great inside the boarding [Music] on first and 10. for about a yard a yard and a half well marcia is going to play at his flight again but i think he should he's coach can you get a direct line down to him no i don't think so i talked to oh dick bielski and max if i know a couple of those guys see how they're doing leaks gets a couple yards it'll be second down in eight baltimore with what should be the final play of the first quarter and still no score see some strange happenings [Music] mccauley [Applause] forest carries him ahead for about a yard it'll be third down and seven and that is the end of the first quarter baltimore missing on two opportunities dallas missing and unheard of eight yard field goal attempt is scoreless back in texas stadium in irving texas located just outside of dallas crowds over 65 000 third down seven baltimore has the ball their own 23-yard line [Applause] they're looking for their first first down they haven't made one yet marshall johnson is moving into the backfield and gets the ball against that line well now they've adjusted the marker it'll bring up fourth down septeon kicked 16 of 18 last year inside the 40 frank but what was he inside the two guys i think he was he well yeah frank made a point they could get so close it's just hard to kick him down there that's what it should have taken a five-yard penalty many teams do david lee will find butch johnson is deep for dallas flintstown's a fine return man and they put two men back they're probably going to go for the block and sometimes they'll put tony hill back there too [Applause] hey puck ran out and they caught it they caught him and it's going to be five yards that was old tom henderson wanted he oh yeah on the clock they probably were trying to get the five yard penalty wouldn't go still fourth down we may yet see tom maddy come back tonight oh number 41 with the plays on the cup i played in that game when he came in and we forgot that he didn't play defense maybe he was 35 to 3. all right they cannot draw dallas off this time they'll kick away from five yards further out david lee hangs one up it doesn't turn over johnson will try on the sidelines and he tight rope down the sidewalk the sideline goes with shots and he picked up about nine yards just with his own skill he was right on the sideline and he moves all the way down to the 40-yard line of baltimore those stats give you some indication of marsha broda's game plan which is to try to stay close but you can't win that way look at time of possession that's really well you know another thing baltimore did all three seasons pointing toward this game they weren't showing any offense at all no multiple sets no nothing to their outside receivers who only caught five between him car and downey and they lost their quarterback last week so they had to adjust this on first and ten and he has a first down at the 35 yard line bruce laird made the stop you know i was talking to uh i wasn't talking to harvey martin there what's harvey he got hurt or anything is he no no he looks good he's just eager that's the kind of running play that dallas has been able to really put in their offense now that dorset is here and it's it's a more a lot more of a zone straight ahead kind of blocks and allow him to move and pick their holes and they've never really had that kind of back to give that free that freedom with that flexibility and certainly he's been able to take advantage of it and dorsett by the way is going to have a simply tremendous year the cowboys were frankly worried about him success had come to him too quickly and they worried about his personal life but this young man has settled down and he's going to be one of the great ones in the history of the league i lied to you a little bit you saw how much the second down and inches the ball at the 35-yard line new house yeah yard line dallas mcdonald's first down this telecast is presented by authority of the national football league it's intended for the private use of our audience any rebroadcast or other use of this telecast without the express written consent of the national football league is prohibited so don't use it [Applause] alice frank they're going into their two tight end situation on the first down they put saudi and they've got diligent free and they took hill out strong running situation you know i think roger's getting impatient he watched for him to unload that thing in the end zone pretty soon too and maybe he'll throw all of this on first and ten there he goes play action and there he is oprah flip [Applause] incomplete defending back there number 40. bruce flair strange to see pearson drop that one don a nice round look out just kind of weaves his way around in here and he comes back in jumps right there and uh slides he just didn't catch it that's calvin o'deal number 51 they had in that linebacker just right in the middle you're a student of bobby dylan the times they are a changing balletnikov casper and branch all dropped passes yesterday there and probably bob dylan would too new pearson over 230 receptions over the last five years you don't see him drop passage like that gives roger a second down and 10. ball at the 33-yard line there's your little screen look out new house well moving up quickly from the defensive cornerback turning it inside norm thompson and making the stop daryl loose number 58 joe ehrman in there also lost all the way back to the 35-yard line it'll be third down and 12. screen passes either work or don't work depending on how good actors you got up at an offensive line they left too soon showed the play too quickly allowed that defense to move out there with it sometimes it can be the key play in your offensive category it used to be with paul brown when he had jimmy brown on the receiving end and bobby mitchell too tony hill right is in the backfield with the wing back out of the shotgun on third and 12. nobody will cause it over there there's nobody picked off down at the 15-yard line number 43 norm thompson gets his second of the night man wide open tony hill just short of the end zone roger apparently being harassed back there did not see so pick off by lloyd mumford helping norm thompson but thompson gets the interception tom landry the only coach the cowboys have ever had been in the playoffs 11 of the last 12 years not a losing season since 1966 but he's having his problems tonight against the shuffled baltimore coal team that is battling furiously defensively but they can't move it on offense first and ten from their own 15-yard line don mccauley right side and mcauley is met there by benny barnes number 31 who comes up from the left cornerback spot just stood there and waited read the play immediately no chance for a game charlie waters was up in there too i was talking to some of the guys and waters takes in a regular season that your games are on schedule he takes four hours on thursday night and he goes through the defensive computerization and he's the guy that really calls the blaze back there and he's the guy that really does keep the offensive formations better than anyone he read that one extremely well he and barnes were there about the same time what a safety tender cliff harris and charlie waters dana won by mccauley second down to nine from the 16-yard line and getting the call roosevelt leaks left side forget about it jethro q was there harvey martin moving out randy white and dallas knows now that kirkland's not going to throw so they're masked and there's no way baltimore's going to run against that jethro according to ernie and it's funny you know guys will go along they'll have a couple of kind of you know good years but not greatly it's been according ernie by far general's best training camp that let a couple of good guys go dale gregory was one of them third down seven could be a key to the baltimore philosophy dallas is in a brief in defense and kirkland dumps it off oh this fish and he uh he actually overran the play yep he's gonna be called against george guns who was now in his 11th year in the league out of notre dame on the great offensive lineman traditionally known as such but a man suffering from a bad back frank he has had his problems he hasn't played at all in the preseason illegal use of hands and of course coons tonight going against a pretty formidable opponent in ed jones [Applause] here's the call illegal use of the hands offense number 75 during the run half the distance of the goal line third down still now mike kirkland back inside his own 10. third down 15 yards what do you do never played a minute in an nfl regular season game six of 24 in pre-season on the spot here tonight you run a draw and then you punt no score in the game quick handoff mccauley finds a big opening mcconnelly gets out to the 20-yard line five yards short of a first down hit there by cliff harris and drop as dallas is willing to give them the short yardage and we're going to give them anything else that brings out david lee and drops back butch johnson for dallas there he is 8-5 average 150 returns last year here's lee not a long kicker very accurate when he's kicking her out of bounds he had to hustle this time he gets out close to midfield so david lee being rushed by randy hughes kicks a short kick dallas will have the ball at midfield when we return the grip how are they have to miss him he lets her nfl in completions last year he's a fiery kind of a quarterback and he loves to play against dallas he's one of the best there is at the position there's no question about it out for they really don't know how long an incomplete separation of the right first shoulder denver dallas just short of midfield [Music] wide open is tony hill and he puts a tremendous move on duck nettles and look out and that's why he's starting again ahead of golden richard that is something else oh wow blackwood saves the touchdown but how about the move he put on a fairly good tackler in doug nettles to break it loose looks like he's lifting off a little bit that's why john landry has been bragging on him all the pre-season this is one of those where you say all right let's get this thing rolling pick up five yards are we gonna go and you're right he did it all on his own another white jersey's down there remember he beat out butch johnson number 86 who was the hero of the super bowl he beat out golden riches that's who he's been a solid receiver through all the years he has been that high school long beach polly where gene washington went stanford he broke all of washington's records there and he might set a few here in dallas before it's all over 49-yard pickup first and goal there he goes 21 is doug jennison touchdown dallas and they get the goose eggs off the scoreboard at 8 57 remaining in half that's the way dallas can strike abruptly [Applause] that's tony hill from stanford the man who made it possible antonio sat out all last year frank you know the way tom is with rookies but this year there was no holding him back that was not a bad block by the way guys the whole time rafferty that guard led that way in there he kind of stood him up too raphael set you on he missed one a field goal attempt from a well a yard in closer earlier to i'm sure his embarrassment this one all right really folks this is what you were talking about don well you got billy joe dupree he's the guy that really is heckler blocker number 89 you see donovan look how far donovan pushes those guys in heck of a block hey that's dorset out there blocking and uh he and uh he took nettles right off the tackle sir dallas on the scoreboard 8 57 remaining in the half cowboys leading the goal seven to nothing [Music] doug dennison scores from the one-yard line following a 49-yard roger starback to tony hill completion which was mostly tony hill set to kick off raphael seption deep marshall johnson in the middle number 80. flank by number 23 don mccauley in number 20 joe washington acquired from san diego in the trade of lionel mitchell it will be johnson as he's driven into the end zone and he'll bring it up good move johnson gets by jenny barnes and seption saves it all right because marshall johnson was out of here he has got plenty of speed and he takes it all the way down to the 44 yard line now that's the break ball the boy needed for the first time tonight they've got field position let's see if young mike kirkland keeps running the ball into a mass dallas defense or finally begins to try to throw at least you remember marshall johnson against oakland in the playoffs ran one back 87 yards for a touchdown had a lot of problems with knees over the past three years but he looked healthy on that front end he gets baltimore good field position at dallas 44 yard line kirkland throwing the slant attempting to go to dottie incomplete jimmy barnes right on top of dowdy another one of those late defensive changes you saw d.d lewis number 50 run out and again kind of put a double on the outside receivers that puts a lot of pressure on that quarterback they'll give you an opening but boy it's got to be right in the middle there's d.d lewis out in front of roger carr this is the real speedster that two years ago had a great year now that's where he's got to come back only at five yards now cars coming back in there second down 10. roosevelt leaks 48 down the calling 23 the setbacks dowdy's in motion and the toss goes to mccauley leaks for the block in front of mcauley running well breaking tackles and the all-time leading rusher from north carolina gets an hr pick up out of the 37-yard line give him seven it will be third down and three pretty good block by dowdy that time number 35 coming back on hold too tall closed off the inside a little bit congested it and enabled mccauley to get to the outside mccauley came up back in 1971 second kick in the draft remember the first one o.j simpson marshall johnson goes out left i didn't know that third and three [Applause] and the pass from kirkland behind marshall johnson too bad just poorly thrown he could have hit johnson who was running the slant he was their leading receiver wasn't he in the preseason johnson and he's also the leading he led front returns and kickoffs and stuff over it's a good apple yeah on fourth down david lee rolls out butch johnson drops back positions himself at his own 10-yard line there he is these guys haven't made a first down yet [Applause] [Music] another punch that was hurried by david lee oh and this is taking a good baltimore bounce down around the one yard line he did it 19 times last year that's the way you can kill a team john james did that yesterday for atlanta against houston the coffin corner kick which has come more and more into vogue which used to be a very big thing in college football back in the 30s principally off the quick kick i know jude jones do yesterday he did quite well good freddy houston blitz you'll see him on a halftime highlights caught bubba bean all alone they don't lose the tying touchdown on the halftime highlights you'll see that stunning upset of the bikes by the new orleans saints the stunning upset of the dolphins by the new york jets 7 40 to go until halftime cowboys leading baltimore seven to nothing they'll begin from their own one-yard line good kick david lee brownback play action fake door set borsette gets it out close to the 10-yard line tackled there by doug nettle short of the first down by about a yard yard and a half i like that roger the dodger i like him for so many reasons hey he's a great athlete bee's a great person tell you this on june 29th past in minneapolis minnesota they roasted francis talkington for the benefit of american the american diabetes association raised 180 000 all told you know showed up roger the dodge took his lumps too a good look at him surveying a second down a yard and a half hands off the doorstep and dorsett is down hustling across mike farns number 63. nfl players association pick mike barnes as the lime of the year in 77. but he had his buddy dutton in there with him too that front four of baltimore the solid what do they call them the sack pack or something like that they had a couple of things went wrong last year one of the guys a little down in the back had a broken arm by ehrman but they still put it together pretty good they're really good at rushing the pass [Applause] loss to the yard third down now along three saw back ball deflected but he's still top here by number 33 tony dorsett look out all right thompson misses it should be all over it's all over [Applause] that ball was deflected was it it sure was it didn't appear it would even get the door set when you see this and replay don watch watchdog said hold position there we go deflected almost oh he almost got it again that's right his vision was blocked on the ball he held position picked it off and from there on in look at that boy is he a sweet little runner no he's not bad law fluid all grace there you go give me five let's dance on them darling strikes quickly once again 91-yard touchdown pass staubach tony dorsett raphael seption on for the conversion so the inevitable is beginning to happen let's take another look it's worth watching saw back throwing right up from his own goal as reflected touched twice i believe and away goes look at that i'm gonna get on him because that ball didn't spiral norm thompson i don't think he even touched him just grabbed a handful of errors oh yeah see him shake the hand of his teammate as he moved it on in cowboys 14 goals nothing will be back baltimore with two early opportunities they couldn't capitalize dallas stammered around for a while and they finally hit on two big plays a 49-yard pass to tony hill at a 91 yard touchdown pass to dorsett it's 14 to nothing and here comes don mccauley running back kickoff doing a little bit of everything tonight on an injury-riddled baltimore colt team and mccully gets out to the 29-yard line where baltimore will try and get back in it they really quite honestly do not have the weapons to do so they don't they're in chaos no matter how they try to protest otherwise look at that the loss of lydell mitchell one of the premier players in professional football for whatever reason joe washington probably will see his greatest service the guy that got the lydell as a kick run man on the spot young mike kirkland 6-184 pounder third year out of arkansas playing in his first pro game hands off mccauley mcauley goes out to the 32-yard line gain of two it'll be second and eight hit by bruning 53 harvey martin 79. don explain why you play into dallas's hands against the flex defense when you consistently run on first down no i don't have any way oh yeah i explained that but i i imagine that it's not much that much easier to throw against them you really want to i mean a rock in a hard place it's what you have to do yeah well you're gonna get so far behind a little while they'll really get panicky and downers can go into that prevent defense but the amazing thing is they have really no first downs and only 37 yards rush second down eight that was the number one defense in the nfl last year third against the pass second against the rights look out here makes kirkland throw it high and that gave the defensive area by tom henderson a chance to get to mccauley before he could get to the ball i honestly believe there is no better athlete in football today than dom henderson we've talked about him in the past years he runs like a halfback he has tremendous speed he used to be used as you look at him there by tom landry on kickoffs he would take the ball on a reverse some years back he broke one for a touchdown and then the super bowl game against pittsburgh which dallas did lose on the opening kickoff he set up dallas's first touchdown by running it back on the receiving end of a reverse into pittsburgh territory third down seven napali and marshall in the backfield kirkland he's got it he'll get the first first down and steps out of bounds at the 46 yard line first down baltimore mark washington up there threatening they'll choose somebody out because there was nobody over there somebody's supposed to stay home good move by kirkland though he's never gonna he saw a big opening there had to run with it by the way if you want to watch dallas develop later in the season you'll have the chance right here on abc not once but twice we'll be back in the big day for minnesota against dallas and will be in the national capital for dallas against washington you know curtin still has the arkansas record for the longest run from scrimmage 91 yards before i pull that in okay he won the pass punt and kick win ten years right here right here the first and ten baltimore's first first down from their own 41-yard line and they run out of time too much time once again mike mike is calling his own plays we were told and they would get some assistance from the sideline and uh not messengers but i guess that wiggle waggle or whatever it is stop i have news cowboys longest passplay in history with 95 yards it was from don meredith to bob hayes yeah you saw the second longest 91 yards star back to dorset oh you were something don yeah well i threw mine a lot further than who caught it i don't know i just threw it up did y'all go when you had number 22 to throw to it wasn't too bad it was not bad bob hayes that is right five yard penalty first down 15 the ball inside the 41 yard line five minutes remaining in the first half baltimore trailing the [Applause] [Music] thomas henderson again too i think wasn't it yep hugh is there henderson and i'll tell you through all the years we've watched d.d lewis they were writing watch dvd they left the blitz on second and long you see that henderson just laid there a little bit and that's in order to make that offensive line or blockers commit he's got that extra speed that he can spot you half step still beats you back there they talked about it before he ran a legit unaided 9-5 up at oklahoma state a few years back and he weighs 220 pounds you look at the d.d lewis what a guile full veteran second down at a bundle 25 yards draw play roosevelt leaks and leaks gets out to the 38-yard line gets some of it back it'll still be third down and long what you're going to see in the national football league this year with a 16-game schedule is one studies that troubled marcia brodar is the team with the greatest number of reserves the team that can best withstand injuries and bert jones as an example [Music] emerging on top third down 18. dallas in a prevent randy hughes comes in [Applause] he's number 42. kirkland down he goes i could have almost guessed that because he had everybody screaming at him from both sides everybody's hollering and yelling and feeling and then prevent prevent defense yeah you got damn things i know that i said look at him i got my own problem yeah don't tell me your problems on the sidelines just saying what's in there our old friend larry cole oh and tommy henderson again number 56. i read a thing in a paper about larry coley they always gave for his one-liners they said why are you over he's i can't remember more one line at a time david level punt butch johnson is deep 336 remaining in the first half lay hits one and it turns over this time in the drive butch johnson inside is 20. [Applause] good coverage and johnson goes down at the 26 yard line 47-yard pipe down there number 71 for baltimore you look at butch johnson and you understand why dallas has such a great football team why they're equipped to withstand interest butch johnson is one of the best receivers in the league as i said a star in the super bowl again he thought he finally had golden riches displaced now he finds tony hill ahead of him when he got that kind of talent so much of it you can't fail to be up there first and ten dallas look out look out i said look out maybe oh got the angle on him garcette out of bounds out of the 28 yard line brad harrison wasn't it 47-yard pickup and watch him accelerate now clicking on that sideline howard and donna watch him kind of coast and turn it on and and try to get by looking like bruce lee missed him right there at the first and this is dwight harrison who had a very good angle on it knocks him out there again you see dupree kind of just flirt with him going to the outside that whole right side just knocked him in again there's pearson out in front key block and i'm sure tom is happy with it andy frederick number 71 you signed he moved him in didn't mean cook inside and dorset gorset was gone chuck dennison will relieve dorset for a moment number 21. first and ten at the 28 yard line straw back look out rod screen defender joe dupree and debris

Channel: Maurence Shipley

Views: 4,873

Keywords: Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Colts, 1978, NFL

Id: rQ-KLWc4oaw

Length: 61min 52sec (3712 seconds)

Published: Fri May 07 2021