The Blooper Bowl: the story of the worst Super Bowl in NFL History 

Super Bowl Sunday is a major global event. Between the commercials, the half-time show, the Super Bowl parties, and the overall spectacle, people from all over the world tune in to watch the game. The game is the main event, but sometimes the game isn’t always as “Super” as advertised.

Super Bowl five was jive

That was the case in Super Bowl V back in 1971. It was the first season and first Super Bowl after the AFL/NFL merger and the there was plenty of hype around the game in this new look league. The game was played at the world famous Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida as the world awaited a spectacle between Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts and legendary coach Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys.

This was just the fifth ever Super Bowl, so there wasn’t as much of a spectacle as there is nowadays. The game was broadcast across the U.S. but there wasn’t as big of a demand for big budget commercials or blockbuster halftime shows. The focus was all on the game back then and unfortunately for the 80,000 in attendance and the millions watching around the country they were treated to the biggest dud of a Super Bowl in NFL history.

The Colts were 11-2-1 in the regular season and led by future Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas. The Cowboys were 10-4 in the regular season and had a chance at their first Super Bowl. Neither Unitas, nor Landry, nor Roger Staubach who was on the bench for this Super Bowl stole the show.

Colts win, Cowboy MVP

Instead it was a Super Bowl known for it’s comedy of errors, self inflicted wounds, and poor refereeing than it was for historic plays or game winning touchdowns. There was a game winning field goal kicked by Jim O’Brien in the final five seconds of the game, but what led to that moment was pure chaos and one of the poorest played games ever.

Why? Let’s start with he easy part. There were a Super Bowl record 11 turnovers between the two teams, five of those coming in the final quarter. The Colts won the game despite turning the ball over seven times, mostly because the Cowboys committed 10 penalties for a total of 133 yards. Despite their self inflicted mistakes, the Cowboys never trailed for the first 59 minutes.

That changed when O’Brien kicked the go ahead FG with five seconds to go. O’Brien didn’t earn MVP honors of the game considering he missed a PAT earlier in the game. The MVP of the game didn’t even go to a member of the winning team, it went to Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley who picked off two passes and made two tackles. He originally turned the award down until he found out a station wagon was the reward, which he eventually accepted and gave to his wife.

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