On January 4, 1976, the Cinderella Dallas Cowboys traveled to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the championship of the National Football Conference. Dallas was expected to tamely submit to the favored Los Angeles team.
The Rams had pounded the St. Louis Cardinals in their divisional playoff game the previous week, while the Cowboys had needed a miracle to upset the Minnesota Vikings in their divisional playoff tilt.
1975 NFC Championship Game (A One-Sided Affair)
This NFC Title Game between the Rams and the Cowboys was considered by many to be a one-sided affair for the Rams.
It was indeed a one-sided affair, but it surprisingly would be the Cowboys who would be the dominant team. Dallas recorded their second straight postseason upset by completely obliterating Los Angeles, 37-7.
Virtually no one picked the Rams to falter so big in this conference championship game. Practically everyone was shocked that they offered the Cowboys no real amount of competition in this contest. By halftime, the game was for all intents and purposes, over.
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Dallas just kept scoring and scoring and scoring. Cowboys’ quarterback threw four touchdown passes, three of which went to setback Preston Pearson. Dallas made use of its resurrected Shotgun formation, especially when Staubach pitched a shovel pass to Pearson.
The shifty running back took one of those shovel tosses into the Los Angeles end zone for one of his three scores. Another Preston Pearson came on a screen pass early in the first quarter.


And in the second quarter, Pearson made a spectacular diving catch for another score. In between all of that, Dallas’ drubbing of the Rams would also feature a touchdown reception from wide receiver Golden Richards, and three Toni Fritsch field goals.
The Cowboys defense may have been the big story in this game, however. They limited Los Angeles to an incredibly low total of just 22 rushing yards. Rams running back Lawrence McCutcheon rushed for 202 yards the previous week in the NFC Divisional Playoffs against the St. Louis Cardinals.
But in the NFC Title Game against Dallas, McCutcheon was stonewalled. With no running game to speak of, the Rams had to throw the ball, and the Cowboys defense was ready for that. Both of the Rams quarterbacks – James Harris and Ron Jaworski – completed a grand total of 11 passes against Dallas.
The Los Angeles passing statistics were frankly abysmal for a division champion playoff team. The Rams had a grand total of 96 net passing yards in this game. Their quarterbacks were sacked five times, and three of their passes were intercepted. By the final gun, Los Angeles accumulated 118 total yards.
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Fans "Ghost" The Team
If you ever watch the films from this game, you will notice that by the end of the third quarter, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was virtually vacant. Many fans hightailed it out of there after Dallas took a 28-0 lead early in the third quarter.
Let’s face it…the Rams dominated most of their opponents all throughout the 1975 NFL season, and they rarely had to come from behind in any of their contests. As a result, they really were not a great comeback team, because they usually played with a secured lead. That lack of actual game practice from being behind on the scoreboard may have ultimately hurt the 1975 Los Angeles Rams.
For the 1975 Dallas Cowboys, their 37-7 victory over the Rams in the NFC Championship Game represented a high-water mark for them. The season before, they had failed to make the playoffs for the first – and only time – in the decade of the 1970s. Now, they were NFC Champions, and headed to Super Bowl X, which would be their third Super Bowl appearance in the past six years.
Trivia Question:
What player was the leading rusher in the 1975 NFC Championship Game?
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Host of Pro Football in the 1970s - Joe Zagorski
Throughout his days, Joe spent some time as a sportswriter and has been a member of the Pro Football Researchers Association since the mid-1980s. Joe is also a proud member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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