Super Bowl 49: Ranking the most dramatic finishes

1. Super Bowl X: Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Dallas Cowboys 17

As successful as the Dallas Cowboys have been—with their five Super Bowl trophies—heartbreak has hit them thrice in Super Bowls. In other words they are on this list three times for being the team that came up short in an all-time dramatic Super Bowl ending. And sadly for them, two of them came against the Pittsburgh Steelers under Chuck Knoll, with Terry Bradshaw at the controls.

But the amazing thing about Super Bowl X is the way the game played out. Roger Staubach started the game out by throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to the freakish athlete turned receiver Drew Pearson on the Cowboys’ opening drive (presumably as it came just 4:36 into the contest).

Bradshaw and the Steelers answered back with a seven yard touchdown pass to tight end Randy Grossman with a little more than five minutes to go in the first quarter. And then the scoring essentially went dead until the fourth quarter. Dallas kicked a field goal in the second to take a 10-7 lead to the half.

Pittsburgh started the fourth quarter with a safety, which were followed by consecutive Roy Garela field goals for Pittsburgh just 2:04 in game time apart. The Steelers then took a commanding lead with 3:02 remaining in the game when Bradshaw hit MVP Lynn Swann for a 64-yard touchdown pass—Swan set a then-Super Bowl record yards with 161 receiving yards.

Staubach answered back with a 34-yard touchdown pass at the 1:58 mark, making it a four-point game. The Steelers would then go for it fourth-and-one at the Cowboys’ 39, trying to seal the victory. Dallas stopped them and took over with 1:22 to play.

Staubach quickly moved Dallas down the field and in position to hand Pittsburgh a disappointing loss. It was not to be, though, as Staubach threw an interception in the end zone to Glenn Edwards on the final play.

Next: Somebody turned the lights out, and flipped the game on its head