Editing Super Bowl XII (section)

===Playoffs===
{{Further|1977–78 NFL playoffs}}

The Cowboys earned their second trip to the Super Bowl in three years by defeating [[1977 Chicago Bears season|the Chicago Bears]], 37–7, and [[1977 Minnesota Vikings season|the Minnesota Vikings]], 23–6, in the playoffs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Divisional Round - Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys - December 26th, 1977 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197712260dal.htm |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=NFC Championship - Minnesota Vikings at Dallas Cowboys - January 1st, 1978 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197801010dal.htm |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref>  Their "Doomsday Defense" proved as dominant as ever in those two games, forcing 7 turnovers against Chicago and 4 against the Vikings.

Meanwhile, the Broncos earned their first ever trip to the Super Bowl in team history by defeating the two previous league champions: [[1977 Pittsburgh Steelers season|the Pittsburgh Steelers]], 34–21, and [[1977 Oakland Raiders season|the Oakland Raiders]], 20–17, in the playoffs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Divisional Round - Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos - December 24th, 1977 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197712240den.htm |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=AFC Championship - Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos - January 1st, 1978 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197801010den.htm |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref> This made Morton the first quarterback to start a Super Bowl game for two different franchises,{{efn|As of [[Super Bowl LVII]], three other quarterbacks — [[Kurt Warner]] with [[1999 St. Louis Rams season|the Rams]] and [[2008 Arizona Cardinals season|Cardinals]], [[Peyton Manning]] with [[2006 Indianapolis Colts season|the Colts]] and [[2013 Denver Broncos season|Denver Broncos]], and [[Tom Brady]] with [[2001 New England Patriots season|the New England Patriots]] and [[2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season|Tampa Bay Buccaneers]] — also accomplished the feat.}} and he remains the only quarterback to have started two different franchises' ''first'' Super Bowl appearances.

This was the final Super Bowl in the 14-game schedule era. The following season, the NFL went to a 16-game schedule, which remained in place through the [[2020 NFL season]], before being replaced by a 17-game regular season in {{nfly|2021}}.