The Cowboys defeated the Dolphins by the score of 24–3, to win their first Super Bowl, which was the first professional sports championship ever won by a Dallas-based team.

Despite the southerly location, it was unseasonably cold at the time, with the kickoff air temperature of 39 °F (4 °C) making this the coldest Super Bowl played.

The Dolphins were making their first Super Bowl appearance after building a 10–3–1 regular season record, including eight consecutive wins, and posting postseason victories over the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Colts.

[9] The NFL awarded Super Bowl VI to New Orleans on March 23, 1971, at the owners meetings held in Palm Beach, Florida.

After thirteen deadlocked votes, support for both Dallas and Miami eroded after owners including Al Davis and Billy Sullivan noted that the Cowboys and Dolphins both were both favorites to reach the Super Bowl.

[10][11][12][13] City representatives, namely those from Miami, argued that future votes involve awarding multiple Super Bowl sites at the same meeting.

But after head coach Tom Landry settled on Staubach, the Cowboys won their last seven regular season games to finish with an 11–3 record.

Dallas also had an outstanding trio of running backs, Walt Garrison, Duane Thomas, and Calvin Hill, who rushed for a combined total of 1,690 yards and 14 touchdowns during the season.

(Thomas, upset that the Cowboys would not renegotiate his contract after his excellent rookie year, had stopped talking to the press and to almost everyone on the team).

Wide Receivers Bob Hayes and Lance Alworth also provided a deep threat, catching a combined total of 69 passes for 1,327 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Quarterback Bob Griese, the AFC's leading passer and most valuable player, put up an impressive performance during the season, completing 145 passes for 2,089 yards and 19 touchdowns with only 9 interceptions.

The Dolphins also had an excellent offensive line to open up holes for their running backs and protect Griese on pass plays, led by future Hall of Fame guard Larry Little.

Miami's defense was a major reason why the team built a 10–3–1 regular season record, including eight consecutive wins.

Future Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti was a major force reading and stopping plays, while safety Jake Scott recorded 7 interceptions and led the NFL in punt return yards with 318.

[19][20] Soon after the Dolphins' win in the AFC Championship Game, Shula received a phone call at his home from President Richard Nixon at 1:30 in the morning.

When asked about the Dolphins' defensive team prior to Super Bowl VI, Landry said that he could not recall any of the players' names, but they were a big concern to him.

However, it was Miami defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger who had originally given his squad the nickname after the Dolphins had beaten the Baltimore Colts in the AFC Championship.

[15] In the Cowboys' locker room after the game, flustered CBS reporter Tom Brookshier asked Duane Thomas a long-winded question, the gist of which was "You're fast, aren't you?"

The night before the game, Joe Frazier successfully defended his heavyweight boxing championship with a fourth-round knockout of Terry Daniels (at the time of the fight, a student at Dallas' Southern Methodist University) at the Rivergate Convention Center (now Caesar's Palace New Orleans), which was one mile south of the construction site for the Superdome on Poydras Street.

The game was broadcast in the United States by CBS with play-by-play announcer Ray Scott and color commentator Pat Summerall.

Although Tulane Stadium was sold out for the game, unconditional blackout rules in the NFL prohibited the live telecast from being shown in the New Orleans area.

The following year, the NFL allowed Super Bowl VII to be televised live in the host city (Los Angeles) when all tickets were sold.

In 1973, the league changed its blackout policy to allow any game to be broadcast in the home team's market if sold out 72 hours in advance.

[31] According to Roger Staubach,[15] the Cowboys' game plan was to neutralize the Dolphins' key offensive and defensive players—Paul Warfield and Nick Buoniconti.

[citation needed] To start the second quarter, Dolphins punter Larry Seiple punted the ball from Miami's own end zone, which was caught at the Dallas 45 by Hayes.

Miami drove to the Cowboys' 42-yard line with the aid of a 20-yard reception by wide receiver Howard Twilley, but the drive stalled and ended with no points after kicker Garo Yepremian missed a 49-yard field goal attempt.

The farthest advance Miami had in the third quarter was to their own 42-yard line as Griese and the offense were, as Dolphins coach Don Shula put it, "destroyed.

Miami managed to advance to midfield early in the final period, opening the fourth quarter with their first third down conversion of the game.

But three plays later, Dallas capitalized on the turnover with Staubach's 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mike Ditka, increasing their lead to 24–3 with 12 minutes left in the game.

However, when Miami reached the Dallas 16, Griese fumbled the snap, and defensive end Larry Cole recovered it at the 20-yard line.