Most fans outside of Texas would be laughing at the idea of an all-Texas Superbowl.
But after Week 1 of the NFL season, two of the most impressive teams are Houston and Dallas.
A one-state Super Bowl doesn’t come around often. It’s happened twice before:
- In 1995, when the Steve Young/Jerry Rice San Francisco 49ers clobbered the San Diego Chargers, 49-26.
- And in 1991, when a failed field goal try to end the game gave the New York Giants the edge over the Buffalo Bills, 20-19.
Six states can stake a claim to the possibility of a one-state Super Bowl: Pennsylvania, New York, California, Florida, Missouri and Texas.
Ohio is the only state with multiple teams in the NFL, the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns, that play in the same conference and thus have no chance for a one-state Super Bowl.
There are nine combinations that could make it work:
- Buffalo Bills versus New York Giants
- New York Jets versus New York Giants
- Pittsburgh Steelers versus Philadelphia Eagles
- Kansas City Chiefs versus St. Louis Rams
- Jacksonville Jaguars versus Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Miami Dolphins versus Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- San Diego Chargers versus San Francisco 49ers
- Oakland Raiders versus San Francisco 49ers
- Dallas Cowboys versus Houston Texans.
For the fans of the Texas teams, the most unforgettable Super Bowl would be for the pride of Texas. Football is big everywhere, but in Texas, football is king. From high school through college to the pros, books and movies are made on the football culture of Texas.
This year’s Super Bowl is in the New Orleans Superdome, which is a hop, skip, and jump from Dallas and Houston. So, it would make the game even that much of a bigger deal. Tickets would be practically impossible to come by.
The Houston Oilers had some good teams in their day and got close to the Super Bowl in the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons. They ended their season both years losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game. If the Oilers had won the 1978-79 championship game, they would have played the Cowboys, who ended up losing to the Steelers in Super Bowl XIII, 35-31.
Houston lost their franchise years ago and didn’t do much for several seasons in their newest incarnation as the Texans.
Dallas has been the jock itch of the league for more than a few seasons. They have teased their fans and then disappointed them each time during the Romo era. But at least the Romo Era has given fans something to cheer about because the period after the Triplets (Aikman, Smith, Irvin) until Romo was a complete disaster season after season.
With two potentially potent pro Texas teams, the chatter will be hot like the bar-b-ques. There’s a long season to go and many things will have to happen for an all-Texas Super Bowl; but in Texas after only two encouraging games, it’s already on the minds of fans.
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Howard Alperin is Managing Editor of AmericanizeSoccer.com
About Howard M Alperin
Seahawks 27 Cowboys 7. That’s why you don’t talk about Super Bowl contenders after week one. The last two SB champs went 9-7, it’s largely impossible to predict. Just make a preseason prediction like everyone else. Thanks for the geography lesson though. I could never have figured out which teams were in the same state without that list.
@Mark. This article was derived from chatter I heard from sports fans in Texas. The thought never occurred to me personally until hearing it from others first. I think it’s a longshot for the Cowboys to get there, not as much for the Texans. I didn’t have a preseason prediction. after 2 weeks, my prediction is Denver and Carolina. btw, there’s a history lesson in there as well. best of luck.