Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, the designated home team was based on an annual rotation by conference.
In the United States, NBC broadcast the AFC playoff games, while CBS televised the NFC games and Super Bowl X. at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Despite losing 5 turnovers, the Steelers forced 3 turnovers and held the Colts to 154 total yards of offense, while Pittsburgh's Franco Harris shredded Baltimore's defense with 153 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Baltimore responded in the second quarter when Lloyd Mumphord returned an interception 58 yards to set up Glenn Doughty's 5-yard touchdown catch from Marty Domres.
In the fourth quarter, a short punt from David Lee gave the Steelers favorable field position, and they scored on Bradshaw's 2-yard run, increasing their lead to 21–10.
Then on the first Cardinals play, Rams linebacker Jack Youngblood intercepted a pass from Jim Hart and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown.
Later on, Bill Simpson intercepted a pass from Hart on the first play of the second quarter and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown, making the score 21–0.
Shortly before the end of the half, Hart completed a 23-yard pass to Mel Gray that set up Jim Bakken's 39-yard field goal, cutting the score to 28-9 going into intermission.
In the third quarter, the Cardinals drove 80 yards in 12 plays, including a 19-yard reception by Metcalf, to score on Hart's 11-yard touchdown pass to Gray and cut their deficit to 28–16.
Receiver Ron Jessie eventually scored the final touchdown for the Rams when he recovered a fumble from McCutcheon and ran it into the end zone with just over 4 minutes left in the game.
They forced Dallas to use up all of its timeouts, but on a third-and-two, Cowboys safety Charlie Waters broke through Foreman's block attempt and tackled Tarkenton for a 3-yard loss as time ran down to the two-minute warning.
After Preston Pearson dropped a wide-open pass in the middle of the field with 32 seconds left, Staubach launched a bomb to Drew Pearson, who caught the ball through tight coverage by Wright at the 4-yard line and ran into the end zone for a 50-yard scoring reception that Staubach, in a postgame interview, called a "Hail Mary" pass.
The play drew the ire of Minnesota's Alan Page, who was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct for arguing with officials, and a 15-yard penalty was assessed that allowed Dallas to kick off from the 50.
Meanwhile, angry Minnesota fans threw objects onto the field, one of which was a liquor bottle that struck official Armen Terzian in the head, creating a forehead gash and rendering him unconscious.
The fan who threw the glass bottle at Terzian eventually was found by police, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault, and was sentenced to a $100 fine.
[10] Meanwhile, the Cowboys "Doomsday Defense" put the finishing touches on the team's victory by sacking Tarkenton on each of the final two plays of the game.
The upstart and youthful Cowboys, not expected to do much after an 8–6 season in 1974 and the loss of several key veterans, would defeat the Rams and lose to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.
Oakland kicker George Blanda made a 31-yard field goal, while quarterback Ken Stabler threw two touchdown passes in the first half, one for 9 yards to Mike Siani and an 8-yard one to Bob Moore.
The Bengals managed to force a punt with 50 seconds left, but on a desperate attempt to block the kick that narrowly missed, linebacker Chris Devlin ran into Guy, drawing a penalty that gave the Raiders a first down and let them run out the clock.
"Al Davis went to a lot of trouble to get Hendricks on his team", Bengals coach Paul Brown bitterly remarked after the game.
[12] Already bitter rivals dating back to the 1972 AFC Divisional Playoff game (see: the Immaculate Reception), Raiders' officials, including team owner Al Davis and head coach John Madden, accused the Steelers and Three Rivers Stadium groundskeepers of intentionally allowing the artificial playing surface to ice over, in an effort to slow Oakland's propensity for using a wide-open aerial attack as part of its offensive game plan.
However, Oakland fared no better, as George Blanda's missed 38-yard field goal attempt after Bradshaw's second interception was the closest they would get to scoring in the first half.
In the second quarter, Steelers safety Mike Wagner intercepted a pass from Ken Stabler to set up Roy Gerela's 36-yard field goal.
Then quarterback Ken Stabler threw a short pass to Pete Banaszak, only to watch him fumble the ball as he turned upfield, and linebacker Jack Lambert recovered it.
Oakland stormed back, scoring in less than two minutes on a drive that lasted just six plays, three of them receptions by tight end Dave Casper.
[14] Midway through the fourth quarter, Lambert recorded his third fumble recovery, this one from running back Marv Hubbard on the Oakland 25, setting up Bradshaw's 20-yard touchdown pass to receiver John Stallworth.
Bobby Walden fumbled the snap on the PAT, which kicker Roy Gerela recovered but failed to convert on a drop kick, keeping the score at 16–7.
They opted to have George Blanda kick a 41-yard field goal (his longest of the season and last of his NFL career) to pull the deficit to 6 points.
Then Hubbard recovered the ensuing onside kick with 9 seconds remaining to give Oakland one last attempt to win the game.
The first passing attempt by Los Angeles quarterback James Harris, who was coming off an injury and making his first start since the 13th game of the season, was intercepted by Dallas linebacker D.D.
Harris gave way to backup Ron Jaworski, but only John Cappelletti's 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter prevented the Rams from being shut out.