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.

Oakland responded with a drive to the Colts 23-yard line, but with less than a minute left, John Dutton recovered a fumble from Davis to preserve the 10–7 score going into halftime.

But the Raiders defense rose to the occasion, forcing a punt that was blocked by Ted Hendricks and recovered by linebacker Jeff Barnes, who returned it to the Colts 16-yard line.

Then Nelson Munsey was hit with a 24-yard pass interference penalty while trying to cover Branch in the end zone, and Pete Banaszak rushed for a touchdown on the next play.

Baltimore's defense quickly forced a punt, giving the offense the ball in good field position with a chance to put the game away.

After forcing Baltimore to punt on the opening drive of overtime, Oakland drove 41 yards in nine plays to set up a field goal attempt for Mann, but the kick was blocked by Mike Barnes.

Denver scored first after Broncos receiver John Schultz blocked a punt from Rick Engles and recovered the ball on the Steelers 17-yard line to set up running back Rob Lytle's 7-yard rushing touchdown.

Pittsburgh responded with a 56-yard drive, including a 19-yard reception by tight end Bennie Cunningham on 4th down and 1, to tie the score on quarterback Terry Bradshaw's 1-yard rushing touchdown.

Bradshaw then hit John Stallworth for a 21-yard completion and Harris ripped off a 20-yard burst before he finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14 with 1:41 left in the half.

Early in the 4th quarter, Pittsburgh managed to tie the game with a 48-yard catch by Stallworth setting up Bradshaw's 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Larry Brown.

Dallas built a 17–0 halftime lead, starting out the scoring with Roger Staubach's 32-yard completion to Tony Dorsett that set up Doug Dennison's 2-yard touchdown run.

Minnesota head coach Bud Grant’s strategy was to have quarterback Bob Lee throw early before the field lost traction.

The Rams had two chances to score, but quarterback Pat Haden threw an interception to Nate Allen in the end zone and kicker Rafael Septién missed a field goal.

Early in the final period, Vikings running back Manfred Moore returned a punt 21 yards to set up Sammy Johnson's 1-yard rushing touchdown.

The Rams then recovered the ensuing onside kick, but safety Jeff Wright intercepted Haden's desperate pass in the end zone on the game's final play.

Aided by two Broncos penalties, including a running into the punter call that enabled Oakland to avoid a three and out, the Raiders subsequently drove to the Denver 2-yard line and scored with Errol Mann's 20-yard field goal.

But on the Broncos' second drive, quarterback Craig Morton threw a 74-yard touchdown to wide receiver Haven Moses, who caught the ball along the right sideline and managed to break through a tackle attempt by Skip Thomas and stay in bounds on the way to the end zone.

Then running back Mark van Eeghen was held to a 1-yard gain, Stabler threw a third down incompletion, and the Raiders decided to punt rather than risk a 49-yard field goal.

Denver took after and drove deep into Raiders territory, with Moses hauling in a 41-yard reception to give the Broncos another scoring chance, but following a bad snap, Turner missed another field goal, this one from 31 yards.

Oakland nose tackle Mike McCoy appeared to recover the fumble, but the play was blown dead by an official on the opposite side of the field.

The officials (chiefly Ed Marion) ruled that Lytle's forward progress was stopped before the fumble, even though replays clearly showed the ball was knocked free at the moment of contact.

Right after the turnover, Morton appeared to throw a touchdown pass to Jack Dolbin, who made a rolling catch along the ground and then got up and headed for the end zone.

Two plays later, Moses made a sliding 12-yard catch of Morton's pass in the end zone, putting the Broncos ahead 20–10 after Turner's extra point was blocked.

Oakland struck back with an 8-play, 74-yard drive to score on Casper's 17-yard touchdown catch to make it 20–17 with 3:16 left in regulation, but the Broncos' held the ball for the rest of the game and ran out the clock.

Dallas took the early lead after defensive end Harvey Martin recovered a fumble from Vikings running back Robert Miller on the third play of the game, giving the Cowboys a first down on the Minnesota 39-yard line.

Following 7-yard run by Robert Newhouse, Dallas scored on Roger Staubach's 32-yard touchdown pass to receiver Golden Richards, giving the team a 6–0 lead after Efrén Herrera missed the extra point.

But this drive was snuffed out by defensive lineman Ed "Too Tall" Jones, who stormed into the Vikings backfield to tackle running back Chuck Foreman immediately after taking a handoff, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Martin.

But after Foreman was stuffed on two running plays, defensive tackle Randy White sacked Lee on the 16-yard line, forcing the Vikings to settle for a 13–3 deficit from Fred Cox's 33-yard field goal.

In the fourth quarter, Cowboys linebacker Thomas Henderson forced Vikings punt returner Manfred Moore to fumble and it was recovered by Dallas tight end Jay Saldi.

During the first quarter, a fan in dressed in a snowman suit, 24-year old Daniel Yoder, was accidentally set on fire when he bumped into a flaming can of liquid fuel being used by a girl selling hot chocolate in the stands.