his own 47-yard line, and then the Steelers marched 53 yards in 9 plays using every offensive weapon in their arsenal. First, Harris ran for 12 yards, fullback Rocky Bleier ran for 1, then tight end Bennie Cunningham caught a pass for 8. Bleier ran again for 2, followed by Bradshaw’s 18-yard completion to receiver Lynn Swann on the last play of the first quarter. The second period opened with Bradshaw’s 13-yard completion to Cunningham to reach the Los Angeles 5-yard line, and then Harris ran through the middle to the 4. Wide receiver John Stallworth was then stopped at the 1-yard line, but then Harris ran to the right untouched and scored a touchdown on the next play, giving the Steelers a 10-7 lead.
But like the Rams’ previous lead, the Steelers lead also turned out to be short-lived. Aided by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against Shell, Los Angeles advanced 67 yards in 10 plays to score on 31-yard field goal from kicker Frank Corral to tie the game. Anderson gave the Steelers great field position after returning the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the Pittsburgh 46-yard line, but the Steelers could not move the ball and had to punt. The Rams were also forced to punt on their next possession after only gaining 6-yards. But on the first play of the Steelers’ next drive, Los Angeles defensive back Dave Elmendorf intercepted a pass from Bradshaw and returned it 10 yards to Pittsburgh’s 39-yard line.
On the first 2 plays after the turnover, Ferragamo was sacked for a 10-yard loss and threw an incomplete pass. But he managed to overcome the situation with a 12-yard completion to Bryant on third down and a 10-yard completion to receiver Billy Waddy on 4th down and 8. Ferragamo’s next pass was complete to tight end Terry Nelson for a first down at the 13-yard line, but after throwing 2 incompletions, Pittsburgh lineman John Banaszak sacked Ferragamo on third down. However, Corral kicked a 45-yard field goal to give the Rams a 13-10 halftime lead.
Many observers were surprised that the heavily favored Steelers trailed at the end of the half. “How can you mess up this way?” Steelers assistant coach Woody Widenhofer asked his team at halftime. “Didn’t we go over these things a dozen times? You guys are standing out there like statues.”
Anderson once again gave the Steelers great starting field position, returning the opening kickoff of the second half 37 yards to the Pittsburgh 39-yard line. The Steelers lulled the Rams defense by running the ball on three consecutive plays of the drive, and then Bradshaw burned them with a 47-yard touchdown completion to Swann, who made a leaping catch at the Los Angeles’ 2-yard line and tumbled into the end zone, to give Pittsburgh a 17-13 lead.
But they didn’t hold it. After starting the ensuing drive with 2 running plays, Ferragamo completed a 50-yard pass to Waddy. Then on the next play, Ferragamo handed the ball off to running back Lawrence McCutcheon who started to run to the right. The Steelers defense came up to tackle him behind the line of scrimmage, only to watch him throw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ron Smith. Corral missed the extra point attempt, but the Rams had retaken the lead, 19-17.
The Steelers had some success advancing into Rams territory on their next 2 possessions only to see the Rams intercept the ball both times. First, Rams free safety Eddie Brown stopped the ensuing Steelers drive with an interception, lateraling to Pat Thomas to gain an additional two yards. Then after a punt, Pittsburgh drove all the way to the Rams 16-yard line, but Los Angeles defensive back Rod Perry intercepted a pass intended for Stallworth. Thus, the third quarter ended with the Rams still in the lead, 19-17, seemingly in control of the game. Worse yet, Pittsburgh lost Lynn Swann to injury.
With 12:59 left in the game, Rams punter Ken Clark’s 59-yard punt planted Pittsburgh back on their own 25-yard line. Then faced with 3rd down and 8, Bradshaw took the snap, faked a handoff, and then threw a pass to Stallworth, who was running a streak pattern down the middle of the field. Stallworth caught the ball barely beyond the outstretched hand of Rams defensive back Rod Perry and took it all the way to the end zone for a 73-yard go-ahead touchdown to make the score 24-19 for the Steelers. The NFL Films highlight film notes that safety Eddie Brown was supposed to help Rod Perry in covering Stallworth, but for some reason Brown ignored the Steeler receiver. On the ensuing kickoff, the Rams tried a reverse on the kickoff which resulted in poor field position.
After an exchange of punts, the Rams mounted one final, spirited drive to regain the lead. Ferragamo smartly moved the Rams down the field, completing 3 or 4 passes around runs by Tyler. His 15-yard completion to Billy Waddy on 3rd and 13 moved the Rams to the Pittsburgh 32-yard line with just under 6 minutes remaining. However, on the following play, Ferragamo made his first, and only mistake of the game. Despite the fact that Waddy had broken free down the right side of the field, Ferragamo had zeroed in on Preston Dennard down the middle of the field, but he didn’t notice Pittsburgh linebacker Jack Lambert playing behind Dennard. As Ferragamo released the ball, Lambert jumped in front of Dennard and intercepted the pass with 5:24 remaining.
When faced with a 3rd down and 7 on their ensuing drive, Bradshaw once again made a crucial long pass completion to Stallworth, this time a 45-yard reception to the Rams 22-yard line gain barely beyond the outstretched hand of Rod Perry. Two plays later, a questionable pass interference penalty on Los Angeles cornerback Pat Thomas in the end zone gave the Steelers a first down at the 1-yard line. The Rams managed to keep Bleier and Harris out of the end zone for 2 plays, but Harris then scored on a third down, 1-yard touchdown run to give the Steelers a 31-19 lead and put the game away. The Rams responded by driving to Pittsburgh’s 37-yard line, but ended up turning over the ball on downs with 39 seconds left in the game, and the Steelers ran out the clock for the win.
This was the third time in Super Bowl history that a team overcame a deficit entering the fourth quarter to win the game. The Baltimore Colts entered the final quarter down 13-6 against Dallas in Super Bowl V and won the game 16-13. The Pittsburgh Steelers started the final period against Dallas in Super Bowl X down 10-7 and eventually won the game 21-17. The lead had changed hands seven times, a Super Bowl record to this day. Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, and John Stallworth became the fourth, fifth and sixth players to score touchdowns in back-to-back Super Bowls, respectively.
Ferragamo finished the game with 15 out of 25 completions for 212 yards, with 1 interception. Tyler was the top rusher of the game with 60 yards, and caught 2 passes for 20 yards. Waddy was the Rams leading receiver with 3 catches for 75 yards. Harris led the Steelers in rushing with 44 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also catching 3 passes for 66 yards. Stallworth was the top receiver of the game with 3 receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown, an average of 40.3 yards per catch. Swann had 5 catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Larry Anderson set a Super Bowl record with 162 yards from his 5 kickoff returns.
Of note to the betting public was Los Angeles’ kicker Frank Corrall’s missed extra point. The spread on the game was Steelers by 11 1/2; had Corrall made his final extra point try, the Rams would have covered in a 31-20 loss. But instead, the Steelers covered.
Scoring summary
First Quarter
PIT – FG: Matt Bahr 41 yards 3-0 PIT
LA – TD: Cullen Bryant 1 yard run (Frank Corral kick) 7-3 LA
Second Quarter
PIT – TD: Franco Harris 1 yard run (Matt Bahr kick) 10-7 PIT
LA – FG: Frank Corral 31 yards 10-10 tie
LA – FG: Frank Corral 45 yards 13-10 LA
Third Quarter
PIT – TD: Lynn Swann 47 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Matt Bahr kick) 17-13 PIT
LA – TD: Ron Smith 24 yard pass from Lawrence McCutcheon (kick failed) 19-17 LA
Fourth Quarter
PIT – TD: John Stallworth 73 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Matt Bahr kick) 24-19 PIT
PIT – TD: Franco Harris 1 yard run (Matt Bahr kick) 31-19 PIT
Starting lineups
Pittsburgh Los Angeles
OFFENSE
John Stallworth 82 WR Billy Waddy 80
Jon Kolb 55 LT Doug France 77
Sam Davis 57 LG Kent Hill 72
Mike Webster 52 C Rich Saul 61
Gerry Mullins 72 RG Dennis Harrah 60
Larry Brown 79 RT Jackie Slater 78
Bennie Cunningham 89 TE Terry Nelson 83
Lynn Swann 88 WR Preston Dennard 88
Terry Bradshaw 12 QB Vince Ferragamo 15
Rocky Bleier 20 FB Cullen Bryant 32
Franco Harris 32 RB Wendell Tyler 26
DEFENSE
L.C. Greenwood 68 LE Jack Youngblood 85
Joe Greene 75 LT Mike Fanning 79
Gary Dunn 67 RT Larry Brooks 90
John Banaszak 76 RE Fred Dryer 89
Robin Cole 56 LLB Bob Brudzinski 59
Jack Lambert 58 MLB Jack Reynolds 64
Dennis Winston 53 RLB Jim Youngblood 53
Ron Johnson 29 LCB Pat Thomas 27
Mel Blount 47 RCB Rod Perry 49
Donnie Shell 31 SS Dave Elmendorf 42
J. T. Thomas 24 FS Nolan Cromwell 21
Officials
Referee: Fred Silva
Umpire: Al Conway
Head Linesman: Burl Toler
Line Judge: Bob Beeks
Field Judge: Charley Musser
Side Judge: Ben Tompkins
Back Judge: Stan Javie
Game time and weather conditions
6:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. PST
67 F (19 C), sunny
References
^ The Super Bowl was attended by a record 103,985 spectators, which still stands as a record (through Super Bowl XLII). The last time that the Rose
