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| Date | January 4, 1976 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Ben Dreith | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 50,609 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Curt Gowdy,Al DeRogatis andDon Meredith | ||||||||||||||||||
The1975 AFC Championship Game was the sixth title game[a] of theAmerican Football Conference (AFC). Played on January 4, 1976, the game was hosted by theAFC Central champion anddefending AFC andSuper Bowl championPittsburgh Steelers who, in a rematch of the 1974 title game, played theAFC West championOakland Raiders atThree Rivers Stadium inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania. Along with the1975 NFC Championship Game played on the same day,this game constituted the penultimate round of the1975–76 NFL playoffs which had followed the1975 regular season of theNational Football League (NFL).
Pittsburgh defeated Oakland 16–10[1] to repeat as AFC champions and earn the right to represent the conference inSuper Bowl X.
This was the third AFC Championship Game contested by the Steelers in the past four seasons, and also their third title game overall. Pittsburgh won the AFC Central with a 12–2 regular season record and defeated theAFC East championBaltimore Colts 28–10 at Three Rivers Stadium in the Divisional Round to advance to the AFC Championship game.
This was the third consecutive AFC Championship Game title game contested by the Raiders, and also their fourth AFC Championship Game and seventh title game in theSuper Bowl era.[b] Oakland won the AFC West with an 11–3 regular season record and defeated the AFC Central runner-upCincinnati Bengals 31–28 atOakland Coliseum in the Divisional Round to reach the AFC title game.
This was the fourth playoff meeting in as many seasons between these teams and their fourth meeting overall. The teams had split a pair of Divisional Round matchups (Pittsburgh winning in 1972 and Oakland winning in 1973) before the Steelers' win in the previous AFC title game.
These teams did not meet during the regular season. Their most recent regular season meeting had been the Raiders' 17–0 shutout win in Pittsburgh during Week 3 of theprevious season.
This was the first year the NFL used a seeding system to determine home field advantage for the playoffs.[c] Pittsburgh thus earned the right to host the AFC Championship Game on account of having the best record in the AFC.
A defensive struggle in which both teams combined for 12 turnovers (7 for Pittsburgh, 5 for Oakland) turned into an offensive battle as the Steelers managed to stop the Raiders' final drive for the winning score as time ran out.
As the two dominant teams of the era in the AFC, Oakland and Pittsburgh would eventually face in five consecutive playoff games from 1972 to 1976. The Raiders and Steelers also played in three consecutive AFC Championship games from 1974 to 1976.[2]
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.[3]
The game started out ugly, as Pittsburgh quarterbackTerry Bradshaw was picked off twice in the first quarter. However, Oakland fared no better, asGeorge 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 safetyMike Wagner intercepted a pass fromKen Stabler to set upRoy Gerela's 36-yard field goal.
This would be the only score of the first three quarters. In the third quarter, the Raiders blew two big scoring chances. After recovering a fumbled punt by the Steelers, the Raiders got a first down on the Pittsburgh 16-yard line. Then quarterbackKen Stabler threw a short pass toPete Banaszak, only to watch him fumble the ball as he turned upfield, and linebackerJack Lambert recovered it. Then after Raiders defensive backJack Tatum recovered a fumble fromLynn Swann at midfield, Oakland gave the ball back again when Lambert recovered a fumble from running backClarence Davis on the Steelers 30-yard line. The turnover led to a 5-play, 70-yard drive that ended on running backFranco Harris' 25-yard touchdown run to give the Steelers a 10–0 lead. Oakland stormed back, scoring in less than two minutes on a drive that lasted just six plays, three of them receptions by tight endDave Casper. Stabler finished the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass toMike Siani that cut the score to 10–7.[4]
Midway through the fourth quarter, Lambert recorded his third fumble recovery, this one from running backMarv Hubbard on the Oakland 25, setting up Bradshaw's 20-yard touchdown pass to receiverJohn Stallworth.Bobby Walden fumbled the snap on the PAT, which kickerRoy Gerela recovered but failed to convert on adrop kick, keeping the score at 16–7. Later on, Bradshaw was knocked out of the game when he took a knee-hit to the head by linebackerMonte Johnson. A few plays later, Oakland recovered their fourth fumble of the day with 1:31 left in the game. The Raiders then drove to the Pittsburgh 24-yard line, where they faced third down and 2 yards to go with 18 seconds left on the clock. They opted to haveGeorge 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.Cliff Branch then caught a 37-yard reception, but he was stopped at the Pittsburgh 15-yard line byMel Blount before he could get out of bounds and the clock ran out. Aside from his touchdown run, Harris ran for 54 yards on 26 carries, while also catching 5 passes for 58 yards.
Raiders defenderGeorge Atkinson knocked Swann into a severe concussion that would have him hospitalized for 2 days. Swann, however would go on to win the Super Bowl MVP award with yardage records. Lambert set an AFC Championship Game record with three fumble recoveries in the game. This was Oakland's 6th AFC championship loss in the last 8 years.
The AFC champion Steelers made their second consecutiveSuper Bowl appearance. Pittsburgh defeated theDallas Cowboys of theNational Football Conference 21–17 inSuper Bowl X to win their second consecutive Super Bowl.
The teams would play once again for the AFC titlethe following year with the Raiders finally winning their first AFC Championshipand Super Bowl. However, Pittsburgh would soon win another two consecutive AFC titles and Super Bowls, for four in total over six seasons. Both of the Steelers' next two AFC title game wins would be against their then-division rivalHouston Oilers.