1970 – 71 NFL playoffs The NFL playoffs following the 1970 NFL season led up to Super Bowl V . This was the first playoff tournament after the AFL - NFL Merger . An eight - team playoff tournament was designed , with four clubs from each conference qualifying . Along with the three division winners in each conference , one wild card team , the second place team with the best record from each conference , was added to the tournament . The first round was named the " Divisional Playoffs " , while the Conference Championship games were moved to the second playoff round and the Super Bowl became the league ' s championship game . However , the home teams in the playoffs were still decided based on a yearly divisional rotation , excluding the wild card teams , who would always play on the road . Also , a rule was made that two teams from the same division could not meet in the Divisional Playoffs . Divisional playoffs . December 26 , 1970 . AFC : Baltimore Colts 17 , Cincinnati Bengals 0 . The Bengals started out their first season as an NFL team 1 - 6 , but stormed into the playoffs by winning their last seven games . However , Baltimore paid them little respect . The Colts ' defense limited the Bengals to 7 first downs and 139 total yards of offense . The closest Cincinnati came to scoring was Horst Muhlmann ' s 50 - yard field goal attempt , which was blocked by Colts linebacker Ray May . Meanwhile , Baltimore quarterback Johnny Unitas threw two touchdown passes : a 45 - yard completion to Roy Jefferson in the first quarter and a 53 - yard reception to Eddie Hinton in the fourth period . Jim O ' Brien added a 44 - yard field goal in the second quarter . Rookie running back Norm Bulaich rushed for 116 yards . NFC : Dallas Cowboys 5 , Detroit Lions 0 . Although they recorded 209 rushing yards , the Cowboys could only manage a field goal and a safety . But they still managed to shut out the Lions . The Cowboy defense held Lions QB Greg Landry to 48 passing yards . In addition , they contained his running as Landry was an excellent running QB ; he averaged 10 yards per carry and gained 350 yards . However , in this game he was held to 15 yards rushing . In the first quarter , Detroit quarterback Greg Landry ' s fumble set up Dallas kicker Mike Clark ' s 26 - yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 3 - 0 lead . Then in the final period , Dallas marched 76 yards in 15 plays to advance to the Detroit one - yard line . Rather than kick a field goal on fourth down , the Cowboys elected to give the ball to running back Duane Thomas , and was stopped short of the goal line . But three plays later , Dallas defensive end George Andrie sacked Landry for a safety . Bill Munson replaced Landry and led the Lions down field in the waning moments , but the Cowboys clinched the victory in the final moments with defensive back Mel Renfro ' s interception at their own 29 - yard line . The contest remains the lowest - scoring postseason game in NFL history . December 27 , 1970 . AFC : Oakland Raiders 21 , Miami Dolphins 14 . Quarterback Daryle Lamonica threw two touchdown passes and the Raiders scored 14 - points in the second half to defeat the Dolphins , 21 - 14 . In the second quarter , Oakland running back Charlie Smith ' s fumble set up Miami quarterback Bob Griese ' s 16 - yard touchdown pass to Paul Warfield . The Raiders then tied the game later in the period with Fred Biletnikoff ' s 22 - yard touchdown pass from quarterback Daryle Lamonica . In the third quarter , Oakland cornerback Willie Brown intercepted a Griese pass and returned it 50 - yards to the end zone . Later in the final period , Oakland receiver Rod Sherman made an 82 - yard touchdown reception to seal the victory . NFC : San Francisco 49ers 17 , Minnesota Vikings 14 . Quarterback John Brodie lead the 49ers to their first NFL playoff victory by throwing for 201 yards and touchdown and rushing for another . The Vikings scored first when Minnesota defensive back Paul Krause picked San Francisco running back Ken Willard ' s fumble in midair and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown . But the 49ers scored 17 unanswered points , first with Brodie ' s 24 - yard touchdown pass to Dick Witcher . Then in the second quarter , San Francisco converted a Vikings fumble into Bruce Gossett ' s 40 - yard field goal . Brodie scored the clinching touchdown , a 1 - yard run , with 1 : 20 left . Minnesota ' s 24 - yard touchdown pass was snapped with only seven seconds left in the game , and ended with just one second remaining on the clock . Conference championships . January 3 , 1971 . AFC Championship : Baltimore Colts 27 , Oakland Raiders 17 . The Colts jumped out to a 10 - 0 lead with kicker Jim O ' Brien ' s 16 - yard field goal and Norm Bulaich ' s 2 - yard touchdown run . Oakland ' s starting quarterback Daryle Lamonica was knocked out of the game after suffering a thigh injury in the second quarter . The Raiders tied the game in the third quarter with Fred Biletnikoff ' s 38 - yard touchdown reception from George Blanda . The Colts then took the lead again with another O ' Brien field goal and another Bulaich touchdown . Early in the fourth period , Blanda threw a 15 - yard touchdown pass to Warren Wells , but Unitas came back with a 68 - yard touchdown pass to Perkins that made the score 27 - 17 . Blanda drove the Raiders twice deep into Baltimore territory , but both drives ended with interceptions . Blanda finished the game completing 17 of 32 passes for 217 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions . At 43 years old , he was the oldest quarterback ever to play in a championship game . This would turn out to be the final home playoff win for the Colts in Baltimore before they moved to Indianapolis in 1984 . NFC Championship : Dallas Cowboys 17 , San Francisco 49ers 10 . Although Dallas quarterback Craig Morton only completed 7 out of 22 passes for 101 yards , rookie halfback Duane Thomas rushed for 143 yards and Dallas converted two third quarter interceptions into 14 points to defeat the 49ers . After a 3 - 3 halftime score , Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy Jordan ' s interception led to Thomas ' 13 - yard touchdown run . Then Dallas converted Mel Renfro ' s interception into fullback Walt Garrison ' s 5 - yard touchdown reception . The 49ers cut the lead to 17 - 10 with quarterback John Brodie ' s 26 - yard touchdown pass to Dick Witcher , but were shut out for the rest of the game . This was the last 49ers home game played at Kezar Stadium . Johnny Mathis sang the National Anthem .