1977 – 78 NFL playoffs The NFL playoffs following the 1977 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XII . Due to Christmas , the Divisional playoff games were held in a span of three days . The AFC playoff games were played on December 24 while the NFC games were held on December 26 . It also marked the only year since the AFL - NFL merger in 1970 that one conference held both of its divisional playoff games on one day and the other conference held both of its games on the other day . In every other season since 1970 , the conferences have split their playoff games over the two days . This was also the last season that the NFL used an eight - team playoff tournament . " Note : As per the rules of the NFL playoffs prior to the 1990 season ( notwithstanding the strike - shortened 1982 season ) , the Denver Broncos ( the AFC 1 seed ) did not play the Oakland Raiders ( the 4 seed ) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division . " Divisional playoffs . December 24 , 1977 . AFC : Oakland Raiders 37 , Baltimore Colts 31 ( 2OT ) . On a play known as the Ghost to the Post , Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler threw a 42 - yard completion to tight end Dave Casper on a post route to set up the game - tying field goal with 29 seconds left in regulation . Casper , nicknamed " The Ghost " by his teammates , also caught a 10 - yard touchdown pass 43 seconds into the second overtime period to win the game . The game featured nine lead changes before it was over Oakland ' s Carl Garrett started off the game with a 40 - yard kick return to the Colts 41 - yard line . But they could not take advantage and lost the ball when Mark Van Eeghen ' s fumble was recovered by defensive back Lyle Blackwood . The rest of the quarter was a defensive struggle , but with less than a minute left , Oakland scored first with running back Clarence Davis ' s 30 - yard touchdown run . Oakland then forced a three and out deep in Baltimore territory and got the ball back with great field position at the Colts 48 . They seemed to be in prime position to increase their lead , but Baltimore ' s Bruce Laird intercepted Stabler ' s pass and returned it 61 - yards for a touchdown . Later in the quarter , Baltimore mounted their first sustained drive , moving the ball from their 20 to the Raiders 19 - yard line . Following a dropped interception by Oakland defensive back Jack Tatum , Toni Linhart ' s 36 - yard field goal gave them their first lead of the game . Oakland responded with a drive to the Colts 23 - yard line , but with less than a minute left , Baltimore lineman John Dutton recovered a fumble from Davis to preserve the 10 - 7 score going into halftime . The Raiders scored on their first drive of the second half with Stabler ' s 41 - yard completion to Cliff Branch setting up his 8 - yard touchdown pass to Casper . To make matters worse for the Colts , Blackwood was injured on the drive and had to miss the rest of the game . But Baltimore ' s Marshall Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to the end zone . On Oakland ' s next possession , they lost their fourth turnover of the day when Laird picked off another Stabler pass , this one on the Raiders 40 . 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 . Two player later , Casper caught a 10 - yard touchdown pass to make the score 21 - 17 . Baltimore scored on their first drive of the fourth quarter , driving 80 yards to a fourth down 1 - yard touchdown run by Ron Lee . But Oakland quickly struck back , starting with Garrett ' s 43 - yard kickoff return to his own 47 . After two incompletions , Stabler kept the drive going with a 25 - yard pass to Van Eagan . Then Colts defensive back Nelson Munsey was hit with a 24 - yard pass interference penalty while trying to cover Branch in the end zone , and Pete Banaszak ran the ball into the end zone on the next play . Baltimore stormed right back with a touchdown on their own on a 73 - yard drive , started off with Bert Jones ' 30 - yard completion to Raymond Chester and followed up with a 16 - yard swing pass to Lee . Lee then moved the ball to the 14 - yard line with a 13 - yard run , and scored from there on the next play , giving the Colts a 31 - 28 lead . Baltimore ' s defense quickly forced a punt , giving the offense the ball in good field position with a chance to put the game away . But the Raiders stopped them on three consecutive runs , all on tackles from lineman John Matuszak . After both teams punted once more , Oakland got the ball back with 2 : 55 left in regulation on their own 30 . After a 14 - yard reception by Davis and an incompletion , the " Ghost to the Post " to Casper advanced the Raiders to the Baltimore 14 - yard line . A few plays later , they faced fourth down and 1 from the 6 . Rather than risk the game on a fourth down conversion attempt , Oakland decided to kick the field goal , and Errol Mann sent it through the uprights from 22 yards , tying the game and sending it into overtime . 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 . After another punt , Oakland drove to the Colts 35 - yard line . On second down , Stabler was sacked for a 10 - yard loss by Fred Cook , pushing his team out of field goal range . But then he kept the drive alive with a 19 - yard completion to Branch , setting up Casper ' s 10 - yard touchdown catch less than a minute into the second overtime period to win the game . Casper finished with 4 receptions for 70 yards and three touchdowns . Oakland linebacker Monte Johnson had 20 tackles and finished the game with a broken Vertebrae in his neck . AFC : Denver Broncos 34 , Pittsburgh Steelers 21 . Broncos linebacker Tom Jackson ' s 2 interceptions and a fumble return set up 17 Denver points as the Broncos defeated the Steelers . Denver scored first after John Schultz ' s blocked punt set up running back Rob Lytle ' s 7 - yard rushing touchdown . Pittsburgh responded with quarterback Terry Bradshaw ' s 1 - yard rushing touchdown . But in the second quarter , Jackson picked up a fumble by Steelers running back Franco Harris and returned it 35 yards to the Pittsburgh 10 - yard line . On play later , running back Otis Armstrong ran the ball into the end zone to give the Broncos a 14 - 7 lead . Harris later tied the game before halftime with a 1 - yard touchdown run . After the teams exchanged touchdowns in the second half , Denver kicker Jim Turner made a 44 - yard field goal to give the Broncos a 24 - 21 lead . Then on the Steelers ensuing possession , Jackson intercepted a pass from Bradshaw to set up another Turner field goal . Jackson later recorded his second interception of the game , leading to wide receiver Jack Dolbin ' s 34 - yard touchdown reception to put the game away . Harris finished the game with 92 rushing yards , 4 receptions for 20 yards , and a touchdown . December 26 , 1977 . NFC : Dallas Cowboys 37 , Chicago Bears 7 . Safety Charlie Waters led the Cowboys to a 37 - 7 victory by setting an NFL playoff record of 3 interceptions . Dallas built a 17 - 0 halftime lead , with the aid of running back Doug Dennison ' s 2 - yard touchdown run and quarterback Roger Staubach ' s 28 - yard scoring pass to tight end Billy Joe Dupree . In the second half , running back Tony Dorsett recorded two rushing touchdowns and Efren Herrera added two more field goals . The Bears were limited to 224 total yards and did not score until the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach . NFC : Minnesota Vikings 14 , Los Angeles Rams 7 . The Rams had easily defeated an aging Vikings team in the regular season 35 - 3 in October on the nationally televised Monday Night Football , and after years of frustrating playoff losses in the cold of Green Bay and Minnesota , the Rams finally had a home playoff game against a cold weather team . In addition , Viking quarterback Fran Tarkenton was injured in that Monday night game and diagnosed with a broken leg . But as luck would have it , Los Angeles was engulfed in a torrential rainstorm . In the game known as the " Mud Bowl " , running back Chuck Foreman led the Vikings to a victory by recording 101 rushing yards in a torrential rainstorm . Minnesota Head Coach Bud Grant ' s strategy was to have quarterback Bob Lee throw early before the field lost traction . The Vikings scored first on Foreman ' s 5 - yard touchdown run which capped a 70 - yard drive . From that point on until the fourth quarter , both teams remained scoreless while the field turned into a quagmire . The Rams had two chances to score , but quarterback Pat Haden threw an interception in the end zone and kicker Rafael Septien missed a field goal . Then early in the final period , Sammy Johnson scored on a 1 - yard rushing touchdown . With less than a minute left in the game , Haden threw a 1 - yard touchdown pass to Harold Jackson to cut the score 14 - 7 . The Rams then recovered the ensuing onside kick , but Haden threw another interception to end the game . Conference championships . January 1 , 1978 . AFC Championship : Denver Broncos 20 , Oakland Raiders 17 . Oakland scored first on the opening drive of the contest with Errol Mann ' s 20 - yard field goal . But on the Broncos ' second play , quarterback Craig Morton threw a 74 - yard touchdown to wide receiver Haven Moses . The score remained 7 - 3 until the third period . The Broncos recovered a fumble at the Oakland 17 - yard line and then advanced the ball to the 2 - yard line . On the next play , running back Rob Lytle was hit in mid - air by Raiders safety Jack Tatum , and lost the ball . Oakland nose tackle Mike McCoy picked up the loose ball and began returning it for an easy touchdown , but the play was prematurely blown dead by an official on the opposite side of the field . The officials ruled that Lytle was stopped before the fumble , even though replays clearly showed the ball was knocked free at the moment of contact . With no instant replay challenge rules available to Oakland at the time , Denver retained possession . The Raiders were then penalized half the distance to the goal for arguing the call , and Jon Keyworth scored a Denver touchdown on the next play to give Denver a commanding 14 - 3 lead . The officials made another erroneous call in the game , replays showed , in favor of Oakland when they ruled an acrobatic touchdown catch by Broncos wide receiver Jack Dolbin as incomplete . Early in the fourth quarter , Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler threw a 7 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Dave Casper , cutting the Broncos ' lead to 14 - 10 . However , linebacker Bob Swenson intercepted Stabler on Oakland ' s next drive , and three plays later , Moses caught a 12 - yard touchdown pass . With 3 : 16 left in the game , Casper scored on a 17 - yard touchdown pass to cut the score , 20 - 17 , but the Broncos ' held the ball for the rest of the game and ran out the clock . NFC Championship : Dallas Cowboys 23 , Minnesota Vikings 6 . The Cowboys defense held the Vikings to 66 rushing yards and 6 points . Minnesota again started quarterback Bob Lee , who was playing for the injured Fran Tarkenton . Dallas took the early lead after defensive end Harvey Martin ' s fumble recovery set up wide receiver Golden Richards ' 32 - yard touchdown reception . In the second quarter , another fumble recovery by Martin led to a 46 yard drive , which featured Danny White ' s 22 - yard run on a fake punt and running back Robert Newhouse ' s 5 - yard rushing touchdown . 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 . Five plays later , running back Tony Dorsett rushed for an 11 - yard touchdown to put the game away .