NFL playoffs , 1974 - 75 The NFL playoffs following the 1974 NFL season led up to Super Bowl IX . This was the last season in which the sites for the playoff games annually alternated by division . Divisional playoffs . December 21 , 1974 . AFC : Oakland Raiders 28 , Miami Dolphins 26 . In a play that became known as the " Sea of Hands " , the Raiders ' Clarence Davis somehow caught the winning touchdown pass with 24 seconds left in the game among " the sea of hands " of three Dolphins defenders . The game began when Nat Moore returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a Miami touchdown . After an exchange of punts , Oakland tied the game with Ken Stabler ' s 31 - yard touchdown pass to Charlie Smith . But with 1 : 01 left in the half , Miami ' s Garo Yepremian kicked a 33 - yard field goal to put the Dolphins back in the lead . The Raiders scored on their opening drive of the third quarter with Stabler ' s 13 - yard touchdown pass to Fred Biletnikoff , giving them a 14 - 10 lead . Aided by a 29 - yard pass interference penalty against the Raiders on third down , Miami struck back with Bob Griese ' s 16 - yard touchdown pass to Paul Warfield . But Oakland lineman Bubba Smith blocked the extra point attempt , keeping the Miami lead at just 2 points , 16 - 14 . Early in the fourth quarter , Yepremian increased Miami ' s lead to 19 - 14 with a 46 - yard field goal . Later in the period , Oakland got the ball on their own 17 - yard line . Stabler started the drive with an 11 - yard completion to Biletnikoff . On the next play , he threw a pass to Cliff Branch at the Dolphins 27 - yard line . Branch made a spectacular diving catch and then got back up and ran the rest of the way to the end zone for a 72 - yard touchdown reception , giving the Raiders a 21 - 19 lead with 4 : 37 left in the game . With 2 : 08 left to play , the Dolphins took a 26 - 21 lead with a 68 - yard , 4 - play drive that ended with Benny Malone ' s 23 - yard touchdown run . Following a 20 - yard kickoff return by Ron Smith , the Raiders got the ball on their own 32 - yard line with 2 minutes left to play and all three timeouts left . After a 6 - yard completion to tight end Bob Moore and a short run , Stabler went deep to Biletnikoff , completing two consecutive passes to him for gains of 18 and 20 yards . Then after a 4 - yard catch by Branch , Frank Pitts made a bobbling first down catch at the Dolphins 14 - yard line . On the next play , Clarence Davis ran the ball 6 yards to the 8 - yard line , where the Raiders called their final timeout . On the next play , Stabler dropped back to pass and looked for Biletnikoff in the end zone , but he was tightly covered . With Dolphins defensive end Vern Den Herder dragging him down , Stabler threw a desperate pass to the left side of the end zone into a " sea of hands " , where Davis fought his way through the Dolphins defenders to make the touchdown catch . Trailing 28 - 26 , the Dolphins got the ball back with 24 seconds left . But on their second play of the drive , Oakland linebacker Phil Villapiano intercepted Griese ' s pass at the Raiders 45 - yard line , allowing his team to run out the rest of the clock . " This has to be the toughest loss I ' ve ever suffered , " said Miami coach Don Shula , " The Raiders are a great credit to professional football , " he added . " They needed touchdowns to win and they got them . " NFC : Minnesota Vikings 30 , St . Louis Cardinals 14 . Aided by the Cardinals ' turnovers , the Vikings scored 16 points in less than 7 minutes in the third quarter . After a scoreless first quarter , St . Louis got onto the scoreboard first with quarterback Jim Hart ' s 13 - yard touchdown pass , but Minnesota countered when quarterback Fran Tarkenton completed a 16 - yard touchdown pass to John Gilliam . Then , Jeff Wright ' s interception on the opening drive of the second half led to Fred Cox ' s 37 - yard field goal to give the Vikings the lead , 10 - 7 . On the Cardinals ' ensuing drive , Terry Metcalf fumbled and Nate Wright picked up the loose ball and returned it 20 - yards to the end zone . Tarkenton later threw his second touchdown pass to Gilliam , and Chuck Foreman recorded a 4 - yard touchdown run to give Minnesota a 30 - 7 lead . By the time Metcalf and rushed for an 11 - yard fourth quarter touchdown , the game was already out of reach for the Cardinals . December 22 , 1974 . AFC : Pittsburgh Steelers 32 , Buffalo Bills 14 . Running back Franco Harris led the Steelers to the victory by scoring 3 touchdowns in the second quarter . Pittsburgh scored on their first possession with Roy Gerela ' s 21 - yard field goal , but the Bills responded with tight end Paul Seymour ' s 27 - yard touchdown reception . The Steelers then scored 26 unanswered points in the second quarter , starting with quarterback Terry Bradshaw ' s 27 - yard pass to running back Rocky Bleier . The Steelers lead 29 - 7 at halftime . Harris then scored his first touchdown of the game on a 67 - yard Pittsburgh drive . A Buffalo fumble led to Harris ' second touchdown , and his third score came with 16 seconds left in the first half . The Steelers recorded 438 yards of total offense , while limiting Bills running back O . J . Simpson to 49 rushing yards . NFC : Los Angeles Rams 19 , Washington Redskins 10 . Linebacker Isiah Robertson returned an interception 59 yards in the fourth quarter to clinch the Rams victory . Los Angeles scored on the opening drive of the game with quarterback James Harris ' 10 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Bob Klein . However , the Redskins scored 10 unanswered points before halftime . First Mike Bragg kicked a 35 - yard field goal , then Pat Fischer ' s interception set up Moses Denson ' s 1 - yard rushing touchdown . Two Washington turnovers in the second half set up two field goals by Rams kicker David Ray . With the Redskins driving for the possible tying field goal , defensive tackle Merlin Olsen pressured quarterback Sonny Jurgensen into throwing the game clinching interception to Robertson , who weaved his way back and forth across the field as he ran to the end zone . Olsen then recorded two more sacks , preventing any hopes of a Redskins comeback . Joe Theismann was returning punts for the Redskins at this time . Conference championships . December 29 , 1974 . AFC Championship : Pittsburgh Steelers 24 , Oakland Raiders 13 . After trailing 10 - 3 at the end of the third quarter , the Steelers scored three touchdowns in the final period . The first half was controlled by both defenses , leading to a 3 - 3 score at halftime . However , the Raiders took the lead in the third quarter with Ken Stabler ' s 38 - yard touchdown pass Cliff Branch . But Pittsburgh tied the game again six seconds into the fourth quarter with Franco Harris ' 6 - yard touchdown reception from Terry Bradshaw . Then linebacker Jack Ham intercepted a pass , and Bradshaw threw a 6 - yard touchdown to Lynn Swann . Faced with third down at the Pittsburgh 12 - yard line , Stabler was forced to throw an incomplete pass , and the Raiders had to settle for a field goal to cut the Steelers ' lead , 17 - 13 . But Harris then scored on a 21 - yard rushing touchdown to put the game away . NFC Championship : Minnesota Vikings 14 , Los Angeles Rams 10 . The Vikings were able to hold onto the ball for the final 5 : 37 of the game to preserve a 14 - 10 victory . After a scoreless first quarter , Minnesota quarterback Fran Tarkenton threw a 29 - yard touchdown to Jim Lash . Rams kicker David Ray later added a 27 - yard field goal to cut the lead to 7 - 3 before halftime . In the third quarter , Los Angeles advanced the ball from their own 1 - yard line to the Minnesota 1 - yard line . The big play on the drive was a 73 - yard pass play to Harold Jackson , who was finally pushed out of bounds at the Vikings 2 by safety Jeff Wright . A controversial illegal procedure penalty on Rams guard Tom Mack ( TV replays showed Mack did not move ) , on which Alan Page appeared to have jumped offside , pushed the ball back to the 6 - yard line , and two plays later Vikings linebacker Wally Hilgenberg intercepted the ball in the end zone for a touchback . Minnesota then went on a 15 - play drive that took almost eight minutes off the clock to score on Dave Osborn ' s 4 - yard touchdown run . With 7 : 15 left to play in the game , the Rams then cut the deficit to 14 - 10 with Harold Jackson ' s 44 - yard touchdown reception . Then after forcing the Vikings to punt , Los Angeles drove to the Minnesota 45 - yard line . But a third down sack forced the Rams to punt again and the Vikings kept the ball to run out the clock .