1975 – 76 NFL playoffs The NFL playoffs following the 1975 NFL season led up to Super Bowl X . This was the first season in which the league used a seeding system in the playoffs . Thus , the surviving clubs with the higher seeds were made the home teams for each playoff round . The three division champions in each conference were seeded 1 through 3 based on their regular season won - lost - tied record , and the wild card qualifier in each conference became the 4 seed . However , the league continued to prohibit meetings between two teams from the same division in the Divisional Playoffs . Thus , there would be times when the pairing in that round would be the 1 seed vs . the 3 seed and 2 vs . 4 . " Note : The Pittsburgh Steelers ( the AFC 1 seed ) did not play the Cincinnati Bengals ( the 4 seed ) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division . " Divisional playoffs . December 27 , 1975 . AFC : Pittsburgh Steelers 28 , Baltimore Colts 10 . The Steelers defense forced 4 turnovers and held the Colts to 154 total yards of offense , while Pittsburgh ' s Franco Harris shreded Baltimore ' s defense with 153 rushing yards and a touchdown . The Steelers scored first after linebacker Jack Ham ' s interception set up running back Harris ' 8 - yard rushing touchdown . Baltimore responded when Lloyd Mumphord returned a 58 - yard interception to set up Glenn Doughty ' s 5 - yard touchdown reception . With the Colts leading 10 - 7 in the third quarter , Pittsburgh cornerback Mel Blount intercepted a pass and returned to the Baltimore 7 - yard line . From there , Rocky Bleier scored on a 7 - yard rushing touchdown . Quarterback Terry Bradshaw recorded a 2 - yard touchdown run , and Andy Russell picked up a Colts fumble and returned it for an NFL playoff record 93 yards to the end zone . The game is also notable in that it was the debut game for the Terrible Towel . NFC : Los Angeles Rams 35 , St . Louis Cardinals 23 . The Rams defense scored 2 touchdowns in the first half while running back Lawrence McCutcheon ran for an NFL playoff record of 37 carries for 202 yards . Los Angeles built a 21 - 0 lead off of quarterback Ron Jaworski ' s 5 - yard touchdown run , and interception returns for touchdowns by Jack Youngblood and Bill Simpson for 47 and 65 yards , respectively . The Cardinals came back to score on a rushing touchdown by running back Jim Otis , but the Rams responded on the first play of their next drive with Jaworski ' s 66 - yard touchdown pass to Harold Jackson . After St . Louis cut the score to 28 - 16 with a field goal and a touchdown pass from quarterback Jim Hart , Simpson intercepted another pass to set up the Rams final touchdown . Youngblood had an outstanding performance . In addition to his 47 - yard interception return for a touchdown , he also recorded a sack , blocked an extra point , and forced a fumble December 28 , 1975 . AFC : Oakland Raiders 31 , Cincinnati Bengals 28 . The Raiders outgained Cincinnati in total yards , 358 - 258 , and first downs , 27 - 17 , while also recording five sacks , jumping to a 31 - 14 lead , and holding off a Bengals comeback in the final period . Oakland kicker George Blanda made a 31 - yard field goal , while quarterback Ken Stabler threw two touchdown passes in the first half , one for 9 yards to Mike Siani and an 8 yard one to Bob Moore . Cincinnati ' s lone score in the first was a 1 - yard run by running back Stan Fritts . The Raiders then scored on their first drive of the second half with running back Pete Banaszak ' s 6 - yard touchdown run to take a 24 - 7 lead . Then after the Bengals marched 91 yards to cut the lead , 24 - 14 , with Lenvil Elliott ' s 6 - yard touchdown run , Stabler threw his third touchdown pass of the game , this time a 2 - yard pass to tight end Dave Casper . Trailing 31 - 14 in the fourth quarter , the Bengals managed to come back with two unanswered touchdowns . First , Cincinnati defensive back Ken Riley intercepted a pass from Stabler and returned it 34 yards to the Raiders 34 - yard line , setting up Ken Anderson ' s 25 - yard touchdown pass to Charlie Joiner . Then the Bengals defense forced Oakland to punt for the first time in the game , and Ray Guy ' s kick went just 38 yards . Three minutes later , Anderson ' s 14 - yard touchdown pass to Isaac Curtis cut the score to 31 - 28 . With 4 : 19 left in the game , Bengals defensive lineman Ron Carpenter recovered a Banaszak fumble on the Raiders 37 - yard line . But on the next play , linebacker Ted Hendricks sacked Anderson for an 8 - yard loss , pushing the Bengals out of field goals range . Two plays later , the Raiders stopped the Cincinnati offense on fourth down and ran out the last two minutes of the game . Stabler threw for 199 yards and three touchdowns , with 1 interception . Anderson threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns . NFC : Dallas Cowboys 17 , Minnesota Vikings 14 . With 24 seconds left in the game , Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach threw the 50 - yard winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson on a play that became known as the Hail Mary pass . After a scoreless first quarter , Fred McNeill recovered a muffed punt for Minnesota to set up a 1 - yard touchdown run by running back Chuck Foreman . Dallas did not tie the game until the third quarter when Doug Dennison scored on a 4 - yard touchdown run . Then after the Cowboys added a fourth - quarter field goal , the Vikings took the lead , 14 - 10 , with 5 : 24 remaining in the game by marching 70 yards to score on running back Brent McClanahan ' s 1 - yard touchdown run . The Cowboys got the ball back on its own 15 - yard line with only 1 : 51 left , but Staubach ' s fourth - down - and - 16 pass to Pearson set up the winning " Hail Mary pass . " The fourth and 16 completion proved to be a forshadowing of events to come , as this play had its own minor controversy , as Minnesota argued that Pearson was out of bounds when he made this catch . The official ruled that he was forced out by Nate Wright , which replay appeared to confirm . These two would of course participate in a more controversial play two plays later , as Drew Pearson caught a 50 - yard pass on what Staubach called ( in the postgame interview ) a " Hail Mary " pass , the first time that term was used to describe such a play . Wright fell down as the ball came down , and the Vikings argued that Pearson pushed off and should have been flagged for offensive interference . The play drew the ire of Minnesota ' s Alan Page , who was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct , a 15 - yard penalty that allowed Dallas to kick off from the 50 , and ejected . Fran Tarkenton then vehemently argued with the referees , inspiring fans to throw objects onto the field , one of which was a liquor bottle that struck official Armen Terzian in the head , creating a large forehead gash and rendering him unconscious . Terzian had to wear a bandage , later requiring 11 stitches , as he walked off the field and replaced by substitute official Charley Musser for the final two plays . The NFL later banned glass bottles from being sold at stadiums . It was another disappointing end to a spectacular season for the Vikings . They had finished the season with an NFC best 12 - 2 record and quarterback Fran Tarkenton won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award , and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award , while Foreman amassed 1 , 761 all - purpose yards and 22 touchdowns . The day only got worse for Tarkenton , as he soon learned his father had died of a heart attack while watching the game . The upstart and youthful Cowboys , not expected to do much after an 8 - 6 season in 1974 and the loss of several key veterans , would go on to defeat the Rams and lose to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl . Conference championships . January 4 , 1976 . AFC Championship : Pittsburgh Steelers 16 , Oakland Raiders 10 . A defensive struggle turned into an offensive battle as the Steelers managed to stop the Raiders ' final drive for the winning score as time ran out . Only Pittsburgh could manage to score during the first three quarters , with Roy Gerela ' s 36 - yard field goal . But late in the third period , Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert recovered a fumble at the Pittsburgh 30 - yard line . The turnover set up running back Franco Harris ' 25 - yard touchdown run to give the Steelers a 10 - 0 lead . Oakland responded with Mike Siani ' s 14 - yard touchdown reception , but was countered by John Stallworth ' s 20 - yard touchdown catch . But the Steelers ' ensuing extra point was missed , and with the score 16 - 7 , the Raiders found themselves at the Pittsburgh 24 - yard line , third down and 2 yards to go , with 18 seconds left in the game . They opted to have George Blanda kick a 41 - yard field goal to pull the deficit to 6 points . Then Marv 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 before he could get out of bounds and the clock ran out . Harris had a superb performance , rushing for 79 yards and a touchdown , while also catching 5 passes for 58 yards NFC Championship : Dallas Cowboys 37 , Los Angeles Rams 7 . Quarterback Roger Staubach threw for 220 yards and 4 touchdown passes while also rushing for 54 yards as the Cowboys upset the favored Rams . The first passing attempt by Los Angeles quarterback James Harris , who was coming off an injury and making his first start since the 13th game of the season , was intercepted by Dallas linebacker D . D . Lewis . This set up Staubach ' s first touchdown pass , a screen to running back Preston Pearson for 18 yards . A 4 - yard touchdown reception by Golden Richards and a diving catch in the end zone by Preston Pearson put the Cowboys up 21 - 0 by halftime . Dallas scored again on their first drive of the second half on a shovel pass to Preston Pearson for his third touchdown reception of the game . Toni Fritsch later added three field goals . Harris gave way to backup Ron Jaworski , but only John Cappelletti ' s 1 - yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter prevented the Rams from being shut out . Pearson finished the game with 7 receptions for 123 yards , 3 touchdowns , and 20 rushing yards . The Dallas defense allowed only 118 yards , a mere 22 on the ground , and sacked Jaworski 5 times .