1974 afc championship game

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A stellar draft class would prove to bring the missing pieces of a dynastic puzzle: Lynn Swann and John Stallworth became a dynamic receiving corp, Mike Webster anchored the championship line and Jack Lambert The Bills were certainly not regarded as the most talented or imposing playoff team, and most fans viewed their presence in the postseason as more of an aberration than justification of greatness. Few of the players on their roster warranted more than a glance.

Quarterback Joe Ferguson would blossom into a fine starter during the mid's and line up under center into the 80's, but he was still coming into his own. Receiving his passes were J.

Hill and, during a one-year stint in Buffalo, Ahmad Rashad, who led the team with 36 receptions. Rashad would have far more productive seasons later in his career with Minnesota , but his contributions certainly helped lead Buffalo to a rare playoff appearance.

Corner Robert James and safety Tony Greene were standouts on an improving unit, though not nearly in the same class as the vaunted Steel Curtain. Indeed, while Buffalo was getting better, they their roster paled to Pittsburgh's who's-who gallery of eventual superstardom Simpson was had just completed his third consecutive 1,yard rushing season, and the heralded back was one year removed from a lofty 2, rushing yards in He was the main catalyst to three consecutive winning seasons in Buffalo from , finishing with five straight 1,yard campaigns.

Beating the Bills was not a complex formula: Stop "the Juice," and you could easily squeeze the Bills. In their only prior meeting, Simpson rushed for yards in , though Pittsburgh managed to win. Further showcasing his talent was Simpson's performance against Pittsburgh in , a revenge win in the Steel City in which O. Thankfully, during the teams' most critical bout, O.

Simpson finished with 15 rushes for 49 yards. Putting this into perspective was Terry Bradshaw, the oft-maligned Pittsburgh quarterback who had the biggest day of his career to that point. Throwing poised and accurate, the passer also became a runner, picking up 48 critical yards on his finest afternoon to-date, only one fewer than Simpson. In a season that began with Joe Gilliam as the entrenched starter, the "Blonde Bomber" had to endure the peaks and valleys that typically coincide with early days in the NFL.

Eventually, Bradshaw took control under center, then got the vote of the locker room. His desire to make good on his responsibility took shape. After the first quarter, Buffalo led , courtesy of a yard scoring pass from Ferguson to Paul Seymour. To open scoring in the second quarter, Terry Bradshaw dropped back, found time to survey the field from a strong pocket, stepped away from eventual pressure and spotted Rocky Bleier running down the field in an apparent mismatch with linebacker Doug Allen.

An easy touchdown bomb from "the Bomber" himself gave Pittsburgh the lead, It was a beautiful lob, another assured pass from the budding Bradshaw.

As Buffalo's offense, unable to found running room or open receivers, failed to gain yardage or keep the defense off the field, the Steel Curtain beamed proudly from the sidelines throughout a second quarter of statistical dominance by the Black and Gold offense.

The unit kept the chains moving, courtesy of Bradshaw's arm and legs, particularly on key third downs. Likewise, they made big plays at the most opportune moments. A beautiful yard reverse by receiver Lynn Swann set up Pittsburgh's second touchdown, a bruising one-yarder from Franco Harris. Throughout the quarter, Franco burrowed right down the throat of the Bills defense for six points.

On the next offensive possession, Terry Bradshaw fired a deep laser down the middle of the field, and a diving Lynn Swann set the Steelers up in a goal-to-go situation.

Next, following another "Buffa-low" possession, the Steelers took control again, and a superb pitch and catch from Bradshaw to Larry Brown set up the cinching score. Franco's third touchdown of the quarter gave Pittsburgh a dominant lead. Simpson sat on the sideline in his winter jacket, hood up and blowing in the cold breeze, one could almost sense an element of forfeiture from the Bills sideline.

The path to their first title—and eventual dynasty—was laid. After missing the playoffs in , the Bills were hungry to get back to the winning ways, particularly in January, that led them to four straight Super Bowls. As amazing as their success was, Buffalo sadly became the target of mockery, failing to win in any of their four opportunities. For every fan humored at Buffalo's misfortune was another becoming impatient with their place in the spotlight.

Prior to Pittsburgh's playoff game in '92, I vividly recall my mother saying emphatically, "I hope we kick Buffalo's insert expletive. I'm so tired of seeing them in the Super Bowl. Years later, that same sentiment was echoed by many, only magnified. Aided by a yard pass interference penalty against the Raiders on third down, Miami struck back with Bob Griese 's yard touchdown pass to Paul Warfield.

But Oakland lineman Bubba Smith blocked the extra point attempt, keeping the Miami lead at just 2 points, Early in the fourth quarter, Yepremian increased Miami's lead to with a yard field goal.

Later in the period, Oakland got the ball on their own yard line. Stabler started the drive with an yard completion to Biletnikoff. On the next play, he threw a pass to Cliff Branch at the Dolphins 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 yard touchdown reception, giving the Raiders a lead with left in the game.

With left to play, the Dolphins took a lead with a yard, 4-play drive that ended with Benny Malone 's yard touchdown run.

Following a yard kickoff return by Ron Smith, the Raiders got the ball on their own 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 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 , 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 yard line, allowing his team to run out the rest of the clock. 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 yard touchdown pass, but Minnesota countered when quarterback Fran Tarkenton completed a yard touchdown pass to John Gilliam.

Then, Jeff Wright 's interception on the opening drive of the second half led to Fred Cox 's yard field goal to give the Vikings the lead, On the Cardinals' ensuing drive, Terry Metcalf fumbled and Nate Wright picked up the loose ball and returned it 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 lead.

By the time Metcalf and rushed for an yard fourth quarter touchdown, the game was already out of reach for the Cardinals. 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 yard field goal, but the Bills responded with tight end Paul Seymour 's yard touchdown reception. The Steelers then scored 26 unanswered points in the second quarter, starting with quarterback Terry Bradshaw 's yard pass to running back Rocky Bleier.

The Steelers lead at halftime. Harris then scored his first touchdown of the game on a 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 yards of total offense, while limiting Bills running back O.

Simpson to 49 rushing yards. Linebacker Isiah Robertson returned an interception 59 yards in the fourth quarter to clinch the Rams victory.