NFL Super Bowl Winners

Super Bowl IX played on January 12 1975, was won by the Champions of the AFC the Pittsburgh Steelers who defeated the NFC Champions the Minnesota Vikings at Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Pittsburgh Steelers coached by Chuck Noll won the 1974 AFC Central Division with a regular season record of 10-3-1. The Steelers were good defensively and had finished 2nd in the league on their average for points conceded, allowing 13.5 per game. They ranked 6th for their point scoring average which was 21.8, not particularly high although the league leader for scoring average was the Oakland Raiders who only managed 25.4 per game themselves.

In the AFC Divisional Playoffs the Steelers played the Buffalo Bills who they beat 32 - 14. No surprise as the Bills had only ranked 12th in the league for their point scoring and points allowed averages.

The Steelers next game was in the American Football Conference Championship where they met the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders were the top scoring team in the league during regular season but only 9th defensively for points conceded. The Steelers had lost once to the Oakland Raiders in regular season, a 0 - 17 whitewash at home but in the Conference Championship Game the tables were turned and the Pittsburgh Steelers won 24 - 13.

The Pittsburgh Steelers opponents in Super Bowl IX were the Minnesota Vikings coached by Bud Grant who were the winners of the 1974 NFC Central Division with a regular season record of 10-4-0. They had finished fifth in the NFL through regular season on their point scoring average of 22.1 and finished in third for points allowed with 13.9 average points conceded.

In the NFC Divisional Playoffs the Vikings played the St Louis Cardinals. The St Louis Cardinals had finished 1st in the 1974 NFC East Division but were not ranked that high in the league being 9th of 26 for their point scoring average of 20.4 and only 8th with an average of 15.6 for points allowed. During regular season the two teams had played once with the Vikings edging it 24 - 28. The game went to form and the Vikings beat the St Louis Cardinals 30 - 14 in convincing fashion.

The Vikings next playoff game was the NFC Championship where they played the Los Angeles Rams. The Los Angeles Rams had won the 1974 NFC West Division with a record of 10-4-0 in regular season and although not prolific point scorers having only averaged 18.8 points per game which made them 13th of 26 in the NFL they were the league′s top team defensively according to points conceded and only allowed an average of 12.9 points to be scored against them per game. In regular season the Los Angeles Rams had beaten the Vikings by 20 - 17 and another tight game could be expected. This time the Vikings got their revenge edging the game 14 - 10.

Going by the form book the Steelers and the Vikings looked to not have much between them and it was quite possible that a low scoring Super Bowl could be expected. Both teams looked to be playing exactly up to their mark in the run-up to Super Bowl IX with their average scores over two games close to regular season figures.

Super Bowl IX started very slowly. It was in the second quarter when the Steelers set the scoreboard rolling after Dwight White downed Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton in the end zone for a safety.

The Steelers scored seven points in the third. They scored another seven in the fourth at which point the Vikings finally got off the mark when scoring six but it was only a token gesture. The Steelers won Super Bowl IX by 16 points to 6.

Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers was named Super Bowl IX MVP after he rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries.

Note
The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to up the tempo of their offense for the 1974 playoff season. Their point scoring average was 24 points per game postseason (21.8 regular season), whilst also becoming a harder team to score against with a points conceded playoff average of 11 per game(13.5 regular season).

Once again the Minnesota Vikings were found out in the Super Bowl and as a result of not scoring many points in Super Bowl IX their 1974 playoff point scoring average was only 16.7 (22.1 regular season).

However, their playoff points conceded average was slightly improved at 13.4 points per game (13.9 regular season).

In Conclusion
On the day the two teams looked to be closely matched and it was probably down to who held their nerve the best. The Vikings were exposed offensively and found it difficult to score whilst the Steelers managed to get enough points to claim the honors.

More than likely not a classic!

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC)	0	2	7	7	-	16
Minnesota Vikings (NFC)	0	0	0	6	-	6

Franco Harris Sports Illustrated 16x20 Autographed Photograph

Franco Harris was a key member of the great Pittsburgh Steelers teams of the 1970s. Harris played in eight Pro Bowls and rushed for 158 yards en route to MVP honors in Super Bowl IX. He rushed for 1,000 yards in nine seasons and eclipsed the 100 yard mark in 47 games. His career stats are impressive: 12,120 yards, 91 touchdowns rushing, 2,287 yards, 9 touchdowns receiving and 14,622 combined net yards.