NFL Super Bowl Winners

"Pittsburgh Steelers the first team to win four Super Bowl′s"

Super Bowl XIV played on January 20, 1980, was won by the Champions of the AFC the Pittsburgh Steelers who defeated the NFC Champions the Los Angeles Rams at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had won the 1979 AFC Central Division coached by Chuck Noll with a regular season record of 12-4-0. The Steelers recorded a point scoring average of 26 points per game which put their offense first in the NFL. Their points allowed average was 16.4 points per game and put their defense 5th overall in the league.

The Pittsburgh Steelers postseason games began with the AFC Divisional Playoffs in which they met the Miami Dolphins who had been 1st in the 1979 AFC East Division coached by Don Shula . The Dolphins had finished regular season with a 10-6-0 record. Their point scoring average was 21.3 points per game which made them 11th best of 28 in the NFL. The Dolphins had allowed opposition an average of 16.1 points per game and ranked 4th overall in the league in defense.

The Steelers and the Dolphins had not met in regular season but the Steelers were overall a better team and were far more capable in offense.

The Steelers made fairly light work of the Dolphins and won 34 - 14.

In the AFC Championship Game the Pittsburgh Steelers opponents were the Houston Oilers who had finished 2nd in the 1979 AFC Central Division coached by Bum Phillips and had finished with an 11-5-0 regular season record.

The Steelers and the Oilers had met twice in regular season with one victory apiece.

The Oilers were a Wild Card team and their overall league rankings of 8th in offense and 16th in defense did not look to hold any real fears for the Steelers.

The Oilers had put in an average performance in the AFC Wild Card Game when beating the Denver Broncos 13 - 7 but there wouldn′t have been much between the two in regular season and the game didn′t prove much.

However, in their AFC Divisional Playoff Game the Oilers played the San Diego Chargers and beat them 17 - 14 in a close game. The Chargers were a very good team in both offense and defense and in regular season had ranked 2nd overall in the league.

This performance put the Oilers in with a major shout in the AFC Championship Game as the San Diego Chargers had given the Steelers a right hiding in regular season by 35 points to 7.

The Conference Championship was no pushover for Pittsburgh but in the end the game went according to rankings and the Steelers beat the Oilers by 27 points to 13.

The Steelers opponents in Super Bowl XIV were the Los Angeles Rams who had finished 1st in the 1979 NFC West Division coached by Ray Malavasi with a regular season record of 9-7-0. The Rams point scoring average was 20.2 per game which put their offense 15th of 28 in the NFL and their points allowed average was 19.3 per game which put their defense 11th overall in the league.

The Los Angeles Rams postseason started with the NFC Divisional Playoffs where they played the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys had won the NFC East Division coached by Tom Landry with a regular season record of 11-5-0.

The Rams and the Cowboys had met once in regular season with the Cowboys winning easy 30 points to 6 and on overall league rankings the Cowboys were supposed to be the better team.

However, it was the Rams who won 21 - 19. These point totals were more or less the same as the Rams regular season averages and they did not necessarily show any improvement to win this game. The Cowboys did appear to play below par.

The Los Angeles Rams next postseason game was the NFC Championship Game in which they played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had finished 1st in the 1979 NFC Central Division coached by John McKay with a regular season record of 10-6-0. The Buccaneers had a point scoring average of 17.1 per game putting their offense 21st of 28 in the NFL. In contrast, the Buccaneers had proved a very difficult team to score against and their points allowed average of 14.8 per game conceded put their defense 1st in the league.

The Rams and the Buccaneers had played once in regular season with the Buccaneers winning 21 - 6.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked to be favorite but it was the Rams who showed the meaner streak to their game and won a low scoring contest by 9 points to 0. The Buccaneers still hadn′t given much away in defense though and this was a good performance by the Rams.

One question remained unanswered. Did the Los Angeles Rams possess the capability to score the big game points that a Super Bowl required?

Super Bowl XIV appeared to have quite a clear favorite in the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, I feel it must be pointed out that although the Los Angeles Rams had not been one of the top teams in regular season it probably was not that bigger surprise that they had the game to reach Super Bowl, as 1979 was their seventh consecutive (of 8) postseason during which time they had been consistently one of the better teams in both offense and defense and one must think that by law of averages their turn must come.

In the game it was the Rams who got off to the better start and were ahead 7 - 3 at the end of the first quarter. A lead that they increased to 13 - 10 by half time. However, early in the third it was the Steelers who went ahead 17 - 10 after a Lynn Swann touchdown with the following kick converted by Matt Bahr, although it was the Rams who still had a 19 - 17 lead at the end of the third after scoring six points themselves.

Going into the fourth with it all to play for, it was the Steelers who were able to dig deep and find the stuff that champions are made of when they scored another 14 points following touchdown′s by John Stallworth and Franco Harris and two kicks by Matt Bahr all of which went without reply from the Rams.

Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Terry Bradshaw was named Super Bowl XIV Most Valuable Player.

Note
The Pittsburgh Steelers average points scored during the playoffs was 30.7 per game (26 regular season) and their average points allowed per game was 15.4 (16.4 regular season).

The Los Angeles Rams average points scored during the playoffs was 16.4 per game (20.2 regular season) and their average points allowed per game was 16.7 (19.3 regular season).

In Conclusion
By the end of the playoff season the Pittsburgh Steelers averages for both offense and defense showed improvement over regular season and they were obviously a team that was playing at the top of their form.
The Steelers could score points for fun!

The Los Angeles Rams, despite showing a marked improvement in defense did not show that they had "raised the bar" in offense and they found point scoring at the highest level too difficult.

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Los Angeles Rams (NFC)	7	6	6	0	-	19
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC)	3	7	7	14	-	31