Quarter 1

Pittsburgh won the toss and elected to receive. For some reason, the Vikings chose to go against the North wind.
Fred Cox kicked off to Preston Pearson on the 12, and he returned to the 36. QB Terry Bradshaw started implementing the game plan, which was to run the ball with some short passes mixed in. Rocky Bleier took a handoff on a crossbuck over the left side for a gain of 3. Franco Harris tried to skirt RE but slipped down for no gain. Expecting a pass, the Vikings made multiple substitutions. Sure enough, Bradshaw faded, but DE Alan Page collapsed the pocket, allowing DT Bob Lurtsema to get the sack at the 35. Bobby Walden, punting with the wind, boomed one 52y to Sam McCullum, who returned 5y to the 18. TV announcer Curt Gowdy pointed out that Dwight White was starting at RE for the Steelers but didn't mention his hospital stay. Fran Tarkenton rolled right and threw to the sideline for a 16y gain to WR John Gilliam, who was playing with a broken wrist. Tarkenton then faked to Chuck Foreman and threw over the middle too high for Stu Voigt, who was well covered. FB Dave Osborn took a quick handoff up the middle, but Mean Joe Greene stopped him for a gain of 1. Fran went back to pass but, in a pattern that would be repeated all afternoon, had to roll to his right to avoid the rush and threw incomplete to Gilliam at the sideline. So Mike Eischeid punted to rookie WR Lynn Swann, who returned 17y to the Pitt 42. The Steelers immediately went back 5y for a false start on RT Gordon Gravelle. Bleier then gained that back and more by bursting through a big hole at RG on a "sucker play" to the Minnesota 45 for Pitt's initial first down. Then it was Harris's turn to go up the middle to the 41 on a counter play, where the back takes his first step one way, then spurts the opposite direction. The Steelers had not run such a play before. The Steelers came out in a new formation with a flanker wide right with two slot men next to him. But the Vikings weren't fooled and dumped Harris as he tried to run that way for a loss of 3. When Pittsburgh was called for clipping, Minnesota took the 15y penalty to make it 2nd-and-21 on the Steeler 44. Bradshaw threw a wide receiver screen to Frank Lewis for a gain of 12. With a more manageable 3rd-and-9, Terry pedaled back to pass, but Page got past G Jim Clack to dump the QB for a loss of 8 to the Pitt 48. So Walden punted, this time 39y to Nate Wright who was downed immediately after a 1y gain.
Starting from the 14, Foreman tried to get outside RE but was nailed by LB Jack Ham for a loss of 2. Tarkenton threw a quick hitch to Osborn to set up 3rd-and-8. Fran tried to pass again, but 6'6" L. C. Greenwood was in his face and knocked the ball down. Eischied got a good bounce on his punt to the Pitt 47. But a flag caused everyone to go back, Minnesota being penalizingalf the distance to the goal for clipping. Kicking from the EZ this time, Mike boomed a low click to Dave Edwards on the Viking 44. Trying to get around the left side of the coverage, Edwards slipped down for a 0 return.
Continuing to enjoy good field position, the Steelers continued to work on rookie RCB Jackie Wallace. Lewis broke open on a slant pattern but dropped the pass. After a 3y run by Harris, Brad connected for a first down to TE Larry Brown, who caught the ball as he slipped down onto his butt at the 26. Bleier rammed through LG for a tough 4y, and a crossbuck by Harris gained another 2. On 3rd-and-4, Terry went to Lewis on a slant from the left again but, under pressure from Page and Lurtsema, threw off his back foot and the ball sailed too high. So Roy Gerela came on for a 37y FG attempt that hooked left.
Starting from the 20, Minnesota went three and out. Foreman gained a yard, then Tarkenton rolled out again and threw too high on a deep sideline pattern to Gilliam who caught the ball with a toe on the sideline. So Eischeid launched his third punt of the period, the ball being downed at the Pitt 48. Bleier zipped through RT for 4y. Ron Shanklin took a flanker reverse but, slipping and sliding, gained zilch. However, Minnesota was penalized 5y for offsides. For 3rd-and-1, Brad sent Harris off RT on a delay for 14y. 1st-and-10 at the 29. Bradshaw took a bootleg around RE for 11y to move the chains to the 18. Franco found the going tough at RG for no gain, then tried the other side of the line for just 2. On 3rd down, Terry threw to Lewis at the left pylon, but Wallace, playing the best game of his young NFL life, broke it up. With another chance to put the first points on the board, the Pittsburgh kicking team failed again. The low snap from C was fumbled by holder Walden, who recovered it and tried to run but lost 7y.
On the last play of the quarter, Osborn gained nothing at the 23. Minnesota had 0y rushing at this point.
Pittsburgh had dominated the quarter but had nothing to show for it thanks to two botched FG tries. The Steelers gained 64y on 12 running plays, all but two of them traps. The Vikings had just 27 total yards and one first down and never got past their own 35.
END OF Q1: STEELERS 0 VIKINGS 0
Quarter 2

Would having the wind at their backs help Minnesota? Tarkenton hustled out from C to his right and flipped sidearm to Foreman on the run at the 28. Chuck was pushed out of bounds at the 35 for a 1st down. Tark again rolled right to throw but the pass was deflected by Greenwood. Then DT Ernie Holmes met Osborn as soon as he took the handoff for a loss of 1. The next play almost resulted in disaster for the Vikes. Under a heavy rush again, Fran ran back one way, then the other to the 10 as Gilliam, all alone downfield, waved frantically. By the time Tark got in position to throw the ball toward Gilliam, LB Andy Russell had rushed over and missed a good chance to intercept in front of John. So Eischeid punted with the wind 38y, Edwards returning 2. But a 15y tripping penalty sent Pittsburgh back to its 15.
Starting deep in their territory for the first time, the Steelers began the series with "Statue Right," a delayed handoff to Harris after a pass fake. Franco ran around RE for 5y. On 2nd down, Brad sent John Stallworth long down the left sideline against Wallace, but the rookie again was up to the task, knocking down the pass. The 3rd-down aerial was complete to Swann for 16y, but Lynn was called for pushing off the DB when making his cut to the inside. On 3rd-and-14, with the Vikings in a five-man line expecting a pass, the Steelers outguess them again. Bradshaw called 52-straight. Bleier took the handoff and popped into the clear up the middle but lost the ball when hit from the side by S Jeff Wright. The ball squirted forward to the 24 where rookie DB Randy Poltl recovered. With a great opportunity to put the first points on the board, Minnesota started with a quick hitter by Osborn that gained 2. But two straight passes to Foreman fell incomplete to bring on the FG unit. Cox's boot from the 39 just missed to the right.
Starting from the 22, the Steelers gained one 1st down before having to punt. Bleier lost 1, then Harris gained 3. On 3rd-and-8, Bradshaw flipped to Stallworth on a slant in front of Wallace to the 46. But three runs by Bleier (for 6), Harris (2), and Bleier again (for no gain thanks to a hard tackle by MLB Jeff Siemen) brought in Walden, who punted 39y to McCullum, who unwisely fielded the bouncing ball on the 7 and was hit immediately.
Foreman squirmed over LT for 3. Then came the play that led to the only points of the half. Tarkenton took the snap and turned to hand the ball to Osborn. The pigskin appeared to hit Dave's hip and fall out of Fran's hand. L.C. Greenwood inadvertently kicked the pigskin with one of his gold shoes toward the EZ. Tarkenton won the race to the ball, jumping on it at the 1 and sliding into the EZ, where he was touched down for a safety. STEELERS 2 VIKINGS 0 (7:11) Eischeid punted the free kick from the 20, and it bounded around in Pittsburgh territory before going out of bounds at the 35 just before the streaking Vikings could corral it.
Bradshaw threw to Bleier at the right sideline for 5, then handed to Harris around LE for 2 more. On 3rd-and-3, Wallace came up hard on a screen pass to Stallworth to dump the receiver for a 6y loss. Walden drove a low spiral against the wind for 50y to McCullum, who returned 6y to the 20.
Tark rolled right and threw incomplete to Gilliam in the middle of the field. But Mel Blount was penalized for pass interference to give 1st down at the 35. After White stuffed Osborn for a loss of 1, Tarkenton took the snap, rolled right as usual, and threw to Foreman for 10y to bring up 3rd-and-inches after a measurement. On their 5th 3rd-down try, the Vikes finally succeeded on Chuck's 2y plunge. Again running right after taking the next snap, Tark flipped the ball out of bounds just before going out of bounds himself. The Steelers screamed in vain for intentional grounding. With the Pitt fans booing, Foreman gained 2 before lining up as a receiver wide right on the next snap. Chuck cut over the middle, where Fran's pass hit him in the hands, bounced into the air before returning to his clutches for a gain of 17y to the Pitt 35. The second-year man from Miami U. then handled the ball again, gaining 4 before losing his shoe and leaving the field in favor of Ed Marinaro. After the two-minute warning, Fran went back to the air, but with everyone downfield covered, he threw short to Voigt, who stepped out after a gain of 3. Then another short pass, this one to Osborn, gained another 3 to move the chains to the 25. Finally having time to let a pattern develop, Tark threw down the middle to Gilliam at the 10. Jim leaped and took the ball just a second before Dave Edwards belted him with both forearms in the face - a hit that would draw a flag and an expulsion today. The pigskin flew intp the air to the goal line where Blount gathered it in and ran out to the 10 to stop a major threat with 1:05 on the clock.