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147-502: The networks that broadcast the NFL were the first networks to create and air pre-game shows. CBS was the first to broadcast a sports pre-game show in 1964, when the network launched a 15-minute regional sports program that interviewed players and coaches and featured news and features about the league. The show aired immediately before games on CBS. The show originated in studio and live from the fields, and featured broadcaster Jack Buck. In 1967,

294-557: A play-in game – the MLB Wild Card Game – the winner of which would then advance to the Division Series and play the team with the best record. The two teams with the best records outside of the division champions advanced to the wild card game. The two wild card teams could come out of the same division so there was no guarantee a team that came in second place in their division would make the playoffs. The system

441-579: A season that saw Pittsburgh's defense shut out five opponents and allow only 28 points in a 9-game span. The loss to Pittsburgh coupled with an early playoff exit in 1976 largely influenced the Cowboys to draft Tony Dorsett in the 1977 Draft to help infuse life into Dallas' offense. Dorsett helped lead Dallas to a Super Bowl XII victory over the Denver Broncos , who defeated the Steelers in

588-508: A 12-yard pass to wide receiver John Stallworth , who then appeared to fumble the ball while getting tackled by safety Cliff Harris , but the officials ruled him down before the ball came loose. Two plays later, however, on 4th-and-1, Bradshaw's pass to running back Franco Harris was broken up by Cliff Harris, turning the ball over on downs. After an exchange of punts, Dallas drove to the Pittsburgh 20-yard line from their own 48, aided by

735-438: A 14-yard reception by running back Charley Young . However, in three plays, they lost 25 yards. On first down, Newhouse was tackled for a 3-yard loss by linebacker Andy Russell . Then Greenwood sacked Staubach for a 12-yard loss. And on third down, Staubach was sacked again, this time for a 10-yard loss, by defensive end Dwight White . The sacks pushed Dallas out of field goal range, forcing them to punt. The Steelers' offense got

882-525: A Baby: A Tribute to America's Bicentennial". Up with People dancers portrayed various American historical figures along with a rendition of Steve Goodman 's " City of New Orleans ". Singer Tom Sullivan sang the national anthem. Scenes for the 1977 suspense film Black Sunday , about a fictional terrorist attack on the Super Bowl via the Goodyear Blimp , were filmed during the game. This

1029-576: A Super Bowl record 161 yards and one touchdown, became the first wide receiver to be named Super Bowl MVP . The NFL awarded Super Bowl X to Miami on April 3, 1973, at the owners' meetings held in Scottsdale, Arizona . This was the fourth time that the Super Bowl was to be played at the Miami Orange Bowl . For the second time, the owners selected two consecutive Super Bowl host cities at the same meeting. Only three cities submitted bids for

1176-686: A backdrop to the studio panel. Super Bowl X Super Bowl X was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1975 season . The Steelers defeated the Cowboys by the score of 21–17 to win their second consecutive Super Bowl. They were

1323-517: A better opportunity to catch the ball and write himself into Cowboy folklore. Then on third down with three seconds left, Staubach once again tried to complete a Hail Mary pass to Howard in the end zone, but the ball was tipped by Wagner into the arms of safety Glen Edwards for an interception, sealing Pittsburgh's second consecutive Super Bowl victory. Bradshaw finished the game with 9 out of 19 pass completions for 209 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. He also added another 16 yards rushing

1470-693: A final size of ten teams in two divisions, continued to restrict its postseason to division winners until the 1969 season, the AFL's last as a separate league. The change came largely in response to criticism from NFL loyalists following the New York Jets ' upset win in Super Bowl III , who argued that the Jets had an "unfair" advantage since, having won the Eastern Division outright, they were

1617-614: A fourth placed Eastern team was in mathematical contention for a Western cross-over berth late in the season. Cross-over teams have advanced as far as the Eastern Final, but as of 2023 have never advanced to the Grey Cup game. There is no provision for a fifth placed team in one division to cross over in place of the other division's runner-up, even if it has a better record; in 2018 the Edmonton Eskimos finished fifth in

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1764-402: A fumble recovery in the end zone. Then Steelers running back Mike Collier returned the free kick 25 yards to the Cowboys' 45-yard line. Dallas halted the ensuing drive at the 20-yard line, but this time Gerela successfully kicked a 36-yard field goal to give Pittsburgh their first lead of the game, 12–10. Then on the first play of the Cowboys' next drive, Steelers safety Mike Wagner intercepted

1911-422: A helmet-to-helmet hit on Bradshaw. Swann then caught the ball at the 5-yard line and ran into the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown reception. Bradshaw never did see Swann's catch or the touchdown since Cole's hit to Bradshaw's helmet knocked him out of the game with a head injury. It was only after he was assisted to the locker room that he was told what happened. After play resumed, Gerela's extra point attempt hit

2058-480: A hospital. If he did play, many assumed he would just be used as a decoy to draw coverage away from the other receivers. Throughout the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Swann was unable to participate in several team practices or was limited to only a minor workout in them. However, a few days before the game, he received a verbal challenge from Dallas safety Cliff Harris , who stated, "I'm not going to hurt anyone intentionally. But getting hit again while he's running

2205-502: A pass from Staubach and returned it 19 yards to the Dallas 7-yard line before getting tackled by Neely. Wagner's interception came off the same play Dallas used to score their opening touchdown. Instead of surveying the middle of the field, Wagner watched Pearson and recognized the pattern. Staubach later said: "It was our bread and butter play all season long. It was the first time it didn't work." The Cowboys' defense again managed to prevent

2352-434: A pass route must be in the back of Swann's mind. I know it would be in the back of my mind." Swann responded "I'm still not 100 percent. I value my health, but I've had no dizzy spells. I read what Harris said. He was trying to intimidate me. He said I'd be afraid out there. He needn't worry. He doesn't know Lynn Swann. He can't scare me or the team. I said to myself, 'The hell with it, I'm gonna play.' Sure, I thought about

2499-523: A play-in game. As of the 2020–21 NBA season , the number of teams that qualified for the playoffs expanded to ten teams per conference and the NBA play-in tournament was adopted in its current format, which is similar to the first two rounds of the Page–McIntyre system for a four-team playoff. The #9 seed hosts the #10 seed in an elimination game. The #7 seed hosts the #8 seed in the double-chance game, with

2646-401: A player at the discretion of the organizers. All ATP and WTA tournaments have a few spots set aside for wildcards in both the main draw, and the qualifying draw, for players who otherwise would not have made either of these draws with their professional ranking. They are usually awarded to players from the home and/or sponsoring country (sometimes after a tournament where the winner is awarded

2793-434: A playoff berth. In 1981, even the fifth place Western team's record of 6–10 was good enough for outright possession of sixth place overall. In 1986, the playoff format was changed. The new format the fourth place team in one division to qualify if it finished with an outright better record than the third place team in the other division. The Eastern owners agreed in exchange for expanding the schedule to 18 games, and also with

2940-557: A prelim-round byes. The playoffs had expanded to nine teams per conference. Curling Canada introduced wild card teams starting with the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and 2018 Tim Hortons Brier . The change was made as part of a wider set of changes which expanded the tournaments to 17 teams and eliminated the unpopular pre-qualifying tournaments. From 2018, the round robin stage of the Tournament of Hearts and Brier will consist of two seeded "pools" of eight teams as opposed to

3087-474: A rally by the Cowboys late in the fourth quarter. Officials did not call a single penalty on the Steelers during the game, while the Cowboys were called for only 2 penalties for 20 yards. On the opening kickoff, the Cowboys ran a reverse play where linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson took a handoff from running back/kick returner Preston Pearson and returned the ball a Super Bowl-record 48 yards before Steelers kicker Roy Gerela forced him out of bounds at

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3234-472: A runner-up eventually won the league title. The NFL kept this principle in place by stipulating that a wild card team could never face its own division champion in the divisional round. Following the implementation of the AFL–NFL merger prior to the 1970 season, from 1970 to 1974 the NFL used a rotation to determine which teams hosted playoff games, and which teams played which other teams. From 1975 to 1977,

3381-434: A snap on a punt, and nearly had two punts blocked. (Gerela's problems may have begun on the opening kickoff when he was forced to make a touchdown saving tackle on Henderson.) Staubach started out the drive with an 11-yard scramble to midfield, and then followed it up with a 12-yard completion to Preston Pearson at the Steelers' 38-yard line. Pearson inexplicably ran towards the middle rather than running out of bounds to stop

3528-530: A stipulation that the qualifying fourth-place team would stay in its own division for the playoffs. As a result, the change introduced the possibility of a four team bracket in one division and a two-game total point series in the other (the two game total point format was nothing new in Canadian football – it was commonly used until the early 1970s). It also introduced the possibility of the first place teams losing their traditional byes based on results elsewhere in

3675-466: A studio, some shows may broadcast from the site of a particular game, usually for marquee events or championship games. ESPN's College GameDay franchise (which it broadcasts for college football and basketball ) regularly broadcasts live from the campuses of schools hosting the day's biggest game (or in some cases, a game that the network wishes to highlight) and—most frequently on its football version—is often attended by an audience of fans that serve as

3822-565: A team tied for first overall in the league to miss the playoffs (this happened once, in 1967, when the Baltimore Colts missed the postseason despite a .917 winning percentage after losing a tiebreaker to the Los Angeles Rams ). The AFL's 1969 playoffs were criticized by NFL purists for breaking with longstanding tradition, also, due to the fact that they allowed runners-up to qualify no matter how much disparity existed between

3969-575: A team-leading 49 passes for 781 yards and 11 touchdowns. Stallworth only had 20 receptions, but he had an average of 21.2 yards per catch, recording a total of 423 reception yards. The Steelers' "Steel Curtain" defense dominated the league, ranking third in fewest yards allowed (4,019) and sending 8 of their 11 starters to the Pro Bowl : defensive linemen Joe Greene (future Pro Football Hall of Fame player) and L. C. Greenwood ; future Hall of Fame linebackers Jack Ham and Jack Lambert ; Andy Russell ,

4116-508: A third down false start penalty on offensive tackle Ralph Neely , and scoring on kicker Toni Fritsch 's 36-yard field goal to take a 10–7 lead early in the second quarter. The 51 rushing yards the Cowboys amassed on the drive tripled what the Minnesota Vikings gained against Pittsburgh for all of Super Bowl IX . The Steelers subsequently advanced to the Cowboys' 36-yard line on their next possession, during which Bradshaw completed

4263-410: A touchdown, but Gerela kicked an 18-yard field goal to increase the Steelers' lead to 15–10. The Steelers forced a punt and regained possession of the ball on their own 30-yard line with 4:25 left in the game, giving them a chance to either increase their lead or run out the clock to win the game. But after two plays, the Steelers found themselves facing 3rd-and-4 on their own 36-yard line. Assuming that

4410-420: A wild card playoff format is used, the number of teams in a division that qualify is not fixed; a set number of teams from each division automatically qualify(ies), but (an) additional team(s) also qualify(ies), based either on league record or conference record. In Major League Baseball (MLB), the wild card teams are the three teams in each of the two leagues ( American and National ) that have qualified for

4557-606: A wild card team, the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs were the first non-division winner to win the Super Bowl . They finished second in the Western Division of the American Football League , and in that season, the last before the merger, the AFL went from having its two division winners meeting for the league title to adding a second round in which the second place team in each division qualified for

Pre-game show - Misplaced Pages Continue

4704-505: Is a tournament or playoff berth awarded to a team or individual that does not qualify through an automatic bid. In some events, wildcards are chosen freely by the organizers. Other events have fixed rules. Some North American professional sports leagues compare the records of teams which did not qualify directly by winning a division or conference . In international sports, the term is perhaps best known in reference to two sporting traditions: team wildcards distributed among countries at

4851-456: Is no tie-breaker advantage at all to finishing in any divisional rank lower than first – meaning (for example) that while a division winner will automatically win a tie-breaker over another division's runner-up, a division runner-up will not automatically win a tie-breaker over teams finishing third, fourth or fifth in other divisions. The new format means it is possible for an especially weak division to send no teams (not even its champion) to

4998-430: The 2013 BWF World Championships . In North American professional sports leagues, "wild card" refers to a team that qualifies for the championship playoffs without winning their specific conference or division outright. The number of wild card teams varies. In most cases, the rules of the league call for the wild card team to survive an extra round or to play the majority of their postseason games away from home. Although

5145-574: The American Football League 's 1969 playoffs (qualifying the top two finishers from each division), the National Basketball Association 's 1967-through-1970 playoffs (top four finishers from each division) and 1971–1972 playoffs (top two finishers in each division), and the National Hockey League 's 1968–1974 and 1982–1993 playoffs (top four finishers from each division) are not true wild card formats. When

5292-549: The Conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals . The NHL's current format is similar in some respects to the "cross-over rule" used by the Canadian Football League since 1997 in that it the format emphasizes intra-divisional ranking and brackets in the playoff structure and yet allows two teams from one division to qualify for the playoffs at the expense of the two teams finishing with worse records and in

5439-712: The Dallas Cowboys Radio Network . Jack Fleming and Myron Cope called the game for the Pittsburgh Steelers Radio Network . CBS's Super Bowl lead-out program was coverage of the final round of the Phoenix Open , joined in progress. The overall theme of the Super Bowl entertainment was to celebrate the United States Bicentennial . Each Cowboys and Steelers player wore a special patch with

5586-581: The Minnesota Vikings , 17–14, with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Staubach to Drew Pearson with less than a minute to play in what was called the " Hail Mary pass ". They went on to crush the Los Angeles Rams , 37–7, in the NFC Championship Game . As a result, the Cowboys became the first wild card team to advance to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, even though Pittsburgh's offense lost a total of 12 turnovers in their two playoff games,

5733-426: The National Football Conference (NFC). The decision to make the conferences equal in size meant they could not feasibly align into anything except three divisions of four or five teams in each conference. This led to a debate as to how the postseason of the merged league should be structured. Both the NFL and AFL playoff formats of 1969 had attracted fierce critics. The NFL format was criticized for its ability to cause

5880-878: The Olympic Games and individual wildcards given to some tennis players at every professional tournament (both smaller events and the major ones such as Wimbledon ). Tennis players may even ask for a wildcard and get one if they want to enter a tournament on short notice. For Summer Olympic Games , some National Olympic Committees , whose nations are underrepresented after qualifications, may be granted wild card quotas, which are termed Universality Places , in some eligible sports. In Olympic and World Championship competitions in track and field and swimming , however, nations are automatically allowed to enter two competitors, so these instances are technically not wildcards. In some other Olympic sports, such as judo, archery, and badminton, wildcards are in use, and they are granted by

6027-647: The Super Bowl ; the closest that came to happening was in the 2010–11 playoffs , when the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets went on Cinderella runs after finishing as the second wild card team in each of their conferences (the NFC and AFC, respectively); the Packers won the NFC Championship Game and went on to win the Super Bowl, while the Jets' Cinderella story ended with a one-score loss to

Pre-game show - Misplaced Pages Continue

6174-602: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (the West's easternmost team) to the Eastern Division. This balanced the divisions both in numbers as well as, to a considerable extent, in playing caliber, and the reduction in teams also caused the schedule to be changed to emphasize more divisional games. As a result, the three top finishers of the two divisions finishers always had the six best league records from 1987 up until

6321-597: The postseason despite failing to win their division . Those teams in each league possess the three best winning percentages in their league after the three division winners . The wild card was first instituted in MLB in 1994, with one wild card team per league advancing to the Division Series in the postseason to face a division winner. In 2012, the system was modified to add a second wild card team per league and pit each league's wild card teams against each other in

6468-421: The "Championship Pool." Unlike most tournaments which use a similar format, teams carry over their entire round robin records from the preliminary stage as opposed to only those results against teams that also qualify. This ensures that each Championship Pool team still plays eleven games that count for the purposes of determining playoff qualification. The format is designed to ensure that a competitive team fills

6615-402: The "wild card" was not initially referred to as such and was instead referred as the "Best Second-Place Team" (or sometimes simply as the "Fourth Qualifier"). The media, however, began referring to the qualifying teams as "wild cards". Eventually, the NFL officially adopted the term. For the 1969 AFL playoffs , a "crossover" format was used such that the division winners played the runners up in

6762-449: The #1 seeded team by giving it the most winnable matchups in the first two rounds, although this is not always the case in event of an upset because the NBA never re-seed teams following the first round. For instance, if the #6 seed upsets the #3 seed and the higher seed wins the remaining first round matchups within the conference, the #1 seed would face the #4 seed, while the #2 seed would face

6909-499: The #2 seed played the #3 seed. However, the rule that teams from the same division could not play each other in the divisional round continued, so if the #1 seed and the winner of the #4 vs #5 wild card game were in the same division, then the #1 seed played the #3 seed, while the #2 seed played the #4 vs #5 winner. To address the oddity of one wild card team per conference hosting a playoff game (albeit in an earlier round) while one division winner per conference did not automatically have

7056-409: The #4 & #5, and #3 & #6 seeds) in each conference played the #1 seed, and the next-lowest played the #2 seed in the conference semifinals. In 2019, the playoffs were expanded to the top seven teams in each conference, with only the conference regular season champion receiving a first-round bye. 2023 and hereafter sees only the eighth seed hosting the ninth-seed while the top seven seeds earned

7203-480: The #5 through #8 seeds. This change was made to ensure that the two best teams in each conference cannot meet until the conference final, and also (allegedly) to try and eliminate incentives for a playoff-bound team to deliberately lose games at the end of the regular season in order to "choose" a higher-seeded team that has won fewer games (and, due to the unique home-court rules of the NBA, possibly gain home-court advantage for that series). The notion of "wild cards"

7350-481: The #6 seed in the conference semifinals. For the 2020 NBA playoffs , playoff qualification was complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic , as not all teams had played the same number of games at the time of the mid-season suspension of play . When play resumed as part of the NBA's bubble , teams already eliminated from contention did not resume, while teams not eliminated played eight games to determine final seeding. If

7497-486: The #8 and #9 seeds in either conference finished within four games of each other, the two seeds would play each other in a play-in game. If the #8 seed won the game, it would advance to the playoffs. If the #9 seed won, a second game would be played. Only if the #9 seed won the second game would it advance to the playoffs. This play-in occurred on the Western Conference, where #8 seed Portland beat #9 Memphis in

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7644-626: The Bicentennial logo on their jerseys. This was the first Super Bowl where somebody other than the game's referee tossed the coin, in this case, John Warner who was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974. Prior to 1976, the coin toss was held a half-hour before kick-off. The performance event group Up with People performed during both the pregame festivities and the halftime show titled "200 Years and Just

7791-528: The CFL the NHL does not require the second wild card qualifier to have an outright better record than a superior-ranked team in the other division – in the event of such a tie at the end of the NHL season standard tie-breaking procedures are used to determine playoff qualification. From 1999 until 2013 , three division champions within each conference were given the #1–3 seeds based on their regular-season records. Among

7938-478: The Championship Game. Since 2020 , it has been possible for a wild card team to host a Divisional Round playoff game. This requires that all three wild card teams (seeded 5–7) win their wild card games on the road since teams are re-seeded. The matchups in the divisional round would be: The 1980 Raiders, 2005 Steelers, and 1992 Bills tied for first in their division but lost a tiebreaker. While not

8085-473: The Chiefs are not included in the above list, but are recognized as the first team to win the Super Bowl without winning a division title. Although the National Basketball Association (NBA) includes wild card teams in their playoff structures, the term "wild card" is seldom used; instead, each playoff team is most commonly denoted by its seeding position within the conference. Before the 2006–07 NBA season ,

8232-551: The Cowboys finished in second place in the NFC East with a 10–4 record, they qualified for the playoffs as the NFC 's wild-card team (during that time, only one wild card team from each conference entered the playoffs). The Dallas Cowboys became the first NFC wild card team to reach the Super Bowl. The Steelers became the first official #1 seed to reach the Super Bowl. Playoff seeds were instituted in 1975 . The Steelers finished

8379-401: The Cowboys would be expecting a short pass or a run, Bradshaw decided to try a long pass and told Swann in the huddle to run a deep post pattern. As Bradshaw dropped back to pass, Cliff Harris and linebacker D. D. Lewis both blitzed in an attempt to sack him, but Bradshaw managed to dodge Lewis and throw the ball just before being leveled by Harris and defensive tackle Larry Cole , who landed

8526-441: The Cowboys' defense stopped them on fourth down at the Dallas 39. In the process of doing so, Dallas used up all of their timeouts and got one more chance to mount a game-winning drive with 1:22 remaining. Some questioned why Noll would elect to go for it on fourth down but as later explained by NFL Films , his entire kicking game had been suspect all game long with Gerela missing an extra point and two field goals while Walden fumbled

8673-418: The Cowboys' deficit to 21–17 with 1:48 remaining (Howard's touchdown reception was the only catch of his NFL career; he was not mentioned by name by John Facenda in the highlight package produced by NFL Films ). After Mullins recovered Dallas' onside kick attempt, the Steelers, now led by backup quarterback Terry Hanratty , then tried to run out the clock on the next drive with four straight running plays, but

8820-412: The Dallas 25-yard line. However, once again the Steelers failed to score as the Dallas defense kept Pittsburgh out of the end zone and Gerela missed his second field goal attempt, a 33-yarder, wide left. After the miss, Cliff Harris mockingly patted Gerela on his helmet and thanked him for "helping Dallas out". Gerela grabbed Harris and began engaging him verbally, but Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert , who

8967-425: The NBA playoffs, although as of the start of the 2022–23 season this has not yet occurred. In the NBA, the winner of the #1 vs. #8 series goes on to face the winner of the #5 vs. #4 series, while the winner of the #2 vs. #7 series faces the winner of the #6 vs. #3 series. The winner of the #1 vs. #8 series will usually play against a wild card team in the conference semifinals; this is arranged deliberately to reward

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9114-437: The NBA seeded its teams with the division winners automatically receiving seeds 1–3. Until 2015, the NBA seeded the three division winners and the wild card team with the best record by regular-season record. This meant that the wild card with the best record got a seed as high as #2 (if that team is in the same division as the team with the best record in the conference); however, the next four wild card teams were still limited to

9261-457: The NBA. In the NHL, the highest-remaining seed of the first round played the lowest-remaining seed of the first round in the next round of the playoffs. For example, if the #1, #4, #6, and #7 seeds win their respective first round series, then the second round of the playoffs matched the #1 seed (highest) versus the #7 seed (lowest), and the #4 seed (2nd highest) versus the #6 seed (second lowest). Home ice advantage in each NHL playoff series prior to

9408-524: The Stanley Cup Finals was granted by the higher seed, even if the "wild card" team had a better regular season record. For the Finals, the team with the better record will receive home ice advantage. Major League Soccer (MLS) used a wild card format starting in its 2011 playoffs . The top three teams from each of its two conferences automatically qualified for the conference semifinals, while

9555-457: The Steelers had a fine passing attack led by quarterback Terry Bradshaw . Bradshaw threw for 2,055 yards, 18 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while rushing for 210 yards and three touchdowns. One reason why Bradshaw's numbers were much improved from the previous season was the emergence of wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth . Both saw limited playing time in the previous season, but became significant contributors in 1975. Swann caught

9702-621: The Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. From 2002 to 2019, the only way a wild card team could host a playoff game within their respective conference ( Super Bowls are considered neutral site games regardless of home venue) would be for both wild card teams to reach the Conference Championship Game by each winning two road playoff games: The No. 5 seeded wild card would host the No. 6 seeded wild card in

9849-679: The Steelers only gave up a combined total of 20 points in their victories over the Baltimore Colts in the AFC Divisional playoff game 28–10, and the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship Game 16–10. Coming into Super Bowl X, most sports writers and fans expected that Swann would not play. He had suffered a severe concussion in the AFC Championship Game against the Raiders that forced him to spend two days in

9996-410: The Steelers' 44-yard line. Gerela suffered badly bruised ribs that appeared to affect his kicking performance all afternoon. On the first play of the game, Steelers defensive end L. C. Greenwood strip-sacked Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach . Although Dallas center John Fitzgerald recovered the fumble, they eventually were forced to punt. The sack was a foreshadow of things to come for Staubach, who

10143-469: The West with a 9–9 record and missed the playoffs while the Hamilton Tiger-Cats finished 8–10 and qualified as Eastern runners-up. Thus, it is theoretically possible (but it has not yet occurred) that all four Eastern Division teams could reach the playoffs, but not for all five Western Division teams. In professional tennis tournaments, a wildcard refers to a tournament entry awarded to

10290-409: The ball back on their own 6-yard line with 3:47 left in the half. On the drive, Bradshaw completed a 53-yard pass to Swann to advance the ball to the Cowboys' 37-yard line; Swann's catch has become one of the most memorable acrobatic catches in Super Bowl history. On the very next play, Bradshaw just missed a connection with Swann at the Dallas 6 (although CBS's Pat Summerall thought the incomplete pass

10437-406: The ball. Staubach completed 15 out of 24 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. He also rushed for 22 yards on five carries but was sacked seven times. It was the first Super Bowl where every touchdown was scored on a pass play. Since then, only three other Super Bowls, XV , LVI , and LVIII have had all their touchdowns scored on passes. Steelers fullback Franco Harris

10584-416: The best records among the remaining teams in the conference. These teams are referred to as the wild cards. In the first round, the division champions play the wild cards, while the second and third placed teams in each division play each other; therefore the bracket is fixed, like the NBA. Home-ice advantage is given to the higher seed in the first two rounds, with the better regular season record being used in

10731-403: The best regular-season record is awarded a first-round bye and granted automatic berth in the "Divisional Round". The four division champions are seeded from #1 through #4, while the three wild card teams are seeded #5 to #7; within these separations, seeding is by regular-season record. In the "wild card Round", the #7 team plays the #2 team, #6 plays #3, and #5 plays #4. In the "Divisional Round",

10878-428: The clock. On the next play, Staubach could not handle a low snap, but managed to recover the ball and throw it downfield for an incompletion. On second down with 12 seconds left, he threw a pass intended for Howard in the end zone, but the ball bounced off Howard's helmet and a Hail Mary replay was not to be. Had Howard positioned himself inches back from his position in the end zone as the ball came down, he would have had

11025-427: The coverage. In 2006, Brown left the network to return to CBS and host their pre-game show, The NFL Today . NBC launched its own version of a pre-game show – Grandstand – in 1975, and not only featured NFL programming, but other sporting events around the nation. The show led up to the NFL's 1 p.m. games but covered college football, golf, tennis and many other sports and topics. The network hired Jack Buck to host

11172-415: The divisional playoffs featured the #1 seed hosting the "wild card" team, and the #2 seed hosting the #3 seed unless the #1 seed and wild card team were divisional rivals; in that case, the #1 seed hosted the #3 seed and the #2 seed hosted the wild card team. The "wild card" team in each conference was the team with the best record in its conference excluding the #1–3 seeds. The number of wild card qualifiers

11319-596: The divisions, the AFL playoff structure could allow a mediocre team to qualify – this did occur when the Houston Oilers , a .500 team, finished second in the Eastern Division – the Oilers were throttled in the playoffs 56–7 by the Western champion Oakland Raiders . Despite Kansas City's upset wins over the Raiders and Minnesota Vikings , some purists argued for the tradition of having only division champions contest

11466-417: The exact rules among the leagues differ, they all generally agree that the wild card team (or teams, as in MLB, NFL, and NHL) are the ones with the best records among the teams that did not win their divisions; these teams usually finish as the runner-up to their division winners. The term "wild card" does not apply to postseason formats where a set number of teams per division qualify. Former examples include:

11613-433: The expanded round robin schedule, the playoffs will revert to the old three team, two game format thus eliminating the page playoff and quarter-final round. Beginning in 2024 wild card teams are no longer designated "Wild Cards" in the draw or standings and have the right to represent their member associations on the same basis as the team advancing from playdowns. While the Canadian Football League does not officially use

11760-471: The first major national events of the United States Bicentennial year. Both the pre-game and halftime show celebrated the Bicentennial, while players on both teams wore special patches on their jerseys with the Bicentennial logo. Super Bowl X featured a contrast of playing styles between the Steelers and the Cowboys, which were the two most popular teams in the league. The Steelers, dominating teams with their " Steel Curtain " defense and running game, finished

11907-598: The first round of the playoffs that year. Pittsburgh and Dallas would battle in another thriller in Super Bowl XIII (also played in Miami). The result was the same, as the Steelers prevailed 35–31. But Super Bowl X was the game that began the rivalry between the two storied franchises. The Cowboys gained a measure of revenge by defeating the Steelers 27–17 in Super Bowl XXX following the 1995 season . This

12054-473: The four remaining teams with the highest point totals in league play, without regard to conference, earned "wild cards" into the playoffs. The wild card matches were single games, with the #7 seed hosting the #10 seed and the #8 seed hosting the #9 seed. The lowest surviving seed then played the Supporters' Shield winner (i.e., the team with the highest point total), while the other surviving wild card played

12201-439: The game to the Bicentennial. The Cowboys, considered a Cinderella team entering the Super Bowl, advanced to their third Super Bowl in team history with their rather high-tech offense and "flex" defense. Quarterback Roger Staubach had a solid season, passing for 2,666 yards and 17 touchdowns (but he also threw 16 interceptions), while also rushing for 310 yards. Staubach's favorite target was wide receiver Drew Pearson who led

12348-582: The game, Hank Stram took over for Brookshier, who had left the booth to head down to the locker room area to conduct the postgame interviews with the winning team. Two days after the Super Bowl, Stram was hired as coach of the New Orleans Saints , interrupting his broadcasting career for two seasons. Pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage were provided by The NFL Today crew of Brent Musburger , Irv Cross and Phyllis George . During this game, CBS began using Jack Trombey 's "Horizontal Hold" as

12495-400: The indelible images from the game. After being benched to start the 1974 campaign and being booed for most of his first four seasons in Pittsburgh, Bradshaw became the first quarterback to throw two game-winning touchdown passes in Super Bowl competition. The Steelers' bid for three-consecutive championships ended in a 24–7 loss to the Oakland Raiders in the 1976 AFC Championship game after

12642-404: The inside as if it were a running play, but then ran a pass route into the end zone, and Bradshaw threw the ball to him for a 7-yard touchdown, tying the game, 7–7. This marked the first Super Bowl where both teams scored in the first quarter. Dallas responded on their next drive, advancing the ball 51 yards, all rushing, (30 of them on five carries from fullback Robert Newhouse ) before incurring

12789-472: The kick, Pittsburgh running back Reggie Harrison broke through the line and blocked the punt. The ball went through the back of the end zone for a safety, cutting the Dallas lead to 10–9. It was the second safety recorded in Super Bowl history, the first occurring in Super Bowl IX the year before, which was also scored by the Steelers when White downed Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton on

12936-571: The last Super Bowl played outdoors on artificial turf until Super Bowl XLVIII (2014, some 39 years later) at MetLife Stadium which would be played on FieldTurf. at Orange Bowl , Miami, Florida Sources: NFL.com Super Bowl X , Super Bowl X Play Finder Pit , Super Bowl X Play Finder Dal Completions/attempts Carries Long gain Receptions Times targeted Wild card (sports) A wild card (also wildcard or wild-card and also known as an at-large berth or at-large bid )

13083-401: The league. This occurred in 1986, when the 11–7 Calgary Stampeders qualified in place of the 4–14 Montreal Alouettes . The Alouettes folded before the start of the following season. Although it is highly questionable whether a 1986 playoff appearance would have saved the floundering Montreal franchise, the CFL quickly re-instated the traditional playoff format for the 1987 season. It also moved

13230-509: The left upright, but the Steelers now had a 21–10 lead with 3:02 left in the game. Despite the two-score margin with that amount of time remaining, the game was not quite over in favor of the Steelers yet. Staubach then led the Cowboys with 80 yards in 5 plays on their ensuing drive, which featured key receptions by both Pearsons: a 31-yarder at the Pittsburgh 43 by Drew and a 9-yarder at the 34 by Preston. The drive ended with Staubach's 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Percy Howard , cutting

13377-480: The lowest-remaining seed plays the #1 seeded team, while the other two wild card winners face-off against each other, with the higher seed hosting. The higher-seeded teams have home-field advantage in both rounds and the "Conference Championships". The NFL was the first sports league to use the wild card format. The decision to implement a wild card coincided with the completion of the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Prior to

13524-412: The main draw, which expanded to pools of nine teams each. Additional wild card berths are granted if the defending champion does not play and/or a member association does not enter a team (this occurred, for example, in the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts when Nunavut withdrew) As a result, teams that advance to the championship pool will play twelve round robin games instead of eleven. To accommodate

13671-518: The merger, the right to compete in the postseason for the NFL title was restricted to division/conference champions. Until 1967, a tiebreaker game was played to resolve a deadlock for first place in either of the two conferences. When the league expanded to 16 teams, it realigned into four divisions and expanded the playoffs to two rounds. Tiebreaker games were eliminated in favor of the use of performance-based criteria to determine division champions. The rival American Football League (AFL), which reached

13818-436: The most talented player in the backfield was halfback Preston Pearson (no relation to receiver Drew Pearson), who signed on the team as a free agent after being cut by the Steelers in the preseason. Preston rushed for 509 yards, caught 27 passes for 351 yards, and added another 391 yards returning kickoffs. Preston had been especially effective in the playoffs, where he caught 12 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns, and

13965-413: The next season, the official coin toss was moved to three minutes before kickoff in the center of the field, leaving coaches to scramble to put the proper specialty unit on the field. From 1947 to 1975, a "mock toss" was held three minutes prior to kickoff at midfield to inform fans and media of the result. The Steelers won their second straight Super Bowl, largely through the plays by Swann and by stopping

14112-511: The nine teams played each opponent once at home and once on the road), this disparity (made even worse by the fact the West had one more team than the East) was fully exposed in the standings – in each of the first three seasons of the new format, the fourth place team missed the playoffs with records as good as 9–7 in the West, while in the East records as bad as 3–13 were good enough for third place and

14259-423: The number of wild card qualifiers was reduced to two per conference. In 2020 , the playoffs returned to three wild cards per conference, or 14 teams total. The term "Wild Card Round" continues to be used for the opening round of the playoffs, even though this round has involved both division winners and wild card teams since 1990. As of the 2021–22 playoffs , there has never been a meeting of two wild card teams in

14406-406: The old format consisting a single group of twelve teams. This allows the main tournament to include "Team Canada" (either the defending champions or, when the champions decline to or are unable to defend their title, the runners-up) and teams representing all fourteen constituent associations representing the ten provinces and three territories plus Northern Ontario . The remaining two participants in

14553-431: The old-line NFL owners, who still expected their teams to dominate the merged league for at least the first half of the 1970s, thought a repeat of the 1967 Colts-Rams fiasco would be very likely under the new alignment combined with a six team format. Furthermore, the modern principle that home field advantage and byes should be awarded to the teams with the best records had still not yet been firmly established – tradition at

14700-542: The only pro team with a bye in the divisional round (the Western Division title having been determined by a traditional tiebreaker, played the same weekend as the NFL's divisional round, between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders ). The AFL later agreed to expanded their playoffs to include division runners-up and implemented tiebreakers, thus in 1969 the runners-up played the winners of

14847-427: The opposite division. This was done in part because division rivals had already played each other twice in the regular season and also in part because the AFL did not want the playoff games to be confused as "division championship games" – by keeping division rivals separate in the opening playoff round, the league left fans in no doubt that the regular season division winners were the only true division champions, even if

14994-473: The opposite divisions for the right to contest the AFL Championship Game. The Chiefs, despite being AFL West runners-up, nevertheless won the last Super Bowl prior to the merger. In 1970, the merged league realigned into two conferences of thirteen teams each, with three "old-line" NFL teams joining the AFL teams in the American Football Conference (AFC), and the remaining NFL teams forming

15141-405: The playoffs to continue. Had they prevailed, the post-merger NFL playoffs would have consisted of six teams and might have eventually evolved to closely resemble the playoffs of the modern Canadian Football League , with the regular season champion of each conference earning the right to host the championship game against the winner of a game between the champions of the other two divisions. However,

15288-512: The possibility of being reinjured. But it's like being thrown by a horse. You have to get up and ride again immediately or you may be scared the rest of your life." Super Bowl X was the final NFL officiating assignment for veteran referee Norm Schachter , who also served as the referee for Super Bowl I and Super Bowl V . Schachter, one of six men to serve as referee for at least three Super Bowls, worked as an officiating supervisor and instant replay official following his on-field retirement. This

15435-533: The post-season. These teams played cross-division in the semifinal round. Thus the Chiefs, who finished second in the West, defeated the East Division champion New York Jets in the AFL semifinals and then defeated the West Division champion Oakland Raiders to advance to Super Bowl IV , where they beat the Minnesota Vikings . Because the term "wild card" was not instituted until the following year,

15582-425: The previous year's tournament or their respective provincial or territorial championship. The top ranked of these two teams receives the hammer (last rock) to start the game. The CTRS standings are also used to determine the seeding of all teams in the main tournament, with one important caveat – for the purposes of seeding the round robin pools and so as to allow the main round robin schedule to be drawn up prior to

15729-429: The regular season with a league best 12–2 record and defeated the Baltimore Colts and the Oakland Raiders in the playoffs. The Cowboys, with their offense and "flex" defense, became the first NFC wild-card team to advance to the Super Bowl after posting a 10–4 regular season record and postseason victories over the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams . Trailing 10–7 in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl X, in

15876-531: The regular season with a league-best 12–2 record, dominating opponents with their "Steel Curtain" defense and powerful running game. The team finished the season ranked 5th in most points scored (373) and 2nd in fewest points allowed (162). Fullback Franco Harris ranked second in the league with 1,246 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, while also catching 28 passes for 214 yards and another touchdown. Halfback Rocky Bleier had 528 rushing yards, and fullback John "Frenchy" Fuqua added 285 yards and 18 receptions. Still,

16023-431: The remaining teams within each conference, five additional teams with the best records are awarded seeds #4 through #8. The division champions (first-third seeds) and the non-division winning team with the best record (fourth seed) were given home ice advantage in the opening playoff series, in which they face the eighth-seeded through fifth-seeded teams, respectively. However, the playoff format differed slightly from that of

16170-452: The respective sport federations. On rare occasions, a competitor who had gained entry by wildcard succeeds in winning a medal or the championship. For example, Kye Sun-Hui won gold in judo at the 1996 Summer Olympics , Ding Junhui won the 2005 China Open snooker championship, Goran Ivanišević won the 2001 Wimbledon Championships , Kim Clijsters won the 2009 US Open , and Lin Dan won

16317-479: The right to host a playoff game, the playoffs were expanded again to three wild cards per conference in 1990 (for 12 teams total) with the lowest-ranked divisional winner losing its bye but gaining the right to host a playoff game. Following the addition of the Houston Texans in 2002, the league added a fourth division to each conference. The league decided not to change the number of playoff teams, and thus

16464-438: The same divisional ranks in another division. The main difference is that the CFL only allows the lowest ranked playoff qualifying team from a division to cross over into the other division's playoffs, whereas in the NHL it is possible for either wild card team to "cross over" to the other division, or even (in cases where four teams qualify from each division) for the wild card teams to swap divisional playoff brackets. Also, unlike

16611-639: The second Super Bowl where the winning team was behind at halftime ( Super Bowl V between the Colts and the Cowboys was the other; the Colts trailed at the half 13-6 and would go on to win 16–13), the Steelers rallied to score 14 unanswered points, including a 64-yard touchdown reception by Pittsburgh wide receiver Lynn Swann . The Cowboys cut the score, 21–17, late in the game with wide receiver Percy Howard 's 34-yard touchdown reception, but Pittsburgh safety Glen Edwards halted Dallas' rally with an end zone interception as time expired. Swann, who caught four passes for

16758-427: The show and the show didn't just preview that day's NFL games but did investigative pieces on a variety of topics. Pre-game shows generally run for 30 minutes to one hour, though on special occasions (such as championship games), it is not uncommon to air longer pre-game shows (with the Super Bowl now typically airing one across the entire afternoon prior to its evening kickoff). While most pre-game shows are done in

16905-436: The show grew to 30 minutes in length and in 1976, aired a new 90-minute “Super Bowl Special” before Super Bowl X . The show moved to two hours long in 1984 and featured 11 broadcasters, 13 producers and four directors. FOX created its own pre-game show when it won the rights to broadcast NFC games in 1994. The network hired James Brown to host the show, Fox NFL Sunday , and brought on analysts such as Terry Bradshaw to lead

17052-409: The sideline to make the reception. Two running plays further advanced the ball to the 7-yard line. Then on 3rd-and-1, the Steelers ran a trick play to score. Pittsburgh brought in three tight ends, which usually signals a running play (Steelers guard Gerry Mullins was also an eligible receiver on the play as he moved to the tight end position). After the snap, tight end Randy Grossman faked a block to

17199-489: The start of the league's U.S. expansion experiment , which started in the 1993. The current rule was adopted after the league re-activated the Alouettes and reverted to an all-Canadian alignment in 1996. It allows the fourth place team of one division to "cross over" and take the place of the third place team in the other divisional bracket, provided the fourth place team has more points (i.e. an outright better record) than

17346-463: The team with 46 receptions for 822 yards and 8 touchdowns. Wide receiver Golden Richards and tight end Jean Fugett were also reliable targets in the Cowboys' passing game, combining for 59 receptions and 939 receiving yards. But despite their solid passing game, Dallas was a run-based team. Fullback Robert Newhouse was their leading rusher with 930 yards, and also caught 34 passes for 274 yards. Halfback Doug Dennison contributed 388 yards. Perhaps

17493-653: The team's third starting linebacker; future Hall of Fame defensive back Mel Blount ; and safeties Glen Edwards and Mike Wagner . Greene made the Pro Bowl despite missing six games with injuries. Linebackers Ham and Lambert and cornerback Blount, who led the league with 11 interceptions and was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, had the best seasons of their careers. Wagner had 4 interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries, while Edwards had 3 interceptions, while also returning 25 punts for 267 yards. Dallas went on to defeat

17640-590: The term "wild card" to denote any playoff qualifier, its crossover rule acts similar to a wild card in many respects. Calls to change the CFL's playoff format came about soon after the CFL finished its evolution from two regional conferences, which were originally the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in the East and the Western Interprovincial Football Union in the West. Although the CFL

17787-463: The theme music. That would be used the following season for the NFL Today pregame show between 1976 and 1980 in its original form, with a remake for 1981 followed by updates for 1984 and 1989 (which would also be used from 1998 to 2002) before its retirement. On radio, Ed Ingles and Jim Kelly called the game nationally for CBS Radio . Verne Lundquist and Al Wisk announced the game for

17934-464: The third place team. Since the cross over team enters as the third place team, it never receives home field advantage in the playoffs, even if its record is better than that of one or both of the qualifying teams in the other division. As of 2023, all teams to qualify under this rule have crossed over from the Western Division to the Eastern bracket, although there have been a handful of occasions where

18081-567: The third team to win back-to-back Super Bowls. (The Miami Dolphins won Super Bowls VII and VIII , and the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowls I and II .) It was also the first Super Bowl in which both participating teams had previously won a Super Bowl, as the Steelers were the defending champions and the Cowboys had won Super Bowl VI . The game was played at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami , Florida , on January 18, 1976, one of

18228-404: The time dictated that home field advantage rotate between divisions and/or conferences regardless of record. In any event, most owners in both conferences wanted to keep the even four-team playoff field in each conference. This was established by having the three division champions in each conference joined by the best second-place finisher in the conference. As with much of the NFL's nomenclature,

18375-473: The top seed in the other conference. The playoff format was revamped for the 2012 season, with all seeding done entirely in-conference, therefore eliminating any true wild card qualifiers. From 2012 to 2018, the top six teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs, with the #1 & #2 seeds in each conference automatically qualifying for the conference semifinals, and seeds #3–6 in each conference being wild cards. The lowest-seeded winner (played between

18522-495: The tournament are the wild cards, which compete in an MLB-style play-in game prior to the main tournament to determine the sixteenth team in the main tournament. Just as is the case with MLB division titles, the format is designed to give teams an incentive to win their provincial championships. The wild cards are the top two teams in the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) standings that did not win either

18669-425: The tournament. As is the case with Team Canada, the wild card retains that designation even if the team that is representing the same province or territory as the wild card team is eliminated prior to the wild card team. With the introduction of pools, the round robin portion of the Tournament of Hearts and Brier now consists of two stages. The top four teams in each pool qualify for the second stage, formally known as

18816-489: The two games. Representatives from New Orleans , Miami, and Los Angeles each made presentations; all three cities had already hosted the Super Bowl. New Orleans was awarded Super Bowl IX , while Miami was given X. As part of their pitch, the representatives from Miami specifically requested the 1976 game over the 1975 game. Miami had initially been selected as one of the United States Bicentennial celebration cities, so Joe Robbie and Don Shula lobbied in favor of tying

18963-402: The wild card game, the ranking of the top wild card team is the ranking that is used for seeding purposes regardless of who wins the game. Whereas teams in the Tournament of Hearts and Brier are traditionally referred to by their respective province or territory (other than Northern Ontario and Team Canada), the team that wins the wild card game is referred to as the "wild card" for the duration of

19110-541: The wild card slot – due to the significant disparity in playing caliber between the top teams of Canada's fourteen member associations, it is widely expected that the wild card will consistently come from one of the provinces with the toughest fields in the playdowns, and that it will consistently be a championship contending team. The format was changed for the 2021 curling season due to the COVID-19 pandemic . For at least that year, tournaments will expand to eighteen teams each. Three wild card teams will gain direct entry into

19257-437: The wildcard), promising young players, players that are likely to draw a large crowd, or have won the tournament earlier or players who were once ranked higher and are attempting a comeback (for instance, following a long-term injury). High-ranked players can also ask for a wildcard if they want to enter a non-mandatory tournament after the normal entry deadline; for example, because they lost early in another tournament. This means

19404-450: The winner advancing as the #7 seed. The loser of this game then hosts the winner of the elimination game between the 9th and 10th place teams to determine the #8 seed. The NBA's regular playoff format then proceeds as normal. In the National Hockey League (NHL), the first, second, and third place teams in each division qualify for the playoffs automatically, and two additional teams, regardless of divisional alignment, also qualify by having

19551-438: Was changed in 2022 to add a third wild card team from each league, along with replacing the play-in game with two three-game series in each league. In the National Football League (NFL), since 2020 , each of the two conferences sends three wild card teams along with four division champions to its postseason. The first round of the playoffs is called the "wild card round". In this round, each conference's division champion with

19698-404: Was essentially abolished in the 2015–16 NBA season , as changes made prior to the season meant the top eight teams in each conference qualified regardless of divisional rank, with the seeded teams ranked by percentage. The only particular advantage to winning a division now was that a divisional title served as the first tiebreaker for qualification seeding purposes. Unlike some other leagues, there

19845-414: Was expanded to two per conference in 1978 – the divisional winners were granted a bye week while the wild card teams, seeded #4 and #5, played each other in a "wild card game" with the #4 seed having home field advantage. Since there were two wild card games, one per conference, the phrase "wild card round" came into use. During this time, the #1 seed hosted the winner of the #4 vs #5 wild card game, while

19992-648: Was extremely eager to increase his numbers in the Super Bowl against the team that let him go. Up front, the offensive line was led by All-Pro right tackle Rayfield Wright . The Cowboys' "Flex" defense was anchored by linemen Harvey Martin and Ed "Too Tall" Jones . Linebacker Lee Roy Jordan led the team with six interceptions, while linebacker D.D. Lewis was an effective weapon pass rushing. The starting players in Dallas' defensive secondary, future Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Renfro , cornerback Mark Washington, and safeties Charlie Waters and future Hall of Famer Cliff Harris , combined for 12 interceptions. Even though

20139-494: Was intended for Stallworth). Pittsburgh drove to the 19-yard line after the two-minute warning, but the drive stalled there and ended with no points after Gerela missed a game-tying 36-yard field goal attempt wide left with 22 seconds remaining in the period. After Pittsburgh punted to start the second half, they got a great scoring opportunity when cornerback J. T. Thomas intercepted a pass from Staubach intended for Cowboys wide receiver Golden Richards and returned it 35 yards to

20286-402: Was officially founded in 1958, its constituent sections did not fully merge until 1981. At the time, it was agreed that three teams from each division would qualify, regardless of overall league standings. This quickly proved controversial, as a wide disparity in playing caliber had emerged between the East and West divisions. Since the league had also implemented a fully balanced schedule (each of

20433-465: Was retired immediately following that game. The NFL shield would return to the 50 yard line (in addition to placing that games logo at the 25 yard line) the next year where it has remained ever since. CBS televised the game in the United States with play-by-play announcer Pat Summerall (calling his first Super Bowl in that role) and color commentator Tom Brookshier . Toward the end of

20580-413: Was sacked seven times during the game. The Steelers managed to get one first down and advanced to their own 40-yard line, but then they too were forced to punt. Steelers punter Bobby Walden fumbled the snap and managed to recover it, but Dallas took over on the Steelers' 29-yard line. On the very next play, Staubach threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson , taking a 7–0 lead. The score

20727-466: Was standing nearby, grabbed Harris and threw him to the ground in defense of Gerela. Lambert could have been ejected from the game for defending his teammate, but the officials decided to allow him to remain. The third quarter was completely scoreless and the Cowboys maintained their 10–7 lead going into the final period. Early in the fourth quarter, Dallas punter Mitch Hoopes was forced to punt from inside his own 5-yard line. As Hoopes stepped up to make

20874-513: Was the final football game to be played on artificial turf (specifically, Poly-Turf ) at the Orange Bowl. The surface in 1976 reverted to natural grass, and remained so until the stadium's closure in 2007. Poly-Turf was first installed at the Orange Bowl in 1970 and replaced in 1972, but players complained often of the slickness of the surfaces, and fields became discolored due to the intense sunshine common to south Florida. This would also be

21021-460: Was the first Super Bowl to have the game's respective edition denoted on the field. It was located at the 35-yard line but only the roman numeral. Beginning the next year , the entire name of that years Super Bowl would be on the 35 yard line. The NFL would do this up until Super Bowl XXXI where they placed the team's helmets at the 30-yard line and the Super Bowl logo at the 50 yard line, this practice would continue until Super Bowl XXXVII where it

21168-406: Was the first Super Bowl where penalties and other information were announced by the referee over a wireless microphone, an innovation of Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm which went into effect at the start of the 1975 season. Super Bowl X was also the first Super Bowl where the starting placekickers were both soccer-style kickers: Roy Gerela for Pittsburgh and Toni Fritsch for Dallas. This

21315-458: Was the first touchdown allowed in the first quarter by the Steelers' defense in 1975. Instead of trying to immediately tie the game on a long passing play, the Steelers ran the ball on the first four plays of their ensuing possession, and then quarterback Terry Bradshaw completed a 32-yard pass to wide receiver Lynn Swann to reach the Cowboys' 16-yard line. Swann soared over the outstretched reach of cornerback Mark Washington before tightroping

21462-453: Was the last Super Bowl to kick off as early as 2:00 p.m. (EST), thereby allowing a finish time before the commencement of many of the nation's evening church services. This was the first Super Bowl where the play clock was visible to teams and spectators. Visible play clocks were mandated by NFL rules beginning with the 1976 season . This was the last Super Bowl where the coin toss was conducted 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Beginning with

21609-483: Was the leading rusher of the game with 82 rushing yards, and also caught a pass for 26 yards. Newhouse was the Cowboys top rusher with 56 yards and caught two passes for 12 yards. Greenwood recorded a Super Bowl record four sacks, but it has gone unrecognized since the NFL didn't officially record sacks until 1982. The game was remembered for being the most exciting of the first 10 Super Bowl games. Swann's heroics and Lambert's 14 tackles and throw-down of Cliff Harris are

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