Raiders-Steelers Were Super in the '70s

The Pittsburgh Steelers will play at Allegiant Field in Las Vegas for the first time in this rivalry on Sunday Night Football this week.

Unfortunately, the Raiders and Steelers aren’t the powerhouse teams they were in the 1970s, when they played some of the greatest games in National Football League history and met 11 times—including five times during the post-season.

The most infamous game came in the AFL Divisional Round playoff on Saturday, Dec. 23, 1972, at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

Quarterback Kenny “Snake” Stabler came off the bench in the fourth quarter to replace Daryle Lamonica and rolled out when pressured before running 30 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 7-3 lead in the final minutes.

With 22 seconds left, quarterback Terry Bradshaw of the Steelers was chased out of the pocket by Raiders defensive ends Horace Jones and Tony Cline before throwing a desperation fourth-down pass down the middle of the field toward running back John “Frenchy” Fuqua.

Raiders safety Jack Tatum and the pass reached Fuqua simultaneously, and the ball ricocheted several yards back up the field to where Steelers running back Franco Harris scooped it off the grass. He took it for what was ruled a 60-yard touchdown to give the Steelers a 13-7 victory.

In those days, two offensive players touching the ball would have made a pass incomplete by NFL rules.

“I never touched the ball,” Tatum always said, and fellow Raiders safety George Atkinson said of his bird's-eye view of the play: “Jack hit (Fuqua) from behind, and he didn’t touch the ball.”

Even the officials didn’t know exactly what happened.

In the press box, public relations director Joe Gordon of the Steelers told reporters that officials were looking at the replay to determine precisely what happened, and several Bay Area reports will verify that. Still, Gordon and the NFL later denied he said it.

The NFL had no official replay system back then, and most replays were inconclusive, but one from the far end zone showed the ball hitting Fuqua on the forearm before bouncing back to Harris, who some people believe grabbed the ball after it hit the ground.

The NFL claimed the officials did not review the play, but a picture by the great photographer Russ Reed of the Oakland Tribune showed referee Fred Swearingen looking at the replay on a television monitor in the dugout of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who also played at Three Rivers Stadium.

In addition, Raiders linebacker Phil Villapiano had a bead on Harris. With his tackle, the clock would have run out and given the Raiders a victory, but Villapiano claims he was clipped by tight end John McMakin -- and video replays verify that.

“We totally got screwed,” said Villapiano, who, despite the play, became close friends with Harris over the years. “I was definitely clipped. If it wasn’t for that clip, I think I make that play, and we have no ‘Immaculate Reception.’”

The Steelers won four Super Bowls in the 1970s, while the Raiders lost three straight AFL Championship Games in a row, two to the Steelers, before 1976.

The Raiders finally beat the Steelers, 24-7, in the 1976 AFL Championship Game at the Oakland Coliseum when Harris and his fellow running back, Rocky Bleier, could not play because of injuries.

The Steelers and their fans claimed they would have won Super Bowl XI, in which the Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, had Harris and Bleier played against the Raiders.

“We totally controlled the line of scrimmage and there was nowhere to run, no matter who was back there,” Villapiano said.

The Raiders held the Steelers to 72 rushing yards and limited quarterback Terry Bradshaw to 14-of-35 passing for 176 yards, as Stabler passed for touchdowns of four yards to fullback Warren Bankston and three yards to running back Pete Banaszak in the victory.

The Raiders were scheduled to play the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium in the second game of the 1977 regular season, and one newspaper in Pittsburgh ran a banner headline that read: “This is the real AFC Championship Game.”

This time, the Raiders held Harris to 64 yards, including 22 on one play, and Bleier to 23 as Oakland claimed a 16-7 victory on three field goals by Errol Mann and an eight-yard touchdown run by fullback Mark van Eeghen early in the fourth quarter after Stabler’s 22-yard pass to Fred Biletnikoff.

It was one of the most physical games ever, as several players on each team were knocked out for the season by injuries, but the Raiders proved their victory in the 1976 AFL title game was no fluke.

The Silver and Black, who won one Super Bowl in the 1970s and two more early in the 1980s, held a 6-5 edge overall against the Steelers during the '70s, but Pittsburgh had a 3-2 margin in the playoffs during that decade to remember.

The Silver and Black return home to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 8:20 p.m. EDT/5:20 p.m. PDT.

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