For sports fans in the city of Pittsburgh, 1979 was a very good year.
Not only did the Steelers win their third Super Bowl in January of 1979 and were headed toward a fourth, but the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball won the World Series. But as the 70s ceased, the party was at the point of last call.
The Steelers' 22 starters averaged 29 years of age per player, a sign that the dynasty was quickly coming to an end. In Super Bowl XIV, this old dynasty was starting to show its age.
The rushing duo of Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier was held to a combined 71 yards on 30 carries. The "Steel Curtain" defense allowed the 10-point underdog Rams to gain 301 yards offensively, including 212 yards on 15-of-25 passing from quarterback Vince Ferragamo.
Ferragamo was starting the eighth game of his NFL career. Despite his paltry 48.8 passer rating in his five regular season starts, L.A. went 4-1 after a 5-6 start with the likes of Pat Haden, Bob Lee and Jeff Rutledge.
That's right: the Rams went to the Super Bowl with a 9-7 record. At the time, it was the worst regular season by a team appearing in the Super Bowl.
To tell you the truth, the only thing I knew about this Rams team was that Jack Youngblood played in the postseason on a broken leg. Other than that, I could not have recognized anyone on the roster without doing some research.
Regardless, these Los Angeles Rams went into the fourth quarter leading the mighty Steelers 19-17. Their last score came courtesy of a trick play.
Running back Lawrence McCutcheon looked as if he would run a sweep to the right. Then he stopped and threw the ball to Ron Smith for a 24-yard touchdown.
Then, with less than 13 minutes remaining, Terry Bradshaw and the Steelers mounted one last run of greatness. Bradshaw had rough game for somebody who was named Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, throwing three interceptions.
But he also completed 14-of-21 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns. One of those touchdowns was a 47-yard pass to Lynn Swann in the third quarter.
The other would turn out to be the game winner. Facing a third-and-8, Bradshaw threw a long bomb over the outstretched arms of Rams cornerback Rod Perry and into the hands of John Stallworth, who went 73 yards for the score.
The Rams tried to answer with a go-ahead touchdown drive of their own, as they drove to the Pittsburgh 32-yard line. Then Ferragamo faked a run play and threw a pass toward Ron Smith 20 yards down the middle of the field instead of throwing to a wide-open Billy Waddy, as the L.A. coaches yelled at him to do from the press box.
The pass was intercepted by Jack Lambert at the 14-yard line and returned to the 30.
On the ensuing drive, the Steelers faced third-and-7. Bradshaw found Stallworth again, this time for a 45-yard gain.
A few plays later, Harris capped the drive for Pittsburgh with a one-yard touchdown. And with that, the Steelers had a Super Bowl ring to put on their pinky fingers.
Super Bowl XIV Extra Points
* No NFL team has ever played a Super Bowl in its home stadium. However, with Super Bowl XIV being played in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., and the Rams playing their home games at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (less than 20 miles away from the Rose Bowl) at the time, the L.A. Rams set a Super Bowl record for closest proximity to a Super Bowl appearance.
* It was the Rams' last year at the L.A. Coliseum. They moved to Anaheim the following year (and no, they did not change their name to the Los Angeles Rams of Anaheim).
* As I previously stated, the Los Angeles Rams entered the Super Bowl with a regular season record of 9-7, the worst record of any Super Bowl entrant. In 2008, the Arizona Cardinals matched that record en route to Super Bowl XLIII, only to lose 27-23 to (what a coincidence) the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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