Super Bowl XI would be ranked low when listing the all-time great Super Bowls....and honestly, rightfully so.....the Oakland Raiders dismantled the Minnesota Vikings 32-14.....interestingly, people don’t realize that this was the last Super Bowl played entirely in daylight....the game was played before 103,438 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.....nowadays the Super Bowl has become a prime time event with hours upon hours of pregame hype leading up to the 6:21 p.m. kick-off....back in 1977, it was simply a game.....
This Raider team was one of the greatest teams of all-time as they finished the 1976 season with a 13-1 mark....their only blemish came in week four when the New England Patriots waxed them 48-17 in Foxboro....the Patriots almost got the Raiders twice that year, but Oakland prevailed 24-21 in the playoff game....
After three straight years of losing in the AFC title game, head coach John Madden finally got to the Super Bowl by beating his nemesis, the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-7.....the Steelers were a beat-up team for that game....but the fact is, Oakland was heading to the Super Bowl to play an 11-2-1 Minnesota team....
After a scoreless first quarter, Oakland racked up 16 points in the second quarter and the onslaught began.....the Vikings were held to a paltry 71 yards rushing on the day while the Raiders pounded out 266 yards on the ground.....however, the MVP was Oakland wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff.....
All day long the Raiders defense harassed Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton and terrorized his receivers which was best exemplified when the Raiders Jack Tatum put a devastating hit on wide out Sammy White which left White helmet-less a
nd motion-less on the ground for many minutes....This game also produced some memorable photos, most notably of a dirty riddle, stickum layered Biletnikoff....
Yeh this game was not a classic....but most people forget that the 1976 Raiders were.....
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