Editing Super Bowl XIV (section)

===Third quarter===
The heavily favored Steelers trailed at the end of the half.  "How can you mess up this way?" Steelers assistant coach [[Woody Widenhofer]] asked his team at halftime. "Didn't we go over these things a dozen times? You guys are standing out there like statues."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Richman|first1=Milton|title=Needle Spurs Super Steelers|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=U8omAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u44EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5214%2C2611372|website=Google News Search Archive|publisher=Sarasota Journal|access-date=March 3, 2017|pages=10|date=January 21, 1980}}</ref>

Anderson once again gave the Steelers great starting field position, returning the opening kickoff of the second half 37 yards to the Pittsburgh 39-yard line. The Steelers lulled the Rams defense by running the ball on three consecutive plays of the drive, and then Bradshaw burned them with a 47-yard touchdown completion to Swann, who made a leaping catch at the Los Angeles 2 and tumbled into the end zone to give Pittsburgh a 17–13 lead.

Again, the Steelers' lead did not last long. After the first two plays of the Rams' ensuing drive, Ferragamo completed a 51-yard pass to Waddy. Then on the next play, Ferragamo handed the ball off to McCutcheon, who started to run to the right. The Steelers' defense came up to tackle him behind the line of scrimmage, only to watch him throw a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver [[Ron Smith (wide receiver)|Ron Smith]]. Corral missed the extra point attempt wide left, but the Rams had retaken the lead, 19–17.

The Steelers had some success advancing into Rams territory on their next two possessions, only to see the Rams intercept the ball both times. On Pittsburgh's next drive, Bradshaw completed a 14-yard pass to Harris, but then threw a deep pass that was intercepted at the Los Angeles 27 by safety [[Eddie Brown (safety)|Eddie Brown]], who then [[lateral pass|lateraled]] to cornerback [[Pat Thomas (defensive back)|Pat Thomas]] to gain an additional 7 yards and give the Rams a first down at their own 38. Then after forcing Los Angeles to punt, the Steelers drove all the way to the Rams 16-yard line on a 19-yard reception by Harris and a 23-yard reception by wide receiver [[Sidney Thornton]], but then after two running plays ended with no gain, Elmendorf deflected a pass intended for Stallworth that was intercepted by cornerback [[Rod Perry (American football)|Rod Perry]], giving the ball back to the Rams at their own 4-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Los Angeles managed to escape a game-tying safety with a 12-yard run by Tyler to end the third quarter with the Rams still in the lead, 19–17, seemingly in control of the game. To make matters worse for the Steelers, prior to Brown's interception, Pittsburgh lost Swann to injury, when he was knocked out of the game by Thomas.