Editing Super Bowl IX (section)

===Third quarter===
On the opening kickoff of the second half, Vikings fullback [[Bill Brown (American football)|Bill Brown]] fumbled the ball on an unintentional squib kick after Gerela slipped on the wet field and only extended his leg halfway for the kick. Steelers linebacker [[Marv Kellum]] recovered the fumble at the Minnesota 30-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Harris moved the ball to the 6-yard line with a 24-yard run. After being tackled by Vikings linebacker [[Wally Hilgenberg]] for a 3-yard loss, Harris scored on a 9-yard touchdown run, giving Pittsburgh a 9–0 lead.

After an exchange of punts, Minnesota got the ball back on their own 20-yard line. On the second play of drive, Tarkenton's pass was deflected behind the line of scrimmage by Pittsburgh defensive end [[L. C. Greenwood]], and bounced back right into the arms of Tarkenton, who then threw a 41-yard completion to Gilliam. Officials ruled Tarkenton's first pass attempt as a completion to himself, and thus his second attempt was an illegal forward pass. After the penalty, facing 3rd-and-11, Minnesota got the first down with Foreman's 12-yard run. Three plays later, Tarkenton completed a 28-yard pass to tight end [[Stu Voigt]] at the Steelers' 45-yard line. But two plays later, White deflected Tarkenton's next pass attempt, and defensive tackle [[Joe Greene]] intercepted the ball, ending the Vikings' best offensive scoring opportunity.