Editing Super Bowl IX (section)

===Fourth quarter===
After an exchange of punts to start the fourth quarter, the Vikings got another scoring opportunity when safety [[Paul Krause (football player)|Paul Krause]] recovered a fumble by Harris on the Steelers' 47-yard line. On the next play, a deep pass attempt from Tarkenton to Gilliam drew a 42-yard pass interference penalty on Pittsburgh safety [[Mike Wagner]] that moved the ball up to the 5-yard line, but once again, the Steelers stopped them from scoring when Foreman lost a fumble that was recovered by Greene. The Steelers failed to get a first down on their next possession and were forced to punt from deep in their own territory. The next play finally got Minnesota on the board. Vikings linebacker [[Matt Blair]] burst through the line to block Walden's punt, and safety [[Terry Brown (American football)|Terry Brown]] recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Cox's extra point attempt hit the left upright, but the Vikings had cut their deficit to 9–6 and were just a field goal away from a tie.

However, on the ensuing drive, the Steelers responded with a 66-yard, 11-play scoring drive that took 6:47 off the clock and featured three successful third down conversions. The first third down conversion was a key 30-yard pass completion from Bradshaw to Larry Brown, who fumbled the ball as he was being tackled by safety [[Jackie Wallace]], and two officials (back judge Ray Douglas and field judge Dick Dolack) initially ruled the ball recovered for the Vikings by Siemon, but head linesman Ed Marion overruled their call, stating that Brown was downed at the contact before the ball came out of his hands. Faced with 2nd-and-15 after an illegal formation penalty, the Steelers then fooled the Vikings' defense with a misdirection play. Harris ran left past Bradshaw after the snap, drawing in the defense with him, while Bleier took a handoff and ran right through a gaping hole in the line for a 17-yard gain to the Vikings 16-yard line. A few plays later, Bradshaw converted a 3rd-and-5 situation with a 6-yard pass to Bleier that put the ball on the Vikings' 5-yard line. The Steelers gained just one yard with their next two plays, setting up 3rd-and-goal from the 4-yard line. On the next play, Bradshaw threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brown, giving the Steelers a 16–6 lead with 3:31 remaining and essentially putting the game away.

Vikings running back [[Brent McClanahan]] returned the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the Minnesota 39-yard line, but on the first play of the drive, Tarkenton's pass to Gilliam was intercepted by Wagner. The Steelers then executed 7 consecutive running plays (including a 15-yard run by Harris totaling up to 159 rushing yards for him, which broke [[Larry Csonka]]'s rushing record of 145 yards in [[Super Bowl VIII]]), taking the game clock all the way down to 38 seconds remaining before turning the ball over on downs. The Vikings ran two more plays before the game ended.

Harris finished the game with 34 carries for a Super Bowl record 159 yards and a touchdown; Harris' record stood until the [[1982 Washington Redskins season|Washington Redskins]]' [[John Riggins]] rushed for 166 yards in [[Super Bowl XVII]]. Bleier had 65 rushing yards, and two receptions for 11 yards. Pittsburgh finished with a total of 57 rushing attempts, which remains the Super Bowl record through [[Super Bowl LVII]].<ref name="Super Bowl team rushing records">{{cite web|title=Super Bowl Team Records:Rushing|website=[[NFL.com]] |url=http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/records/superbowls/team/rushing}}</ref> Bradshaw completed nine out of 14 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. Tarkenton completed 11 of 26 passes for 102 yards with 3 interceptions, for a passer rating of only 14.1.<ref name="Worse Super Bowl than Peyton Manning in XLVIII">{{cite web|title=Canzano blog: Who had a worse Super Bowl than Peyton Manning?|date=February 3, 2014 |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2014/02/canzano_blog_so_you_think_peyt.html}}</ref> Foreman was the Vikings' top offensive contributor, finishing the game as the team's leading rusher and receiver with 18 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards.

The loss was the Vikings' record-setting third in Super Bowl play. [[Bud Grant]] vented frustration by saying, "There were three bad teams out there - us, Pittsburgh and the officials.”<ref name="Steelers launch dynasty">{{cite web|title=Steelers launch dynasty|website=[[New York Daily News]] |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/super-bowl-ix-curtains-vikings-steelers-launch-dynasty-article-1.1558548|date=December 26, 2013}}</ref> Minnesota, among many negatives to this point in its Super Bowl history of three games, had only two scoring drives on offense, and only three turnovers forced on defense, none of which resulted in any points. The win made the Steelers' Chuck Noll the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl at the time (He was 42 years, 7 days).