Super Bowl IV, 1970: Kansas City 23 Minnesota 7

Super Bowl IV was an American football game played on January 11, 1970, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game in professional football prior to the AFL–NFL merger taking effect the following season. The American Football League (AFL) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football League (NFL) champion Minnesota Vikings by the score of 23–7. This victory by the AFL squared the Super Bowl series with the NFL at two games apiece as the two leagues merged into one after the game.

Despite the AFL's New York Jets winning the previous season's Super Bowl, many sports writers and fans thought it was a fluke and continued to believe that the NFL was still superior to the AFL, and thus fully expected the Vikings to defeat the Chiefs; the Vikings entered the Super Bowl as 13½ point favorites. Minnesota posted a 12–2 record in 1969, then defeated the Los Angeles Rams 23–20 for the Western Conference title, and the Cleveland Browns 27–7 in the NFL Championship Game. The Chiefs, who previously appeared in the first Super Bowl, finished the regular season at 11–3; they continued with two road wins in the AFL playoffs, dethroning the New York Jets 13–6, and then taking down division rival Oakland Raiders 17–7 in the final AFL title game.

Under wet conditions, the Chiefs defense dominated Super Bowl IV by limiting the Minnesota offense to only 67 rushing yards, forcing three interceptions, and recovering two fumbles. Kansas City's Len Dawson became the fourth consecutive winning quarterback to be named Super Bowl MVP. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown, with one interception. Dawson also recorded three rushing attempts for 11 yards.

Super Bowl IV is also notable for NFL Films miking up the Chiefs' Hank Stram during the game, the first time that a head coach had worn a microphone during a Super Bowl.

Game summary
Chiefs head coach Hank Stram, who was also the team's offensive coordinator, devised an effective game plan against the Vikings. He knew Minnesota's secondary was able to play very far off receivers because Viking defensive ends Carl Eller and Jim Marshall knocked down short passes or put pressure on the quarterback. Stram decided to double-team Marshall and Eller; most of quarterback Len Dawson's completions were short passes, and neither Marshall nor Eller knocked down any passes. Stram also concluded that the Vikings' aggressiveness on defense also made them susceptible to trap plays; Mike Garrett's rushing touchdown came on a trap play. On offense, the Vikings' inside running game depended on center Mick Tingelhoff blocking linebackers. Stram put 285-pound Buck Buchanan or 295-pound Curley Culp nose to nose in front of Tingelhoff, who weighed only 235 pounds. To Minnesota's credit, the NFL used the so-called light "greyhound" centers while the AFL used big centers. It was a mismatch that disrupted the Vikings' running game; it also kept quarterback Joe Kapp from moving outside the pocket. Left defensive end Jerry Mays said of the odd line formation, "...we never played it that much before. Minnesota's recognition was destroyed." Wrote Dawson, "It was obvious that their offense had never seen a defense like ours." Minnesota rushed for only two first downs.

First quarter
The Vikings began the game by receiving the opening kickoff and marching from their own 20-yard line to the Kansas City 39-yard line with Kapp completing his first two passes for 36 yards. Kapp's next pass was also a completion but running back Bill Brown was slowed by linebacker Bobby Bell, then brought down by left defensive end Mays for a yard loss to make it third down, on which Kapp failed to connect with tight end John Beasley. Minnesota rushed for only 6 yards on the drive and chose to punt. The Chiefs then drove 42 yards in eight plays. Included was a 20-yard reception by wide receiver Frank Pitts after Vikings defensive back Ed Sharockman gambled trying to make an interception. Kansas City then scored on placekicker Jan Stenerud's Super Bowl record 48-yard field goal. This record stood for 24 years until broken by Steve Christie in Super Bowl XXVIII. (According to Dawson, the Vikings were shocked that the Chiefs attempted a 48-yard field goal. Stenerud was among the first soccer-style placekickers in professional football. The others included brothers Charlie and Pete Gogolak. The soccer-style placekickers used the instep of the foot while the conventional professional football placekickers kicked straight on with their toes. "Stenerud was a major factor," Dawson said.) Minnesota then managed to reach midfield on its next drive, but chose to punt again.

On the first play of their ensuing drive, Dawson threw a 20-yard completion to Pitts, followed by a 9-yard pass to wide receiver Otis Taylor.

Second quarter
Four plays later, on the first play of the second quarter, a pass interference penalty on Sharockman nullified Dawson's third down incompletion and gave Kansas City a first down at the Minnesota 31-yard line. However, on third down and 4 at the 25-yard line, Vikings cornerback Earsell Mackbee broke up a deep pass intended for Taylor. Stenerud then kicked another field goal to increase the Chiefs' lead to 6–0.

On the second play of their next drive, Vikings wide receiver John Henderson fumbled the ball after catching a 16-yard reception, and Chiefs defensive back Johnny Robinson recovered the ball at the Minnesota 46-yard line. But defensive tackle Alan Page tackled running back Garrett for a 1-yard loss, and then safety Paul Krause intercepted Dawson's pass at the 7-yard line on the next play turning the ball back over to the Vikings.

However, the Vikings also could not take advantage of the turnover. Kapp's two incompletions and a delay of game penalty forced Minnesota to punt from its own 5-yard line. The Chiefs then took over at the Viking 44-yard line after punter Bob Lee's kick traveled 39 yards. A 19-yard run by Pitts on an end around play fooled the overaggressive, overpursuing Viking defense to set up another field goal attempt by Stenerud, which was good to increase Kansas City's lead to 9–0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Vikings returner Charlie West fumbled the football, and Kansas City's Remi Prudhomme recovered it at the Minnesota 19-yard line. ("That was a key, key play," said Dawson.) Defensive end Jim Marshall sacked Dawson for an 8-yard loss on the first play of the drive; however, a 13-yard run on a draw play by running back Wendell Hayes and a 10-yard reception by Taylor gave the Chiefs a first down at the Vikings' 4. Three plays later, Garrett's five-yard touchdown run on a trap draw play named "65 toss power trap", aided by pulling right guard Mo Moorman's block on Page that cleared a huge hole, gave Kansas City a 16–0 lead.

West returned the ensuing kickoff 27 yards to the 32-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Kapp completed a 27-yard pass to Henderson to advance the ball to the Kansas City 41-yard line. However, the next three plays, Kapp threw two incompletions and was sacked by Chief defensive tackle Buck Buchanan for an eight-yard loss. On fourth down, kicker Fred Cox's 56-yard field goal attempt fell way short of the goal posts. For the first half, Minnesota rushed for only 24 yards and failed to convert any of five third downs.

To this point in the combined history of NFL and AFL championship games, including the first three Super Bowls, no team had lost a game when holding a lead of more than 10 points, no matter what time of the game it was. The Chiefs, when they were the Dallas Texans in their last game before they became the Chiefs, lost a 17–0 lead in the 1962 AFL Championship Game, but managed to defeat the Houston Oilers 20–17 in the second overtime. No team would lose such a lead and also lose the game until Super Bowl LI.

Third quarter
In the third quarter, the Vikings managed to build momentum. After the Chiefs punted on their opening possession, Kapp completed four consecutive passes for 47 yards and rushed for seven yards. Minnesota also made its first third down conversion as it drove 69 yards in 10 plays to score on fullback Dave Osborn's four-yard rushing touchdown, reducing the lead to 16–7. However, Kansas City responded on its next possession with a six-play, 82-yard drive. Pitts picked up a key first down with a 7-yard left-to-right run on a reverse play. Then after a 15-yard personal foul penalty against the Vikings, Dawson hit Taylor with a short pass. Taylor caught the ball at the Minnesota 41-yard line, broke Earsell Mackbee's tackle, raced down the sideline, broke through Vikings' safety Karl Kassulke's tackle and scored the clinching touchdown on a 46-yard play.

Fourth quarter
The Vikings were demoralized after the game-breaking touchdown and the Chiefs' defense continued to shut them down in the fourth quarter, forcing three interceptions on three Minnesota possessions to clinch the 23–7 victory. The defeat was total for the Vikings, as even their "indestructible" quarterback Joe Kapp had to be helped off the field in the fourth quarter after being sacked by Chiefs defensive lineman Aaron Brown. Kapp was replaced by Gary Cuozzo. Fittingly, the Vikings' final play was an interception Cuozzo threw to cornerback Emmitt Thomas.

Kansas City running back and future University of Southern California Athletic Director Mike Garrett, the 1965 Heisman Trophy recipient, was the top rusher of the game, recording 11 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown. He also caught two passes for 25 yards and returned a kickoff for 18 yards. Taylor was the Chiefs' leading receiver with six catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Kapp finished the game with 16 of 25 completions for 183 yards, with two costly interceptions. Henderson was the top receiver of the game with seven catches for 111 yards. The Chiefs defense completely shut down Minnesota's vaunted rushing attack. In the NFL championship game, Osborn had rushed for 108 yards while Kapp rushed for 57. In Super Bowl IV, however, the two rushed for a combined total of 24 yards. In addition, Kansas City's secondary held Minnesota All Pro receiver Gene Washington to one reception for 9 yards.

Referring to the Vikings' three interceptions, three fumbles, and six penalties, Vikings safety Karl Kassulke said, "We made more mental mistakes in one game than we did in one season." Kapp never played again for the Vikings, as he played out the option of his contract and signed with the Boston Patriots for the 1970 season.

Kansas City is, as of 2023, the only team in the Super Bowl era to win the title without allowing as much as 10 points in any postseason game.

Wikipedia

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson (16) turns around to hand the ball off to running back Mike Garrett (21).