next play, linebacker Ted Hendricks sacked Anderson for an 8-yard loss, pushing the Bengals out of field goal range. Anderson completed a 5-yard pass to Bruce Coslet on second down, but his next two passes were incomplete, resulting in a turnover. The Bengals managed to force a punt with 50 seconds left, but on a desperate attempt to block the kick that narrowly missed, linebacker Chris Devlin ran into Guy, drawing a penalty that gave the Raiders a first down and let them run out the clock. "Al Davis went to a lot of trouble to get Hendricks on his team", Bengals coach Paul Brown bitterly remarked after the game. "And today it finally paid off for him". "I've never been prouder of a football team than the Cincinnati team we brought in here today", he added. "They never quit." Stabler threw for 199 yards and three touchdowns, with 1 interception. Anderson threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns. This was the first postseason meeting between the Bengals and Raiders. Conference Championships Sunday, January 4, 1976 AFC: Pittsburgh Steelers 16, Oakland Raiders 10 A defensive struggle in which both teams combined for 12 turnovers (7 for Pittsburgh, 5 for Oakland) turned into an offensive battle as the Steelers managed to stop the Raiders' final drive for the winning score as time ran out. As the two dominant teams of the era in the AFC, Oakland and Pittsburgh would eventually face off in five consecutive playoff games from 1972–1976, including three consecutive AFC Championship games from 1974–1976. Already bitter rivals dating back to the 1972 AFC Divisional Playoff game (see: the Immaculate Reception), Raiders' officials, including team owner Al Davis and head coach John Madden, accused the Steelers and Three Rivers Stadium groundskeepers of intentionally allowing the artificial playing surface to ice over, in an effort to slow Oakland's propensity for using a wide-open aerial attack as part of its offensive game plan. The game started out ugly, as Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw was picked off twice in the first quarter. However, Oakland fared no better, as George Blanda's missed 38-yard field goal attempt after Bradshaw's second interception was the closest they would get to scoring in the first half. In the second quarter, Steelers safety Mike Wagner intercepted a pass from Ken Stabler to set up Roy Gerela's 36-yard field goal. This would be the only score of the first