Pittsburgh Steelers
Main article: 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Pittsburgh advanced to their first Super Bowl and were playing for a league championship for the first time in team history. Their 73-year-old owner Art Rooney founded the Steelers as a 1933 NFL expansion team, but suffered through losing seasons for most of its 42-year history and had never made it to an NFL championship game or a Su… Moreper Bowl. But in 1969, Rooney hired Chuck Noll to be the team's head coach and its fortunes started to turn following a disastrous 1–13 first year under the future Hall of Fame coach.

Noll rebuilt the Steelers through the NFL draft, selecting defensive tackle Joe Greene and defensive end L. C. Greenwood in his first season as head coach. In 1970, Noll drafted quarterback Terry Bradshaw and cornerback Mel Blount. In 1971, linebacker Jack Ham, defensive tackle Ernie Holmes, defensive end Dwight White, and safety Mike Wagner were selected by the team. Fullback Franco Harris was drafted in 1972. And in 1974, the Steelers picked linebacker Jack Lambert, center Mike Webster and wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, and signed safety Donnie Shell as a free agent. Bradshaw, Webster, Swann, Stallworth and Harris ended up being Hall of Fame players on offense, while the others formed the core nucleus of their "Steel Curtain" defense, including future Hall of Famers Greene, Ham, Blount and Lambert.

But en route to Super Bowl IX, the Steelers had started the regular season slowly, as Bradshaw and Joe Gilliam fought to be the team's starting quarterback. Gilliam had started for the first four games of the season, but Noll eventually made Bradshaw the starter. Although Bradshaw ended up completing only 67 out of 148 passes for 785 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions, he helped lead the team to a 10–3–1 regular season record. The Steelers main offensive weapon, however, was running the ball. Harris rushed for 1,006 yards and five touchdowns, while also catching 23 passes for 200 yards and another touchdown. Running backs Rocky Bleier, Preston Pearson, and Steve Davis also made important contributions, gaining a combined total of 936 yards and eight touchdowns.

But the Steelers' main strength during the season was their staunch "Steel Curtain" defense, which led the league with the fewest total yards allowed (3,074) and the fewest passing yards allowed (1,466). Greene won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second time in the previous three seasons, and he and L. C. Greenwood were named to the Pro Bowl. Both of the team's outside linebackers, Ham and Andy Russell, had been also selected to play in the Pro Bowl, while Lambert already had two interceptions for 19 yards in his rookie year. In the defensive backfield, Blount, Wagner, and Glen Edwards made a strong impact against opposing passing plays. Less