The Minnesota Vikings were in the championship game for the fourth time in eight years. The Vikings had lost in the three other previous attempts and were hoping to go one better this time around. The Raiders started off with victories over Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Houston before suffering a 48-17 wipeout at New England. Injuries to key personnel forced the Raiders to adopt a 3-4 defense for the Patriots game and inexperience took a heavy toll. The Raiders eliminated the Patriots in the first round of the triumph over the Pittsburgh Steelers, their conquerors in the two previous AFC title games. The Oakland offense was spearheaded by Mark van Eeghen, who gained 1,012 yards, fifth highest in the conference, and Stabler, who led AFC quarterbacks with 194 pass completions in 291 attempts and accounted for 2,737 yards. The Minnesota Vikings cakewalked to the championship of the NFC Central Division with an 11-2-1 record. Their only defeats came at the hands of the Chicago Bears, 14-13, and the San Francisco 49ers, 20-16.

Los Angeles accounted for the 10-10 tie. In the playoffs, the Vikings eliminated the Washington Redskins, 35-20, and Los Angeles, 24-13, to gain a shot at a Super Bowl championship that had eluded them three times. As in recent seasons, the Minnesota offense revolved around Chuck Foreman 1,155 yards in 277 carries and Fran Tarkenton, the No. 3 rated quarterback in the conference 255 completions in 412 attempts) and Fred Cox, the third highest NFC scorer among kickers with 89 points. One of the brightest new members of the Vikings cast was Sammy White, a wide receiver out of Grambling. The swift deep threat caught 51 passes, sixth highest total in the NFC, and gained 906 yards, more than any other receiver, and averaged 17.8 yards per catch. His 10 touchdowns also led the NFC. The fact that the game would be played in the Rose Bowl was, in itself, historic. For years directors of the Pasadena stadium had remained aloof of the professional game, preferring to limit the facility to one major football event annually, the New Year's Day extravaganza.

Rental for the Rose Bowl was announced as $112,000, while the City of Pasadena realized an additional $8,000 from concessions sales. Other NFL expenses included $75,000 for the cocktail party, dinner and entertainment on the Friday night preceding the game, $25,000 for halftime entertainment, $130,000 for each club's hotels, food, practice field and security and the cash equivalent of 80 round-trip tickets to Los Angeles. Each player, who received one-fourteenth of his annual salary for the first playoff game and $8,500 for the conference championship game, would receive $15,000 or $7,500 for the Super Bowl, depending on the outcome. Super Bowl XI took place on January 9, 1977, in Pasadena, California. The Oakland Raiders began the game by taking their opening drive into scoring position, but the drive stalled, and a missed field goal left them with nothing to show for their efforts. The Vikings received a huge break in the first quarter when linebacker Fred McNeill blocked Ray Guy's punt and recovered it on the Oakland 3-yard line. Minnesota also failed to capitalize though, as Brent McClanahan fumbled on the second play and linebacker Willie Hall recovered for Oakland. The Raiders marched down the field in 12 plays where Errol Mann booted a 24-yard field goal to give Oakland a 3-0 lead 48 seconds into the second quarter. The Vikings failed to move the ball on their next drive and were forced to punt the ball back to the Raiders. This time it took ten plays for quarterback Kenny Stabler to find tight end Dave Casper for a one-yard toss in the endzone. Again the Vikings failed to register a first down, and when Banaszak plunged across from the one-yard line, the score was 16-0 Raiders. The extra point conversion failed and the score held up going into half time. Errol Mann's 24-yard field goal opened the scoring, then the AFC champions put together drives of 64 and 35 yards, scoring on a 1-yard pass from Ken Stabler to Dave Casper and a 1-yard run by Pete Banaszak. The Raiders increased their lead to 19-0 on a 40-yard field goal in the third quarter, but Minnesota responded with a 12-play, 58-yard drive late in the period, with Fran Tarkenton passing eight yards to wide receiver Sammy White to cut the deficit to 19-7.

The Vikings first drive of the fourth quarter ended when Hall intercepted a Tarkenton pass and returned it 16 yards to the Oakland 46. Stabler hit Fred Biletnikoff for 48 yards, and Banaszak punched it in from two yards out. Any faint hopes the Vikings had were dashed when Willie Brown intercepted Tarkenton at the Oakland 25 yard line and returned it 75 yards to lock up a Raiders victory. A late touchdown by Minnesota made the final score, 32-14. The Raiders gained a record-breaking 429 yards, including running back Clarence Davis's 137 rushing yards. Fred Biletnikoff was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP). The Oakland Raiders won their first National Football League (NFL) championship with a score of 32, while the Minnesota Vikings had a score of 14, before a record Super Bowl crowd of 103,438 plus 81.9 million television viewers, the largest audience ever to watch a sporting event. The victory was the fifth consecutive for the AFC in the Super Bowl and the earliest in the year that a Super Bowl has ever taken place.