Baltimore Colts had finished the regular season with a record of 13-1 and won the Coastal Division. They defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24-14 in the Western Conference championship game. The Colts were led by their head coach Don Shula. This was the Colts 4th championship game appearance since joining the NFL in 1953.
Cleveland Browns had finished the regular season with a record of 10-4, were the only team to defeat Baltimore during the regular season, and won the Century Division. The Browns defeated the Dallas Cowboys 31-20 in the Eastern Conference championship game. The Browns were led by their head coach Blanton Collier and RB Leroy Kelly. This was the Browns 10th NFL championship game appearance since joining the NFL in 1950.
1 – From 1966 to 1969, the first four Super Bowls were "World Championship" games played between two independent professional football leagues, AFL and NFL, and when the league merged in 1970 the Super Bowl became the NFL Championship Game. 2 – Dates in the list denote the season, not the calendar year in which the championship game was played. For instance, Super Bowl XLI was played in 2007, but was the championship for the 2006 season.
