The game began when rookie receiver
Nat Moore returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a Miami touchdown. Miami defensive back
Dick Anderson then intercepted a pass from Stabler, and it looked like Miami might put things away early. However, fellow safety
Jake Scott was hurt on the play and would miss the rest of the game. Oakland's defense made a stand to force a punt, and the Raiders would subsequently tie the game on a Stabler 31-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Smith. Scoring was otherwise limited in the first two quarters, with only a 33-yard field goal by Miami's
Garo Yepremian breaking the tie before the half. The Raiders scored on their opening drive of the third quarter when Stabler hit
Fred Biletnikoff for a 13-yard touchdown pass, Biletnikoff managing to haul in the ball with one arm along the right sideline and barely tapping his feet in bounds through tight coverage by cornerback
Tim Foley, giving Oakland a 14–10 lead. Aided by a 29-yard pass interference penalty against the Raiders, Miami struck back with
Bob Griese's 16-yard touchdown pass to
Paul Warfield. Oakland lineman
Bubba Smith blocked the extra point attempt, keeping the Miami lead at just 2 points, 16–14. Early in the fourth quarter, Yepremian increased Miami's lead to 19–14 with a 46-yard field goal. Later in the period, Oakland got the ball on their own 17-yard line. Stabler started the drive with an 11-yard completion to Biletnikoff. On the next play, he threw to
Cliff Branch at the Miami 27-yard line. Branch made a spectacular diving catch and, as no Dolphins defender touched him while he was down, got back up and ran to the end zone for a 72-yard touchdown, giving the Raiders a 21–19 lead with 4:37 left in the game. However, with 2:08 left to play, the Dolphins took a 26–21 lead when a 68-yard, 4-play drive ended with
Benny Malone's 23-yard touchdown run. Malone evaded four tackle attempts by Raider defenders
Skip Thomas,
Jack Tatum,
George Atkinson and
Art Thoms on the way to the end zone. Following a 20-yard kickoff return by Ron Smith, the Raiders had the ball on their own 32-yard line with 2:00 left to play and all three timeouts left. After a 6-yard completion to tight end Bob Moore and a short run, Stabler twice went long to Biletnikoff, for gains of 18 and 20 yards. After a 4-yard catch by Branch,
Frank Pitts made a bobbling first down catch at the Dolphins 14-yard line. Clarence Davis then ran the ball 6 yards to the 8-yard line, where the Raiders called their final timeout. On the next play, Stabler dropped back to pass and looked for Biletnikoff in the end zone, but Biletnikoff was blanketed. With Miami's
Vern Den Herder dragging him down from behind, Stabler heaved a desperation toss into a "sea of hands" in the left side of the end zone, where Davis fought his way through three Dolphins defenders to make the catch, enduring a very late hit by Miami's
Manny Fernandez to hold on to the ball for a touchdown. The Dolphins got the ball back on the kickoff with 21 seconds left, now trailing 28–26, but Griese would be intercepted by Oakland linebacker
Phil Villapiano, allowing the Raiders to run out the clock. ==Significance of the game==