On January 1, 1978, the mantle of greatness in the AFC West vividly passed from the Oakland Raiders to the Denver Broncos. The rise of Broncomania reached its first of many peaks as Denver capitalized not only on the opponents' mistakes, but the officials' as well. The failure to spot running back Rob Lytle fumbling the ball on the Oakland goal line aided and abeted Denver in a 20-17 win, propelling the Broncos to Super Bowl XII.