What team won the first Super Bowl?
History of the Green Bay Packers
By winning the 1967 NFL Championship Game, the Packers achieved a "three-peat" (three consecutive league championships) for only the second time in franchise history and the first time since they were named league champions following the 1929–31 seasons. To this day, no other NFL team has matched or surpassed this record. The Packers' back-to-back wins in the first two Super Bowls remains a Super Bowl record, and has since been tied seven times by six other franchises: the Miami Dolphins won Super Bowls VII and VIII following the 1972 and 1973 seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowls IX and X following the 1974 and 1975 seasons as well as Super Bowls XIII and XIV following the 1978 and 1979 seasons and remain, to date, the only team to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles more than once, the San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV following the 1988 and 1989 seasons, the Dallas Cowboys won Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII following the 1992 and 1993 seasons, the Denver Broncos won Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII following the 1997 and 1998 seasons, and most recently, the New England Patriots won Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX following the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
American football in the Netherlands
The first Dutch American Football season took place in 1985. Eight teams in a single division would compete against each other for a place in the Dutch championship game initially called the "Super Bowl". The first championship game saw the Amsterdam Rams face their former team-mates the Amsterdam Crusaders. The Rams won the only Super Bowl - from 1986 the championship game was renamed the Tulip Bowl.
Super Bowl XLI
Hester's touchdown for the Bears on the opening kickoff was the first one in Super Bowl history, and the ninth kick return for a touchdown in a Super Bowl; only three of the nine teams who did this went on to win the game (the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI, the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowls XXXV and XLVII, and the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII). Hester's return also kept a streak alive for there being a kickoff return for a touchdown in each Super Bowl played at Dolphin Stadium. Hester's and Wayne's touchdowns in the first quarter marked the first time in Super Bowl history the first two touchdowns were scored by players from the same college (University of Miami). Jones was the Bears' top rusher with 112 yards, while also catching four passes for 18 yards. Desmond Clark was the Bears' top receiver with six receptions for 64 yards. Grossman completed 20 of 28 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions, leaving him with a QB rating of 68.3 for the game. Muhsin Muhammad became the third player ever to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl for two teams, joining Ricky Proehl and Jerry Rice.
Super Bowl
The designated "home team" alternates between the NFC team in odd-numbered games and the AFC team in even-numbered games. This alternation was initiated with the first Super Bowl, when the Green Bay Packers were the designated home team. Regardless of being the home or away team of record, each team has their team logo and wordmark painted in one of the end zones. Designated away teams have won 30 of 51 Super Bowls to date (approximately 59%).
Since Super Bowl XIII in January 1979, the home team is given the choice of wearing their colored or white jerseys. Originally, the designated home team had to wear their colored jerseys, which resulted in Dallas donning their less exposed dark blue jerseys for Super Bowl V. While most of the home teams in the Super Bowl have chosen to wear their colored jerseys, there have been six (6) exceptions: the Dallas Cowboys during Super Bowl XIII and XXVII, the Washington Redskins during Super Bowl XVII, the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl XL, the Denver Broncos during Super Bowl 50, and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. The Cowboys, since , have worn white jerseys at home. The Redskins wore white at home under coach Joe Gibbs starting in through , continued by Richie Petitbon and Norv Turner through , then again when Gibbs returned from through . Meanwhile, the Steelers, who have always worn their black jerseys at home since the AFL–NFL merger in , opted for the white jerseys after winning three consecutive playoff games on the road, wearing white. The Steelers' decision was compared with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX; the Patriots had worn white jerseys at home during the season, but after winning road playoff games against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins wearing red jerseys, New England opted to switch to crimson for the Super Bowl as the designated home team. For the Broncos in Super Bowl 50, Denver general manager John Elway simply stated, "We've had Super Bowl success in our white uniforms"; they previously had been in Super Bowls when wearing their orange jerseys. The Broncos' decision is also perceived to be made out of superstition, losing all Super Bowl games with the orange jerseys in terrible fashion. It is unclear why the Patriots chose to wear their white jerseys for Super Bowl LII. During the pairing of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, New England has mostly worn their blue jerseys for home games, but have worn white for a home game in the , , and seasons. The New England Patriots were 3-0 in their white uniforms in Super Bowls prior to Super Bowl LII with Belichick and Brady, and they may have been going on recent trends of teams who wear white for the Super Bowl game. White-shirted teams have won 33 of 52 Super Bowls to date (63%). The only teams to win in their dark-colored uniform in more recent years are the Green Bay Packers against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV and the Philadelphia Eagles against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, with teams in white winning 12 of the last 14 Super Bowls.
Sports in Minnesota
The Minnesota Vikings are an NFL team founded as an expansion team in 1961. They play their home games at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings have won one NFL Championship in 1969, one year before the AFL–NFL Merger. The Vikings were the first team to appear in four Super Bowls, but also lost all of them. Their last appearance in the Super Bowl was Super Bowl XI against the Oakland Raiders in 1977. Notable current and former players include Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, Jim Marshall, Ron Yary, Mick Tingelhoff, Paul Krause, Cris Carter, Carl Eller, Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman, Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper, Darren Sharper, Jim Kleinsasser, Brad Johnson, Alan Page, the "Purple People Eaters", Adrian Peterson, Randall McDaniel, John Randle and the NFL's Dad; Adam Thielen
Super Bowl X
Super Bowl X was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1975 season. The Steelers defeated the Cowboys by the score of 21–17 to win their second consecutive Super Bowl. They were the third team to win back-to-back Super Bowls. (The Miami Dolphins won Super Bowls VII and VIII, and the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowls I and II.) It was also the first Super Bowl in which both participating teams had previously won a Super Bowl, as the Steelers were the defending champions and the Cowboys had won Super Bowl VI.
Super Bowl I
Many people considered it fitting that the Chiefs and the Packers would be the teams to play in the first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt had founded the AFL, while Green Bay was widely considered one of the better teams in NFL history (even if they could not claim to be founding members of their own league, as the Packers joined the NFL in 1921, a year after the league's formation). Lombardi was under intense pressure from the entire NFL to make sure the Packers not only won the game, but preferably won big to demonstrate the superiority of the NFL. CBS announcer Frank Gifford, who interviewed Lombardi prior to the game, said Lombardi was so nervous, "he held onto my arm and he was shaking like a leaf. It was incredible." The Chiefs saw this game as an opportunity to show they were good enough to play against any NFL team. One player who was really looking forward to competing in this game was Len Dawson, who had spent three years as a backup in the NFL before joining the Chiefs. However, the Chiefs were also nervous. Linebacker E. J. Holub said, "the Chiefs were scared to death. Guys in the tunnel were throwing up."
List of NFL champions (1920–1969)
Teams winning the NFL Championship during these years move onward to compete in the first four Super Bowls. The Green Bay Packers continued on to win the first two Super Bowls. The latter two teams, the Baltimore Colts and Minnesota Vikings, lost in their respective Super Bowls. These two losing teams are still credited with the NFL Championship in their official record. However, they are not considered as world champions, but as the less prestigious league champions.
American Football League
From 1960 to 1968, the AFL determined its champion via a single-elimination playoff game between the winners of its two divisions. The home teams alternated each year by division, so in 1968 the Jets hosted the Raiders, even though Oakland had a better record (this was changed in 1969). In 1963, the Buffalo Bills and Boston Patriots finished tied with identical records of 7–6–1 in the AFL East Division. There was no tie-breaker protocol in place, so a one-game playoff was held in War Memorial Stadium in December. The visiting Patriots defeated the host Bills 26–8. The Patriots traveled to San Diego as the Chargers completed a three-game season sweep over the weary Patriots with a 51–10 victory. A similar situation occurred in the 1968 season, when the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs finished the regular season tied with identical records of 12–2 in the AFL West Division. The Raiders beat the Chiefs 41–6 in a division playoff to qualify for the AFL Championship Game. In 1969, the final year of the independent AFL, Professional Football's first "wild card" playoffs were conducted. A four-team playoff was held, with the second-place teams in each division playing the winner of the other division. The Chiefs upset the Raiders in Oakland 17–7 in the league's Championship, the final AFL game played. The Kansas City Chiefs were the first Super Bowl champion to win two road playoff games and the first wildcard team to win the Super Bowl, although the term "wildcard" was coined by the media, and not used officially until several years later.
Super Bowl XVIII
The Raiders were the first team to score an offensive, defensive, and special teams touchdown in the same Super Bowl. The Redskins became the second defending champion to lose a Super Bowl (their divisional rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, were the first, losing Super Bowl XIII after winning Super Bowl XII). The Redskins would be joined by the Green Bay Packers in 1998 (won Super Bowl XXXI, lost Super Bowl XXXII), the Seattle Seahawks in 2015 (won Super Bowl XLVIII, lost Super Bowl XLIX), and the New England Patriots in 2018 (won Super Bowl LI, lost Super Bowl LII).
Municipal Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri)
While at Municipal Stadium, the Chiefs were successful, representing the American Football League in two of the four Super Bowls before the leagues merged. As AFL Champions under Coach Hank Stram, the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV, beating the Minnesota Vikings 23–7. Previously, the Chiefs played in the very first, Super Bowl I, losing to the Green Bay Packers of Vince Lombardi. Leading up to the game after Lamar Hunt had first used the term "Super Bowl" in the local media as a term for the AFL-NFL Championship Game, a phrase that was later adopted as the name. Super Bowl IV was the last game played before the merger of the AFL and NFL They moved to Arrowhead Stadium in the Truman Sports Complex for the 1972 season.
List of AFC champions
At the end of the 1966 season, the Super Bowl began to be played between the AFL champion and the NFL champion. After the AFL/NFL merger in 1970, the Super Bowl continued to be played between the AFC champion and the NFC champion. The AFL champion lost the first two Super Bowls. The 1968 AFL champion New York Jets with Joe Namath at quarterback became the first AFL team to win the Super Bowl. Starting with that Super Bowl, the AFL or AFC champion won 11 out of 13 Super Bowls. However, the AFC champion lost 13 consecutive Super Bowls, from the 1984 AFC champion Miami Dolphins through the 1996 AFC champion New England Patriots. Overall, the AFL or AFC champion has won 25 of the 52 Super Bowls played through the end of the 2017 season.
Lamar Hunt
In the Chiefs' first two seasons attendance did not match the levels Mayor Bartle had promised, but in 1966 average home attendance at Chiefs games increased and reached 37,000. By 1969 Chiefs' average home attendance had reached 51,000. In 1966 the Chiefs won their first AFL Championship (after having previously won it as the Dallas Texans) and reached the first ever Super Bowl, which the Chiefs lost to the Green Bay Packers. The Chiefs remained successful through the 1960s, and in 1970 the Chiefs won the AFL Championship and Super Bowl IV (the last Super Bowl played when the AFL was a separate league prior to it being absorbed into the NFL as the American Football Conference) over the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings.
Super Bowl XVI
This was the first Super Bowl to feature two first-time participants since Super Bowl III (there has been only one since, Super Bowl XX between the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots). This was also the only Super Bowl to date between two teams who had losing records the previous season, although Super Bowl XXXIV matched a team that had a losing record in 1998 (St. Louis Rams) against a team that finished a mediocre 8–8 that year (Tennessee Titans). This is the most recent Super Bowl in which both teams had never appeared in "any" AFL/NFL title game before the merger.
Super Bowl XXXII
Denver was the first team with a previous 0–2 Super Bowl record to win (their record had been 0–4). The Broncos' victory snapped the NFC's 13-game winning streak in the Super Bowl, becoming the first AFC team to win the NFL championship since the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. Denver also became the first team to score on four 1-yard touchdown runs in a Super Bowl. The Packers became the third defending Super Bowl champion to lose the Super Bowl, joining the Dallas Cowboys (won Super Bowl XII, lost Super Bowl XIII) and the Washington Redskins (won Super Bowl XVII, lost Super Bowl XVIII), and would be later joined by the Seattle Seahawks in 2015 (won Super Bowl XLVIII, lost Super Bowl XLIX) and the New England Patriots in 2018 (won Super Bowl LI, lost Super Bowl LII).
Super Bowl XXVII
Super Bowl XXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1992 season. The Cowboys defeated the Bills by the score of 52–17, winning their third Super Bowl in team history, and their first one in 15 years. This game is tied with Super Bowl XXXVII as the third-highest scoring Super Bowl ever with 69 combined points. The Bills became the first team to lose three consecutive Super Bowls, and just the second team to play in three straight (the Miami Dolphins played in Super Bowls VI–VIII, winning VII and VIII). The game was played on January 31, 1993 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the seventh Super Bowl held in the Greater Los Angeles Area.
Super Bowl XXX
The Cowboys entered the 1995 regular season attempting to become the first team in NFL history to win three out of the last four Super Bowls. They had previously won Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII but their chance of a "three-peat" (winning three consecutive championships) was thwarted when they lost the NFC Championship Game to the San Francisco 49ers, the eventual Super Bowl XXIX champions. This was the Cowboys’ eighth appearance in the Super Bowl, the most of any franchise; the Steelers tied this record in 2010 when that team advanced to Super Bowl XLV. The Patriots became the third team to reach the mark in 2014 when that team went on to win Super Bowl XLIX, and the Denver Broncos the fourth team in 2015 in Super Bowl 50.
Super Ball
Lamar Hunt, founder of the American Football League and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, watched his children playing with a Super Ball and then coined the term Super Bowl. He wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle dated July 25, 1966: "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon." The league's franchise owners had decided on the name "AFL-NFL World Championship Game", but the media immediately picked up on Hunt's "Super Bowl" name, which became official beginning with the third annual game in 1969.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Cowboys–Steelers rivalry started with the Cowboys' first game as a franchise in (against the Steelers) at the Cotton Bowl with the Steelers coming away with a 35–28 victory. These teams hold a record for the most times (three) that two teams have met in a Super Bowl. The first two times the favored Steelers and Cowboys met came with Pittsburgh victories in the Orange Bowl Super Bowl X 21–17 and Super Bowl XIII 35–31. The Cowboys never won a regular season game in the Orange Bowl and lost three Super Bowl games (once to the Baltimore Colts and twice to the Steelers). Between the Cowboys and Steelers, Super Bowl XIII had the greatest number of future Pro Football Hall of Fame players participating, which as of 2010 numbered 20 – 14 players and six coaches/front office, including Ernie Stautner, defensive coordinator for the Cowboys who was a HoF defensive tackle for the Steelers. The teams featured an all-star matchup at quarterback between the Steelers' Terry Bradshaw and the Cowboys' Roger Staubach, both of whom are in the Hall of Fame. In , Staubach and the Cowboys won Super Bowl XII, their second and last loss of their season being inflicted by Bradshaw and the Steelers, 28–13 at Three Rivers Stadium in November. In , Staubach's final season, the two defending conference champs met again at Three Rivers, the Steelers winning 14–3 en route to winning their fourth Super Bowl title. The Steelers won six of eight meetings during the 1970s and 80s, before the Cowboys won all four meetings during the 1990s, including the teams' record third Super Bowl meeting in 1996, as this time the heavily favored Cowboys beat the Steelers 27–17. Dallas cornerback Larry Brown intercepted Pittsburgh quarterback Neil O'Donnell twice and was named the game's MVP. The teams' first two meetings of the 21st century ( and ) were won by the Steelers, including a come from behind victory December 7, 2008 in Pittsburgh, when the Steelers drove the length of the field to tie the game 13–13, then cornerback Deshea Townsend returned an intercepted pass from Tony Romo for the game's final score, Steelers 20, Cowboys 13. The Cowboys won on December 16, 2012, at Cowboys Stadium by a 27–24 margin in overtime and won 35-30 at Heinz Field on November 13, 2016. The all-time series is led by the Dallas Cowboys, 17–15. The Pittsburgh/Dallas rivalry served as a backdrop to the 1977 film "Black Sunday", parts of which were filmed during Super Bowl X. The teams will next play in the regular season in Dallas in 2020.
Rose Bowl (stadium)
The stadium has hosted the Super Bowl five times. The first was Super Bowl XI in January 1977, when the Oakland Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings 32–14. The game was also played there in 1980 (XIV), 1983 (XVII), 1987 (XXI) and 1993 (XXVII). The Rose Bowl is one of two venues (with Stanford Stadium) to host a Super Bowl though having never served as the full-time home stadium for an NFL or AFL team (Stanford Stadium hosted one San Francisco 49ers game after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake).
History of the San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have won five NFL championships – all Super Bowls. They were the first team to win five Super Bowls (Super Bowls XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV, and XXIX). They are considered "The Team of the Eighties", winning four Super Bowls in the decade. Prior to the 80s, the 49ers had never won an NFL championship (They did not even win a division title until 1970). During the 1980s, they failed to make the playoffs only twice—in 1980, and again in the strike-shortened 1982 season which saw them go 0–5 at home and 3–1 on the road—the only time in NFL history that a team went winless at home while winning more than half its away games in the same season.
History of the Los Angeles Rams
The Rams' opponent in their first Super Bowl was the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The game would be a virtual home game for the Rams as it was played in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl. Although some oddsmakers set the Rams as a 10½ point underdog, the Rams played Pittsburgh very tough, leading at halftime 13–10 and at the end of the third quarter 19–17. In the end, however, the Steelers finally asserted themselves, scoring two touchdowns in the 4th quarter and completely shutting down the Rams offense to win their fourth Super Bowl, 31–19.
Super Bowl XXIII
The 49ers became the sixth team to win the Super Bowl over a team with a better regular season record. The 49ers also became the first team since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978 to win the Super Bowl after winning only 10 games during the regular season. Their six regular season losses were tied for the most ever by a Super Bowl champion, until the 9–7 New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI following the 2011 season. Additionally, the 49ers' 13 combined regular season and postseason wins are tied for the lowest ever for a league champion, also tied with the 2011 New York Giants.
Super Bowl
For four decades after its 1920 inception, the NFL successfully fended off several rival leagues. In 1960, it encountered its most serious competitor when the American Football League (AFL) was formed. The AFL vied with the NFL for players and fans. The original "bowl game" was the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, which was first played in 1902 as the "Tournament East-West football game" as part of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and moved to the new Rose Bowl Stadium in 1923. The stadium got its name from the fact that the game played there was part of the Tournament of Roses and that it was shaped like a bowl, much like the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. The Tournament of Roses football game eventually came to be known as the Rose Bowl Game. Exploiting the Rose Bowl Game's popularity, post-season college football contests were created for Miami (the Orange Bowl), New Orleans (the Sugar Bowl), and El Paso, Texas (the Sun Bowl) in 1935, and for Dallas (the Cotton Bowl) in 1937. By the time the first Super Bowl was played, the term "bowl" for any major American football game was well established.
Lamar Hunt, owner of the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs, first used the term "Super Bowl" to refer to the NFL-AFL championship game in the merger meetings. Hunt later said the name was likely in his head because his children had been playing with a Super Ball toy; a vintage example of the ball is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In a July 25, 1966, letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, Hunt wrote, "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon."
Super Bowl
In Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons had a 28–3 lead late in the third quarter, but lost to the Patriots, 34–28, in the first Super Bowl to ever end in overtime.
Super Bowl XXVI
With the win, the Redskins became the first team, and Joe Gibbs the first coach, to win a Super Bowl with three different quarterbacks. Two other teams have since duplicated this feat: the New York Giants (Phil Simms in Super Bowl XXI, Jeff Hostetler in Super Bowl XXV, and Eli Manning in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI) and the Green Bay Packers (Bart Starr in the first two Super Bowls, Brett Favre in Super Bowl XXXI, and Aaron Rodgers in Super Bowl XLV).
Tom Landry
Landry coached the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl win, defeating the Miami Dolphins 24-3, holding the Dolphins to a mere field goal. The Cowboys won their first Super Bowl a year after losing to the Baltimore Colts. The Cowboys lost the first battle with the Steelers, in a game that is heralded as a classic. The rematch would be just as good, with the Cowboys being a Jackie Smith catch away from tying the Steelers and keeping pace early in the third quarter; instead, Pittsburgh scored twice in succession and put the game away. Before the Super Bowl XIII rematch, Cowboys linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson famously stated, "Terry Bradshaw couldn't spell c-a-t if you spotted him the C and the T." Landry recalled in his autobiography how he cringed when he heard that, because he did not feel that Bradshaw needed additional motivation in a big game like the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl XLVII
The game marked the first Super Bowl in which both of the teams had appeared in, but had not yet lost a previous Super Bowl; the 49ers came into the game having won all five of their previous Super Bowl appearances, while the Ravens had won in their lone previous Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXXV against the New York Giants. Currently, this phenomenon can only be repeated if either the Ravens or the New York Jets play against either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the New Orleans Saints in a subsequent Super Bowl. Baltimore's victory made them the only current NFL franchise to have appeared in at least two Super Bowls without ever losing any of their appearances.
Super Bowl XLIII
With this victory, the Steelers became the first team to win three Super Bowls in the same state. Their victories in Super Bowls X and XIII were both at the Miami Orange Bowl.
Super Bowl XXVI
Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1991 season. The Redskins defeated the Bills by a score of 37–24, becoming the fourth team after the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers to win three Super Bowls. The Bills became the third team, after the Minnesota Vikings (Super Bowls VIII and IX) and the Denver Broncos (Super Bowls XXI and XXII) to lose back-to-back Super Bowls. The game was played on January 26, 1992, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the first time the city played host to a Super Bowl.
Logos and uniforms of the New York Giants
The Giants reached the Super Bowl, and since the AFC and NFC alternate "home team" designation in the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots wore their home blues, forcing the Giants to wear their road uniforms. The Giants ultimately won the game, marking their first Super Bowl victory in their road uniform.
History of the Green Bay Packers
Facing Green Bay in the New Orleans Superdome in Super Bowl XXXI were the AFC champion New England Patriots. In a see-saw game, the Packers gained a 27-14 lead at halftime, which they never lost despite a valiant effort by their opponent. The final score was 35-21, and Green Bay had won its first championship since 1967. Kick returner Desmond Howard, who returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown late in the 3rd quarter, was named the game's MVP, becoming the first (and to date, only) Super Bowl MVP on the merits of special teams play.
List of NFL franchise post-season droughts
Of the 12 teams that have never won the Super Bowl, four (4) are expansion franchises younger than the Super Bowl itself (Bengals, Panthers, Jaguars, and the Texans). The Falcons began playing during the season in which the Super Bowl was first played. The seven (7) other clubs (Cardinals, Lions, Oilers/Titans, Chargers, Browns, Bills, and Vikings) all won an NFL or AFL championship prior to the AFL–NFL merger; in the case of the Vikings, however, the Super Bowl existed at the time they won their league title, leaving them and the Falcons as the only two teams to have existed for as long as or longer than the Super Bowl that have never secured the highest championship available to them. The longest drought since a championship of any kind is that of the Cardinals, at 71 seasons.
Super Bowl XLII
The game is regarded as one of the biggest upsets in the history of professional sports, as well as one of the finest Super Bowl games. The Patriots entered the game as 12-point favorites after becoming the first team to complete a perfect regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and the only one since the league expanded to a 16-game regular season schedule in 1978. The Giants, who finished the regular season with a 10–6 record, were seeking to become the first NFC wild card team to win a Super Bowl, and were also looking for their third Super Bowl victory and first since they won Super Bowl XXV seventeen years earlier. This Super Bowl was also a rematch of the final game of the regular season, in which New England won, 38–35.
Super Bowl XL
The Steelers became just the third team to win the Super Bowl despite not playing a single home game in the playoffs. The Green Bay Packers, who won Super Bowl I, and the Kansas City Chiefs, who won Super Bowl IV, also accomplished the feat. The Steelers, however, had to win four games to accomplish the feat, while the Chiefs won three and Packers won only two games.
Super Bowl XLVI
With the Giants' Super Bowl win, they became the first team to win Super Bowls on 4 different networks.
Super Bowl XXIX
Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1994 season. This is the only Super Bowl in history to be played between two teams from the same state. The 49ers defeated the Chargers by the score of 49–26, becoming the first team to win five Super Bowl championships. The game was played on January 29, 1995 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida (now part of the suburb of Miami Gardens, which became a separate city in 2003).
Super Bowl
The game was created as a part of the merger agreement between the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League (AFL). It was agreed that the two leagues' champion teams would play in the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the merger was to officially begin in 1970. After the merger, each league was redesignated as a "conference", and the game has since been played between the conference champions to determine the NFL's league champion. Currently, the National Football Conference leads the league with 27 wins to 25 wins for the American Football Conference. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most Super Bowl championship titles, with six. The New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl appearances, with eleven. Charles Haley and Tom Brady both have five Super Bowl rings, which is the record for the most rings won by a single player.
Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Super Bowl". The game, played on January 12, 1969, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in American football history. The heavy underdog American Football League (AFL) champion New York Jets defeated the National Football League (NFL) champion Baltimore Colts by a score of 16–7.
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
NFL owners voted during their May 24, 1989 meeting to award Super Bowl XXVI to Minneapolis over Indianapolis, Pontiac and Seattle. The game on January 26, 1992 was the second Super Bowl to be played in a cold, winter climate city. The first one was Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982 in Pontiac, Michigan. The Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24.
Super Bowl XV
Super Bowl XV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1980 season. The Raiders defeated the Eagles by the score of 27–10, becoming the first wild card playoff team to win a Super Bowl.
History of the San Francisco 49ers
Even after those initial rough spots early in the season, the 49ers finished the season 13–3 and with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. In their first game, they easily defeated the Chicago Bears, 44–15, setting up the third straight 49ers-Cowboys NFC Championship Game. The 49ers took advantage of three early Cowboys turnovers, taking a 21–0 lead in the first quarter. From that point on, the game was more competitive, but the 49ers held on for a 38–28 victory after Dallas scored a late touchdown, qualifying them for their fifth Super Bowl, and the first to be played by two teams from California. The 49ers steamrolled the San Diego Chargers, becoming the first team to win a record five Super Bowls. With a record 6 touchdown passes, Steve Young was named the game's MVP. Their run of 5 Super Bowl wins in 14 seasons (1981–1994) solidified them as one of the all-time greatest NFL teams.
History of the National Football League championship
Following the NFL and AFL Championship Games for the through seasons, the NFL champion played the AFL champion in Super Bowls I through IV, the only true inter-league championship games in the history of professional football. The first two of these games were known as the "AFL-NFL Championship Game", as the title "Super Bowl" was not chosen until 1968. Thus the third AFL-NFL matchup was dubbed "Super Bowl III" and the first two matches were retronamed as Super Bowls I and II. The first two games were convincingly won by the NFL's Packers, the last two by the AFL's New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, leaving the leagues even at 2-2 in "Championship" competition when they subsequently merged.
American Football League
On January 15, 1967, the first-ever championship game between the two separate professional football leagues, the AFL-NFL Championship Game (retroactively referred to as Super Bowl I), was played in Los Angeles. After a close first half, the NFL champion Green Bay Packers overwhelmed the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs, 35–10. The loss reinforced for many the notion that the AFL was an inferior league. Packers head coach Vince Lombardi stated after the game, "I do not think they are as good as the top teams in the National Football League."
Super Bowl XIII
The Cowboys were playing their third Super Bowl at the Orange Bowl, the first team to play three different Super Bowls in the same stadium. The New England Patriots have since done the same playing three Super Bowls at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Cowboys were 0–3 in Orange Bowl games and 5–0 in their other Super Bowls.
Super Bowl III
This was the first Super Bowl victory for the AFL. Before the game, most sports writers and fans believed that AFL teams were less talented than NFL clubs, and expected the Colts to defeat the Jets by a wide margin. Baltimore posted a 13–1 record during the 1968 NFL season before defeating the Cleveland Browns, 34–0, in the 1968 NFL Championship Game. The Jets finished the 1968 AFL season at 11–3, and defeated the Oakland Raiders, 27–23, in the 1968 AFL Championship Game.
Super Bowl XXXVIII
The Panthers became the first No. 3 seed to advance to the Super Bowl since the league expanded to a 12-team playoff format in 1990. In doing so, they were also the first division winner to advance to the league championship after playing "three" playoff games. All other instances up to this point where teams advanced to the Super Bowl after playing all three rounds of the playoffs were wild card teams in Super Bowls XV, XX, XXVII, XXXII, XXXIV, and XXXV. Prior to Super Bowl XVII, the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins both won three playoff games to reach the Super Bowl, but that came during the strike-shortened 1982 season when the regular season was reduced to nine games and the playoffs were expanded to 16 teams, with no teams receiving first-round byes. Since then, there have been six instances of teams advancing to the Super Bowl after playing three playoff games: the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL as the No. 6 seeded team, the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI as the No. 3 seed, the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII as the No. 5 seed, the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII as the No. 4 seed, the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV as the No. 6 seed, and again the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI as the No. 4 seed. The Colts, Cardinals, and the Giants in 2011, like the Panthers, were division winners in those years (Although in the Colts case, they played the No. 4 seeded New England Patriots in the AFC Championship that year, ensuring at least the second division winner to play three rounds to make it to the Super Bowl.), and all but the Cardinals went on to win it all. The Super Bowl would mark the third game (out of four) of the playoffs in which Carolina scored 29 points.
Super Bowl I
The first AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, known retroactively as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The National Football League (NFL) champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American Football League (AFL) champion Kansas City Chiefs by the score of 35–10.
History of the New Orleans Saints
The Super Bowl was played in Miami against the Colts, who had won Super Bowl XLI there three years earlier. Indianapolis jumped out to a 10-0 lead by the end of the 1st quarter. The Saints were unable to score a touchdown in the first half, and instead settled for two long Hartley field goals, making the score 10-6 at halftime. The 3rd quarter opened with New Orleans executing a surprise onside kick, and both teams got into an argument over who got hold of the ball. The Saints were ultimately ruled to have recovered it. A screen pass by Drew Brees to running back Pierre Thomas was good for a touchdown, giving the Saints a 13–10 lead, their first of the game. After another Colts touchdown, Hartley kicked another field goal to make it a 17–16 game. The Saints regained the lead with 5:42 remaining in the 4th quarter; a 2-yard touchdown pass from Brees to tight end Jeremy Shockey, followed by a two-point conversion by Lance Moore, made it a 24–17 Saints lead. On the Colts' ensuing drive, quarterback Peyton Manning was intercepted by Tracy Porter, who returned it 74 yards for the game-clinching touchdown. A strong defensive effort by New Orleans halted the Colts' attempt at another scoring drive, and the game ended 31–17. The Saints had finally won a championship after decades of futility, sending the city of New Orleans, and the region, into wild celebrations.
Super Bowl LI
Super Bowl LI became the first Super Bowl in history in which the winning team had never held the lead at any point during regulation time, and it also became the first Super Bowl in history in which the winning team did not score on a PAT kick, as the Patriots missed their only PAT attempt during the game, which occurred following their first touchdown, opted for two-point conversions after each of their next two touchdowns, and did not have to attempt the extra point after their game-winning touchdown in overtime.
Stanford Stadium
In January 1985, Super Bowl XIX was held in Stanford Stadium, with the Bay Area's own San Francisco 49ers defeating the Miami Dolphins, 38–16. Stanford Stadium is one of two venues (the Rose Bowl being the other) to host a Super Bowl without previously serving as the home stadium of a National Football League (NFL) or American Football League (AFL) team. As of now, Super Bowl XIX is the only Super Bowl where the host region saw its team win.
Super Bowl
Following several seasons with poor records in the 1980s, the Dallas Cowboys rose back to prominence in the 1990s. During this decade, the Cowboys made post-season appearances every year except for the seasons of 1990 and 1997. From 1992 to 1996, the Cowboys won their division championship each year. In this same period, the Buffalo Bills had made their mark reaching the Super Bowl for a record four consecutive years, only to lose all four. After Super Bowl championships by division rivals New York (1990) and Washington (1991), the Cowboys won three of the next four Super Bowls (XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX) led by quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and wide receiver Michael Irvin. All three of these players went to the Hall of Fame. The Cowboys' streak was interrupted by the 49ers, who won their league-leading fifth title overall with Super Bowl XXIX in dominating fashion under Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, and Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders; however, the Cowboys' victory in Super Bowl XXX the next year also gave them five titles overall and they did so with Sanders after he won the Super Bowl the previous year with the 49ers. The NFC's winning streak was continued by the Green Bay Packers who, under Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, won Super Bowl XXXI, their first championship since Super Bowl II in the late 1960s.
Super Bowl LII
Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) and defending Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots, 41–33, to win their first Super Bowl and their first NFL title since 1960. The game was played on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was the second time that a Super Bowl was played in Minneapolis, the northernmost city to ever host the event, after Super Bowl XXVI at the Metrodome during the 1991 season, and the sixth Super Bowl held in a cold-weather city.
History of the Dallas Cowboys
In 1967, the Cowboys finished with a 9–5 record and had their first playoff victory, a 52–14 rout of the Cleveland Browns. They went on to face the Packers in the 1967 NFL Championship game, a rematch of the 1966 NFL championship game, with the winner advancing to Super Bowl II. The game, which happened on December 31, 1967, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, turned out to be the coldest NFL game in history (about -13° F with a -40° wind chill). The Cowboys lost 21–17 on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Packers quarterback Bart Starr with 16 seconds remaining. The game later became known as the "Ice Bowl." Green Bay went on to win the Super Bowl again, this time against the Oakland Raiders.
Super Bowl XXXI
This was the first Super Bowl played at the Superdome in which the home (and losing) team's point total was something other than 10. The Dallas Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos 27–10 in Super Bowl XII, the Oakland Raiders defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27–10 in Super Bowl XV, the Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots 46–10 in Super Bowl XX, and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos 55–10 in Super Bowl XXIV.
Super Bowl
The Pittsburgh Steelers have won six Super Bowls, the most of any team; the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers have five victories each, while the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants have four Super Bowl championships. Fourteen other NFL franchises have won at least one Super Bowl. Eight teams have appeared in Super Bowl games without a win. The Minnesota Vikings were the first team to have appeared a record four times without a win. The Buffalo Bills played in a record four Super Bowls in a row and lost every one. Four teams (the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans) have never appeared in a Super Bowl. The Browns and Lions both won NFL Championships prior to the creation of the Super Bowl, while the Jaguars (1995) and Texans (2002) are both recent NFL expansion teams. (Detroit, Houston, and Jacksonville, however, have hosted a Super Bowl, leaving the Browns the only team to date who has neither played in nor whose city has hosted the game.) The Minnesota Vikings won the last NFL Championship before the merger but lost to the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV.
Super Bowl XVII
Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1982 season. The Redskins defeated the Dolphins 27–17 to win their first Super Bowl championship. The game was played on January 30, 1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Super Bowl XXI
Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1986 season. The Giants defeated the Broncos by the score of 39–20, winning their first ever Super Bowl, and their first NFL title since 1956. The game was played on January 25, 1987, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Super Bowl XXXI
With the Packers' win, they became the third team to win Super Bowls on three networks (I-broadcast on both CBS and NBC, II-CBS, and Fox). They also became the first team to win three Super Bowls with Fox as one of the networks to televise their win. The previous seven games played in domes were all won by the designated road team, which wore white. The game was rematched on October 27, 1997, as a near-national telecast on ABC's "Monday Night Football", the only time ABC aired a rematch of the previous season's Super Bowl.
Candlestick Park
The 49ers hosted eight NFC Championship games during their time at Candlestick. The first was in January 1982 when Dwight Clark caught a game-winning touchdown pass from Joe Montana to lead the 49ers to their first Super Bowl by defeating the Dallas Cowboys. Clark's play went down as one of the more famous in football history, and was dubbed "The Catch". The last of these came in January 2012, when Lawrence Tynes kicked a field goal in overtime to defeat the 49ers and send the New York Giants to their fifth Super Bowl. The most recent postseason game hosted by the 49ers at Candlestick was the Divisional Playoff matchup between the 49ers and the Green Bay Packers, won by the 49ers by a score of 45-31. The 49ers' record in NFC Championship games at Candlestick was 4-4; they defeated the Cowboys twice, in 1981 and 1994, the Chicago Bears in 1984, and the Los Angeles Rams in 1989. Their losses came against the Cowboys in 1992, the Giants in 1990 and 2011, and the Packers in 1997.
History of the National Football League championship
After the season and Super Bowl IV, the AFL and NFL fully merged and underwent a re-alignment for the season. Three of the pre-merger NFL teams were transferred to the AFC (Browns, Colts, and Steelers) to level the conferences (AFC and NFC) at 13 teams each; each conference split into three divisions.
With only six division winners in the newly merged league, the NFL designed an eight-team playoff tournament, with four clubs from each conference qualifying. Along with the three division winners in each conference, two "wild card" teams (one from each conference), the second-place finishers with the best records in each conference, were added to the tournament. The first round was named the "Divisional Playoffs", the winners advancing to the "Conference Championships" (AFC & NFC). Two weeks later, the AFC and NFC champions met in the Super Bowl, now the league's championship game. Thus, Super Bowl V in January 1971 was the first Super Bowl played for the NFL title.
Super Bowl XLVI
This was the 5th set of teams to have a rematch in Super Bowl history and overall the 6th rematch. The others were the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins, who met in Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl XVII; the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, who met in Super Bowl X, Super Bowl XIII, and Super Bowl XXX and are the only teams to meet in the Super Bowl more than twice; the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals, who met in Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XXIII; and the Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, who met in Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII and are the only teams to face each other in two consecutive Super Bowls; and later the Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles becoming the 6th set of teams to have a rematch in Super Bowl history and 7th overall, meeting in Super Bowl LII after previously meeting in Super Bowl XXXIX.
Super Bowl
The 2009 season saw the New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV by a score of 31–17 to take home their first Championship. With this victory, the Saints joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets as the only teams to have won in their sole Super Bowl appearance.
Sports-related curses
The city of Atlanta, Georgia has won only one major professional sports championship (the 1995 World Series).
The National Football League (NFL)'s Atlanta Falcons won their first division championship in 1980 and were favored against the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional playoff game. Despite trailing 24–10 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Cowboys rallied to out-score the Falcons 20–3 in the quarter to defeat the Falcons 30–27. In 1998, the Falcons advanced to play in the club's first-ever Super Bowl game after upsetting the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game 30–27; however, the Falcons lost to John Elway (in his final game) and the Denver Broncos 34–19 in Super Bowl XXXIII. In 2010 and 2012 the Falcons held the number 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, but were upset by the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers, respectively. The latter occurred in the NFC Championship Game, where the Falcons held a 17–0 lead. In Super Bowl LI, the Falcons' second-ever Super Bowl appearance, Atlanta jumped out to a 28–3 lead over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. However, the Falcons suffered by far the greatest collapse in Super Bowl history (25 points; the previous record was 10) and lost to the Patriots 34–28 in the first Super Bowl game to ever be decided in an overtime period.
Consistently fielding one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, the Atlanta Braves won 14 straight division titles from 1991 to 2005, but won the World Series only once (1995). In the 1996 World Series, the Braves seemed poised to win their second straight championship after jumping out to a 2–0 series lead going home. However, the Braves lost 4 straight games to the New York Yankees, including a Game 4 in which they held a 6–0 lead at one point. The Braves have only played in one World Series since (1999; the Braves were swept in four games by the New York Yankees). Notable examples of the Atlanta sports curse as it pertains to the Braves include Lonnie Smith, Ed Sprague, Charlie Leibrandt (in back-to-back World Series), Jim Leyritz, Eric Gregg's wide strike zone, Brooks Conrad's errors, blowing an 8 1/2 game Wild Card lead in September 2011, and the 2012 National League Wild Card Game.
The National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Atlanta Hawks have not played in an NBA Finals since the club's move from St. Louis, Missouri in 1968. Their only appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals was against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015, in which they were swept four games to none despite being a 60-win team and the number one seed in the conference.
In addition, Atlanta has lost two National Hockey League (NHL) franchises to Canadian cities: the Atlanta Flames (who moved to Calgary in 1980) and the Atlanta Thrashers (who moved to Winnipeg in 2011), either due to low attendance, poor ownership, or both.
The 2017 Georgia Bulldogs college football team blew a 13-point lead at halftime in the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship to Alabama and lost in overtime, 26-23, despite Alabama benching their starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts, at halftime in favor of Tua Tagovailoa. Later that year, in the 2018 SEC Championship Game, Georgia once again blew a 14 point lead to Alabama in the same venue as their National Championship loss and once again also losing to the backup quarterback (this time Hurts, who replaced an injured Tagovailoa).
Super Bowl XXXIII
This was the third Super Bowl in history that featured two teams with two losses or less. Both teams came into the game with 16–2 records after the playoffs. The first was Super Bowl XII, featuring two 12-2 teams: the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos. The only Super Bowl featuring a better matchup record-wise was Super Bowl XIX, when the San Francisco 49ers had a 17–1 record and the Miami Dolphins had a 16–2 record.
Super Bowl VI
Super Bowl VI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1971 season. The Cowboys defeated the Dolphins by the score of 24–3, to win their first Super Bowl. The game was played on January 16, 1972, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, the second time the Super Bowl was played in that city. Despite the southerly location, it was unseasonably cold at the time, with the kickoff air temperature of making this the coldest Super Bowl ever played.
Super Bowl
The New England Patriots became the dominant team throughout the early 2000s, winning the championship three out of four years early in the decade. They would become only the second team in the history of the NFL to do so (after the 1990s Dallas Cowboys). In Super Bowl XXXVI, first-year starting quarterback Tom Brady led his team to a 20–17 upset victory over the St. Louis Rams. Brady would go on to win the MVP award for this game. The Patriots also won Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX defeating the Carolina Panthers and the Philadelphia Eagles respectively. This four-year stretch of Patriot dominance was interrupted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 48–21 Super Bowl XXXVII victory over the Oakland Raiders.
Super Bowl XIII
Super Bowl XIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1978 season. The Steelers defeated the Cowboys by the score of 35–31. The game was played on January 21, 1979, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, the fifth and last time that the Super Bowl was played in that stadium.
Super Bowl XLIV
This is the first Super Bowl matchup in which both teams had a first-round bye since Super Bowl XXXIX. All four of the Super Bowls in-between had one team that played all three rounds (two of which were wild card teams), with three of those teams (including the Colts in Super Bowl XLI) winning it all.
Super Bowl XXVIII
Super Bowl XXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1993 season. The Cowboys defeated the Bills by the score of 30–13, winning their fourth Super Bowl in team history, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers for most Super Bowl wins. The game was played on January 30, 1994, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. Since the 1993 regular season was conducted over 18 weeks (two byes per team), the traditional bye week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl was not employed; the last time this happened was before Super Bowl XXV.
Dallas Cowboys
The two teams met in the first regular season game the Cowboys ever played in 1960 (a 35–28 loss to the Steelers), the first-ever regular season victory for the expansion Cowboys in 1961, and would later meet in three Super Bowls, all of them closely contested events. The Steelers-Cowboys is to date the Super Bowl matchup with the most contests. The Steelers won Super Bowl X and Super Bowl XIII; both games were decided in the final seconds, first on a last-second throw by Roger Staubach, then as a fourth-quarter rally by Dallas fell short on an onside kick. The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX in January 1996. It is said that the rivalry was fueled in the 1970s due to the stark contrast of the teams: the Cowboys, being more of a "flashy" team with Roger Staubach's aerial attack and the "flex" Doomsday Defense; while the Steelers were more of a "blue-collar" team with a strong running game and the 1970s-esque Steel Curtain defense, a contrast that still exists today. In addition, both teams have national fan bases rivaled by few NFL teams, and both come from areas with a strong following for football at all levels. Dallas leads the all-time series 16–13 including the playoffs.
Adam Timmerman
After the 1998 season, Timmerman joined the Rams and won another Super Bowl ring in Super Bowl XXXIV. He also made it back to the Super Bowl with the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, losing to the New England Patriots. He became the first player in NFL history to ever win and lose a Super Bowl with one team, the Green Bay Packers, and win and lose a Super Bowl on another team, the St. Louis Rams. Timmerman was voted a Pro Bowl alternate four consecutive seasons (1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002) and in 2001 he was called into duty to play in the Pro Bowl due to injuries to other NFC guards. The Rams released Timmerman on February 27, 2007, and he officially retired following the 2007 season.
Super Bowl XXIII
The rematch was the third time in Super Bowl history two teams were meeting for a second time. Miami and Washington met in Super Bowls VII and XVII, with the teams splitting the games. Dallas and Pittsburgh met in Super Bowls X and XIII, with Pittsburgh winning both of those games. Both Dallas-Pittsburgh matchups were in Miami at the Orange Bowl. Pittsburgh and Dallas would later meet in Super Bowl XXX (which the Cowboys won by 10) to become the first two teams to ever meet three times in the Super Bowl. The Cowboys and Bills (Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII), Eagles and Patriots (Super Bowls XXXIX and LII), and Giants and Patriots (Super Bowls XLII and XLVI) have also met in two Super Bowls each.
The Super Bowl Shuffle
The 1985 Bears were not the first pro football team with a group song. The 1984 San Francisco 49ers put out a record during that season, one in which they also went on to become Super Bowl champs. The song, "We Are the 49ers," was in the vein of post-disco/80's dance-pop music. Later in the 1980s, the 49ers would put out another team song titled "49ers Rap." Neither of these songs, however, became a hit on the scale of the "Super Bowl Shuffle".No professional sports team has released a song that was an American hit on the scale of "The Super Bowl Shuffle". The success of "The Super Bowl Shuffle" initiated the following imitations:
Seven of the surviving 1985 Bears (Walter Payton had died in 1999 of liver cancer) were reunited to film an updated version as a 30-second commercial promoting Boost Mobile, which was aired during Super Bowl XLIV. The seven players featured were quarterback Jim McMahon, backup quarterback Steve Fuller, receiver Willie Gault, linebackers Mike Singletary and Otis Wilson, defensive lineman Richard Dent, and punter Maury Buford. All of the featured players wore #50 jerseys as part of the company's $50 deal.
Super Bowl
In Super Bowl LII, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the defending Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots, 41–33. It was the Eagles' third Super Bowl appearance, and their first win in franchise history. It was the Patriots' tenth Super Bowl appearance, and their fourth appearance in ten years; had the Patriots won, they would have tied the Pittsburgh Steelers with the most Super Bowl wins (six).
Super Bowl VII
Super Bowl VII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1972 season. The Dolphins defeated the Redskins by the score of 14–7, and became the first and still the only team in NFL history to complete a perfect undefeated season. They also remain the only Super Bowl team to be shut out in the second half and still win. The game was played on January 14, 1973, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, the second time the Super Bowl was played in that city. At kickoff the temperature was , making the game the warmest Super Bowl.
Super Bowl XXVII
This marked the first time since the AFL–NFL merger that the two Super Bowl teams each won their conference championship on the road, with Dallas winning in San Francisco and Buffalo in Miami. The only time it happened prior to 1992 was in 1966 (Super Bowl I), when Kansas City won at Buffalo and Green Bay won at Dallas. This would happen again in 1997, with Green Bay winning in San Francisco and Denver in Pittsburgh; in 2012, with San Francisco winning in Atlanta and Baltimore in New England; and in 2018, with the Los Angeles Rams winning in New Orleans and New England in Kansas City.
Super Bowl
No team has ever played the Super Bowl in its home stadium. The closest any team has come was the 2017 Minnesota Vikings, who were within one win of playing Super Bowl LII in U.S. Bank Stadium, but lost the NFC Championship game to the Philadelphia Eagles. Two teams have played the Super Bowl in their home market: the San Francisco 49ers, who played Super Bowl XIX in Stanford Stadium instead of Candlestick Park; and the Los Angeles Rams, who played Super Bowl XIV in the Rose Bowl instead of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In both cases, the stadium in which the Super Bowl was held was perceived to be a better stadium for a large, high-profile event than the stadiums the Rams and 49ers were playing in at the time; this situation has not arisen since 1993, in part because the league has traditionally awarded the Super Bowl in modern times to the newest stadiums. Besides those two, the only other Super Bowl venue that was not the home stadium to an NFL team at the time was Rice Stadium in Houston: the Houston Oilers had played there previously, but moved to the Astrodome several years prior to Super Bowl VIII. The Orange Bowl was the only AFL stadium to host a Super Bowl and the only stadium to host consecutive Super Bowls, hosting Super Bowls II and III.
2013 New York Giants season
The Giants became the first team in NFL history to have a five-year era in which they won the Super Bowl in the third year of the era but missed the playoffs in all other years. Five other teams had similar situations where their lone playoff appearances in "any" five-year stretch were Super Bowl victories; however four of these were won on their fifth year of that stretch:The San Francisco 49ers won their Super Bowl on their fourth year of their stretch from 1978 to 1982
Overtime (sports)
The first time the "first possession field goal" rule was enforced occurred on 9 September 2012, the first week of the season, in a game between the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars. Minnesota's Blair Walsh kicked a 38-yard field goal on the Vikings' first drive. When Jacksonville regained possession, they failed to gain a first down, losing possession and the game on a failed fourth-down conversion. The first overtime in which both teams scored occurred on 18 November 2012, in a game between the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars; the Texans won 43–37. The first overtime game that ended in a tie after both teams scored in overtime occurred on 24 November 2013, when the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers played to a 26–all tie. On 5 February 2017, a Super Bowl went into overtime for the first time ever, with the New England Patriots defeating the Atlanta Falcons, 34–28; the Patriots scored a touchdown on their initial possession, so the Falcons never received the ball in overtime.
Wild card (sports)
While not a wild card team, the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs were the first non-division winner to win the Super Bowl. They finished second in the Western Division of the American Football League, and in that season, the last before the merger, the AFL went from having its two division winners meeting for the league title to adding a second round in which the second place team in each division qualified for the post-season. These teams played cross-division in the semifinal round. Thus the Chiefs, who finished second in the West, defeated the East Division champion New York Jets in the AFL semifinals and then defeated the West Division champion Oakland Raiders to advance to Super Bowl IV, where they beat the Minnesota Vikings. Because the term "wild card" was not instituted until the following year, the Chiefs are not included in the above list, but are recognized as the first team to win the Super Bowl without winning a division title.
Super Bowl XIII
This was the first Super Bowl in which the designated "home" team was allowed to select between their primary team colored jersey or their white jersey, a rule similar to that of home games in the regular season and playoffs. Previously, the designated "home" team was required to wear their team colored jersey. The Cowboys, who traditionally wear their white jerseys in home games and often only wear their blue jerseys against teams that have similar policies for themselves (most notably against the Washington Redskins and occasionally the Philadelphia Eagles), were forced to wear their blue jerseys as the "home" team in Super Bowl V, which the team lost to the Baltimore Colts and is widely believed where the "blue jersey jinx" started with America's Team. Not wanting a repeat of that being the designated "home" team in Super Bowl XIII, the Cowboys were able to persuade the NFL to change the rule to allow the "home" team to choose so that they could wear their white jerseys. The Cowboys would later repeat the option of wearing white jerseys as the "home" team in Super Bowl XXVII, while the Redskins would do so in Super Bowl XVII and, ironically, the Steelers (who always wear their black jerseys in home games) did in Super Bowl XL due to the team's success on the road that season. The only other teams to wear white jerseys as the designated home team in a Super Bowl were the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
Super Bowl XIV
Super Bowl XIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1979 season. The Steelers defeated the Rams by the score of 31–19, becoming the first team to win four Super Bowls. The game was played on January 20, 1980, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and was attended by a Super Bowl record 103,985 spectators. This also became the first Super Bowl where the game was coincidentally played in the home market of one of the participants, as Pasadena is about northeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It was the last time the Rams made the Super Bowl while based in Los Angeles until LIII in 2018.
The Rams became the first team to reach the Super Bowl after posting nine wins or fewer during the regular season since the NFL season expanded to 16 games in 1978. Their 9–7 regular season record was followed by postseason wins over the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Steelers were the defending Super Bowl XIII champions, and finished the 1979 regular season with a 12–4 record, and posted playoff victories over the Miami Dolphins and the Houston Oilers.
2011 New York Giants season
In winning the Super Bowl, the Giants became the first team to have won Super Bowl games broadcast on all four U.S. national networks (CBS, ABC, Fox, and now NBC), as well as the first team to win Super Bowls in four different decades. The Giants-Patriots game was the 11th time that there was a rematch in a Super Bowl. In doing so, the 2011 Giants became the first team with fewer than 10 wins (9 wins – 7 losses) in the regular season to win a Super Bowl. Furthermore, Super Bowl XLVI marked just the second time in Super Bowl history that opening score of the title game occurred with a safety when Justin Tuck pressured Tom Brady, and he was called for intentional grounding; the first instance was Super Bowl IX, when Pittsburgh registered a safety on Hall of Fame coach Bud Grant's Vikings. Eli Manning won his second Super Bowl MVP award in four years after orchestrating another game-winning touchdown drive in the game's final moments.
Super Bowl XL
With the win, the Steelers tied the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys with the then-record five Super Bowls. The Steelers' victory was their first Super Bowl victory since Super Bowl XIV. Pittsburgh, who finished the regular season with an 11–5 record, also became the fourth wild card team, the third in nine years, and the first ever number 6 seed in the NFL playoffs, to win a Super Bowl. The Seahawks, on the other hand, in their 30th season, were making their first ever Super Bowl appearance after posting an NFC-best 13–3 regular season record.
Nelson Agholor
During Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots, Agholor finished with 84 receiving yards as the Eagles won 41-33, earning their first Super Bowl championship in franchise history.
Super Bowl IX
Super Bowl IX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1974 season. The game was played on January 12, 1975, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Steelers defeated the Vikings by the score of 16–6 to win their first Super Bowl championship.
Super Bowl XLIII
With this victory, the Steelers became the first team to win six Super Bowl championships. The win was also Pittsburgh's second Super Bowl victory in four years, after winning Super Bowl XL at the end of the 2005 season. The Cardinals entered the game seeking their first NFL title since 1947, the longest championship drought in the league. The club became an unexpected winner during the regular season, compiling a 9–7 record, and the playoffs with the aid of head coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers' offensive coordinator in Super Bowl XL, and the re-emergence of quarterback Kurt Warner, who was the Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XXXIV with his former team, the St. Louis Rams.
1993 NFL season
The season ended with Super Bowl XXVIII when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills 30–13 for the second consecutive season at the Georgia Dome. This remains the only time both Super Bowl participants have been the same in successive seasons. The Cowboys became the first team to win a Super Bowl after losing their first two regular season games. This game also marked the fourth consecutive Super Bowl loss by the Bills.
Super Bowl V
This was the first Super Bowl played after the completion of the AFL–NFL merger. Beginning with this game and continuing to the present day, the Super Bowl has served as the NFL's league championship game, with the winner of the AFC Championship Game and the winner of the NFC Championship Game facing off in the culmination of the NFL playoffs. As per the merger agreement, all 26 AFL and NFL teams were divided into two conferences with 13 teams in each. Along with the Colts, the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to join the ten AFL teams to form the AFC; the remaining 13 NFL teams formed the NFC. This explains why the Colts represented the NFL in Super Bowl III, but the AFC for Super Bowl V. Baltimore advanced to Super Bowl V after posting an regular season record. Meanwhile, the Cowboys were making their first Super Bowl appearance after posting a regular season record.
Super Bowl XXXI
Coincidentally, the first Super Bowl appearance for the Patriots was also in the Superdome and against an NFC Central team. In Super Bowl XX, the Patriots lost to the Chicago Bears, whose rivalry with the Packers is said to be the NFL's oldest.
Super Bowl XVI
Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1981 season. The 49ers defeated the Bengals by the score of 26–21 to win their first Super Bowl.
Super Bowl
Super Bowl XLVIII, played at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium in February 2014, was the first Super Bowl held outdoors in a cold weather environment. The Seattle Seahawks won their first NFL title with a 43–8 defeat of the Denver Broncos, in a highly touted matchup that pitted Seattle's top-ranked defense against a Peyton Manning-led Denver offense that had broken the NFL's single-season scoring record.
History of the Buffalo Bills
The Bills won the AFC East championship in 1993 with a 12–4 record, and again won playoff games against the Los Angeles Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs, setting up a rematch with the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVIII on January 30, 1994. The Bills became the only team ever to play in four straight Super Bowls, and in this game became the first team to face the same team in 2 straight Super Bowls, and looked ready to finally win one when they led at halftime. A Thurman Thomas fumble returned for a touchdown by James Washington tied the game, with Super Bowl MVP Emmitt Smith taking over the rest of the game for the Cowboys and the Bills were stunned again, 30–13.
Super Bowl XIX
Super Bowl XIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1984 season. The 49ers defeated the Dolphins by the score of 38–16, to win their second Super Bowl. The game was played on January 20, 1985, at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, the first Super Bowl played in the San Francisco Bay Area. This also became the second Super Bowl after Super Bowl XIV where the game was coincidentally played in the home market of one of the participants.
Super Bowl XXV
It was the first Super Bowl in which neither team committed a turnover. The only other Super Bowl to date without a turnover is Super Bowl XXXIV, in which the St. Louis Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans 23–16. Because of Thomas's high production, some sports writers, such as "Sports Illustrated"s Paul Zimmerman, felt that he should have won the game MVP even though his team lost, just as Chuck Howley had done in Super Bowl V.
Super Bowl XL
The Steelers became the first AFC club, and only the third franchise overall, to wear white jerseys despite being the "home" team. The first two clubs, the Cowboys (Super Bowls XIII and XXVII) and the Redskins (Super Bowl XVII), traditionally wore white at home. The Denver Broncos later became the second AFC team and fourth club overall to wear white jerseys in a Super Bowl despite being the home team in Super Bowl 50. Bill Cowher stated that the Steelers were playing in Detroit, not Pittsburgh, and therefore it was not a "home" game (although 10 years earlier Cowher's Steelers did wear their black home jerseys as the designated "home" team in Super Bowl XXX at Tempe, Arizona away from Pittsburgh, where they had won both their playoff games to reach that Super Bowl). Having been the Cowboys' opponent in Super Bowl XIII, Pittsburgh also became the first team to have worn white jerseys for a "home" Super Bowl and colored jerseys for an "away" one.
Super Bowl XLVI
The Giants and Patriots became the 3rd and 4th teams (after the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers) to appear in Super Bowls in four different decades (both in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s) and the second and third to appear in Super Bowls in four consecutive decades (joining the Pittsburgh Steelers). The Giants became the first team in Super Bowl history to win Super Bowls in four different decades (1986, 1990, 2007, 2011). The Patriots became the first team in Super Bowl history to lose Super Bowls in four different decades (1985, 1996, 2007, 2011).
Super Bowl XXXV
The Ravens, who posted a 12–4 regular season record, became the third wild card team to win the Super Bowl and the second in four years. Also, the city of Baltimore had its first Super Bowl title since the Baltimore Colts' triumph thirty years prior and became the first city to win major professional football championships with four franchises, the others being the Colts, the 1985 Baltimore Stars of the United States Football League and the 1995 Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League. The Giants entered the game seeking to go 3–0 in Super Bowls after also finishing the regular season with a 12–4 record. For the first time in NFL history, both teams were led by backup quarterbacks: Trent Dilfer for the Ravens and Kerry Collins for the Giants.
Super Bowl
In the 1980s and 1990s, the tables turned for the AFC, as the NFC dominated the Super Bowls of the new decade and most of those in the 1990s. The NFC won 16 of the 20 Super Bowls during these two decades, including 13 straight from Super Bowl XIX to Super Bowl XXXI. The NFC's winning streak was only interrupted when the Los Angeles Raiders routed the Washington Redskins, 38-9 in Super Bowl XVIII.
The most successful team of the 1980s was the San Francisco 49ers, which featured the West Coast offense of Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh. This offense was led by three-time Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, running back Roger Craig, and defensive safety/cornerback Ronnie Lott. Under their leadership, the 49ers won four Super Bowls in the decade (XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV) and made nine playoff appearances between 1981 and 1990, including eight division championships, becoming the second dynasty of the post-merger NFL.
History of the Seattle Seahawks
The win marked the Seahawks' first Super Bowl Championship in franchise history. Russell Wilson finished with 206 passing yards and two touchdowns having won the Super Bowl in just his second year in the NFL, while the Seahawks defense logged four takeaways. Malcolm Smith was named Super Bowl MVP thanks in large part to his interception return and a fumble recovery in the second half.