Super Bowl XXXIX

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Super Bowl XXXIX

1 2 3 4 Total Patriots 0 7 7 10 24 Eagles 0 7 7 7 21
Date	February 6, 2005
Stadium	ALLTEL Stadium
City	Jacksonville, Florida
MVP	Deion Branch, Wide receiver
Favorite	Patriots by 7
National anthem	Combined choirs of the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and U.S. Army Herald Trumpets.
Coin toss	Youth football players from Jacksonville: Tyler Callahan, Tyler Deal, Lawrence McCauley, and Jacob Santana; New Orleans NFL Junior Player Development coach Tamaris Jackson
Referee	Terry McAulay
Halftime show	Paul McCartney
Attendance	78,125
TV in the United States
Network	FOX
Announcers	Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Cris Collinsworth
Nielsen Ratings	41.1
Market share	62
Cost of 30-second commercial	US$2.4 million

Super Bowl XXXIX was the 39th Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The game was played on February 6, 2005, at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, following the 2004 regular season.

The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles, 24–21, and became the first team since the 1997–98 Denver Broncos to win consecutive Super Bowls. New England also became the second team after the Dallas Cowboys to win three Super Bowls in four years and tied the record with the Oakland Raiders.

The Patriots forced four turnovers, while New England wide receiver Deion Branch, who recorded 133 receiving yards and tied the Super Bowl record with 11 catches, was named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player. Because he recorded 10 catches during the previous year's Super Bowl, he also set the record for the most combined receptions in 2 consecutive Super Bowls (21).

[edit] Background

[edit] New England seeks to become a dynasty

New England's major acquisition prior to the season was veteran running back Corey Dillon, who joined the team after playing 7 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. In his first 6 seasons in the league, Dillon averaged over 1,250 rushing yards per year. In 2003, however, injuries, conflicts with the Bengals' management and coaching staff, and other off-field problems limited him to just 541 yards during the season. By the end of the 2003 season, Dillon had lost his starting job to running back Rudi Johnson, and thus demanded to be traded. Although many observers questioned how effective the 30-year-old Dillon would be after recovering from his injuries as well as his ability to function in a team environment, the Patriots decided to sign the running back in exchange for a second-round draft pick.

Dillon became a significant offensive weapon for the 2004 Patriots, recording 1,635 rushing yards (franchise record) and 12 touchdowns, both career highs, and was named to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in his career. He also caught 15 passes for 103 yards and another touchdown. His contributions helped lead the team to break the NFL record for the most consecutive regular season victories (18), the record for the most consecutive overall victories (21) and earned the second best regular season record during the year at 14–2. The team's only losses during the year were to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who ended up with the league's best regular season record at 15–1, and a 29–28 loss to the Miami Dolphins on ABC's Monday Night Football.

Another weapon in the Patriots' offensive backfield was running back Kevin Faulk, who rushed for 255 yards, recorded 26 receptions for 248 yards, returned 20 punts for 113 yards, returned 4 kickoffs for 73 yards, and scored 3 total touchdowns. Fullback Patrick Pass also emerged as a big contributor, rushing for 141 yards, catching 28 passes for 215 yards, and gaining another 115 yards on kickoff returns.

Pro Bowl quarterback Tom Brady remained at the helm of the Patriots offense, completing 288 out of 474 (60.8 percent) of his passes for 3,692 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Although wide receiver Deion Branch, New England's major deep threat, missed most of the season because of injuries, he did record 35 receptions for 454 yards and 4 touchdowns. Wide receiver David Givens ended up being the team's leading receiver with 56 catches for 874 yards and 3 touchdowns. Wide receiver David Patten also contributed with 44 receptions for 800 yards and 7 touchdowns, and tight end Daniel Graham had 30 receptions for 364 yards and 7 touchdowns.

On defense, the Patriots were plagued by injuries, especially in their secondary. Defensive backs Tyrone Poole and Ty Law suffered season-ending injuries, while safety Eugene Wilson, who lead the team with 4 interceptions, missed several games. In order to compensate for the losses, the following players were promoted to starters:

• Rookie cornerback Randall Gay, who did not play at all in the first 3 games of the season, and did not start until the 6th week
• Defensive back Asante Samuel, who normally only played during dime formations
• Safety Earthwind Moreland, who came off of the team's practice squad and had only played in three games in his entire 5-year NFL career
• Veteran wide receiver Troy Brown, who had never played on defense in his 12-year career

With their patchwork secondary, the Patriots ranked just 17th in passing yards allowed (3,400) and 22nd in completions allowed (315). However, they did rank 7th in interceptions (20) and 10th in fewest passing touchdowns allowed (18). Most importantly, New England continued to win despite the injuries. Brown actually turned out to be very effective playing as a defensive back, ranking second on the team with 3 interceptions. Safety Rodney Harrison was also an impact player, leading the team with 138 tackles while also recording 3 sacks and 2 interceptions.

Up front, the Partriots defensive line was anchored by Pro Bowler Richard Seymour, who recorded 5 sacks and 1 fumble recovery. New England also still had their trio of impact veteran linebackers: Tedy Bruschi (122 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 70 return yards), Willie McGinest (9.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 interception), and Mike Vrabel (71 tackles and 5.5 sacks). Vrabel also frequently played at the tight end position during offensive plays near the opponent's goal line, recording 2 touchdown receptions.

[edit] Philadelphia finally returns to the Super Bowl

The Eagles entered the 2004 regular season after suffering 3 consecutive defeats in the NFC Championship Game.

The Eagles spent most of the latter half of the 1990s with losing records before hiring Andy Reid as their head coach in 1999. In that same year, they used their first-round pick in the NFL draft to select quarterback Donovan McNabb. Although they finished the 1999 regular season with a 5–11 record, they became a playoff team in 2000, with McNabb throwing for 3,365 yards and 21 touchdowns while also rushing for 629 yards and another 6 touchdowns.

With Reid and McNabb in command, the Eagles became the elite team in the NFC, earning the best regular season record in the conference during the 2001, 2002, and 2003 seasons with a total of 35 wins out of 48 games. But after losing the NFC Championship Game in each of those 3 years, Philadelphia developed a reputation of "not being able to win the big games". Therefore, the Eagles traded for veteran and controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens prior to the 2004 season to be their impact player to help get them to the Super Bowl.

Owens joined the team after spending 7 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He was widely considered one of the top receivers in the league, but he was also widely considered a troublemaker because of controversial touchdown celebrations and his tendency to berate his teammates during media interviews. Nevertheless, Owens became the Eagles' deep-passing threat, finishing the season with 77 receptions for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, McNabb had the best season of his career, completing 300 out of 469 (64 percent) of his passes for 3,875 yards, 31 touchdowns, and only 8 interceptions, making him the first quarterback to ever throw for more than 30 touchdowns and less than 10 interceptions in a season. He also rushed for 220 yards and 3 touchdowns. Wide receiver Todd Pinkston was also a reliable target, recording 36 catches for 676 yards.

Philadelphia's running game was not as strong as their passing attack, ranking just 24th in the league in rushing yards (1,639), but it was still fairly effective. Running back Brian Westbrook lead the team with 812 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. Westbrook also led all NFL running backs in receiving with 73 receptions for 706 yards and 6 touchdowns. Veteran running back Dorsey Levens was also a big contributor with 410 rushing yards. The Eagles' offensive line was led by Pro Bowl guard Tra Thomas and tackle Jon Runyan.

The Eagles defense was widely considered to be the best aspect of their team. Three of their four starters in the defensive secondary were named to the Pro Bowl: Cornerback Lito Sheppard (1 sack, 5 interceptions, 172 return yards and 2 touchdowns), safety Michael Lewis (88 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception) and safety Brian Dawkins (3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and 4 interceptions for 40 return yards). Their defensive line was anchored by defensive tackle Corey Simon (5.5 sacks) and defensive end Jevon Kearse (7.5 sacks). Pro Bowl linebacker Jeremiah Trotter recorded 60 tackles and 1 sack.

The Eagles started the 2004 regular season strong, winning their first 9 games before suffering a loss to the Steelers. After that, they finished the season with a 13–3 record. Their only other 2 losses were in their last 2 games of the season, when they decided to rest all of their starters because they had already clinched the NFC #1 seed, and thus home-field advantage in the playoffs. However, during a December 19th 12–7 win over the Dallas Cowboys, Owens was seriously injured on a "horse-collar tackle" by Cowboys defensive back Roy Williams and had to miss the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.

[edit] Playoffs

Main article: NFL playoffs, 2004-05

Despite the loss of Owens, the Eagles easily beat the Minnesota Vikings, 27–14, and the Atlanta Falcons, 27–10, in the playoffs. McNabb recorded 21 out of 33 completions for 286 yards and two touchdowns, while receiver Freddie Mitchell scored two touchdowns in the victory over the Vikings. McNabb then completed 17 out of 26 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Falcons.

Meanwhile, the Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 20–3, holding the league's highest scoring team with 522 total points to just a single field goal, Indianapolis' lowest point total since their opening game of the 2003 season. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning threw for 4,557 yards during the regular season, and set NFL records for most touchdown passes in a regular season (49) and highest quarterback rating (121.4). Running back Edgerrin James gained 2,031 combined rushing and receiving yards and scored 9 touchdowns. Wide receivers Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Brandon Stokley each recorded over 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. However, the Patriots limited Manning to 238 passing yards with 1 interception and no touchdowns, and James to just 39 rushing yards. The Patriots also held possession of the ball for 37:43, including 21:26 in the second half, and recorded three long scoring drives that each took over 7 minutes off the clock. One reason New England was able to hold the ball so long was because of Dillon's rushing. He finished the game with 23 carries for 144 yards and 5 receptions for 17 yards.

The Patriots then defeated the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, 41–27. Although Pittsburgh had beaten New England, 34–20, during the regular season and led the league in fewest total yards allowed, they could not stop the Patriots. Brady threw for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns; Dillon rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown; and Branch, who was coming off of his injuries, recorded 4 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown, along with 37 rushing yards and another touchdown on 2 carries. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was intercepted 3 times, and running back Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh's leading rusher, was held to just 64 yards.

[edit] Super Bowl pregame news

Owens was cleared to play in Super Bowl XXXIX, defying doctors orders by playing on his injured ankle containing 2 screws and a metal plate.

The other major story was the Patriots' potential loss of both their offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator at the end of the season, and how it might affect the team in 2005. On December 12, 2004, about a month and a half before the game, New England offensive coordinator Charlie Weis signed a contract to become the head coach of Notre Dame starting in the 2005 season. Rumors were also circulating that defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel would also leave the team to become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns (which ended up being true as Crennel and the Browns agreed to a contract a couple of weeks after the Super Bowl).

Due to injuries at the tight end spot, the Eagles were forced to sign Jeff Thomason, a former tight end who was working construction at the time, to a one-game contract for the Super Bowl. Thomason saw time during several plays, although never had a ball thrown his way. This was his third Super Bowl, playing in two with the Green Bay Packers during Andy Reid's days as a Packer assistant.

[edit] Television and entertainment

The game was televised in the United States by FOX, with play-by-play announcer Joe Buck and color commentators Cris Collinsworth and Troy Aikman. This marked the first time since Super Bowl I that none of the network commentators had ever called a Super Bowl game before (although Collinsworth had worked three prior Super Bowl telecasts as a pregame analyst).

James Brown hosted all the events with help from his fellow FOX NFL Sunday cast members Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson.

After the game, FOX aired a special episode of The Simpsons and the series premiere of American Dad!.

[edit] Pregame ceremonies

Before the game, performances came from the Black Eyed Peas, Earth Wind & Fire, Charlie Daniels, and Gretchen Wilson. Shortly before kickoff, Alicia Keys sang "America the Beautiful," paying tribute to Ray Charles, who died in June 2004. The combined choirs of the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy sang the national anthem accompanied by the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets. It had been more than 30 years since all four service academies sang together—the last time was at the second inauguration of President Richard Nixon in 1973.

In a move which proved somewhat controversial after the broadcast, the traditional military missing man formation flyby was this year performed by a pair of F/A-18 Super Hornets from VFA-106 at NAS Oceana and a pair of the Air Force's newest fighters, the F-22 Raptor, flying from Tyndall AFB, the training base for the Raptor.

The earlier military flyby during the veterans' salute was conducted by 2 T-6 Texan trainers and a B-25 Bomber.

The coin toss ceremony featured youth football players from Jacksonville: Tyler Callahan, Tyler Deal, Lawrence McCauley, and Jacob Santana; and New Orleans NFL Junior Player Development coach Tamaris Jackson.

[edit] Halftime show

Paul McCartney performed during the halftime show; his selection by the NFL, the show's producers, Don Mischer Productions, and the show's sponsor, Ameriquest Mortgage, was considered to be a "safe" choice, as it avoided the possibility for an incident similar to that which sparked the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy the previous year. Unlike in many previous years, he was the only performer in the entire halftime show. McCartney's set consisted of the Beatles songs "Drive My Car", "Get Back", and "Hey Jude", as well as "Live and Let Die" from his career with Wings.

[edit] Theme

Taking the concept a step further, for the first time, a theme was tied to the event: Building Bridges, as symbolized by the theme logo, represented by the Main Street Bridge, one of the seven bridges that crosses over the St. Johns River in the host city, and according to the League, symbolized the bridging of a nation under the NFL football umbrella. The theme was also used by Jacksonville-area nonprofit Fresh Ministries in a major event entitled "Bridges of Peace," featuring city officials asking the people to unite for the Super Bowl and heal the wounds of segregation.

[edit] Presidential appearances

Former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton appeared in support of their bipartisan effort to raise money for relief of the December 26, 2004, tsunami in southeast Asia through the USA Freedom Corps, an action which former President Bush described as "transcending politics."

[edit] Game summary

On the first drive of the game, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb fumbled while being sacked by New England linebacker Willie McGinest, and the Patriots recovered the ball at Philadelphia's 34 yard line. Fortunately for the Eagles, coach Andy Reid's instant replay challenge overruled the fumble; officials ruled that McNabb had been down by contact before the ball came out of his hands. Later in the quarter after each team had punted twice, McNabb completed a 30-yard pass to Terrell Owens, with a roughing the passer penalty adding 9 yards, moving the ball inside the Patriots 20 yard line. However, linebacker Mike Vrabel sacked McNabb for a 16-yard loss on the next play. On the following play, the Eagles once again caught a lucky break: McNabb's pass was intercepted in the end zone by Patriots defensive back Asante Samuel, but it was nullified by an illegal contact penalty on linebacker Roman Phifer, moving the ball back inside the 20 and giving the Eagles a first down. However, McNabb's second chance was wasted as he threw an interception to safety Rodney Harrison on the next play.

The Eagles defense then forced New England to a three-and-out on their ensuing possession, and Philadelphia got great field position by receiving the punt at the Patriots 45 yard line. But once again, they gave up another turnover: tight end L.J. Smith lost a fumble while being tackled by defensive back Randall Gay, and Samuel recovered the ball at the 38.

The Eagles defense once again forced New England to punt, and got the ball back at their own 19 yard line. Aided by a pair of completions from McNabb to receiver Todd Pinkston for gains of 17 and 40 yards, the Eagles drove 81 yards in 9 plays and scored on McNabb's 6-yard touchdown pass to Smith, taking a 7–0 lead with 9:55 left in the second quarter. It was the first time New England trailed during the entire postseason. On their ensuing drive, the Patriots moved the ball to the Eagles 4-yard line. But quarterback Tom Brady fumbled the ball on a fake handoff and Philadelphia defender Darwin Walker recovered it. However, the Eagles could not take advantage of the turnover and had to punt after 3 plays. Eagles punter Dirk Johnson's punt went just 29 yards, giving the Patriots the ball at Philadelphia's 37 yard line. The Patriots then drove 37 yards to score on Brady's 4-yard pass to receiver David Givens with 1:10 remaining in the period, tying the game 7–7 by halftime. It was only the second halftime tie in Super Bowl history and the first time both of the game's first 2 quarters ended with both teams tied.

New England then took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 69 yards in 9 plays, 4 of them completions to receiver Deion Branch, to take the lead 14–7 with Brady's 2-yard pass to Vrabel, who lined up at the tight end spot on the play. The Eagles later tied the game with 3:39 left in the third period with a 74-yard, 10-play drive that was capped by McNabb's 10-yard touchdown pass to running back Brian Westbrook. For the first time in Super Bowl history, the game was tied going into the fourth quarter.

Early in the final period, the Patriots put together a 9-play, 66-yard scoring drive that was keyed by 3 plays from running back Kevin Faulk, who caught 2 passes for 27 combined yards and rushed once for 12. Running back Corey Dillon capped off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Patriots a 21-14 lead. Then after forcing another Eagles punt, Branch's 19-yard reception and a roughing-the-passer penalty on Philadelphia defensive lineman Corey Simon set up kicker Adam Vinatieri's 22-yard field goal with 8:43 left in the game to increase the score 24–14.

The Eagles responded by advancing to the New England 36-yard line on their next drive, but it ended with no points after linebacker Tedy Bruschi intercepted a pass from McNabb at the Patriots 24-yard line. After forcing New England to punt, Philadelphia got the ball back at their own 21-yard line with 5:40 left in the game.

The Eagles then drove 79 yards in 13 plays to cut their deficit to 24-21 with McNabb's 30-yard touchdown pass to receiver Greg Lewis. However, the drive consumed 3:52 of the clock, and only 1:55 remained in the game by the time Lewis scored. Because of this, many sportswriters later criticized the Eagles for not immediately going to a no-huddle offense at the start of the possession. (Two days after the game, some Eagles players revealed that McNabb was so sick that he had trouble calling the plays.)

The Eagles failed to recover their ensuing onside kick attempt. The Patriots then played it safe by running the ball 3 times and forcing Philadelphia to use all of its timeouts. New England punter Josh Miller then pinned the Eagles back at their own 4-yard line with just 46 seconds left in the game. Philadelphia then tried one last desperate drive to win or tie the game. But on first down, McNabb was pressured into making a rushed pass to Westbrook at the line of scrimmage. Instead of dropping the pass to stop the clock, Westbrook made the mistake of catching the ball and was immediately tackled for no gain, keeping the clock running and forcing the Eagles to run back to the line of scrimmage for their next play with no huddle. On second down, McNabb threw an incomplete pass intended for Owens. Finally on third down, McNabb threw a pass that went just over the outstretched fingertips of Smith and into the arms of Harrison for an interception with 9 seconds left, sealing the victory for the Patriots.

McNabb completed 30 out of 51 passes for 357 yards and 3 touchdowns, but threw 3 interceptions and was sacked four times. Westbrook was the Eagles leading rusher with 44 yards, while also catching 6 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown and returning 3 punts for 19 yards. Pinkston caught 4 passes for 82 yards. Owens was the Eagles' top receiver with 9 catches for 122 yards. Brady completed 23 out of 33 passes for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns. Dillon was the top rusher of the game with 75 yards and a touchdown. He was also the Patriots second leading receiver with 3 catches for 31 yards. Running back Kevin Faulk contributed 38 rushing yards and 28 receiving yards.

[edit] Scoring summary

• PHI - L.J. Smith 6 pass from Donovan McNabb (David Akers kick) 7-0 PHI
• NE - David Givens 4 pass from Tom Brady (Adam Vinatieri kick) 7-7 tie
• NE - Mike Vrabel 2 pass from Tom Brady (Adam Vinatieri kick) 14-7 NE
• PHI - Brian Westbrook 10 pass from Donovan McNabb (David Akers kick) 14-14 tie
• NE - Corey Dillon 2 run (Adam Vinatieri kick) 21-14 NE
• NE - Adam Vinatieri FG 22 24-14 NE
• PHI - Greg Lewis 30 pass from Donovan McNabb (David Akers kick) 24-21 NE

[edit] Starting lineups

[edit] Commercials

As usual, the television coverage of this year's Super Bowl was the showcase for the most expensive commercials in television—both to produce and to buy airtime (at the rate of $2.4 million US for 30 seconds).

One ad that drew the ire of many—including the NFL—was for the internet domain provider Go Daddy, which tweaked the controversial halftime of last year's game with a mock censorship hearing featuring a comely woman, Nikki Cappelli (played by WWE Wrestler Candice Michelle), having a "wardrobe malfunction". Fox pulled the second airing of the ad, scheduled for the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter, along with a five-second plug, and it was replaced with a promo for The Simpsons. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based World Wide Web domain registration company got a refund on the second ad.

Another popular ad was made by the NFL. It featured players who were not in the Super Bowl, headlined by Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger being at a beach resort, depressed he did not make it in. Joe Montana comforted Roethlisberger, and soon both Montana and Roethlisberger joined many other players in different locations in an off-key yet rousing edition of "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie. The commercial ended with the tagline: "Tomorrow, we're all undefeated again." Roethlisberger would go onto lead the Steelers to victory in Super Bowl XL the very next season.

A complete list of the ads shown in Super Bowl XXXIX as well as links to news coverage are at superbowl-ads.com; iFilm has the actual commercials at its site.

For the first time since the campaign started in Super Bowl XXI, no "I'm Going to Disney World!" ad aired during Super Bowl XXXIX.

[edit] Gambling

• According to Las Vegas oddsmakers, the Patriots were seven-point favorites entering the game. As the Patriots only won by 3 points, the Patriots failed to cover this spread.
• The over-under bet was set at 46.0 by most casinos. As the total combined score of the two teams was 45 points, the under bet won.
• The money line was set at roughly +245 for Philadelphia and −265 for New England.

[edit] Trivia

Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (right) lost a friendly football bet to Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy. Here Santorum wears a Patriots hat and presents Kennedy and his staff with Philly cheesesteaks.

• For the third straight year, each team took the field en masse. In prerecorded video segments, Andover, Massachusetts native Michael Chiklis introduced the Patriots, and Philadelphia-born Will Smith introduced the Eagles. (In Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots were the first team to forego individual introductions.)
• With this appearance the Patriots became the 8th team to make it to the Super Bowl for the 5th time. They joined the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Washington Redskins, and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders.
• Branch's Super Bowl record 11 catches tied Cincinnati Bengals' Dan Ross in Super Bowl XVI and San Francisco 49ers' Jerry Rice in Super Bowl XXIII. Coincidentally all 3 would eventually be traded to the Seattle Seahawks (Ross in 1985, Rice in 2004, and Branch in 2006).
• Branch was the third offensive player ever to win Super Bowl MVP honors without scoring a touchdown or throwing a touchdown pass. The other 2 players were Joe Namath in Super Bowl III and Fred Biletnikoff in Super Bowl XI.
• Branch and Terrell Owens each had 100 yards receiving, marking the third time in Super Bowl history, one player from each team had over 100 yards in a Super Bowl. Michael Irvin and Andre Reed were the first in Super Bowl XXVII, and Branch and Muhsin Muhammad the second a year earlier in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
• Branch also became the fourth player to have at least 100 yards receiving in back-to-back Super Bowls, joining John Stallworth, Jerry Rice and Antonio Freeman.
• With the victory, Tom Brady became just the fourth quarterback to win at least three Super Bowls. He joined Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana and Troy Aikman on this exclusive list.
• The Patriots' receivers mocked Terrell Owens's signature "flapping" touchdown move at several points in the game after scoring touchdowns. Many sports shows, such as Pardon the Interruption, criticized this as undignified, and noted that this egoism and petty behavior showed that the team's mentality was drastically different from their Super Bowl XXXVI appearance, when their humility was exhibited in their unprecedented "team introduction".
• This was the Patriots' third straight Super Bowl victory in which they won by a margin of three points. They defeated the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, 20–17, and the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, 32–29. Each of these margins was because of an Adam Vinatieri field goal, two of which (against the Rams and the Panthers) happened in the final seconds of the 4th quarter.
• The 7–7 halftime score was the second Super Bowl to be tied at halftime. The first being Super Bowl XXIII, when the 49ers and Bengals were tied at 3. This would also be the first Super Bowl to be tied after the end of third quarter, with the 14–14 score.
• In each of the Patriots' Super Bowl wins they did not win the coin toss, allow points on the opening-drive of the game and score a touchdown in the first quarter.
• By catching touchdowns, Mike Vrabel and David Givens became just the 14th and 15th players to score a touchdown in consecutive Super Bowls. Vrabel is the most surprising person on this list because he is a linebacker and he scored his on offense. They also became just the 7th and 8th players to catch a touchdown in back-to-back Super Bowls.
• Tom Brady became the fourth quarterback to throw a touchdown pass in three different Super Bowls. Other quarterbacks to do it were Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana and John Elway.
• The Patriots have won the first three Super Bowls to be played in February.
• This was the first Super Bowl that the Patriots played in an outdoor stadium. In their other Super Bowl appearances, they played in a domed stadium, or one with a retractable roof.
• Each member of the Patriots team received a payment of $68,000 for winning the game. The Eagles each received $36,500. When adjusted for inflation, the Patriots salary was actually less than the $15,000 paid to members of the Green Bay Packers for winning Super Bowl I in 1967. That amount of money in 1967 equates to approximately $85,000 in 2005 [1].
• This was last game Cris Collinsworth broadcast as a member of the NFL on FOX team, as he chose to sign with NBC in the following off-season.
• The fourth quarter touchdown reception by Philadelphia's Greg Lewis was the first of his career.
• Field judge Tom Sifferman became the first person to officiate at three straight Super Bowls. Jim Tunney is still the only referee (head official) to officiate consecutive Super Bowls (Super Bowl XI and Super Bowl XII).
• This was the New England area's second championship in five months (Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series)
• The Patriots' win upped the AFC's record to 3-1 in Super Bowls broadcast by FOX(the current NFC network). It was also the third time in four Super Bowls broadcasted by FOX that the Patriots participated.

[edit] Officials

• Referee: Terry McAulay
• Umpire: Carl Paganelli
• Head Linesman: Gary Slaughter
• Line Judge: Mark Steinkerchner
• Field Judge: Tom Sifferman
• Side Judge: Rick Patterson
• Back Judge: Tony Steratore
• Alternate Referee: Ed Hochuli
• Alternate Umpire: Garth DeFelice
• Alternate Field Judge: Larry Rose

[edit] See also

• 2004 NFL season
• NFL playoffs, 2004-05
• Dynasty (sports)

[edit] References

• Super Bowl official website
• 2006 NFL Record and Fact Book. Time Inc. Home Entertainment. ISBN 1-933405-32-5. 
• The Sporting News: History of the Super Bowl (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• http://www.pro-football-reference.com - Large online database of NFL data and statistics
• Super Bowl play-by-plays from USA Today (Last accessed September 28, 2005)
• All-Time Super Bowl Odds from The Sports Network (Last accessed October 16, 2005)