Things To Do |

Why you should root for the Patriots in the Super Bowl

DAVE MARTIN / AP

The Super Bowl has never had a punt returned for a touchdown or had a game go to overtime. The closest a punt returner has gotten to the end zone was last year, when the Broncos' Jordan Norwood saw his record 61-yard punt return end up at the Carolina 14. The closest a game has come to overtime was in 2002, when Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri drilled a 48-yard field goal at the gun to beat the Rams 20-17. He also broke a 29-29 tie two years later against the Carolina Panthers with a 41-yarder with four seconds left. And in 1971, the Colts' Jim O'Brien toed through a 32-yard field goal with five seconds left to give Baltimore a 16-13 victory in the Orange Bowl.

Tony Gutierrez / AP

Seven appearances and five wins. His two losses came in ultra-tight games against the New York Giants. Shows no signs of slowing dowwn. Honorable mention: Steelers' Chuck Noll, Redskins' Joe Gibbs and 49ers' Bill Walsh.

Eric Risberg / AP

Craig perfected the role of West Coast Offense running back, taking swing passes from Joe Montana as elongated handoffs, while still being able to find yardage through the interior line. Craig decimated the Dolphins (three touchdowns) and Bengals (80 fourth-quarter yards) en route to gaining 410 total yards and scoring four touchdowns in his three Super Bowls, all wins.

GENE J PUSKAR / AP

Webster, one of the Steelers'? four Hall of Famers selected in the 1974 draft, made the line calls and manned the middle in front of Terry Bradshaw during the Steelers'? explosive wins in XIII and XIV, where Pittsburgh averaged 33 points per game. Honorable mention: Dolphins'? Jim Langer; 49ers?' Randy Cross; Broncos'? Tom Nalen

Donn Gould / Sun Sentinel

Csonka is the only back in the game's history to have played in at least three Super Bowls and have averaged at least 4  yards a carry in each (4.44 per rush in VI, 7.47 in VII and and 4.39 in his MVP effort in VIII). Honorable mention: Cowboys' Robert Newhouse; Redskins' John Riggins; Cowboys' Daryl Johnston

B Bennett / Getty Images

The Dolphin paired up with Dick Anderson for the formidable back line of the No-Name Defense, taking home the MVP of Super Bowl VII, a 14-7 win over the Redskins where Washington?'s only score was a special-teams touchdown. Scott had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries in Miami?'s back-to-back victories. Honorable mention: Packers' Willie Wood; Chargers' and Patriots' Rodney Harrison; Steelers'? Troy Polamalu

Rick Bowmer / AP

Lewis was the unquestioned leader of the 2000 Ravens? exceptional defense as it allowed more than 10 points in only five of its 20 games. Against the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, Lewis flew around the field, terrorizing quarterback Kerry Collins and deflecting four passes, one of which was intercepted. Lewis earned the MVP as the only points New York scored came on a kickoff return. Honorable mention: Chiefs'? Willie Lanier; Dolphins'? Nick Buoniconti; Bears'? Mike Singletary

Winslow Townson / AP

Kurt Warner's 414 yards against the Titans in the St. Louis Rams' 23-16 win in 2000 is a Super Bowl record. However, his 377 yards in the Cardinals' 27-23 loss to the Steelers in 2009 and 365 yards in the Rams' 20-17 loss to the Patriots in 2002 take up the next two slots as well.

NFL / AP

One of the founding members of The Hogs, Grimm (with Joe Jacoby) was a road grader on the left side. The Redskins won three Super Bowls, each with a different quarterback and featured running back. That fact is as great a tribute as an offensive line can receive. Honorable mention: Raiders'? Gene Upshaw; Dolphins'? Bob Kuechenberg; Cowboys'? Nate Newton

AP

The acrobatic Steeler?'s performance in Super Bowl X made him the first receiver to pull down the game?'s MVP. Swann, who was relegated to punt return duty as a rookie in Super Bowl IX, flew through the air with his balletic body control to snare 364 yards in receptions in Pittsburgh?'s wins in X, XIII and XIV. Honorable mention: Steelers?' John Stallworth; Patriots'? Deion Branch; Redskins'? Ricky Sanders

Jeff HAYNES / AFP

The Minister of Defense easily could have been the MVP of the Packers'? win in Super Bowl XXXI against the Patriots as he used supreme leverage and his meaty right arm to toss tackle Max Lane like a rag doll en route to a record-tying three sacks in the game.

MATT CAMPBELL / AFP

John Elway finished his career in the 1999 Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons at what is now Hard Rock Stadium. Joe Montana also played his final career game there in a 1995 playoff game against the Dolphins. Dan Marino, however, did not play his final game in Miami Gardens (Jacksonville).

HANS DERYK / AP

A few years after the import of Charles Haley from the 49ers helped gift-wrap the Cowboys surge to NFC dominance, San Francisco again let go of a player from a championship team who Dallas snapped up. In this case, it was all-world cover corner Deion Sanders, Sanders had an interception in XXIX against the Chargers and then a 47-yard reception along with eradicating any medium-to-deep passing by the Steelers in XXX.

AP

Casting a scary visage with his top front teeth a distant memory, the tackling machine Lambert set the tone in Super Bowl X by decking Cowboys star safety Cliff Harris as he heckled Steelers kicker Roy Gerela after a miss. He also clinched Pittsburgh'?s XIV win over the Los Angeles Rams with a fourth-quarter interception.

Boston Globe / Boston Globe via Getty Images

Worse than that, New England hasn't scored a point in the first quarter of any of the dynamic duo's six Super Bowls.

JEFF HAYNES / AFP/Getty Images

Houston is the third site where New England will have played multiple Super Bowls. The Pats played their first three in New Orleans (46-10 loss to the Chicago Bears in 1986, 35-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers in 1997 and 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams in 2002) and have also played two in Glendale, Ariz. (17-14 loss to the New York Giants in 2008 and a 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks seven years later). They also have played once in Jacksonville and Indianapolis.

Bill Haber / AP

The gold standard, Rice'?s performance in the Super Bowl mirrored the overarching greatness of his regular-season numbers. The MVP of Super Bowl XXIII, Rice played in four of the games, racking up a record 604 total yards and eight touchdowns.

JULIE JACOBSON / AP

In Super Bowl XXXVI, his rush on the Rams? Kurt Warner resulted in Ty Law'?s interception for a touchdown. In XXXVIII against the Panthers, he had two sacks, a forced fumble and a touchdown catch. Then, in XXXIX against the Eagles, he added another sack and another touchdown reception. He had a huge impact in three three-point wins. Honorable Mention: Cowboys'? Chuck Howley; Broncos' Von Miller; Raiders'? Rod Martin

Rhona WISE / AFP

Bill Parcells'? Patriots had started to believe they might upset the Packers in Super Bowl XXXI after an 18-yard Curtis Martin run with 3:27 left in the third quarter closed the gap to six points. Any thoughts of a comeback, however, were dashed a couple minutes later when Howard gutted the middle of the New England kick coverage and raced 99 yards for the clinching score in Green Bay?'s 35-21 win. Honorable mention: Bengals'? Stanford Jennings; Bears' Devin Hester; Ravens' Jacoby Jones

Steven Senne / AP

In 1989, Cincinnati punter Lee Johnson's 63-yard punt was returned 45 yards by the 49ers' John Taylor. The play's distinction held until 2015, when the Patriots' Ryan Allen edged out Johnson with a 64-yard boot against Seattle. The next year, the Broncos' Jordan Norwood erased Taylor from the record book with a 61-yard runback against the Carolina Panthers.

AP

Harris began his Super Bowl career with an MVP performance against Minnesota in IX. He started three more games and by the end, had piled up 468 total yards and four titles. Honorable mention: Redskins' Timmy Smith, Broncos' Terrell Davis; Cowboys?' Emmitt Smith

Darron Cummings / AP

Brady started his career as a starter with three Super Bowl wins in four seasons, and now has won two of the past three. He now owns four game MVPs in his seven appearances, both records. He also owns the high-water marks for Super Bowl game and career passing-yardage, and comeback. Honorable mentions: 49ers' Joe Montana, Steelers'? Terry Bradshaw and the Rams' and Cardinals' Kurt Warner.

Anonymous / ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Dallas Cowboys have been in eight Super Bowls. They have led in each game by at least seven points, but they have lost three of those games. All three of the defeats were at Miami's Orange Bowl. They led Baltimore 13-6 in the second quarter in 1971 and lost 16-13, led Pittsburgh 7-0 in 1976 before losing 21-17, and again against the Steelers, Dallas led 14-7 in the second quarter of an eventual 35-31 loss in 1979.

Anonymous / Sun Sentinel

The last time a Super Bowl had fewer than a combined 31 points was in 1975, when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings 16-6 at a soggy Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. The fewest points in a game since then was the 31 by the Patriots and Giants in 2008.

JACK SMITH / AP

The Hall of Famer played corner for his first two appearances in the Super Bowl and then shifted to safety by the time Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV rolled around. His explosive first-quarter hit on the Bengals? Ickey Woods in XXIII was one of the most severe collisions in a Super Bowl. Honorable mention: Jets'? Randy Beverly; Raiders' Lester Hayes; Patriots' Ty Law

Bruce Bennett Studios / Getty Images

Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris got plenty of push from Little, Jim Langer, Bob Kuechenberg and Co. in carving up the Redskins and Vikings for 380 combined rushing yards in the Dolphins'? dominating wins in Super Bowls VII and VIII. Honorable mention: Packers?' Jerry Kramer; Steelers'? Gerry Mullins; Cowboys?' Larry Allen

Matt Slocum / AP

The Dolphins played in their fifth and most recent Super Bowl on January 20, 1985. At that point, New England had never been to a Super Bowl. Since then, the Patriots have reached nine Super Bowls, an NFL record.

Getty Images

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell—with his possibly having to award the Lombardi Trophy to the Deflategate-penalized Patriots--finds himself in a similar position as Pete Rozelle was in in 1981, heading into Super Bowl XV between the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans. Raiders owner Al Davis was in the midst of litigation against the NFL in an effort to move his team to Los Angeles. Unfortunately for Rozelle, Dick Vermeil, Ron Jaworski and the Eagles couldn't bail out the commish, getting trounced by Rod Martin, Jim Plunkett and company 27-10. There were forced grins galore in the bowels of the Superdome at the trophy presentation.

AP

The Super Bowl has never seen a team play the game on its home field. The closest a team played to its home field was the Los Angeles Rams in 1980 against the Steelers. The Rams were in their final season of their first stint at the Los Angeles Coliseum and played Pittsburgh at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, less than 15 miles away. Five years later, the San Francisco 49ers played the Dolphins at Stanford, a little under 30 miles away from then-home Candlestick Park.

NFL / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pittsburgh?'s uberintimidator, ?Mean? Joe Greene, was the crown jewel of the Steel Curtain. He routinely overpowered offensive linemen and blew up game plans, allowing Hall of Fame linebackers Jack Lambert and Jack Ham to roam free and wreak further havoc. Honorable mention: Dolphins?' Manny Fernandez; Cowboys'? Leon Lett; Patriots' Vince Wilfork

Amy Sancetta / AP

Two final-seconds winning kicks for the Patriots cement his credentials as the greatest clutch kicker. Honorable mention: Chiefs?' Jan Stenerud; Packers'? Don Chandler; Bills'? Steve Christie