NFL (01/02) Super Bowl XXXVI: New England Patriots vs St Louis Rams

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Sep 6, 2005
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PATRIOTS 20 d. RAMS 17


Game summary

The Rams scored first midway through the first quarter, driving 48 yards in 10 plays to set up a 50-yard field goal by kicker Jeff Wilkins. At the time, the field goal was the third longest in Super Bowl history. The rest of the quarter was scoreless.

Early in the second quarter, the Rams drove to New England's 34-yard line, but quarterback Kurt Warner threw an incompletion on third down, and Wilkins' subsequent 52-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.

With 8:49 left in the second quarter, New England defensive back Ty Law intercepted a pass intended for receiver Dane Looker and scored on a 47-yard return to give the Patriots a 7-3 lead. With less than two minutes left in the first half, Warner completed a pass to receiver Ricky Proehl at the Patriots 40-yard line, but New England defensive back Antwan Harris forced a fumble while tackling him, which was recovered by Patriots defensive back Terrell Buckley. New England quarterback Tom Brady would lead a drive that culminated with an 8-yard touchdown pass to receiver David Patten with 31 seconds left in the half to give New England a 14–3 halftime lead. This was the first time in the 2001 season that St. Louis fell behind in a game by more than eight points.

The Patriots took the opening kickoff of the second half, but could only reach the St. Louis 43-yard line before being forced to punt. Aided by a 20-yard reception by wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim, a 22-yard reception by Bruce, and a defensive pass interference penalty on Patriots defensive back Otis Smith, the Rams advanced to the New England 41-yard line. However, on the next play, linebacker Mike Vrabel and defensive lineman Richard Seymour sacked Warner for a 9-yard loss. Warner then threw 2 consecutive incomplete passes, which resulted in the Rams punting.

Later in the third quarter, Otis Smith intercepted a pass intended for Rams wide receiver Torry Holt after Holt slipped while coming off the line of scrimmage, and returned the ball 30 yards to the Rams 33-yard line. Though St. Louis' defense did not give up a touchdown to the Patriots, kicker Adam Vinateri made a 37-yard field goal to increase New England's lead to 17–3.

The Rams responded by driving to the Patriots' 3-yard line on their ensuing drive. On fourth-and-goal, the Rams attempted to score a touchdown, calling for a quarterback sneak by Warner. Warner fumbled the ball while being tackled by linebacker Roman Phifer, which was recovered by defensive back Tebucky Jones who returned it 97 yards for a touchdown that would have increased the Patriots lead to 23-3. However, the play was nullified by a holding penalty on linebacker Willie McGinest, who illegally hugged Rams running back Marshall Faulk and prevented him from becoming an eligible reciever, which in turn gave the Rams a first down on the 1-yard line instead. On second down, Warner scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to make the score 17–10, Patriots.

After Warner's touchdown, the Rams defense forced the Patriots to a three-and-out. St. Louis then drove from their own 7-yard line to the New England 36-yard line, aided by a 30-yard reception by Proehl. However, McGinest sacked Warner for a 16-yard loss on second down, pushing the Rams back to their 46-yard line. St. Louis ended up punting after Warner's third down pass was incomplete.

The Rams forced New England to another three-and-out, and got the ball back on their own 45-yard line with 1:51 left in the game. Warner threw three consecutive completions: an 18-yard pass to Hakim, an 11-yard one to receiver Yo Murphy, and finally a 26-yard touchdown completion to Proehl that tied the game 17–17 with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots had no timeouts left for their ensuing drive, which resulted in color commentator John Madden initially suggesting that the Patriots should run out the clock and attempt to win in overtime. Instead, New England attempted to get the winning score in regulation on the final drive. Brady opened the drive with three completions to running back J.R. Redmond, which moved the ball to their 41-yard line with 33 seconds left. After an incomplete pass, Brady completed a 23-yard pass to wide receiver Troy Brown, and followed it up with a 6-yard completion to tight end Jermaine Wiggins to advance to the Rams' 30-yard line. Brady then spiked the ball with seven seconds left, which set up Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal attempt. Vinatieri's game-winning kick was successful, marking the only time in Super Bowl history that a game was won by a score on the final play.

[edit] Scoring summary

* STL - FG: Jeff Wilkins 50 yards 3–0 STL 3:10. Drive: 10 plays,48 yards in 5:05
* NE - TD: Ty Law 47 yard interception return (Adam Vinatieri kick) 7–3 NE 8:49
* NE - TD: David Patten 8 yard pass from Tom Brady (Adam Vinatieri kick) 14–3 NE 0:31. Drive: 5 plays, 40 yards in 0:49
* NE - FG: Adam Vinatieri 37 yards 17–3 NE 1:18. Drive: 5 plays, 14 yards in 2:07
* STL - TD: Kurt Warner 2 yard run (Jeff Wilkins kick) 17–10 NE 9:31. Drive:12 plays, 77 yards in 6:47
* STL - TD: Ricky Proehl 26 yard pass from Kurt Warner (Jeff Wilkins kick) 17–17 tie 1:30 Drive: 3 plays, 55 yards in 0:21
* NE - FG: Adam Vinatieri 48 yards 20–17 NE 0:00 Drive: 9 plays, 53 yards in 1:30

[edit] Final statistics

[edit] Overview

Warner finished the game with 28 completions out of 44 passes for 365 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions, and rushed 3 times for 6 yards and a touchdown. Warner's 365 passing yards were the second highest total in Super Bowl history behind his own record of 414 yards set in Super Bowl XXXIV. Hakim was the top receiver of the game with 5 catches for 90 yards, and also rushed once for 5 yards. Faulk led the team with 76 rushing yards, and also caught 4 passes for 54 yards.

Patriots running back Antowain Smith was the top rusher of the game with 92 yards, and caught a pass for 4 yards. Troy Brown was the Patriots leading receiver with 6 catches for 89 yards, a 15-yard kickoff return, and a 4-yard punt return, giving him 108 total yards.

Although the Rams outgained the Patriots 427–267 in total yards, New England forced three turnovers and converted them into 17 points. The Patriots committed no turnovers.

[edit] Trivia
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (January 2009)

* Kurt Warner's 365 passing yards were the second highest total in Super Bowl history behind his own record of 414 yards set in Super Bowl XXXIV.

* This Super Bowl was the first since Super Bowl XXX not to have a rookie score in the game. Adam Vinatieri (Super Bowl XXXI), Ryan Longwell (Super Bowl XXXII), Tim Dwight (Super Bowl XXXIII), Torry Holt (Super Bowl XXXIV) and Jamal Lewis (Super Bowl XXXV) had scored in the previous five Super Bowls.

* This was the New England Patriots' third straight Super Bowl played at the Louisiana Superdome and second straight Super Bowl as a 14 point underdog.

* This game was the last Super Bowl played on antiquated AstroTurf. About a year before the game was held, stadium officials considered bringing in natural grass for the game. The system would use large trays of grass grown and cultivated outdoors, and brought inside to be placed on the field of play. Cost concerns, and the fact that it had never been done before, prompted stadium and league officials to abandon the project. During the 2003 season, the Superdome replaced its AstroTurf surface with AstroPlay, a surface that more closely simulates natural grass. The last two teams to play their home games on AstroTurf, the Rams and the Indianapolis Colts, switched to FieldTurf in 2005.

* This is the only Super Bowl to date to be decided on the last play of the game.

* Although the Rams led the league during the regular season in red zone possessions, they did not enter the red zone until early in the fourth quarter, in a drive that ended with Warner's 2-yard touchdown run. This drive ended up being the only time in the game that the Rams ran any plays from scrimmage in the red zone.

* The Patriots became the 8th team to win the Super Bowl over a team with a better record going into the game (13-5 for the Patriots to 16-2 for the Rams).

* Tom Brady had the third lowest passing yards total for a Super Bowl MVP quarterback with his 145. Roger Staubach has the lowest total with 119 yards in the Cowboys Super Bowl VI win. Brady's was the first such award to be partially awarded through fan voting. The following year's Lindy's Pro Football Annual reported that had fan voting not been factored in that Ty Law would have won the award.

* Ever since the Patriots' now-famous "team introduction" in Super Bowl XXXVI, the NFL decided to forgo individual player introductions for the Super Bowl ; every subsequent Super Bowl (except XXXVII) has had "team introductions" on both sides.

* This was the commonwealth of Massachusetts' first major professional championship since the Boston Celtics' NBA title in 1986.

* The Patriots' win snapped an eight game Super Bowl losing streak for the AFC East. The Miami Dolphins in VIII had been the last team in this division to win the Super Bowl.
 
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