Super Bowl XXXI
Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game. It was between the American Football Conference (AFC) winner New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) winner Green Bay Packers. The winner would be the National Football League (NFL) winner for the 1996 NFL season. The Packers beat the Patriots 35–21. This was the Packers' 3rd win in the Super Bowl. Their last win was in Super Bowl II in 1968. The Packers also beat their record for most NFL championships. They were now in 12 championships. The game was on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This was the first Super Bowl broadcast by Fox. Fox made a contract to air NFL games. This was the highest-rated program ever on Fox at the time.
Box score
[change | change source]
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Final statistics
[change | change source]Sources: NFL.com Super Bowl XXXI, Super Bowl XXXI Play Finder GB, Super Bowl XXXI Play Finder NE
Statistical comparison
[change | change source]| New England Patriots | Green Bay Packers | |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 16 | 16 |
| First downs rushing | 3 | 8 |
| First downs passing | 12 | 6 |
| First downs penalty | 1 | 2 |
| Third down efficiency | 4/14 | 3/15 |
| Fourth down efficiency | 0/2 | 0/1 |
| Net yards rushing | 43 | 115 |
| Rushing attempts | 13 | 36 |
| Yards per rush | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| Passing – Completions/attempts | 25/48 | 14/27 |
| Times sacked-total yards | 5–39 | 5–38 |
| Interceptions thrown | 4 | 0 |
| Net yards passing | 214 | 208 |
| Total net yards | 257 | 323 |
| Punt returns-total yards | 4–30 | 6–90 |
| Kickoff returns-total yards | 6–135 | 4–154 |
| Interceptions-total return yards | 0–0 | 4–24 |
| Punts-average yardage | 8–45.1 | 7–42.7 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Penalties-total yards | 2–22 | 3–41 |
| Time of possession | 25:45 | 34:15 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 0 |
Individual statistics
[change | change source]| Patriots Passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Rating | |
| Drew Bledsoe | 25/48 | 253 | 2 | 4 | 46.6 |
| Patriots Rushing | |||||
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | Yds/Car | |
| Curtis Martin | 11 | 42 | 1 | 18 | 3.82 |
| Drew Bledsoe | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 |
| Dave Meggett | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Patriots Receiving | |||||
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | Target5 | |
| Ben Coates | 6 | 67 | 1 | 19 | 8 |
| Terry Glenn | 4 | 62 | 0 | 44 | 7 |
| Keith Byars | 4 | 42 | 1 | 32 | 7 |
| Shawn Jefferson | 3 | 34 | 0 | 14 | 8 |
| Curtis Martin | 3 | 28 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
| Dave Meggett | 3 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Vincent Brisby | 2 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 4 |
| Packers Passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Rating | |
| Brett Favre | 14/27 | 246 | 2 | 0 | 107.9 |
| Packers Rushing | |||||
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | Yds/Car | |
| Dorsey Levens | 14 | 61 | 0 | 12 | 4.36 |
| Edgar Bennett | 17 | 40 | 0 | 10 | 2.35 |
| Brett Favre | 4 | 12 | 1 | 12 | 3.00 |
| William Henderson | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2.00 |
| Packers Receiving | |||||
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | Target5 | |
| Antonio Freeman | 3 | 105 | 1 | 81 | 6 |
| Dorsey Levens | 3 | 23 | 0 | 14 | 5 |
| Andre Rison | 2 | 77 | 1 | 54 | 7 |
| William Henderson | 2 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Mark Chmura | 2 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
| Keith Jackson | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 2 |
| Edgar Bennett | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Terry Mickens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1Completions/attempts 2Carries 3Long gain 4Receptions 5Times targeted
Records set
[change | change source]These records were set in Super Bowl XXXI[6][7][8]
| Player Records Set[8] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Longest pass | 81 yards (TD) | Brett Favre (Green Bay) |
| Longest reception | 81 yards (TD) | Antonio Freeman (Green Bay) |
| Longest scoring play | 99 yards kickoff return | Desmond Howard (Green Bay) |
| Longest kickoff return | 99 yards | |
| Highest kickoff return average, career (4 returns) | 38.5 yards (4–154) | |
| Most punt return yards gained, game | 90 yards | |
| Records Tied | ||
| Most combined yardage† gained, game | 244 | Desmond Howard (Green Bay) |
| Most kickoff returns for touchdowns, game | 1 | |
| Most punt returns, game | 6 | |
| Most punt returns, career | 6 | |
| 6 | David Meggett (New England) | |
| Most interceptions thrown, game | 4 | Drew Bledsoe (New England) |
| Most 2 point conversions, game | 1 | Mark Chmura (Green Bay) |
- † This also includes rushing, receiving, interception returns, punt returns, kickoff returns, and fumble returns.[9]
| Team Records Set[8] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Most punt returns yards gained | 90 yards | Packers |
| Records Tied | ||
| Most points, first quarter | 14 points | Patriots |
| Most Interceptions by | 4 | Packers |
| Fewest turnovers, game | 0 | |
| Most kickoff returns for touchdowns | 1 | |
| Most punt returns, game | 6 | |
Turnovers are the number of times losing the ball on interceptions and fumbles.
| Records Set, both team totals[8] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Packers | Patriots | |
| Most points, first quarter | 24 points | 10 | 14 |
| Most punt returns, game | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| Most punt return yards gained | 120 yards | 90 | 30 |
| Records tied, both team totals | |||
| Fewest rushing attempts | 49 | 36 | 13 |
| Most times sacked | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| Fewest fumbles | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Teams
[change | change source]Hall of Fame‡
| New England | Position | Position | Green Bay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | |||
| Shawn Jefferson | WR | Antonio Freeman | |
| Bruce Armstrong | LT | Bruce Wilkerson | |
| William Roberts | LG | Aaron Taylor | |
| Dave Wohlabaugh | C | Frank Winters | |
| Todd Rucci | RG | Adam Timmerman | |
| Max Lane | RT | Earl Dotson | |
| Ben Coates | TE | Mark Chmura | |
| Terry Glenn | WR | Andre Rison | |
| Drew Bledsoe | QB | Brett Favre‡ | |
| Curtis Martin‡ | RB | Edgar Bennett | |
| Keith Byars | FB | William Henderson | |
| Defense | |||
| Ferric Collons | LE | Reggie White‡ | |
| Mark Wheeler | LT | DT | Santana Dotson |
| Pio Sagapolutele | RT | NT | Gilbert Brown |
| Willie McGinest | RE | Sean Jones | |
| Chris Slade | LLB | Wayne Simmons | |
| Ted Johnson | MLB | Ron Cox | |
| Todd Collins | RLB | Brian Williams | |
| Ty Law‡ | LCB | Craig Newsome | |
| Otis Smith | RCB | Doug Evans | |
| Lawyer Milloy | SS | LeRoy Butler‡ | |
| Willie Clay | FS | Eugene Robinson | |
Officials
[change | change source]- Referee: Gerald Austin #34 second Super Bowl (XXIV as side judge)
- Umpire: Ron Botchan #110 fourth Super Bowl (XX, XXVII, XXIX)
- Head Linesman: Earnie Frantz #111 second Super Bowl (XXIV)
- Line Judge: Jeff Bergman #32 first Super Bowl
- Back Judge: Scott Steenson #88 first Super Bowl
- Side Judge: Tom Fincken #47 second Super Bowl (XXIX)
- Field Judge: Phil Luckett #59 first Super Bowl
- Alternate Referee: Ed Hochuli #85
- Alternate Umpire: Neil Gereb #50
References
[change | change source]- Specific
- ↑ DiNitto, Marcus (January 25, 2015). "Super Bowl Betting History – Underdogs on Recent Roll". Sporting News. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Super Bowl History". Vegas Insider. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Super Bowl Winners". NFL.com. National Football League. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Historical Super Bowl Nielsen TV Ratings, 1967–2009 – Ratings". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- ↑ "Super Bowl Game-Time Temperatures". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
- ↑ "Super Bowl XXXI boxscore". NFL.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ↑ "2016 NFL Factbook" (PDF). NFL. pp. 654–666. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 6, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 "Super Bowl XXXI statistics". Pro Football reference.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Super Bowl record definition". NFL.com. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
- ↑ "Super Bowl XXXI–National Football League Game Summary" (PDF). National Football League. January 26, 1997. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
- ↑ Neft, David S., Cohen, Richard M., and Korch, Rick. The Complete History of Professional Football from 1892 to the Present. 1994 ISBN 0-312-11435-4
- General
- Super Bowl XXXI: NFL Full Game on YouTube
- 2006 NFL Record and Fact Book. Time Inc. Home Entertainment. July 25, 2006. ISBN 1-933405-32-5.
- Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. HarperCollins. July 25, 2006. ISBN 1-933405-32-5.
Other websites
[change | change source]- Super Bowl XXXI Memories Video.
- Super Bowl official website
- The Sporting News: History of the Super Bowl (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- 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[permanent dead link] from The Sports Network (Last accessed October 16, 2005)
- Super Bowl XXXI Box Score at Pro Football Reference