Super Bowl XXXIX Totally Explained

Everything about Super Bowl Xxxix totally explained

Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played on February 6, 2005, at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion following the 2004 regular season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots (17-2) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles (15-4), 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. 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 Patriots, playing in their first-ever outdoor Super Bowl (and first east of the Mississippi River), 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). 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.^[5]

Background

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, including setting a single-game rushing record against the Denver Broncos on October 22, 2000. 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. 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 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 wasn't as strong as their passing attack, ranking just 24th in the league in rushing yards (1,639), but it was still fairly effective..

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

Notes and references

Further Information

Get more info on 'Super Bowl Xxxix'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://super_bowl_xxxix.totallyexplained.com">Super Bowl XXXIX Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.