Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX will be the 39th Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League, the major professional league of American football in the United States. The game will be played on Sunday, February 6, 2005 begining at 6:30 PM United States Eastern Standard Time in Jacksonville, Florida at ALLTEL Stadium, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The game — along with an abundance of pre-game activities that will begin at 10 AM US EST — will be broadcast in the USA by Fox with Joe Buck handling the play-by-play duties with color analysts Cris Collinsworth and Troy Aikman in the broadcast booth. James Brown will be hosting all the events with help from his fellow "Fox NFL Sunday" cast members Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson among others.

The participants will be the Philadelphia Eagles, winners of the National Football Conference, squaring off against the New England Patriots, winners of the American Football Conference and defending NFL champions. The Patriots have been installed by Las Vegas oddsmakers as a six-point favorite to open betting.

Sir Paul McCartney is scheduled to perform during the halftime show; his selection by the NFL, the show's producers, Don Mischer Productions and the show's sponsor, Ameriquest Mortgage, is considered to be a "safe" choice, as it avoids the possibility for an incident similar to that which sparked the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy the previous year.

Taking the concept a step further, for the first time, a theme is tied to the event: Building Bridges, as symbolized by the theme logo, representing one of the seven bridges that crosses over the St. Johns River in the host city, and according to the league, symbolizes the bridging of a nation under the NFL football umbrella.

Playoffs

Wild Card Round

January 8th, 2005

• NFC: St. Louis Rams 27, Seattle Seahawks 20

The Rams won a back-and-forth game in Seattle's Qwest Field that was not decided until the final seconds. Rams quarterback Marc Bulger threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner to Cam Cleeland with 2:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks marched to the Rams' five-yard line on the following drive, but a fourth-down pass was dropped by Bobby Engram with 27 seconds left. The Rams became the first team in NFL history to win a playoff game after going .500 in the regular season.

• AFC: New York Jets 20, San Diego Chargers 17 (OT)

The Jets backed into the playoffs despite losing their final two games in the regular season. The Chargers, playing at home in Qualcomm Stadium, were heavily favored. New York led 17-10 going into the fourth quarter, but a Nate Kaeding field goal pulled San Diego within a touchdown. A fourth-down pass by quarterback Drew Brees with under 20 seconds left fell incomplete into the end zone, but Jets linebacker Eric Barton was penalized for roughing the passer, giving the Chargers a first down from the one-yard line. Brees threw a touchdown to Antonio Gates on the following play, setting up overtime. Kaeding missed a 40-yard field goal late in the extra period, allowing the Jets to come back down the field. Kicker Doug Brien won the game for the Jets with a 28-yard field goal with five seconds remaining in the first overtime session.

January 9th, 2005

• AFC: Indianapolis Colts 49, Denver Broncos 24

The Colts followed up their wild-card blowout of the Broncos in the previous year's Wild Card Round, and also made up for a loss in Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High a week earlier with another thrashing at the RCA Dome. Indianapolis scored a team-record seven touchdowns and led 35-3 at the half. Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, including two to Reggie Wayne (who had 221 yards receiving on the day), and one each to Dallas Clark and James Mungro. Manning also scored a fifth on a draw play. Edgerrin James and Dominic Rhodes scored rushing touchdowns. The Broncos' lone bright spot was a 14-point third quarter with two Jake Plummer touchdown passes.

• NFC: Minnesota Vikings 31, Green Bay Packers 17

The Vikings made up for their two last-second losses to the Packers in the regular season with a stellar performance on both sides of the ball at Lambeau Field. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw four touchdowns, while his Green Bay counterpart Brett Favre threw four interceptions. Randy Moss caught two touchdowns for Minnesota, but drew controversy for his celebration after his second. Moss pretended to "moon" Packers' fans, better known as "cheeseheads" by pretending to pull down his pants, mocking a move done by Packer fans to the losing team's bus as they leave Green Bay. The NFL was not amused, and docked Moss $10,000 (US) for his actions a few days later. Moe Williams and Nate Burleson also scored for the Vikings, while Bubba Franks and Najeh Davenport provided touchdowns for the Packers.

Divisional Playoff Round

January 15th, 2005

• AFC: Pittsburgh Steelers 20, New York Jets 17

The Jets played their third consecutive overtime nailbiter (one of them in their regular season finale) in as many weeks, but this time came out on the losing end at Heinz Field when placekicker Doug Brien missed two consecutive field goals. Despite a supbar performance by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers managed to advance to the AFC Championship Game when Jeff Reed booted a game-winning 33-yard field goal.

• NFC: Atlanta Falcons 47, St. Louis Rams 17

In a classic rout, Michael Vick and the Falcons steamrolled over the Rams at the Georgia Dome in their first home playoff game since 1999. Vick combined for 201 yards while running back Warrick Dunn scored two of Atlanta's touchdowns to advance to the NFC Championship Game.

January 16th, 2005

• NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 27, Minnesota Vikings 17

At Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the fourth consecutive year on the strength of Donovan McNabb (21-for-33, 286 yards, 2 TD) and his offense. The Vikings shot themselves in the foot when head coach Mike Tice tried to call timeout before a fake field goal attempt involving wideout Randy Moss. Freddie Mitchell countered Moss' "mooning" of the week before by "pulling up" his pants in the celebration following his first touchdown of the game, his second touchdown coming on a fumble recovery in the end zone of an L. J. Smith catch. David Akers also added a pair of field goals for the Eagles.

• AFC: New England Patriots 20, Indianapolis Colts 3

In a somewhat driving snowstorm at Gillette Stadium, Tom Brady and the Patriots dismantled one of the best offenses in the NFL during the 2004 season and earn a trip to Pittsburgh the following week and the AFC Championship Game for the third time in four years. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning suffered his seventh loss in Foxborough, even though he had more yards passing than Brady did in the game.

Conference Championships

January 23rd, 2005

• NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 27, Atlanta Falcons 10

Despite a game-time temperature of 17 °F (-8 °C) and a swirling wind that sent wind chills into sub-zero tempratures at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles finally succeeded in advancing to the Super Bowl in their fourth consecutive NFC Championship Game appearance. The Eagles' defense held Michael Vick to a combined total of 162 yards, sacking him four times. Tight end Chad Lewis caught two touchdown passes of three and two yards from Donovan McNabb, while Dorsey Levens also scored on a four-yard run for Philadelphia and Akers contributed two field goals. Atlanta got their points from a Jay Feely 23-yard field goal and a Warrick Dunn ten-yard touchdown run. For the Eagles, this is their second Super Bowl appearance, their only other visit to the NFL's ultimate game was in Super Bowl XV, losing to the Oakland Raiders, 27-10.

• AFC: New England Patriots 41, Pittsburgh Steelers 27

The game-time temperature at Heinz Field, measuring in at 11 °F (-12 °C), made it the second-coldest game ever in Pittsburgh and the coldest ever in Steel City playoff annals. However, it was the Patriots and Brady that handed Roethlisberger his first loss after a 14-game winning streak, the longest by a rookie quarterback in NFL history. Patriots wide reciever Deion Branch scored two touchdowns — one on a 60-yard reception, the other on a 23-yard run — and also got touchdowns from David Givens (nine-yard catch) and Corey Dillon (25-yard run), and kicker Adam Vinatieri's two field goals. On defense, Rodney Harrison returned one of Roethlisberger's interceptions 87 yards for a touchdown. The Steelers, whose 15-1 season ended on a sour note, got scores from Jerome Bettis (five-yard run), Hines Ward (30-yard reception), and Plaxico Burress (seven-yard catch), while kicker Jeff Reed added two field goals. The Patriots will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl for the third time in the last four years, and the Eagles will be their fifth opponent in five Super Bowl appearances.