The NFL’s ninth week in the 2021 regular season includes several significant matchups.
Four of this week’s game are rematches of previous Super Bowls, including the first ever Super Bowl game between the Packers and Chiefs. The Colts-Jets showdown this weekend is a rematch of the greatest upset in pro football history, while this weekend’s clash between the Cowboys and Broncos is a rematch of one of the most flawed championship games in Super Bowl history. And whenever you’re talking Super Bowls, it’s hard not to mention Tom Brady, who has played in 10 of the previous 55 big games. Brady’s second Super Bowl win is part of this week’s rematches of Super Bowls past.
Here are three little known facts from each of the NFL‘s four Week 9 Super Bowl rematches. How many of these facts did you already know? Let me know at @BryanDeArdo.
Super Bowl I: Packers 35, Chiefs 10
The only dual broadcast Super Bowl
For the first and only time, the first Super Bowl was televised by two different networks. CBS and NBC were at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In fact, the second half’s opening kickoff had to be re-kicked as one of the networks had yet to return from commercial break. CBS and NBC would rotate who covered the next 17 Super Bowls. CBS has covered a record 21 Super Bowls that includes the Buccaneers‘ win over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. Here’s a look at each Super Bowl that has been previously covered by CBS.
All-time talent
The ’60s Packers are one of the greatest teams of all-time. The ’66 Packers, Vince Lombardi’s fourth of five championship teams, boasted 11 Hall of Fame players. But the Packers’ first Super Bowl opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, also boasted a roster full of talent. Led by coach Hank Stram, the ’66 Chiefs fielded six Hall of Fame players that included five on defense. Kansas City’s roster also included generational talents in running back Mike Garrett and receiver Otis Taylor.
When you add in Lombardi, Stram and Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, there were 20 Hall of Famers who took part in the first Super Bowl. The only Super Bowl with more Hall of Fame participants was Super Bowl XIII, when the Steelers defeated the Cowboys, 35-31.
The most expected star
On a field with numerous future Hall of Famers, Max McGee, a 34-year-old backup receiver who caught only four passes during the ’66 regular season, was Super Bowl I’s biggest star. Expecting to see little — if any — playing time, McGee notoriously partied until the mid-morning hours leading up to the game. But after starting receiver Boyd Dowler left the game with an an early injury, the stage was set for one of the most unexpected performances in Super Bowl history. The confident McGee torched Kansas City’s defense to the tune of seven catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns. McGee’s performance included scoring the Super Bowl’s first touchdown, a 37-yard touchdown that included an impressive on-handed catch.
“Max, who has announced to anybody that would listen, ‘Hey, I can kill these guys if I get in this game,’ he proceeds to have an MVP type of performance,” former Packers offensive lineman Bill Curry told NFL Films. “This is the stuff of legend and it should be. Bart got the most valuable player because he earned it, but they probably should have split it and had co-MVPs because Max had that great of game.”
Super Bowl III: Jets 16, Colts 7
Legendary assistant coaches
Super Bowl III is most famous for the fact that the Jets, an 18-point underdog, pulled off the greatest upset win in Super Bowl history. But what is often forgotten is how good of a defensive battle this game was. The Jets’ defense came away with five turnovers, while the Colts held the Jets to 14 points below their season average.
Two talented defensive assistants likely played a key role in that defensive excellence. The Jets’ defensive line was coached by Buddy Ryan, who was later the defensive line coach of the Vikings‘ “Purple People Eater” defense that advanced to Super Bowl XI. As the Bears‘ defensive coordinator, Ryan famously led Chicago’s ferocious “46” defense that dominated the Patriots in Super Bowl XX.
The Colts’ defense was led by defensive coordinator Chuck Noll, who shortly after Super Bowl III would be named the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Led by the “Steel Curtain” defense, Noll’s teams would win four Super Bowls over a six-year span during the 1970s.
First ‘Super Bowl’
While it was the third game between the AFL and NFL champions, this was the first game that was referred to as the “Super Bowl.” The first two games were simply known as the “AFL-NFL World Championship Game,” with the NFL champion Packers winning the first two games by a combined score of 68-26. The term Super Bowl was coined by Hunt, who along with owning the Chiefs was the AFL principle founder. Hunt shared his name for the AFL-NFL title game with then NFL-commissioner Pete Rozelle ahead of the first championship game between the two leagues.
Where did Hunt’s “Super Bowl” idea come from? The answer can be traced back to a kid’s toy that was played with by Hunt’s children during the mid ’60s. One day, Hunt saw his kids playing with a Superball, a “mystery ball with 1,000 bounces” that was branded as “the greatest ball ever created.”
Joe Namath did not throw a single fourth quarter pass
The Jets brash quarterback, who went 17 of 28 for 206 yards during the first three quarters, spent the final quarter of Super Bowl III handing the ball to Matt Snell, Emerson Boozer, and Bill Mathis. Snell rushed for 36 of the Jets’ 48 yards during the quarter, as New York extended its lead to 16-0 on Jim Turner’s fourth field goal of the game.
While his fourth quarter was uneventful, Namath more than put his stamp on Super Bowl III during the game’s first three quarters. Namath, in order to avoid the Colts’ ferocious pass rush, shortened his drop back. He also got rid of the ball substantially quicker than he did during New York’s previous games. Namath also used Maynard, a Hall of Fame receiver, as a decoy while instead throwing to George Sauer, who caught eight passes for 133 yards. A pair of Namath completions to Sauer set up Snell’s second quarter touchdown. Namath’s 35-yard completion to Sauer on the Jets’ next drive served as New York’s longest play of the afternoon.
Namath also called a brilliant game, as he consistently kept the Colts off-guard with a perfect mix of runs and passes. Namath, to the chagrin of Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Curtis and the rest of the Colts’ defense, called several draw plays that caught Baltimore’s defense by surprise. The result was a New York offense that tallied more first downs and more total yards than Baltimore.
Super Bowl XII: Cowboys 27, Broncos 10
First Super Bowl played in a dome
Super Bowl IX was supposed to be the first Super Bowl played inside, but due to the Superdome still being under construction, the game was moved to Tulane Stadium. Three years later, the Superdome played host to one of the most turnover-heavy Super Bowls ever. Denver committed eight of the game’s 10 turnovers, as the Cowboys pulled away in the second half en route to their second Super Bowl win of the decade.
The was also the first prime time Super Bowl. While the 11 previous Super Bowls started in the mid-afternoon, Super Bowl XII was kicked off at 6:17 p.m. ET.
Heisman-winning backfield
For the first time, two former Heisman Trophy winners shared a starting backfield in the Super Bowl. Fresh off of his Heisman and national championship campaign in 1976, former Pitt Panther Tony Dorsett was selected by the Cowboys with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1977 draft. His quarterback, Roger Staubach, won the Heisman Trophy in 1963 in leading Navy to a 9-2 record and No. 7 overall ranking. Dorsett, who became the first player to win an NCAA title and a Super Bowl title in consecutive years, scored the game’s first touchdown on a three-yard run. Staubach was an efficient 17 of 25 passing that included his 45-yard touchdown pass to Butch Johnson that gave Dallas a 20-3 third quarter lead.
Denver QB on wrong side of history
Denver quarterback Craig Morton became the first quarterback to face the team he had previously led to a Super Bowl in the big game. Unfortunately for him, Morton also became the first starting quarterback to lose a Super Bowl with different franchises. Seven years after Morton and the Cowboys came up just short against the Colts in Super Bowl V, Morton was on the wrong end of a dominant performance by Dallas’ “No Name” defense. Morton threw as many interceptions (four) as completed passes before he was pulled from the game in the third quarter. Morton’s biggest tormentors were Cowboys defensive linemen Randy White and Harvey Martin, the only co-MVPs in Super Bowl history.
Super Bowl XXXVIII: Patriots 32, Panthers 29
Longest Super Bowl play
Mushin Muhammad broke Antonio Freeman’s six-year-old record for the longest offensive play in Super Bowl history. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Panthers’ receiver gave Carolina its first lead on a 85-yard touchdown reception from Jake Delhomme. It is one of just three offensive plays in Super Bowl history that was at least 80 yards. Kenny King’s 80-yard catch-and-run in Super Bowl XV served as the Super Bowl’s longest offensive play until Freeman hauled in an 81-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre during Green Bay’s 35-21 win over New England in Super Bowl XXXI.
Vrabel makes history
17 years after William “The Refrigerator” Perry became the first defensive player to score an offensive touchdown in the Super Bowl, Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel became the first defensive player to catch a touchdown pass in the big game. Vrabel, lined up on the left side of the offensive line as a tight end, took advantage of a “pick” set up by tight end Daniel Graham, who started on the play on the right side of the line. With his defender on the ground, Vrabel pulled down Tom Brady’s one-yard touchdown pass that gave the Patriots a 29-22 lead with three minutes remaining. Vrabel would catch his second Super Bowl touchdown one year later in New England’s 24-21 win over the Eagles.
Record-setting quarter
After a combined 24 points were scored during the game’s first three quarters (that included a scoreless third quarter), 37 points were scored during the fourth quarter, making it he highest-scoring fourth quarter in Super Bowl history. Patriots running back Antowain Smith started the scoring with a two-yard run that stretched New England’s lead to 21-10. Carolina countered with consecutive scores to take its first lead of the game. After Vrabel’s touchdown gave lead back to New England, Delhomme’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl tied the score with 1:08 remaining.
Any thoughts of overtime were quickly dashed when Carolina’s ensuing kickoff sailed out of bounds, giving the Patriots a short field and plenty to time to get into field goal range. After two completions to Troy Brown and a short completion to Graham moved the ball to Carolina’s 40-yard-line, Brady hit Deion Branch for 17 yards to put New England well within Adam Vinatieri’s range. Similar to his game-winning kick in Super Bowl XXXVI, Vinateiri split the uprights while capping off the Patriots’ second of three Super Bowl wins in a four-year span.
