Super Bowl XLI
Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season. The Colts defeated the Bears by the score of 29–17. The game was played on February 4, 2007, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. This was the first, and to date only, Super Bowl win for an AFC South team.
This was the first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXX in which neither team was seeking its first title; however, it featured two teams ending long Super Bowl appearance droughts. The Colts, who finished with a 12–4 regular season record, were making their first Super Bowl appearance since winning Super Bowl V in the 1970 season during the team's tenure in Baltimore; they had moved to Indianapolis in 1984. Meanwhile, the Bears, who posted an NFC-best 13–3 regular season record, were making their first appearance since winning Super Bowl XX in the 1985 season.
In the first Super Bowl played in rainy conditions, the Colts overcame a 14–6 first-quarter deficit to outscore the Bears 23–3 in the last three quarters. The Bears posted the then-earliest lead in Super Bowl history when returner Devin Hester ran back the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown after 14 seconds had elapsed. The Colts forced five turnovers, including cornerback Kelvin Hayden's 56-yard interception return for a touchdown. Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri also scored three field goals. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was named the game's Most Valuable Player, completing 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown, with one interception for a passer rating of 81.8.
CBS's broadcast of the game was watched by an estimated average of 93.2 million viewers, making it at the time the fifth most watched program in U.S. television history. The halftime show, headlined by the musician Prince, peaked at 140 million viewers, and was widely acclaimed by music critics.
Background
Host selection process
NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XLI to Miami Gardens during their September 17, 2003 meeting held in Washington, D.C. It marked the ninth Super Bowl in the Miami area, tying New Orleans for the most times hosting. Four cities were part of the initial bid process: Miami, Tampa, New York/New Jersey, and Washington. In early 2002, during his annual "State of the League" press conference, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue publicly floated the idea of awarding XLI to New York City, contingent on a renovation of Giants Stadium. If selected, it would be the first outdoor Super Bowl in a cold-weather locale. Hosting the game at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey was conceived in-part as an effort to boost economic recovery in the wake of 9/11. As such, Washington, D.C. was also invited to submit a bid. Tagliabue stated at the time that hosting the Super Bowl only in warm-weather cities was considered "passé in our league" and directed the Super Bowl Advisory Committee to study the feasibility of hosting it outdoors in a northern city.Both the New York/New Jersey and the Washington, D.C. contingents made special presentations during the NFL's fall owners meeting in New York on October 30–31, 2002. The NY/NJ group included representatives from the both the Giants and the Jets, and had support from Senators Chuck Schumer and Robert Torricelli. The Jets at the time happened to be in the early planning stages of West Side Stadium, though the league noted that the proposed stadium's status would not be a factor in the decision. Instead, substantial renovations to aging Giants Stadium would be the driving issue. The D.C. group included representatives from the Redskins. Following the meeting, however, the bids for both NY/NJ and Washington were tabled, and instead reassigned and refocused towards XLII. The next day, the league announced that Miami and Tampa would be the only candidates going forward for XLI. Los Angeles/Pasadena was also a "distant possibility", but only if renovations were made to the Rose Bowl.
During the March 26, 2003 owners meeting in Phoenix, Paul Tagliabue stated that Miami had become the front-runner to land XLI, and that Tampa had been dropped from consideration. This despite neither city having yet made a formal presentation. League officials noted that Tampa had just hosted XXXV in January 2001, while Miami had not hosted since XXXIII in January 1999. Furthermore, Miami had lost out on the vote for XXXIX in somewhat unexpected fashion, and XLI was simply the next game available to them. With an adequate stadium, and a lengthy history of successfully hosting the Super Bowl, the only condition that the Miami hosting committee would be required to satisfy was to have contracts already in place for hotel rooms and ancillary events. This procedural change was made after Detroit's bid for XL in which these critical items were still pending at the time of award. A formal vote was scheduled for September 2003, and Miami won without opposition.
Originally known as Joe Robbie Stadium, this was the fourth Super Bowl held at the facility. It previously hosted XXIII, XXIX, and XXXIII. Super Bowls II, III, V, X, and XIII were also in Miami, but held at the Miami Orange Bowl. At the time of the awarding, the stadium was known as Pro Player Stadium. However, by the time the game was held, the stadium's name had been changed to Dolphin Stadium. This was the first Super Bowl played at the stadium since the city of Miami Gardens was incorporated on May 13, 2003. After being rejected, Tampa would eventually land XLIII. NY/NJ would ultimately host XLVIII at new MetLife Stadium.
In February 2006, the NFL and the South Florida Super Bowl XLI Host Committee unveiled the slogan "one game, one dream" for the game, referring to the entire South Florida region working together to present the event. The Super Bowl XLI logo was also unveiled, featuring the colors orange and blue. The "I" in the Roman numeral "XLI" was drawn to resemble a pylon placed at each corner of an end zone because "the goal is to get to the game". The logo had the same shade of orange as the logo of the host city's home team, the Miami Dolphins.
Teams
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts' first trip to the Super Bowl in 36 years set a record for longest time between appearances by a team. Their return was the culmination of a nine-year-long building process. In 1998, they drafted quarterback Peyton Manning to lead the team. Over the next four seasons, Manning, along with other stars such as receiver Marvin Harrison and running back Edgerrin James, turned the Colts into one of the best offensive teams in the NFL, but the team struggled to find consistency on defense and always ended up with either a losing season or elimination from the playoffs in the first round. After the 2001 season, the Colts fired head coach Jim Mora and replaced him with Tony Dungy. Dungy had developed one of the best defenses in the NFL while coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it was hoped he could solve the Colts' defensive problems as well.Over the next four seasons, the Colts won 48 of 64 games, but still could not find much success in the postseason. In 2002, they were blown out 41–0 in the Wild Card playoffs by the New York Jets. In 2003, they won their first two playoff games behind impressive offensive performances, and reached the AFC Championship Game. There, they lost to the New England Patriots 24–14, with Manning throwing four interceptions. In 2004, the Colts had one of the most spectacular offensive seasons in NFL history, scoring 522 points and gaining 6,582 yards, while Manning set NFL records for most touchdown passes and highest passer rating. But again the New England Patriots' defense proved too formidable, as they lost 20–3 in the Divisional playoffs.
In 2005, the Colts' defense improved, making the team the clear favorites in the NFL. They won the first 13 games of the season and finished with a 14–2 record, while ranking second in the NFL in both points scored and fewest points allowed. But once again they lost in Divisional playoffs, this time to the #6 seeded Pittsburgh Steelers, 21–18. The Colts' playoff runs ended with a loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions in three consecutive years preceding this season. After another disappointing loss, Manning had developed a reputation of being unable to make it to a championship, a reputation that followed him from college after he was unable to win an NCAA title with the Tennessee Volunteers. The Colts lost some key players after the 2005 season, including James, who departed the Colts for the Arizona Cardinals, and kicker Mike Vanderjagt, the NFL's all-time leader in field goal percentage, who left for the Dallas Cowboys. However, they did gain one key addition: 31-year old special teams returner Terrence Wilkins. Though he had been out of the NFL for three years, Wilkins finished the season with 52 kickoff returns for 1,272 yards.
Still, the Colts remained one of the AFC's top teams in the 2006 season. Manning made the Pro Bowl for the 7th time in his career, completing 362 of 555 passes for 4,397 yards and an NFL-best 31 touchdowns, with an additional 4 rushing touchdowns and with only 9 interceptions and 15 sacks. His favorite target was Harrison, who caught 95 passes for 1,366 yards and 12 touchdowns. Receiver Reggie Wayne was also a major deep threat with 86 receptions for 1,310 yards and 9 touchdowns. Tight ends Ben Utecht and Dallas Clark were also reliable targets, each recording over 30 receptions for over 300 yards. On the ground, rookie running back Joseph Addai led the team with 1,081 yards and a 4.8 yards-per-carry average despite not starting any games in the regular season. He also caught 40 receptions for 325 yards and scored 8 touchdowns. Running back Dominic Rhodes was also a major contributor, rushing for 641 yards and catching 36 passes for 251 yards. The offensive line was led by Pro Bowlers Jeff Saturday and Tarik Glenn. On special teams, the Colts signed kicker Adam Vinatieri to replace Vanderjagt. While Vinatieri's career field goal percentage was lower, the Colts considered him to be an improvement because of his reputation for making "clutch" kicks, a reputation aided by his game winning field goals in Super Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII.
The Colts' defense ranked second in the NFL in fewest passing yards allowed. Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis were widely considered to be among the best pass-rushing defensive ends in the NFL. Behind them, linebacker Cato June led the team in tackles and interceptions. Cornerback Nick Harper added 3 interceptions and 75 tackles. The Colts' run defense, however, was a major problem, giving up 2,768 yards on the ground, an average of 173 per game and last in the NFL. Another major issue for the Colts was their coverage teams, as they ranked 30th out of 32 teams in average kickoff return yardage allowed and 31st in average punt return yardage allowed. One key issue for the team was the loss of safeties Mike Doss and Bob Sanders, who had missed most of the seasons with injuries.
The Colts started out the season winning their first nine games, but ended up losing four of their next seven and finished with a 12–4 record, giving them the #3 playoff seed. Therefore, they had to play in a wild card playoff game. In the Wild Card playoffs, they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 23–8, then defeated the Baltimore Ravens 15–6 in the Divisional playoffs, and advanced to Super Bowl XLI with a 38–34 win over the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game after rallying from a 21–3 deficit.