Super Bowl XXXIX: Encyclopedia II - Super Bowl XXXIX - Background

Super Bowl XXXIX - Background

Super Bowl XXXIX - New England seeks to become a dynasty

The Patriots entered the 2004 regular season coming off of their Super Bowl XXXVIII win, their second league championship in three years, 12 consecutive regular season victories, and 15 consecutive overall victories (including playoffs).

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. But in 2003, 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 lost his starting job to running back Rudi Johnson, and thus demanded to be traded. Although many observers questioned how effective the 30-year-old Dillon would be after recovering from his injuries, the Patriots decided to sign the running back in exchange for a second-round draft pick.

Dillon became a significant offensive weapon for the 2004 Patriots, as the team broke the NFL record for the most consecutive regular season victories (18), the record for the most consecutive overall victories (21) and earned the second best regular season record during the year at 14–2. The team's only losses during the year were to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who ended up with the league's best regular season record at 15–1, and a 29–28 loss to the Miami Dolphins on ABC's Monday Night Football.

Dillon recorded 1,635 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, both career highs, and was named to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in his career. He also caught 15 passes for 103 yards and another touchdown. Another weapon in the Patriots' offensive backfield was running back Kevin Faulk, who rushed for 255 yards, recorded 26 receptions for 248 yards, returned 20 punts for 113 yards, returned 4 kickoffs for 73 yards, and scored 3 total touchdowns. Fullback Patrick Pass also emerged as a big contributor, rushing for 141 yards, catching 28 passes for 215 yards, and gaining another 115 yards on kickoff returns.

Pro Bowl quarterback Tom Brady remained at the helm of the Patriots offense, completing 288 out of 474 (60.8 percent) of his passes for 3,692 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Although wide receiver Deion Branch, New England's major deep threat, missed most of the season because of injuries, he did record 35 receptions for 454 yards and 4 touchdowns. Wide receiver David Givens ended up being the team's leading receiver with 56 catches for 874 yards and 3 touchdowns. Wide receiver David Patten also contributed with 44 receptions for 800 yards and 7 touchdowns, and tight end Daniel Graham had 30 receptions for 364 yards and 7 touchdowns.

On defense, the Patriots were plagued by injuries, especially in their secondary. Defensive backs Tyrone Poole and Ty Law suffered season-ending injuries, while safety Eugene Wilson, who lead the team with 4 interceptions, missed several games. In order to compensate for the losses, the following players were promoted to starters:

• Rookie cornerback Randall Gay, who did not play at all in the first 3 games of the season, and did not start until the 6th week
• Defensive back Asante Samuel, who normally only played during dime formations
• Safety Earthwind Moreland, who came off of the team's practice squad and had only played in three games in his entire 5-year NFL career
• Veteran wide receiver Troy Brown, who had never played on defense in his 12-year career

With their patchwork secondary, the Patriots ranked just 17th in passing yards allowed (3,400) and 22nd in completions allowed (315). However, they did rank 7th in interceptions (20) and 10th in fewest passing touchdowns allowed (18). But more importantly, New England continued to win despite the injuries. Brown actually turned out to be very effective playing as a defensive back, ranking second on the team with 3 interceptions. Safety Rodney Harrison was also an impact player, leading the team with 138 tackles while also recording 3 sacks and 2 interceptions.

Up front, the Partriots defensive line was anchored by Pro Bowler Richard Seymour, who recorded 5 sacks and 1 fumble recovery. New England also still had their trio of great veteran linebackers: Tedy Bruschi (122 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 70 return yards), Willie McGinest (9.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 interception), and Mike Vrabel (71 tackles and 5.5 sacks). Vrabel also frequently played at the tight end position during offensive plays near the opponent's goal line, recording 2 touchdown receptions.

Super Bowl XXXIX - Philadelphia finally reaches the Super Bowl

The Eagles entered the 2004 regular season after suffering 3 consecutive defeats in the NFC Championship Game. Like New England, Philadelphia had been a consistent winner during the past few seasons, but was never able to advance to the Super Bowl.

The Eagles spent most of the latter half of the 1990s with losing records before hiring Andy Reid as their head coach in 1999. In that same year, they used their first-round pick in the NFL draft to select quarterback Donovan McNabb. Although they finished the 1999 regular season with a 5–11 record, they became a playoff team in 2000, with McNabb throwing for 3,365 yards and 21 touchdowns while also rushing for 629 yards and another 6 touchdowns.

With Reid and McNabb in command, the Eagles became the elite team in the NFC, earning the best regular season record in the conference during the 2001, 2002, and 2003 seasons with a total of 35 wins out of 48 games. But after losing the NFC Championship Game in each of those 3 years, Philadelphia developed a reputation of "not being able to win the big games". Therefore, the Eagles traded for veteran wide receiver Terrell Owens prior to the 2004 season to be their impact player to help get them to the Super Bowl.

Owens joined the team after spending 7 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He was widely considered one of the top receivers in the league, but he was also widely considered a troublemaker because of controversial touchdown celebrations and his tendency to berate his teammates during media interviews. Nevertheless, Owens became the Eagles' deep-passing threat, finishing the season with 77 receptions for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, McNabb had the best season of his career, completing 300 out of 469 (64 percent) of his passes for 3,875 yards, 31 touchdowns, and only 8 interceptions, making him the first quarterback to ever throw for more than 30 touchdowns and less than 10 interceptions in a season. 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 was not as strong as their passing attack, ranking just 24th in the league in rushing yards (1,639), but it was still fairly effective. Running back Brian Westbrook lead the team with 812 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. Westbrook also led all NFL running backs in receiving with 73 receptions for 706 yards and 6 touchdowns. Veteran running back Dorsey Levens was also a big contributor with 410 rushing yards. The Eagles' offensive line was led by Pro Bowl guard Tra Thomas and tackle Jon Runyan.

The Eagles defense was widely considered to be the best aspect of their team. Three of their four starters in the defensive secondary were named to the Pro Bowl: Cornerback Lito Sheppard (1 sack, 5 interceptions, 172 return yards and 2 touchdowns), safety Michael Lewis (88 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception) and safety Brian Dawkins (3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and 4 interceptions for 40 return yards). Their defensive line was anchored by defensive tackle Corey Simon (5.5 sacks) and defensive end Jevon Kearse (7.5 sacks). Pro Bowl linebacker Jeremiah Trotter recorded 60 tackles and 1 sack.

The Eagles started the 2004 regular season strong, winning their first 7 games before suffering their first loss. After that, they finished the season with a 13–3 record. Their only other 2 losses were in their last 2 games of the season, when they decided to rest all of their starters because they had already clinched the NFC #1 seed, and thus home-field advantage in the playoffs. However, during a December 19th 12–7 win over the Dallas Cowboys, Owens was seriously injured on a "horse-collar tackle" by Cowboys defensive back Roy Williams and had to miss the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.

Super Bowl XXXIX - Playoffs

Despite the loss of Owens, the Eagles easily beat the Minnesota Vikings, 27–14, and the Atlanta Falcons, 27–10, in the playoffs. McNabb recorded 21 out of 33 completions for 286 yards and two touchdowns, while receiver Freddie Mitchell scored two touchdowns in the victory over the Vikings. McNabb then completed 17 out of 26 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Falcons.

Meanwhile, the Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 20–3, holding the league's highest scoring team with 522 total points to just a single field goal. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning threw for 4,557 yards during the regular season, and set NFL records for most touchdown passes in a regular season (49) and highest quarterback rating (121.4). Running back Edgerrin James gained 2,031 combined rushing and receiving yards and scored 9 touchdowns. And wide receivers Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Brandon Stokley each recorded over 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. But the Patriots limited Manning to 238 passing yards with 1 interception and no touchdowns, and James to just 39 rushing yards. The Patriots also held possession of the ball for 37:43, including 21:26 in the second half and recording three long scoring drives that each took over 7 minutes off the clock.

The Patriots then defeated the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, 41–27. Although Pittsburgh had beaten New England, 34–20, during the regular season and led the league in fewest total yards allowed, they could not stop the Patriots. Brady threw for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns; Dillon rushed for 75 yards and a touchdown, and caught 3 passes for 31 yards; and Branch, who was coming off of his injuries, recorded 4 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown, 37 rushing yards, and another touchdown. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was intercepted 3 times, and running back Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh's leading rusher, was held to just 64 yards.

Super Bowl XXXIX - Super Bowl pregame news

Owens was cleared to play in Super Bowl XXXIX, defying doctors orders by playing on his injured ankle containing 2 screws and a metal plate.

The other major story was the Patriots' potential loss of both their offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator at the end of the season, and how it might affect the team in 2005. On December 12, 2004, about a month and a half before the game, New England offensive coordinator Charlie Weis signed a contract to become the head coach of Notre Dame starting in the 2005 season. Rumors were also circulating that defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel would also leave the team to become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns (which ended up being true as Crennel and the Browns agreed to a contract a couple of weeks after the Super Bowl).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Background", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki