Super Bowl XLI

Venue

Dolphin Stadium won the right to host the Super Bowl XLI on September 17, 2004, ahead of Arizona , Tampa , New York and Washington . Including this game, Miami caught up with New Orleans on the largest number of Super Bowls held (9) ^[4] . In 2010, Miami will again take the Super Bowl and will be released on this indicator in the sole first place ^[5] .

This match will be the fourth Super Bowl for Dolphin Stadium, previously called Joe Robbie Stadium and Pro Player Stadium. The stadium used to host Super Bowls XXIII, XXIX, and XXXIII. Super Bowls II, III, V, X, and XIII were held at the Miami Orange Bowl. In February 2006, the slogan of the match “one game - one dream” was announced, as well as the logo ^[6] .

The stadium could accommodate 74 512 spectators during the game. It was opened in 1987, and construction costs amounted to 115 million dollars . Here, in addition to the Miami Dolphins football team, the Florida Marlins baseball club also plays.

Indianapolis Colts

See also: Indianapolis Colts in 2006 season

“Indianapolis” started the season, winning the first 9 matches, but in the last 7 games, won only 3 times and finished the regular season with 12 wins and 4 defeats and was seeded in the playoffs as number three. At the stage with retirement, Indianapolis alternately beat Kansas City Chiefs , Baltimore Ravens , and New England Patriot Super Bowl , defeating them with a total score of 76-48.

Over the past 4 seasons, the Colts won 48 of 64 games, but could not succeed in the playoff games. In 2002, they were defeated 41–0 in the first round of the playoffs. In 2003, in the final game of the American Conference "Indianapolis" lost "New England Patriots" with a score of 21-14. In 2004, the team for the season scored 522 points, which was one of the best results in the entire NFL history, but in the second round of the playoffs, it lost all of the same “Patriots” 20-3.

In 2005, the Colts were among the top contenders for the Super Bowl. They won the first 13 games of the season and finished it with 14 wins, 2 losses, as well as with the second NFL score in terms of points scored and the second in the least points scored. But the team again lost in the playoffs. In the second round, “ Pittsburgh Steelers ” - the sixth seeded in the playoffs and the future Super Bowl champions - beat Indianapolis 21-18.

Chicago Bears

Chicago finished the regular season with the best result in the National Conference - 13 wins and 3 losses. They played well in both defense and offense, ending the season with a second goal score (427 points) and a third for the least amount of points missed (255).

In the playoffs , the Bears met with Seattle Seahawks in the division finals and won only in overtime 27–24. In the final of the National Conference, the club was confronted by New Orleans Saints , where, thanks to the fourth quarter won, 21-0, Chicago won a general victory with a score of 39-14 and for the second time in its history participated in the Super Bowl .

The team leader was the quarterback Rex Grossman - the team's first choice in the 2003 draft. Over the past three seasons, Grossman, due to injuries, has played only 8 matches in the games of the regular season, but in the 2006 season , he played all 16 meetings. The season ended with 3,993 yards on takeaways and 23 touchdowns - starting in 1995, these are the best results for the quarterbacks of Bears. However, in the last seven games of the season, he lost the ball 18 times.

Comparative statistics

Comparative statistics of the Super Bowl XLI teams in the regular season of 2006, based on the official statistics of the NFL website ^{[7] [8]} . In parentheses indicate the general place for this indicator (a total of 32 teams).

Match Progress

The first entry of the ball into the game immediately ended with a touchdown. This has not happened in the history of the Super Bowl. Distinguished newcomer “Chicago” Devin Hester, moving his team forward - 7: 0. In the middle of the first quarter, “Indianapolis” responded with its touchdown by Payton Manning, who passed the pass to Reggie Wayne, who was in the final zone - 6: 7. Almost immediately, after the Indianapolis players lost the ball, Rex Grossman’s touchdown, passing to Musin Mohammed, increased the advantage of Chicago in the first quarter of 14: 6.

Even before the big break, Indianapolis was able to come forward. First, Adam Vinatheri reduced the difference between the teams to five points, scoring a field goal, and then after the touchdown Dominic Rhodes scored 16:14 in favor of Indianapolis. In the third quarter after two field-heads of the same Adam Vinatieri, the Colts led 22:14. “Chicago” also moved to the field goals, however, Robbie Gold was able to score only one. In the fourth quarter, Kevin Hayden, intercepting the pass of Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman, secured the Indianapolis victory - 29:17.

Quotes

• “I am pleased to be the first representative of African-American coaches, under whose leadership the team won the Super Bowl. This is of great importance for our country, "- Indianapolis head coach Tony Danji.
• “It is difficult to express emotions in words. But we won this match together, ”is quarterton's most valuable player, Payton Manning.

Break Show

During the half-time match, the singer Prins made a speech ^[9] . About this television station CBS announced December 10, 2006. Before him, previous performers and bands like The Rolling Stones (2006) and Paul McCartney (2005) performed at previous Superboughs. Everything went without all sorts of incidents, such as in 2004, when Janet Jackson uncovered her breasts. In 2012, Madonna set a record for the number of spectators - more than 114 million, while about 111.3 million people watched the match itself. Also on the Twitter microblog network, a new record was set: during Madonna’s performance during the half-time, users on average sent 8,000 messages per second.

In general, during the game 101 commercials were shown, including 60 commercials from major producers of consumer goods. The rest was a promotion of various programs of the CBS channel and several videos of the National Football League.

The average price of a 30-second video demonstration during the game was $ 2.6 million ^[10] .

According to Nielsen Media Research, the Hewlett-Packard commercial has received the highest rating ^[11] . It was watched by 99.5 million viewers, which brought it to the first place. The commercial for the Toyota Tundra ranked second with a rating of 99.1 million viewers, and in third place was the Federal Express movie, which was watched by 98.2 million people. On average, each video during the game was watched by almost 93 million people.

For the first time after a nine-year hiatus, Coca-Cola placed its ad on the Super Bowl, buying two slots in the first half of the match for two Coke Classic commercials ^[12] .

Anheuser-Busch became the largest advertiser during the game, purchasing 5 minutes of advertising time, followed by Coca-Cola - 3 minutes, as well as General Motors and Pepsi-Cola , which showed 2.5 minutes of advertising each.

Channels showing Super Bowl

Ratings

Super Bowl XLI was the third in the history of United States television in terms of audience size. In total, about 93 million viewers watched the whole game (about 140 million viewers watched part of the match), of which more than 90% lived in the United States. The match was shown in 232 countries and territories.

The Super Bowl attracted the greatest interest only in 1996, when the match was watched by 94.8 million people. A record in the United States belongs to the final episode of the comedy series of the 1980s “ M * A * S * H ”, which was followed by more than 100 million viewers ^[13] .

• Super Bowl Official Website
• The official website of the Super Bowl XLI
• The complete collection of aired commercials during the Super Bowl XLI