Super Bowl XXXI Victory (1997)
Packers win third Super Bowl, first since Super Bowl II.
Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1996 season. The Packers defeated the Patriots 35–21 to win their third Super Bowl, which was their twelfth NFL championship in franchise history and first since Super Bowl II in 1968. It was also the last in a run of 13 straight Super Bowl victories by the NFC over the AFC. The game was played on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Quick Facts
- Key defensive play
- Desmond Howard's 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown
- Final score
- Green Bay 35, New England 21
- Location
- Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans
- Date
- January 26, 1997
- Key moment
- Howard's 'End Zone' dance after a kickoff return touchdown
Lore & Background
The game began with the teams combining for 24 first-quarter points, the most in Super Bowl history. The Packers then scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter, including Favre's then-Super Bowl record 81-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Antonio Freeman. In the third quarter, the Patriots cut the lead to 27–21 due to running back Curtis Martin's 18-yard rushing touchdown. But on the ensuing kickoff, Desmond Howard returned the ball a then-Super Bowl record 99 yards for a touchdown. The score proved to be the last one, as both teams' defenses took over the rest of the game. Howard became the first special teams player ever to be named Super Bowl MVP. He gained a total of 154 kickoff return yards, and also recorded a then-Super Bowl record 90 punt return yards, thus tying the then-Super Bowl records of total return yards (244) and combined net yards gained (244).
Reader's Guide
This was the first Super Bowl broadcast by Fox under its first contract to carry NFL games. By a large margin it was the highest-rated program aired in Fox's history at the time.
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