Seahawks Win At Last - 2014 Super Bowl Quiz

Answer: Rams

The Los Angeles/Saint Louis Rams had played in three Super Bowls - 1979, 1999 and 2001. They lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1979 and to the New England Patriots in 2001, but beat the Tennessee Titans (in their first Superbowl appearance) in 1999. The Buffalo Bills reached four consecutive Superbowls, from 1990-91-92-93, but lost to the Giants, to the Redskins, and twice to the Cowboys.

The Minnesota Vikings had also made four appearances without winning: they lost to the Chiefs in 1969, to the Dolphins in 1973, to the Steelers in 1974 and to the Raiders in 1976.

The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Raiders in 1980 and to the Patriots in 2004.

Answer: Chicago Bears

The 1985 Chicago Bears, widely recognized as the best defensive team ever (perhaps until the 2013 Seahawks), scored that franchise's first Superbowl victory to date with a 36-point (46-10) win over the New England Patriots in Superbowl XX.
The Seahawks' 35-point win tied the Dallas Cowboys for the third-largest margin of victory. The Cowboys 52-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Superbowl XXVII also saw them scoring the second-highest points total by a winning team (second only to the 55 pt margin by the 49ers in Superbowl XXIV).
The Green Bay Packers had played in five Superbowls, winning four of them, but their biggest margin of victory (25 points) came all the way back in Super Bowl I when they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.
The Steelers had played in more Super Bowls than any other franchise, winning six times in eight appearances. They were never runaway winners in those six wins, though, averaging just a 7.5 margin of victory. Their biggest victory was by just 12 point, 31-19 over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV. Three of the Pittsburgh wins have come by a margin of only four points.

Answer: Lions

The Detroit Lions first won an NFL title in 1935. They were champions again in 1952, 1953 and 1957. Since the dawn of the Super Bowl era in 1967, though, they have reached the NFC championship game only once, losing heavily to the Redskins at the end of the 1991 season. The Falcons reached their first Super Bowl in 1998, losing to the Broncos. Founded in 1995, the Carolina Panthers had reached the playoffs five times; they played in Super Bowl XXXVIII at the end of the 2003 season, losing 32-29 to the Patriots. Founded in 1898, the Cardinals had played in numerous cities during their history.

As the Chicago Cardinals, they won NFL titles in 1925 and 1947. In the 48 seasons of the Super Bowl era, they had reached the playoffs only six times and the championship game only once.

They did win that championship game, though, in 2008, going on to lose 27-23 to the Steelers in Superbowl XLIII.

Answer: Lawrence Taylor (Giants)

Although a 10-time All-Pro, a 10-time Pro-Bowl selection, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, a member of the NFL's 75th-Anniversary All-Time Team, and twice a Super Bowl winner, the New York Giants' Lawrence Taylor was never named Super Bowl MVP. In Taylor's two championship wins, QB Phil Sims was MVP of Super Bowl XXI and RB Ottis Anderson won the award at Super Bowl XXV.
Malcolm Smith, born in Woodland Hills CA in 1989, played his college football at Southern Cal and was selected by the Seahawks with the 242nd pick overall in Round 7 of the 2011 NFL Draft. He earned the Super Bowl XLVIII MVP having returned a Peyton Manning pass 69 yards for a TD and later recovered a fumble as the Seahawks' defense virtually shut down Denver's vaunted offense.
Ravens QB Joe Flacco won the MVP honors in Super Bowl XLVII, the much-publicized final game in the Hall of Fame career of Ray Lewis. Lewis had, though, won the MVP award on his previous appearance, in the Ravens' 34-7 victory over the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.
The only other linebacker to win the MVP award was Chuck Howley of the Dallas Cowboys. Howley was the first player to be named MVP despite finishing on the losing side, when his Cowboys lost Super Bowl V by 16-13 to the Baltimore Colts. Howley would win a championship ring the following year, though, when his Cowboys returned to the Super Bowl and defeated the Dolphins 24-3. Despite holding the Dolphins to a solitary field goal (the first time that has ever been done in a Super Bowl) it was a Dallas offensive player, QB Roger Staubach, who was named MVP that year.

Answer: Superdome, New Orleans LA

The Super Bowl had been staged ten times each in New Orleans and Miami, but the stadium that has hosted the season showdown most often was the Louisiana Superdome (renamed the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in 2011), which had played host seven times since 1978. Tulane Stadium in New Orleans hosted three Super Bowls in the early 1970s.
The Super Bowl was held at the Orange Bowl in Miami five times between 1968 and 1979. The last five Superbowls in Miami, though, were at the ground originally called Joe Robbie Stadium and subsequently renamed Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium and then Sun Life Stadium.
The Rose Bowl in Pasadena has hosted the Superbowl five times since 1977. Two earlier Superbowls were held in Pasadena (including Superbowl I), at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Raymond James Stadium (originally called simply Tampa Stadium) has hosted four Superbowls since 1984.
Superbowls IL, L and LI are scheduled for Glendale AZ, Santa Clara CA and Houston TX respectively.

Answer: Chicago Bears

Going into Superbowl XLVIII, Peyton Manning had led his team to victory in exactly half of his 22 post-season matches. He was a winner (and Super Bowl MVP) in his first appearance in the season finale, his Indianapolis Colts defeating the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Superbowl XLI.
Manning's next Super Bowl appearance was at the end of the 2009 season, when the Colts lost Superbowl XLIV 31-17 to the New Orleans Saints.

Answer: Lou Holtz

At the age of 62, the Seahawks' Pete Carroll became the third-oldest coach ever to win the Super Bowl -- Tom Coughlin was 65 when his Giants won Super Bowl XLVI and The Rams' Dick Vermeil was 63 when he won Super Bowl XXXIV. Carroll had previously won NCAA Championships in both 2003 and 2004 with the USC Trojans.
Barry Switzer led the Dallas Cowboys to victory in Super Bowl XXX having previously won NCAA Championships with the University of Oklahoma Sooners in 1974, 1975 and 1985. Jimmy Johnson also won the Super Bowl with the Cowboys (in 1992 asn 1993) having won an NCAA title with the University of Miami Hurricanes in 1987.
2008 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Lou Holtz led the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the NCAA title in 1988. He coached only one year in the NFL, with the 1976 New York Jets who finished with a 3-11 record.

Answer: Most completed passes

Although Denver scored only 8 points in Super Bowl XLVIII, Peyton Manning did set a new record for the number of completed passes, with 34. The record for the most consecutive completed passes at the start of a Super Bowl is actually held by Peyton's brother, Eli Manning. He completed his first nine passes for the Giants in their 21-17 victory over the Patriots in Superbowl XLVI.
The record for most consecutive completions in a Super Bowl belonged to Tom Brady, who put together a string of 16 completed passes in a row in that loss to Eli Manning's Giants.
The unwanted record of the most interceptions thrown in a Super Bowl belonged to Rich Gannon, who threw five picks in the Raiders' loss to the Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Answer: Percy Harvin

Former Vikings' WR Percy Harvin left Minnesota after just four seasons, but he had already established a new franchise record for running kick-offs back for touchdowns (with five). He capped his first season as a Seahawk by becoming the tenth player to return a kick-off for a touchdown in a Superbowl. The alternatives had all returned a kick-off for a touchdown in a Super Bowl. Devin Hester was the first player to return the opening kick-off of the second half for a touchdown -- he did this in 2007 for the Bears in their loss to the Colts in Super Bowl XLI.

The Dolphins' Fulton Walker scored the very first kick-off return touchdown in Super Bowl history, against the Redskins in Super Bowl XLVII. His total of four kick returns for 190 yards at an average of 47.5 yards/return still stood as a record more than 30 years later. Andre Coleman was a member of a Charger team that was drubbed 49-26 by the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX, but his total of 244 yards in kick-off returns (including one touchdown) was still a Super Bowl record.

Answer: New York Jets

The New York Jets' famous victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III was their previous appearance in the season finale. Their drought of 45 seasons without a return to the season finale was the longest of any then-active NFL franchise.
The Kansas City Chiefs run the Jets very close -- they defeated the Vikings 23-7 in Super Bowl IV and had not been back to the big dance since -- a streak of 44 seasons.
The Miami Dolphins last reached the Super Bowl following the 1984 season, losing 38-16 to the 49ers, a Super Bowl-less streak of 29 seasons. The Washington Redskins' streak was 22 years, with victory over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI.