Super Bowl XXXVII was played in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 27, 2002 between the AFL Champion Miami Dolphins and the NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles. Continuing their surprising path through the playoffs, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Eagles 42-14 in a major upset. Dolphins quarterback Damon Huard, who threw four touchdown passes and no interceptions, was named the game's MVP. It marked the last game for longtime Dolphins receiver Rod Brown, who won his second title with the team.
2001 Season[]
Miami Dolphins[]
The Dolphins entered the 2001 season as the reigning AFC South champions and came off an 11-5 season record that had earned them the 2nd seed in the playoffs, however they had lost the opening round to the New York Jets. The Dolphins, under sixth-year head coach Jimmy Johnson, hoped to build off of the successful and surprising playoff run the previous year now in their second year without star quarterback Dan Marino, with signal caller Damon Huard much more comfortable under center throwing to wide receivers OJ McDuffie and Rod Brown. To bolster a receiving corps that had been plagued by injuries the previous two years, the Dolphins signed Dedric Ward as a free agent to complement backup wideouts Oronde Gadsden and Jeff Ogden and drafted Chris Chambers out of Wisconsin in the second round, one of two Badgers they took with their first two picks (the other being defensive back Jamar Fletcher). The other prominent draft pick was Travis Minor, running back of Florida State, to complement third-year running back Kevin Faulk.
The Dolphins focused on a balanced running game with both Minor and Faulk rushing for nearly 1,000 yards apiece and a conservative, West Coast-style passing attack. Huard passed for 3,050 yards, twenty-seven touchdowns and ten interceptions on the year, taking advantage of a deep and reinvigorated receiving corps and experienced veteran offensive line that had been cohesive together for years, and the Dolphins had the No. 6 offense in the NFL. The defense was likewise a top unit, allowing the fourth-fewest passing yards and the fifth-fewest points scored, with Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor and Patrick Surtain all being named to their third consecutive Pro Bowls. The Dolphins would match their 11-5 record from the previous year, one of four AFC teams to achieve that same win-loss record, but this time placed second in the AFC South to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom they split their two contests with for the year, thanks to the Buccaneers' superior conference record on tiebreakers. The Dolphins were further dropped to the 6th seed due to a Week 6 loss to the other 11-5 wild card team, the Browns, and were thus slated to play against the third seeded Tacoma Totems - also 11-5, and who had beaten the Dolphins in Miami previously in the year in their second-worst loss of the season, the worst being against the 15-1 Jets who took the top overall seed.
Philadelphia Eagles[]
Playoffs[]
The 6th-seeded Miami Dolphins faced off with the 3rd-seed Tacoma Totems in Huard's hometown of Tacoma shortly after his younger brother Luke had just won the national championship with his own alma mater, the Washington Huskies. The Totems jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead, after which the Dolphins defense smothered the Totems - the hosts would not advance past the 50 yard line in the second half and starting QB __ threw three interceptions - and Huard threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to tie the game up. The opening kickoff of overtime was run back for a score by rookie wide receiver Chris Chambers and the Dolphins won. The Eagles, as the third overall seed in the NFC, played host to the sixth-seeded Sahalee Storm in Philadelphia. The game was never in doubt - the Eagles jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead and had benched Couch, Staley and other starters by the start of the fourth quarter on the way to a 34-13 win in which Couch dominated the Storm defense in the first half for 188 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Dolphins next faced off against first-seeded New York Jets, which had only lost one game the entire year and was widely considered unstoppable behind quarterback Peyton Manning, running back Curtis Martin and the league's top-scoring offense that year. Miami trailed most of the game, with the Jets enjoying a 23-3 lead at halftime thanks to two Manning touchdown passes and three field goals, with all five drives by the hosts ending in scores. In the second straight game, however, Miami would suddenly perform well in the second half. Rod Brown caught two touchdown passes in the corner of the endzone to bring Miami within six points. The Jets were harried, with running back Curtis Martin suffering a rare fumble with a scoring chance late in the third. Jets kicked Ryan White missed a field goal late in the fourth quarter that would have won the game, and a four-minute drive ended with Huard's touchdown pass to Dedric Ward, who had played in New York the previous four seasons, with one second remaining. The following PAT as time expired gave Miami its only lead of the game. The Eagles, for their part, headed to San Francisco to face the second-seeded 49ers, the defending Super Bowl champions. The 49ers jumped out to a 10-0 first quarter lead thanks to two consecutive Eagles fumbles on their opening drive and then Couch and the Eagles offense scored 28 unanswered points, while the injury-addled 49ers continued their late-season offensive struggles. The 49ers would finally score again late in the fourth quarter but the Eagles had stamped their ticket to their first NFC Conference Championship game since 1981-82. Couch was named Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week for his three-touchdown, 214 yard and zero interception perfomance in the game.
The NFC Championship would be played in Philadelphia, thanks to the fifth-seeded Packers' upset of the Bears the previous weekend. This set up a unique event in which both conference championships were hosted within the state of Pennsylvania on the same day for the first time ever, and created the opening for an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl - and in the first game of the day, the Eagles did their part to bring it into being. In the final NFL game of Packers quarterback and legend Troy Aikman, the Eagles dominated both sides of the ball, allowing less than a hundred offensive yards by the Packers in the first half and intercepting Aikman twice. Couch was once again the Offensive Player of the Week for the third consecutive week, throwing four touchdown passes, no interceptions, and 322 yards in a 44-21 rout. Despite the Packers' improvement in the second half, where they managed to score two touchdowns to make it closer, the Eagles defense held Aikman to a measly 133 yards passing performance with only one touchdown and had three total takeaways, including a fumble return for a touchdown. The Eagles thus advanced to their first Super Bowl in franchise history.
Meanwhile, in the AFC Championship, the Dolphins faced the 13-3 and defending AFC champions Pittsburgh Steelers, in their first outdoor game of the season (the previous matches played in climate-controlled domes). The desired cold weather did not arrive, however, as it was played in 50 degree temperature and the Dolphins staged their third straight come-from-behind win as they defeated the Steelers 21-17 on a last-minute touchdown pass after intercepting the Steelers twice in the redzone. However, in this game the Dolphins did lead 7-0 and 14-10 at two points in the game. The Dolphins thus advanced to their first Super Bowl since XXX in 1994-95 and their sixth in franchise history.