Super Bowl XXXVII

Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2002 season. The Buccaneers defeated the Raiders by the score of 48–21, tied with Super Bowl XXXV for the seventh largest Super Bowl margin of victory, and winning their first ever Super Bowl. The game, played on January 26, 2003 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, was the sixth Super Bowl to be held a week after the conference championship games (XVII, XXV, XXVIII, XXXIV, and XXXVI). It was also the last Super Bowl to have been played in the month of January. Super Bowl XXXVI was the first to be played in February, due to the NFL postponing games for a week after the September 11 attacks. Starting with Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, the Super Bowl has been permanently played in February. This was the last Super Bowl until Super Bowl 50 to take place in California.

Super Bowl XVII

Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1982 season. The Redskins defeated the Dolphins by the score of 27–17 to win their first Super Bowl. The game was played on January 30, 1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

This Super Bowl came at the end of a season that was significantly shortened by a players' strike. Teams ended up only playing nine regular season games, and the league conducted a special 16-team, four-round playoff tournament where divisions were ignored in the seeding. The Redskins had an NFC-best 8–1 regular season record, while the Dolphins finished at 7–2. Both teams advanced through the first three postseason rounds to Super Bowl XVII. The game then became a rematch of Super Bowl VII, also played in the Los Angeles area at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ten years before, where the Dolphins completed their 17–0 perfect season at the Redskins' expense by a score of 14–7. This was also the second Super Bowl to rematch teams, the first being Super Bowl XIII.

Super Bowl XII

Super Bowl XII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1977 season. The Cowboys defeated the Broncos 27–10 to win their second Super Bowl. The game was played on January 15, 1978, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This was the first time that the Super Bowl was played in a domed stadium, and the first time that the game was played in prime time.

The game pitted Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach against their former quarterback, Craig Morton. Led by Staubach and the Doomsday Defense, Dallas advanced to its fourth Super Bowl after posting a 12–2 regular season record and playoff victories over the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings. The Broncos, led by Morton and the Orange Crush Defense, made their first Super Bowl appearance after also posting a 12–2 regular-season record and postseason wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders.

Super Bowl LI

Super Bowl LI will be the 51st Super Bowl and the 47th modern-era National Football League (NFL) championship game. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion will play the National Football Conference (NFC) champion to decide the league champion for the 2016 season.

The game is scheduled for February 5, 2017, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, and will be the third Super Bowl in Houston, after VIII in 1974 and XXXVIII in 2004. It will be televised nationally in the United States by Fox, and represent the fiftieth anniversary of the first Super Bowl, played in Los Angeles on January 15, 1967.

Background

Host-selection process

The NFL selected the sites for Super Bowl 50 and Super Bowl LI in 2013, at the owners' spring meetings in Boston on May 21. On October 16, 2012, the NFL announced that Reliant Stadium in Houston, renamed NRG Stadium in 2014, was a finalist to host Super Bowl LI. Houston then competed against the runner-up for the site of Super Bowl 50: Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The South Florida bid for either Super Bowl partially depended on whether the stadium underwent renovations. However, on May 3, the Florida legislature refused to approve the funding plan to pay for the renovations, dealing a blow to South Florida's chances. The NFL ultimately selected Houston as the host city of Super Bowl LI.