XLII facts about Super Bowl XLII

by NFL Network.

I. This is the 42nd Super Bowl and the second time it has been held in Arizona. Super Bowl XXX was held at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona (Cowboys 27, Steelers 17).

II. The NFC leads 21-20 all-time but the AFC has won eight of the last 10 games after losing 13 straight.

III. The AFC is the home team in this year’s Super Bowl.

IV. To date 3,205,733 people have attended Super Bowl games.
Careful when you cheer when the coin toss comes up heads ... winning the pregame toss doesn't mean a Super Bowl victory.

V. No Super Bowl has ever gone to overtime.

VI. The team that has won the coin toss is 19-22 all-time in the Super Bowl and has lost the past four straight and nine of the last 11 games. The Patriots lost the coin toss in each of their three Super Bowl wins. They won the coin toss for Super Bowl XXXI and lost the game; they lost the coin toss for Super Bowl XX vs. the Bears and also lost that game. The Giants won the coin toss in Super Bowl XXXV and lost that game; they lost the coin toss in both Super Bowls XX and XXV and won those games.

VII. The Giants-Patriots Super Bowl is the 12th Super Bowl to feature two teams that met during the regular season. The team that lost the regular-season meeting has won six of the previous 11 matchups. The last matchup was Super Bowl XXXVI between the Patriots and Rams (Rams won regular season; Patriots won the Super Bowl)

VIII. The Giants-Patriots Super Bowl is only the second time that the two Super Bowl participants have met in the final regular season game; the other occurrence was in 1977 when the Cowboys and Broncos met in Week 14 and then in Super Bowl XII. The Cowboys won both games. (The Giants and Patriots also met in the final game of this year's preseason; The Patriots won that game 27-20).

IX. The Patriots have 20 players with Super Bowl experience on their current roster; the Giants have three.

X. Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi will be playing in his fifth Super Bowl; he is the 15th player to play in five Super Bowls. He is the seventh player to play in five Super Bowls with the same team, joining Larry Cole (Cowboys), Cliff Harris (Cowboys), D.D. Lewis (Cowboys) Charlie Waters (Cowboys), Rayfield Wright (Cowboys) and John Elway (Broncos).
With another Super Bowl MVP award, Tom Brady will tie Joe Montana for the most all-time.

XI. 21 Quarterbacks have been named MVP of the Super Bowl, the most of any position.

XII. Tom Brady is one of four players with multiple Super Bowl MVP awards –- the three others are quarterbacks as well: Bart Starr (2), Joe Montana (3) and Terry Bradshaw (2).

XIII. Tom Brady is 1 of 4 players with three Super Bowl wins as a starting QB. The other three are Terry Bradshaw (4), Joe Montana (4) and Troy Aikman (3).

XIV. Tom Brady is the 23rd NFL MVP to play in the Super Bowl in the same season. The last MVP to win a Super Bowl the same season was Kurt Warner in Super Bowl XXXIV in 1999. Overall, 10 NFL MVPs have won the Super Bowl in the same season. In 1968, Earl Morrall won the NFL title but lost Super Bowl III to the Jets.

XV. The Patriots are making their sixth Super Bowl appearance –- and fourth in last seven years. The Patriots are the fourth franchise to make six Super Bowl appearances, joining the Cowboys (8), Steelers (6) and Broncos (6).
Bill Walsh won all three times he led the 49ers to the Super Bowl.

XVI. The Patriots have won three Super Bowls; with a win they’ll join the Steelers (5), Cowboys (5) and 49ers (5) as the only franchises to win 4 Super Bowls.

XVII. Bill Belichick is the eighth head coach to appear in four Super Bowls. The others are Don Shula (6), Tom Landry (5), Chuck Noll (4), Joe Gibbs (4), Bud Grant (4), Marv Levy (4) and Dan Reeves (4).

XVIII. Belichick is one of four coaches to win three Super Bowls. The others are Chuck Noll (4-0), Bill Walsh (3-0) and Joe Gibbs (3-1).

XIX. Since 2001, the Patriots are 24-7 when meeting teams for the second or third (Jets, 2006) time in the same season.

XX. Junior Seau is making his second Super Bowl appearance; the first since Super Bowl

XXIX. The 13 years between Super Bowl appearances is the longest span in the game’s history.

XXI. The Patriots are the third team to win 18 games in a season, including playoffs. The ’85 Bears (18-1) and ’84 49ers (18-1) also won 18 games.
Junior Seau's Super Bowl XXIX experience was a bitter one.

XXII. The Patriots are the 11th team to go 10-0 at home, including the playoffs. Of the previous 10 to accomplish the feat, 8 of them won the Super Bowl (only the 1990 Bills and 1988 Bengals lost).

XXIII. The Patriots led the NFL with 36.8 PPG this season, the highest in the Super Bowl era.

XXIV. The Patriots are the 17th team to lead the NFL in scoring and reach the Super Bowl. The previous 16 teams are 9-7 in the Super Bowl (last two -- the ’05 Seahawks and ’01 Rams -- have lost). The last team to lead the NFL in scoring and win the Super Bowl was the ’99 Rams in XXXIV.

XXV. The Giants will be playing in their 18th NFL title game dating back to 1933. The Giants have won five NFL championships in their history –- including two Super Bowls.

XXVI. The Giants' 18 NFL championship game appearances are the most in NFL history.
Eli Manning was a No. 1 overall pick, but was originally selected by the Chargers.

XXVII. Eli Manning is the seventh No. 1 overall pick to start the Super Bowl at quarterback; the others are Peyton Manning, Drew Bledsoe, Troy Aikman, John Elway, Jim Plunkett and Terry Bradshaw.

XXVIII. 18 sets of brothers to have reached the Super Bowl. Eli and Peyton Manning are the first set of brothers at quarterback.

XXIX. Eli Manning is the only quarterback in the 2007 playoffs yet to throw an interception. Of the 12 quarterbacks in the 2007 playoffs, he had the most interceptions during the regular season (20) -- tied for the most in the NFL with Jon Kitna and Carson Palmer.

XXX. Eli Manning is the seventh quarterback in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to throw 20 interceptions in the regular season and reach the Super Bowl.

XXXI. This is the second straight season in which the NFC quarterback in the Super Bowl threw 20 interceptions in the regular season (last year, Rex Grossman threw 20 interceptions, and threw three in the playoffs, two in the Super Bowl). The other to throw 20 interceptions during the regular season and then reach the Super Bowl are Kurt Warner (22 in 2001), Phil Simms (22 in 1986), Terry Bradshaw (25 in 1979 and 20 in 1978) and Darryl Lamonica (20 in 1967). The only two Super Bowl quarterbacks to throw 20 interceptions during the regular season and not throw one in the playoffs were Boomer Esiason in 1990 and Simms in 1986.

XXXII. Tom Coughlin is coaching in his first Super Bowl as a head coach. Head coaches making their Super Bowl debut are 20-22.

XXXIII. Tom Coughlin has coached 205 career games, including the playoffs. That is the most games coached before making a Super Bowl debut as a head coach.

XXXIV. The Giants are 10-1 away from Giants Stadium and 3-5 at home this season.

XXXV. The Giants are the third team to reach the Super Bowl by winning three straight road games, joining the ’05 Steelers and ’85 Patriots.
Hines Ward helped the wild-card Steelers win Super Bowl XL.

XXXVI. The Giants are the ninth wild-card team to reach the Super Bowl. Wild-card teams are 4-4 in the Super Bowl. The ’05 Steelers were the last wild-card team to win.

XXXVII. The Giants are the fourth team to reach the Super Bowl following a 0-2 start. They join the ’01 Patriots, ’96 Patriots and ’93 Cowboys.

XXXVIII. The Giants are the only team in NFL history to win 10 straight road games in a season.

XXXIX. Bill Belichick (15) and Tom Coughlin (7) have 22 postseason victories combined, tied for the second most in Super Bowl history among opposing coaches and surpassed only by the 25 combined playoff wins by Tom Landry and Chuck Noll in Super Bowl XIII.

XL. Giants long snapper/linebacker Zak DeOssie’s father Steve DeOssie played in Super Bowl XXV as a member of the Giants (Belichick was the defensive coordinator of that Giants team). The DeOssie’s are the ninth different father-son combo to reach the Super Bowl.

XLI. When he appears in the game, Jeff Feagles will be the oldest Super Bowl participant at 41 years, 335 days. The previous oldest was Mike Horan at 40 years, 363 days. Feagles began his career with the Patriots in 1988.

XLII. Giants DE Justin Tuck and Patriots LB Adalius Thomas are cousins. Tuck’s father and Thomas’ father are first cousins.