Super Bowl 36, New Orleans Style: Patriots Stun Rams

As we continue on the road to Super Bowl LIX, New Orleans is getting ready to play host to the biggest sporting event in the American calendar and tie the record for the city with the most NFL title games hosted (11) alongside Miami.

So, how about we go down memory lane a bit to start getting your Super Bowl LIX betting odds juices flowing and reminisce on some of the best title games the Superdome has seen in recent times, like Super Bowl 36, which pitted the former St.Louis Rams (now in LA) against Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots?

Some familiar names might pop up along the way, as well as the start of pro football’s most significant dynasty to date, so let’s get to it.

Super Bowl 36: Belichick & Brady vs ‘The Greatest Show On Turf’

Played on Feb. 3, 2002, at the Louisiana Superdome (now the Caesars Superdome,) Super Bowl XXXVI featured the 14-2 Rams, the No. 1-seeded team in the NFC, against the 11-5 Patriots, the No. 2 seed of the AFC.

The Rams, showing once again why their offense was deemed “The Greatest Show On Turf” (one of the best NFL nicknames ever), were listed as whopping 14-point Super Bowl lines favorites to win.

Considering they were playing a New England team with a second-year coach in Belichick who was coming off his first losing season with the team and a second-year quarterback in Tom Brady who had to step in and take over the team’s starting gig after Drew Bledsoe was injured in the second week of the 2001 regular season, it made sense for the betting odds to heavily favor St. Louis.

But then, the world got its first true taste of why Belichick and Brady would go on to become the winningest head coach/quarterback duo in Super Bowl history.

22 years ago today, February 3, 2002, the New England Patriots shocked the world and won their first Super Bowl, defeating the heavily favored St. Louis Rams 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI thanks to a 48-yard game winning field goal from Adam Vinatieri.pic.twitter.com/wY3JL0Ebju

— Boston Radio Watch®️ (@bostonradio) February 3, 2024

Nobody Thought the Rams Could Be Stopped

When you have an offense deemed “The Greatest Show On Turf,” the chances of finding opponents to stop you in your tracks are slim and none. That was what reality looked like for the Rams from 1999 to 2001, when the team made the Super Bowl twice in three years, beating the Titans in their first trip in SB 34.

Led by Hall of Famers Kurt Warner at QB, Orlando Pace at offensive tackle, Isaac Bruce at wide receiver and Marshall Faulk at running back, alongside the likes of WRs Torry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl and tight end Roland Williams, if this offense was playing today, they would be any NFL prop betting fans dream attack.

NFL Presents: The Greatest Show on Turf 🏈 pic.twitter.com/zvejONud84

— St. Louis Rams History (@STLRamsHistory) October 6, 2024

Former coach Dick Vermeil quit right after winning Super Bowl XXXIV, leaving former offensive coordinator Mike Martz (creator of “The Greatest Show…”) as head coach. That led to a disappointing 2000 season as St. Louis finished with a 10-6 record and an early wild-card playoff loss.

However, 2001 was completely different for the Rams. Finishing the season having scored over 500 points for the third straight year and seeing ample improvements in its defense, which ranked dead last the prior season, St. Louis finished the regular season with a league-best 14-2 record and was once again the team all NFL odds fans loved – and opponents hated.

After making quick work of the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs, followed by beating the Philadelphia Eagles 29-24 in the NFC Championship Game, everything looked set for St.Louis’ second Super Bowl win in three years until they ran into Brady and Co.

Thanks to Mo Lewis, The World Got To Know Tom Brady

As a New York Jets fan who hates the Patriots with a passion, it’s somehow easy to understand how, thanks to Gang Green, the Pats would go on to become the dynasty they were starting in the early 2000s.

After a slow first season leading the Patriots, it was in 2001 that Belichick’s leadership would start paying off, especially in the team’s Week 2 game against the Jets. After enduring a vicious hit from Jets linebacker Mo Lewis, Drew Bledsoe would leave the game, making room for Brady, then a second-year player.

Yes, that Brady.

Jets vs Patriots (2001)
Week 2 pic.twitter.com/WC4ZX1Gqaz

— Vintage NFL (@NFL_vintage) December 31, 2024

What followed would be the start of arguably the greatest QB/HC relationship in history, beginning with a week 3 win against Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts by 44-13, where Brady would give NFL betting fans the first taste of what his tenure in Foxborough would be all about.

Brady and New England fell to the visiting Rams 24-17 in Week 10 to fall to 5-5 but that would be their last loss of the season. The Pats won six in a row to finish with an 11-5 record and their first AFC East title en route to a playoff run that ended at Super Bowl XXXVI.

December 21st, 2001: Patriots do a victory lap after their last regular season game at the old Foxboro stadium, not knowing if they would have a chance to play one more there in the playoffs. Followed by a vintage Tom Brady interview #nfl #patriots pic.twitter.com/BcGk3NoyVP

— Boston Sports Throwback (@BOSthrowback) December 22, 2022

Beating the Oakland Raiders in the famous “Tuck Rule” game during the divisional round of the playoffs, New England would go on to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-17 in the AFC Championship Game, securing a rematch with the Rams in NOLA.

The First Of Six Titles For New England

On Feb. 3, 2002, with Mariah Carey singing the national anthem, former President George W. Bush and NFL great Roger Staubach doing the coin toss, and U2 performing in a stirring halftime show that paid tribute to 9/11 victims, the Rams and Pats would throw down in one of the most fought-out title games in recent times.

Entering the fourth quarter trailing by 17-3, the Rams staged a late comeback to tie the score at 17, thus leading Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri to cap off one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history with a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Vinatieri’s kick marked the first time in SB history that a game was won on the final play of regulation and the second time the title was decided thanks to a field goal.

22 Years Ago Today,
Super Bowl XXXVI

Adam Vinatieri hits a 48-yard field goal as time expires giving the #Patriots their first Super Bowl title.

The only #SuperBowl decided on the final play of regulation

The final play ever called by the iconic Pat Summerall-John Madden duo pic.twitter.com/2mI4xKcJyD

— Kevin Gallagher (@KevG163) February 3, 2024

So, what happened afterward?

Well, as every football fan knows, the Patriots would win five more Lombardi Trophies, including beating the Los Angeles Rams again 17 years later in Super Bowl 53, leading Brady and Belichick to cement their status as the GOATs in their respective positions.

The Patriots Dynasty began with an epic victory over the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. 17 years later, Tom Brady will face them again in Super Bowl LIII on CBS. pic.twitter.com/pGnHhqmGE4

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 23, 2019

And the Rams? After seeing their “Greatest Show On Turf” offense disband, the team would go through various struggles, a move back to Los Angeles and another Super Bowl loss to the Pats, – all before winning their second world title on SB LVI back in 2021.

Nowadays, while the Rams continue in the running for a spot in Super Bowl 59, with BetUS Sportsbook’s Super Bowl LIX odds showing LA at +1600 to win, the Patriots are hoping the hiring of Mike Vrabel – a pivotal piece of the team’s Super Bowl XXXVI winning defense – as their new head coach can finally lead them back to football relevance once again.

Odds and information are accurate at the time of writing. Please check with official sources for the latest updates before placing any bets.

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