Here are your super bowl factoids:
Super Bowl XLV will be one of the most high leverage in terms of historical significance. The Steelers and Packers are way up there on the list of super bowl appearances (number includes Super Bowl XLV):
8 Dallas Cowboys
8 Pittsburgh Steelers
6 New England Patriots
6 Denver Broncos
5 Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland/LA Raiders, Miami Dolphins
The list of super bowl winners is littered with Steelers and Packers (22% after tonight). One of them will move even higher on the list of super bowl championships:
6 Pittsburgh
5 Dallas
5 San Francisco
3 Green Bay, NY, New England, Washington, Oakland/LA, NY Giants
The AFC still has the edge in recent years. After the NFC won 13 straight and 15 of 16 in the '80s and '90s, the AFC has gone 9-4, though recent upsets have given the NFC two of the last three.
This will be the third super bowl in Texas. The first two were in Rice Stadium (VIII) and Reliant Stadium (XXXVIII), both in Houston. So of course it's the first in Dallas and the first in Cowboys Stadium. A hot topic in Dallas this week has been whether the weather would eliminate Dallas-Fort Worth's chances of getting the game back, particularly while their stadium is among the finest and newest (SB L will be their first chance, with Lucas Oil Stadium, Louisiana Superdome and New Meadowlands Stadium set as the next three hosts). The Superdome has hosted the most super bowls (6), followed by the Rose Bowl and the stadium of a million names in Miami (5).
Last year's superbowl was the highest rated in history, with 106.5 million domestic viewers. Today's game could top that number. Super Bowl II, Green Bay's second of three wins, was the lowest rated, with 39 million. Super Bowl I technically received better numbers, but only because it was shown on two networks. It received 19 and 23 ratings on NBC and CBS, compared with a 37 for SBII.
The defenses in this game are a little too strong to expect huge offensive numbers, but here are the key records in case anyone has a big game:
Most Points: San Francisco 49ers, 55
Fewest Points: Miami Dolphins, 3
Most Yards: Washington Redskins, 602
Fewest Yards: Minnesota Vikings, 119
Most Penalty Yards: Dallas Cowboys, 133
Passing Yards: Kurt Warner, 414
Rushing Yards: Timmy Smith, 204
Receiving Yards: Jerry Rice, 215
Passing TDs: Steve Young, 6
Rushing/Receiving TDs: Terrell Davis/Jerry Rice, 3
Longest Rushing TD: Willie Parker, 75 yards
Longest Receiving TD: Muhsin Muhammad, 85 yards
Longest INT Return: James Harrison, 100 yards
Longest KO Return: Desmond Howard, 99 yards
Longest Punt Return: John Taylor, 45 yards (that one seems so breakable)
Most Sacks: Reggie White/Darnell Dockett, 3
Most Field Goals: Ray Wersching/Don Chandler, 4
Longest Field Goal: Steve Christie, 54 yards
Longest Punt: Lee Johnson, 63 yards