Super Bowl XXXV — 2000 Season

Result

Super Bowl MVP

Ray Lewis (LB, Baltimore Ravens)

Starting lineups

Starting offense

Starting defense

Note: New York's defense lists only 2 traditional linebackers plus an extra nickel corner (Emmanuel McDaniel) among its 11 "starters" per the source — reads as the Giants' nickel personnel being what the game book recorded as the base grouping that day, not a clean 3-linebacker 4-3 front; reported as sourced. Trent Dilfer's passing line reflects his own snaps; backup Tony Banks also appeared briefly per the source (0/1) but is not included in this table.

Box score

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Game context

Super Bowl XXXV showcased one of the most dominant defenses in NFL history, as the Baltimore Ravens, only the league's second expansion franchise since the 1976 season to reach a Super Bowl this quickly, defeated the New York Giants 34-7 behind a unit that had allowed just 165 points across the entire regular season, an NFL record for a 16-game schedule. New York's offense, which entered the game with real credentials after routing the Minnesota Vikings 41-0 in the NFC Championship Game, managed just 152 total yards against Baltimore, the third-lowest offensive output by any team in Super Bowl history, and the Ravens' defense effectively decided the game before Baltimore's offense needed to do much of anything. Linebacker Ray Lewis was named MVP after anchoring a defense that recorded four sacks, forced multiple turnovers, and repeatedly stuffed New York's running game and passing attack alike; Giants quarterback Kerry Collins was intercepted four times and finished with a 7.1 passer rating, the second-worst in Super Bowl history. Baltimore quarterback Trent Dilfer, a journeyman who had joined the Ravens on a modest contract after being released by Tampa Bay, was efficient rather than spectacular, completing 12 of 25 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, doing just enough to complement a defense that carried the team all season. Rookie running back Jamal Lewis rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown, becoming only the second rookie to surpass 100 rushing yards in a Super Bowl. The game's most memorable stretch came in the third quarter, when three touchdowns were scored on three consecutive scoring plays within roughly a minute of game time: Baltimore's Duane Starks returned an interception 49 yards for a touchdown, New York's Ron Dixon answered with a 97-yard kickoff-return touchdown to briefly cut the deficit, and Baltimore's Jermaine Lewis immediately countered with an 84-yard kickoff return of his own for a touchdown, a dizzying sequence of long scores that remains among the most unusual scoring bursts in Super Bowl history. This was also the final Super Bowl to feature the traditional individual player introductions for both teams before kickoff, a presentation format the league retired afterward. The broadcast introduced the EyeVision instant-replay system, which used dozens of synchronized cameras to create bullet-time, freeze-and-rotate replay effects reminiscent of the recently released film The Matrix, an early technological showcase that became a talking point of the broadcast. The victory gave Baltimore its first championship since the original Colts franchise (by then relocated to Indianapolis) won in 1971, and it made the Ravens, an expansion franchise dating only to 1996, the fastest expansion team ever to win a Super Bowl. Lewis, whose reputation had been complicated by a murder-case entanglement and plea deal the previous year, used the platform of his MVP performance to begin rebuilding his public image, eventually becoming one of the most respected leaders and defensive players of his generation and a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

Sources

• Pro-Football-Reference: Super Bowl Index
• Wikipedia: Super Bowl XXXV