Super Bowl XXXVI — 2001 Season
February 3, 2002 · New Orleans, LA (Louisiana Superdome)
Super Bowl XXXVI result: NEPNew England Patriots def. SLRSt. Louis Rams, 20-17, February 3, 2002, at New Orleans, LA (Louisiana Superdome).
Result
| Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | NEPNew England Patriots | 20-17 |
| Runner-up | SLRSt. Louis Rams |
Super Bowl MVP
Tom Brady (QB, New England Patriots)
Starting lineups
Starting offense
| St. Louis Rams | New England Patriots |
|---|---|
| Kurt Warner (QB) | Tom Brady (QB) |
| Marshall Faulk (RB) | Antowain Smith (RB) |
| Isaac Bruce (WR) | Marc Edwards (FB) |
| Torry Holt (WR) | Troy Brown (WR) |
| Ernie Conwell (TE) | David Patten (WR) |
| Jeff Robinson (TE) | Jermaine Wiggins (TE) |
| Orlando Pace (LT) | Matt Light (LT) |
| Tom Nutten (LG) | Mike Compton (LG) |
| Andy McCollum (C) | Damien Woody (C) |
| Adam Timmerman (RG) | Joe Andruzzi (RG) |
| Rod Jones (RT) | Greg Randall (RT) |
Starting defense
| St. Louis Rams | New England Patriots |
|---|---|
| Chidi Ahanotu (DE) | Bobby Hamilton (DE) |
| Brian Young (DT) | Brandon Mitchell (DT) |
| Jeff Zgonina (DT) | Richard Seymour (DT) |
| Grant Wistrom (DE) | Anthony Pleasant (DE) |
| Don Davis (LB) | Mike Vrabel (LB) |
| London Fletcher (LB) | Tedy Bruschi (LB) |
| Tommy Polley (LB) | Roman Phifer (LB) |
| Aeneas Williams (CB) | Ty Law (CB) |
| Dexter McCleon (CB) | Otis Smith (CB) |
| Adam Archuleta (S) | Lawyer Milloy (S) |
| Kim Herring (S) | Tebucky Jones (S) |
Note: New England's starting right tackle is transcribed by the source as "Greg Randall" with lower confidence in the exact spelling/identity — reported as sourced rather than corrected without a confirming second source.
Box score
Passing
| Team | Player | Comp/Att | Yds | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Rams | Kurt Warner | 28/44 | 365 | 1 | 2 |
| New England Patriots | Tom Brady | 16/27 | 145 | 1 | 0 |
Rushing
| Team | Player | Car | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Rams | Marshall Faulk | 17 | 76 | 0 |
| New England Patriots | Antowain Smith | 18 | 92 | 0 |
Receiving
| Team | Player | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Rams | Az-Zahir Hakim | 5 | 90 | 0 |
| St. Louis Rams | Isaac Bruce | 5 | 56 | 0 |
| St. Louis Rams | Torry Holt | 5 | 49 | 0 |
| St. Louis Rams | Ricky Proehl | 3 | 71 | 1 |
| New England Patriots | Troy Brown | 6 | 89 | 0 |
| New England Patriots | J.R. Redmond | 3 | 24 | 0 |
| New England Patriots | David Patten | 1 | 8 | 1 |
Game context
Super Bowl XXXVI is remembered as the launching point of the New England Patriots dynasty and one of the most significant upsets in Super Bowl history, as a Patriots team led by a 24-year-old, sixth-round draft pick making his first career playoff run at quarterback, Tom Brady, defeated the high-powered, 14-point-favorite St. Louis Rams 20-17 on a last-second field goal. Played on February 3, the first Super Bowl held in February and rescheduled by roughly a week because the 2001 season had been pushed back after the NFL suspended play following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the game carried significant emotional weight for the country, with U2's halftime performance built around a tribute to the victims of the attacks becoming one of the most celebrated halftime shows in Super Bowl history. Brady, who had taken over as starter only after an injury to Drew Bledsoe midway through the regular season, was named MVP after completing 16 of 27 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown, a modest statistical line that belied his poise in engineering the game's decisive final drive. With the score tied 17-17 and no timeouts remaining, Brady calmly moved New England into field-goal range, and Adam Vinatieri delivered a 48-yard field goal as time expired to win the championship, a kick that instantly became one of the most famous in NFL history and the first Super Bowl to be decided on the final play by a field goal. St. Louis's Kurt Warner, the reigning league MVP, actually outplayed Brady statistically, throwing for 365 yards, the second-most in Super Bowl history at the time, but the Rams' offense, so explosive during the regular season, was repeatedly disrupted by New England's defensive game plan, and St. Louis turned the ball over three times, including a Ty Law interception returned 47 yards for a touchdown that gave New England an early lead. St. Louis outgained New England 427 yards to 267 but could not overcome its turnovers against a Patriots defense committed to hitting Rams receivers and disrupting rhythm throughout the game. New England's decision to be introduced as a unified team, rather than by individual starting units as had been Super Bowl custom, became a symbolic moment widely covered afterward and was adopted as the standard introduction format for every Super Bowl since, reflecting the collective, no-egos identity that would come to define the Patriots' championship teams under head coach Bill Belichick. The victory, considered one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history given the Rams' status as one of the most explosive offenses of the era, launched a run of Patriots success that would eventually produce nine Super Bowl appearances and six championships over the following two decades under the Brady-Belichick partnership, transforming a franchise with a modest championship history into the most successful dynasty of the modern NFL. For St. Louis, the loss marked the beginning of the end of the "Greatest Show on Turf" era, as the Rams would return to the Super Bowl only once more, decades later after relocating to Los Angeles.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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