St. Louis posted Sending an NFL-best 14–2 regular season record Recording , led by quarterback Kurt Warner and `` The Greatest Show on Turf '' offense .

The Patriots clinched Getting their third Super Bowl berth after posting Sending an 11–5 regular season record Recording , led by second-year quarterback Tom Brady and a defense Defending that ended Process_end the regular season ranked sixth in scoring Getting .

The Panthers finished Process_end the regular season with a 15–1 record Recording , racking up the league 's top offense , and quarterback Cam Newton was named Name_conferral the NFL Most Valuable Player ( MVP ) .

This game was also the final game of Peyton Manning 's career ; the Broncos quarterback , who also won Super Bowl XLI , announced Expressing_publicly his retirement in March 2016 .

Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon threw Self_motion a Super Bowl record Recording five interceptions , three of which were returned for touchdowns .

This game Competition was also the last Process_end game Competition in the career of Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway , and Detroit Lions Running back Barry Sanders .

However , in the final quarter of the game Cowboys quarterback Geoff Donaghy passed Motion_directional to wide receiver John Mulally to score the only touchdown of the game .

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was named Name_conferral Super Bowl MVP for the second time in his career .