Super Bowl XI regular season record before defeating the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs. The Vikings were making their fourth Super Bowl appearance after posting an 11–2–1 regular season record and playoff victories over the Washington Redskins and the Los Angeles Rams. The Vikings became the first team to appear in four Super Bowls, a record they held until the Dallas Cowboys advanced to a Super Bowl for the fifth time in Super Bowl XIII. They had not won in their previous three attempts, losing Super Bowl IV to the Kansas City Chiefs in the final Super Bowl
Super Bowl XXXIII have a very successful, lengthy run afterwards. The three other successful series that premiered after the Super Bowl were "The A-Team" after Super Bowl XVII, "The Wonder Years" after Super Bowl XXII, and "" after Super Bowl XXVII This was followed by "The Simpsons" episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday". With this appearance, the Broncos became the first team to play in Super Bowls televised on all four major broadcast networks in the United States. CBS televised the Broncos' losses in Super Bowls XII, XXI, and XXIV (and later their Super Bowl 50 victory), ABC their loss in Super Bowl XXII, and