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 XLI points gave him 49 points for the entire 2006 post-season, an NFL record. The Colts' win was the first major professional championship for Indiana since the Indiana Pacers' ABA title in the 1972–73 season. Hester's touchdown for the Bears on the opening kickoff was the first one in Super Bowl history, and the ninth kick return for a touchdown in a Super Bowl; only three of the nine teams who did this went on to win the game (the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI, the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowls XXXV and XLVII, and the Seattle Seahawks in