Super Bowl XXXVII Raiders entered the game favored to win in their first Super Bowl in 19 years. They were also the first franchise to appear in the Super Bowl in four decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 2000s; the 1990s was the only decade that they did not appear in the Super Bowl). However, much of the media hype surrounded the Gruden trade prior to the season. This forced league commissioner Paul Tagliabue to issue a statement that he might ban all future trades for coaches involving draft choices because it might compromise the draft. A distraction for the Raiders was that starting center
Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLV victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, the Packers accomplished this feat as a sixth seed, while the Giants accomplished this as a fifth seed. In addition, Green Bay beat the top three-seeded teams on the road, while New York defeated the fourth, first, and second seeds on the road. The Giants were the only NFC team to make multiple Super Bowl appearances in the 2000s decade. Starting with the Rams' appearance in 2001, nine different NFC teams represented the conference in the last nine seasons of the decade (Rams, Buccaneers, Panthers, Eagles, Seahawks, Bears, Giants, Cardinals, Saints,