Super Bowl XXXVI was the 36th Super Bowl, the championship of American football. It was held on February 3, 2002, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jeff Wilkins' 50 yard field goal capped a 10 play, 48 yard drive midway through the first quarter to give the Rams a 3-0 lead. The first turnover came with less then nine minutes left in the second quarter, when Ty Law stepped in front of an out pattern pass intended for Isaac Bruce and raced 47 yards and touched down on the left sideline into the end zone. Late in the first half, Kurt Warner completed a 15 yard pass to Ricky Proehl to the Patriots' 40, but Antwan Harris forced Proehl to fumble and Terrell Buckly recovered. Five plays later, Tom Brady's 8 yard touchdown pass to David Patten with 21 seconds left in the quarter gave New England a 14-3 halftime lead. Late in the third quarter, Torry Holt slipped coming off the line of scrimmage, and Otis Smith intercepted Warner's pass and returned it 30 yards to the Rams' 33 to set up Vinatieri's 37 yard field goal and a 17-3 lead.

The Saint Louis Rams responded by driving to the New England Patriots' 3. On fourth and goal, Warner scrambled, was tackled by Roman Phifer, and fumbled. Tebucky Jones picked up the ball and raced the length of the field for an apparent touchdown, but the play was negated by Willie McGinest's holding penalty. Warner scored two plays later to trim the deficit to 17-10 with nine and a half minutes left. The Patriots went three and out on their next two possessions, giving the Saint Louis Rams the ball on their 45 yard line with less then two minutes left left. Warner completed an 18 yard pass to Az-Zahir Hakim and an 11 yard pass to Yo Murphy before connecting on a 26 yard touchdown pass to Proehl with one and a half minutes left to tie the game. Operating without any time outs, Tom Brady completed three short passes to J.R. Redmond to reach the Patriots' 41 with 33 seconds left. After an incompletion, Brady completed 23 and 16 yard passes to Troy Brown and Jermaine Wiggins, respectively, to reach the Rams' 30, and then spiked the ball with seven seconds remaining. Adam Vinatieri drilled the 48 yard field-goal attempt, marking the first time in Super Bowl history the game had been won on the final play.

Tom Brady, who earned most valuable player honors, was 16 of 27 for 145 yards and one touchdown. Warner was 28 of 44 for 365 yards and one touchdown, with two interceptions. The Rams outgained the Patriots 427-267 in total yards, but the Patriots forced three turnovers, which resulted in 17 points, while committing no turnovers. Unbelievable, that's the only way to describe the Patriots upset victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. A 14-point underdog entering the game, New England and was expected to roll over sometime around halfway through the first quarter. Most football experts considered St. Louis the superior team, and many thought maybe the Rams would put a 30 on the scoreboard by halftime. Yet the Pats managed to take advantage of a lot of key turnovers and several clutch plays to claim a 20-17 victory. The game marked the first time in Super Bowl history that the winning points came on the final play, a 48-yard field goal by Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri. Super Bowl XXXVI was viewed by 131.7 million viewers, the fifth most watched program in U.S. television history, February 3.