Super Bowl XXXVII, 2003: Tampa Bay 48 Oakland 21

Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2002 season. The Buccaneers defeated the Raiders by the score of 48–21, tied with Super Bowl XXXV for the seventh largest Super Bowl margin of victory, winning their first-ever Super Bowl, and ending the NFC South's time as the last division with no Super Bowl championships. The game was played on January 26, 2003, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.

To date, this is the last Super Bowl to be played in the month of January, as all subsequent games have been played in February. It is also the last to have been played in the week following the conference championship games (the others being Super Bowls XVII, XXV, XXVIII, XXXIV, and XXXVI) and the last to be played at Qualcomm Stadium, which previously hosted Super Bowl XXII (then called Jack Murphy Stadium) and Super Bowl XXXII and was demolished in 2021. Since the NFL no longer has a team in San Diego after the Chargers relocated to Los Angeles in 2017, and the league has a policy not to award Super Bowls to metropolitan areas that do not have a team within them, Super Bowl XXXVII will be the last to be played in San Diego for the foreseeable future unless an NFL team returns to the area.

This was the first Super Bowl in which the league's number one-ranked offense (Raiders) faced the league's number one-ranked defense (Buccaneers). The game sometimes is referred to as the "Gruden Bowl", because the primary storyline surrounding the game revolved around Jon Gruden. Gruden was the Raiders' head coach from 1998 to 2001, and as a result of a trade then became the Buccaneers head coach in 2002. Tampa Bay, "Gruden's new team", made their first Super Bowl appearance in team history after posting a 12–4 regular season record. Oakland, "Gruden's old team", advanced to their fifth Super Bowl after an 11–5 regular season. Super Bowl XXXVII is also referred to as the "Pirate Bowl", due to both teams' pirate-themed mascots and logos.

The Raiders came into the game as four-point favorites. However, offensive struggles from the Raiders, and a dominant defensive performance from Tampa throughout much of the game would unravel the juggernaut Raider offense. Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon threw a Super Bowl record five interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns. The Buccaneers also sacked Gannon five times, and scored 34 consecutive points to build a 34–3 lead late in the third quarter. Tampa Bay safety Dexter Jackson, who had two of those interceptions and returned them for 34 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP. Jackson became only the second safety and third defensive back named Super Bowl MVP.

Game summary
First quarter
The Raiders had a great chance to score a touchdown early in the game after cornerback Charles Woodson intercepted Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson's pass on the third play of the game and returned it 12 yards to the Tampa Bay 36-yard line. However, six plays later, Tampa Bay defensive end Simeon Rice sacked Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon on third down, forcing Oakland to settle for kicker Sebastian Janikowski's 40-yard field goal to give them a 3–0 lead.

Buccaneers kick returner Aaron Stecker returned the ensuing kickoff 27 yards to the 29-yard line, then appeared to fumble the ball. Although the officials initially ruled that the ball was recovered by Oakland's Eric Johnson, the play was reviewed by instant replay and the fumble was overturned, and thus Tampa Bay retained possession. It showed that both of Stecker's knees were down and the ball didn't come loose until it hit the ground. Gruden and Stecker appeared upset at having to use a challenge so early in a game, when they both believed Stecker was clearly down.

On the first play of the drive, Brad Johnson completed an 11-yard pass to wide receiver Joe Jurevicius. Johnson's next 2 passes were incomplete, but he then completed a 23-yard pass to Jurevicius on third down to advance the ball to the Oakland 37-yard line. Running back Michael Pittman then rushed for a 23-yard gain to the 13-yard line. However, on the next 3 plays, the Raiders defense limited the Buccaneers to a pair of incompletions and a 1-yard run. Argentine kicker Martín Gramática then made a 31-yard field goal to tie the game, 3–3. Later in the quarter, a 17-yard punt return by Raiders defensive back Darrien Gordon gave Oakland the ball at their own 49-yard line. Gannon then threw an 8-yard pass to running back Charlie Garner to reach the Tampa Bay 43-yard line. However, on third down, Buccaneers safety Dexter Jackson intercepted Gannon's pass at the 40-yard line and returned it 9-yards to near midfield.

Second quarter
Nine plays after the turnover, Gramática kicked his second field goal from 43 yards to give Tampa Bay a 6–3 lead.

Jackson intercepted another pass on the Raiders' next drive and returned it 25 yards to Oakland's 45-yard line, making Jackson the first player ever to record two interceptions in the first half of the Super Bowl. However, the Buccaneers were unable to take advantage of the turnover and were forced to punt. Tampa Bay got a big assist from their punter Tom Tupa, who managed to pin Oakland all the way back at their own 11-yard line. The Raiders could not move the ball either, losing 1 yard on 3 plays with their ensuing drive. Tampa Bay punt returner Karl Williams then returned Shane Lechler's punt 25 yards, giving the Buccaneers great field position at Oakland's 27-yard line. Aided with Pittman's gains of 6 and 19 yards, the Buccaneers scored their first touchdown on a 2-yard run from fullback Mike Alstott, increasing their lead to 13–3. Then with 3:45 left in the half, Tampa Bay drove 77 yards, assisted by a pair of catches by Alstott for 28 total yards. Johnson finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Keenan McCardell to give the Buccaneers a 20–3 halftime lead.

Third quarter
Tampa Bay continued to dominate the game for most of the third quarter. The Buccaneers forced the Raiders to punt on the opening drive of the second half. Next, Tampa Bay marched 89 yards on a 14-play drive that took 7:52 off the clock, and ended with Johnson's 8-yard touchdown pass to McCardell to increase their lead to 27–3. Then on the second play of Oakland's ensuing drive, Buccaneers defensive back Dwight Smith intercepted Gannon's pass and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown, making the score 34–3.

After giving up 34 consecutive points, Oakland finally managed to drive 82 yards down the field and score on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Gannon to wide receiver Jerry Porter. Although he was initially ruled as being out of bounds when he caught the ball, it was determined that Porter had both feet in the end zone. The two-point conversion failed, so the Raiders were still down 34–9.

Fourth quarter
The Raiders' touchdown seemed to fire up their defense, who forced the Buccaneers to a fourth down on their ensuing possession. Oakland linebacker Tim Johnson then blocked Tupa's punt, and linebacker Eric Johnson returned the ball 13 yards for a touchdown. Another two-point conversion for Oakland failed, but Tampa Bay's lead was cut to 34–15.

Tampa Bay responded by moving the ball to the Oakland 9-yard line on their ensuing drive, featuring a 24-yard run by Pittman, but they came up empty after Tupa fumbled the snap on a field goal attempt. A few plays later, Gannon threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jerry Rice with 6:06 left in the game, cutting the Raiders deficit to 34–21 and were only two touchdowns away from taking the lead. The two-point conversion failed when Jerry Porter caught the ball but landed out of bounds. Though there was contact with a defender, the officials deemed the contact incidental rather than a force-out, and therefore that part of the play was non-reviewable.

In an attempt to prevent a Raiders comeback, the Buccaneers managed to run the clock down to 2:44 on their ensuing drive before being forced to punt. Then on third and 18 from the Oakland 29-yard line, Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks put the game completely out of reach by intercepting a Gannon pass intended for Marcus Knight and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown, giving the Buccaneers a 41–21 lead with only 1:18 left, and leading Buccaneers radio announcer Gene Deckerhoff to make his famous call of "The dagger's in, we're gonna win the Super Bowl!". A few plays later, with the Raiders now playing for pride, Dwight Smith intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown with only two seconds remaining. Gramática kicked the extra point, and the Buccaneers were up 48–21. Raiders defensive tackle Chris Cooper returned Gramática's kickoff 6 yards before being tackled by Jack Golden, ending the game. The Buccaneers won their first-ever Super Bowl with a 48–21 victory. Gannon said after the game that his performance was "nightmarish". With the win, Jon Gruden became, at 39, the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl, surpassing John Madden who won Super Bowl XI at the age of 40.

Wikipedia