8 of the most unusual records in Super Bowl history

It’s one thing to celebrate the glamorous Super Bowl records, like most points scored, most yards gained, or most touchdowns. But there have been some obscure and even dubious marks that deserve love, too.

The 49ers and Chiefs may very well set some records in Super Bowl LIV — and perhaps even break one on this list. Here are eight of the most unusual records, sorted from least likely to be broken this year to most likely.

Though the Super Bowl is played at a neutral site, the teams are designated home and road for each game. The 49ers, as the “road” team in this year’s Super Bowl, will get to call the coin toss on Sunday. From 1998-2011, the NFC team won the coin toss for 14 years in a row, starting with the Packers in Super Bowl XXXII and ending with Green Bay again in Super Bowl XLV. Winning the coin toss didn’t necessarily prove advantageous, however, as the AFC team won the Super Bowl in nine of those 14 years.

The NFC’s current “streak” is all of one consecutive coin toss won, thanks to the Rams last year. So this won’t fall anytime soon.

Defensive end Dwight White got credit for the safety, the first in Super Bowl history, but it was really just a botched snap that Minnesota quarterback Fran Tarkenton recovered in the end zone, and White was the first Steeler to touch him. The Vikings’ only score in this game came on a blocked punt in the fourth quarter. Their offense was held to a record-low 119 yards in a 16-6 loss, the first of four Super Bowl wins in six years for Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain defense.

There have been nine safeties in the Super Bowl, the last by Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril against the Broncos in 2014.

This might as well be called “worst Super Bowl,” because the second-most punts is 10 by Kyle Richardson of the Ravens in the very same game. Baltimore and New York combined for a Super Bowl-record low 396 yards, with the Ravens winning, 34-7. There were five total touchdowns in the game, including two kickoff returns and a pick-six. The only two offensive touchdowns in the game were both scored by the Ravens, and both came on drives that started on the Giants’ half of the field.

It’s unfathomable that in 53 Super Bowls we haven’t had one punt returned for a touchdown. In the Super Bowl era (1966-present) there have been 583 punt return TDs in 24,412 regular-season games, roughly one every 42 games. We’re due!

By comparison, there have been 10 Super Bowl kickoff returns for touchdowns, the last by Percy Harvin for the Seahawks in 2014.

Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon capped off his 2002 MVP season by throwing five touchdown passes in the Super Bowl, except three of them were thrown to the wrong team. Smith returned his first interception 44 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter, giving Tampa Bay a 34-3 lead. His second pick-six came in the final seconds of the game, taking a Gannon pass 50 yards to the house to complete the Bucs’ 48-21 waxing of the Raiders. Game MVP honors went to a different Buccaneers defensive back, Dexter Jackson, who also had two (of Gannon’s five) interceptions in the blowout.

Herrera tried five field goals — tied for the most with the Jets’ Jim Turner in 1969 — and made two. The misses didn’t hurt the Cowboys, who drubbed the Broncos, 27-10.

Who can forget where they were when these two raised their hands in the air before successfully catching a punt. What a wonderful securing of possession!

Bob Griese only threw seven passes in the Super Bowl in 1974, completing six for 73 yards. But that was more than enough for the Dolphins, thanks to a crushing defense and a bruising Larry Csonka, who led a Miami rushing attack that totaled 53 carries and kept Minnesota off the field in a 24-7 win.

That last obscure record seems like the most relevant on Sunday, even though the chances of it falling — like all of these oddities — are still low.

The 49ers have a dominating defense and have been exceedingly run heavy in their two playoff wins. Jimmy Garoppolo threw an interception late in the first half against Minnesota, but since then has only thrown 14 total passes in six quarters, completing 10 for a grand total of 103 yards. San Francisco didn’t need Garoppolo’s passing, outscoring the Vikings and Packers 50-20 combined in the last game and a half.

It seems unlikely the 49ers can keep up with the Chiefs’ high-powered offense without a big contribution from Garoppolo, something he proved capable of during the regular season. The Titans won two road playoff games by running the ball, with quarterback Ryan Tannehill throwing only 29 total passes. But against Kansas City, Tannehill threw for more yards (209) than he did in the previous two games combined (160). We’ll see if Garoppolo sees a similar increase in the Super Bowl.