Editing Super Bowl XXIX (section)

===Super Bowl pregame news===
Entering Super Bowl XXIX, most sports writers and fans thought the Chargers had absolutely no chance of defeating the 49ers. San Francisco was on track, winning 12 of its last 13 games (with their only loss in that span coming against the [[1994 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota Vikings]] in a meaningless regular season finale at Minnesota), including their playoff victories. Many people also thought that the NFC Championship Game between the 49ers and the Cowboys was "the real Super Bowl",<ref>[https://vault.si.com/vault/1995/01/16/711200 "The Real Super Bowl"]. ''Sports Illustrated'' cover, January 16, 1995 issue. The magazine cover shows a blown-up image of a ticket to the 1994 NFC Championship game, and photos of 49ers quarterback Steve Young and Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, all beneath the caption "The Real Super Bowl".</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://buffalonews.com/news/todays-winner-will-earn-title-but-not-respect/article_a8bfc238-e4cd-50e4-87d8-238d773cf656.html | title=Today's Winner Will Earn Title, But Not Respect | first=Vic | last=Carucci | date=January 15, 1995 | work=[[The Buffalo News]] | location=[[Buffalo, New York]]| access-date=June 14, 2023}}</ref> because those two teams were commonly viewed as vastly superior to any AFC team. Furthermore, San Francisco had defeated San Diego, 38–15, during the regular season. As a result, the 49ers entered the game favored to win by 18 1⁄2- points, surpassed only by the 19 1⁄2- points, by the [[1968 Baltimore Colts season|Baltimore Colts]] who were favored over the [[1968 New York Jets season|New York Jets]] in [[Super Bowl III]] more than two decades prior.

Many also speculated that Super Bowl XXIX would be the least watched game in Super Bowl history because the Chargers did not have as large of a core fan base as other AFC teams like the Chiefs, the Dolphins, or the Steelers. (This prediction ultimately turned out to be false. Although Super Bowl XXIX was viewed by 125.2 million people and had a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 41.3, [[Super Bowl XXVI]] three years earlier was seen by 119.7 million viewers and recorded a 40.3 rating.)

This was the seventh Super Bowl to be played in Miami, at the time tying both [[New Orleans]], Louisiana and the [[Greater Los Angeles area]] for hosting the Super Bowl the most times. It remains the only Super Bowl played between teams that play their home games in the same state (although [[Super Bowl XXV]] was played between the [[New York Giants]] and the [[Buffalo Bills]], two teams representing areas of [[New York (state)|New York]], the Giants play their home games in [[New Jersey]]).