Gina, a very young Labrador retriever-chow chow mix, won Most Valuable Puppy (MVP) honors. Her teammate Rocky Road, a German Shepherd-Samoyed mix, scored the game-winner, after the teams played it close to each other for much of the game.

The Fluffsters were back in the column after a defeat last year.

A record 96 puppies from a total of 61 shelters took part in the 2020 Puppy Bowl. It wasn't just American dogs competing, either; taking part also were puppies from Canada, Colombia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A full five special needs dogs took the field:

• Ferris, a three-legged Labrador retriever mix
• Filbert, a blind and hearing-impaired Shetland sheepdog mix
• Kismet, a hearing-impaired Great Dane
• Paprika, a hearing-impaired Chihuahua mix
• Rooster, an American Staffordshire terrier-bulldog mix that has a cleft palate

For the ninth year in a row, Dan Schachner was the referee, trying to keep order on the field. Cheering from the sidelines were a collection of armadillos and baby pygmy goats. Providing the halftime entertainment were cats Jenni-Purr Lopez and Cat-ira, in yet another nod to the Super Bowl, at the halftime of which Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performed. (Winning the human-powered Super Bowl LIV were the Kansas City Chief, by a score of 31–20 over hte San Francisco 49ers.)

As has happened in previous years, all dogs that book part in Puppy Bowl XVI were adopted.