Top Ten Super Bowls In NFL History
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Earlier this week we took a look at some of the worst Super Bowls of all time. The list was headlined by the game that was played just one year ago, the Seattle Seahawks 43-8 dismantling of the Denver Broncos. The Seahawks are back in the big dance again, this time facing off against the ever-so-consistently-good New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX.
A year removed from one of the biggest disappointments in Super Bowl history, nobody is over-hyping this Sunday's matchup. We can only hope that the game is an exciting, competitive one for football fans who will be seeing their final game until next August when the 2015 preseason begins. While the bad Super Bowls far exceed the exciting ones, there have still been several really good games played on Super Sunday over the years. With that in mind, and in no particular order, let's take a look at the top ten Super Bowls from the last 49 years.
Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh 27 Arizona 23
This was a Super Bowl that you didn't want to see come to an end. A bit of a surprise as not many people expected the Steelers and Cardinals to put on a great show, this is a game that had just about everything you'd want in a Super Bowl. Pittsburgh jumped out to a 10-0 lead but the Cardinals battled back and were about to score the go-ahead touchdown just before halftime. That's when James Harrison made history with his Super Bowl-record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The Cardinals entered the fourth quarter trailing 20-7 but stormed back, with Larry Fitzgerald's 64-yard touchdown with 2:37 left in the game capping off a 16-point outburst that gave Arizona its first lead of the night. Pittsburgh came right back and drove 78 yards in 2:02. The drive was capped off by Santonio Holmes' tippy-toed catch in the corner of the end zone with 35 seconds left in the game.
Super Bowl XXXVIII: New England 32 Carolina 29
This game didn't have a whole heck of a lot to offer in terms of excitement until the fourth quarter, but what a fourth quarter! The game started out with some good action but no points, as Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri missed a pair of field goals (one of which was blocked) in the first half. The game remained scoreless for 26 minutes and 55 seconds, a Super Bowl record for the longest amount of time without any points. Then all of a sudden the points started coming quickly. After both teams traded touchdowns just over two minutes apart, the Patriots took a 14-7 lead with just 18 seconds left in the half.
Carolina fielded a squib kick and after a nice return and a surprising running play, they hit a 50-yard field goal as time expired to go into the break trailing 14-10. The score remained that way until the fourth quarter, when once again the points started coming fast and furious. The teams combined for a Super Bowl-record 37 points in the final frame. Each team led the game during the fourth quarter and the Panthers scored a touchdown with 1:08 left in the game to tie the score at 29. Carolina kicker John Kasay kicked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, setting the Patriots up with great field position. Vinateri hit the game-winning 41-yard field goal with four seconds left.
Super Bowl XXV: NY Giants 20 Buffalo 19
Few would've been surprised if you told them in 1990 that this would be the first of four consecutive Super Bowl appearances for the Buffalo Bills. Their innovative, high-powered offense was setting the league ablaze and few teams could keep up. Unfortunately for the Bills, their luck always seemed to run out after the AFC Championship Game as they'd lose all four of their Super Bowl trips. 13-3 Buffalo came into Super Bowl XXV as 7-point favorites over an also 13-3 Giants team that won with a smothering defense (that gave up a league-low 211 points) and a control-the-clock offense. The Giants came into the game with a great game plan and executed it to perfection, keeping the Bills' offense off the field by holding the ball for 40 minutes and 33 seconds.
Buffalo still managed to take a 12-3 second quarter lead but with 3:43 left in the first half, the Giants switched to a quick-strike offense and scored their first touchdown of the game to close the gap to 12-10 at the half. The Giants scored 10 points on drives of 9:29 and 7:32, with the latter leading to a field goal that put the Giants ahead 20-19. The Bills got the ball back one last time at their 10-yard line with 2:16 remaining. They drove down to the New York 29-yard line with eight seconds left, setting up a potential game-winning field goal. Bills' kicker Scott Norwood would send the attempt wide right.
Super Bowl XIII: Pittsburgh 35 Dallas 31
This is a game that was full of memorable plays and that would've been closely contested had it gone on for another sixty minutes. Super Bowl XIII featured one of the best quarterback battles that has been seen on a Super Sunday, with the Cowboys' Roger Staubach throwing three touchdowns and the Steelers' Terry Bradshaw throwing four. The game went back and forth as each quarterback had their way with the opposing defense.
The biggest play on this day wasn't a scoring play, rather one that should have been. Cowboys Hall of Fame tight end Jackie Smith dropped a sure touchdown in the end zone that would've tied the game at 21 late in the third quarter. Pittsburgh would go up 35-17 on Bradshaw's fourth TD pass with less than seven minutes left in the game, a lead that most thought to be insurmountable. Staubach drove Dallas 89 yards in eight plays on their next drive to draw within 11, after which the Cowboys recovered an onside kick with 2:19 to go. Another touchdown pass would bring Dallas even closer, but only 22 seconds remained in the game.
Super Bowl XLVII: Baltimore 34 San Francisco 31
This game finds its way onto the list thanks to an amazingly exciting second half that came after a power outage in the Superdome suspended play for 34 minutes, earning the game the nickname "Blackout Bowl". Baltimore built a 21-6 lead at the half and then added another touchdown when Jacoby Jones returned the second half kickoff 108 yards for the score, the longest play in Super Bowl history.
The 49ers woke up in a major way late in the third quarter, putting 17 points on the board in a span of 4 minutes and 10 seconds to bring the score to 28-23. After a Ravens field goal, San Francisco scored another touchdown just over five minutes into the fourth quarter, but failed on the two-point conversion that would've tied the game. The 49ers would get one final chance to take the lead, reaching a first and goal on the Ravens 7-yard line. Baltimore hung their hat on their defense all season and the unit came up huge when it mattered most, sealing the franchise's second Super Bowl victory.
Super Bowl XXXIV: St. Louis 23 Tennessee 16
One of the best Cinderella stories the NFL has seen took place in St. Louis during the 1999 season. Kurt Warner, an unknown journeyman backup quarterback, took the reins of a powerhouse Rams offense and led them to the promise land. If not for Trent Green's injury during the preseason we may never have known who Warner is, but fate has a funny way of doing things. The game didn't start as most had anticipated as the stingy Titans defense held St. Louis to a 9-0 halftime lead on three field goals.
The Rams finally scored a touchdown midway through the third quarter and went up 16-0, but that's when the Titans roared to life. Tennessee scored 16 straight points to tie the game with 2:12 left in the fourth quarter. It took the Rams all of one play to re-take the lead as Warner hit Isaac Bruce for a 73-yard touchdown, leaving the Titans with 1:49 on the clock to try and draw even again. With the ball at their own 12-yard line, quarterback Steve McNair drove Tennessee down the field and it appeared that they were heading towards a tying score. McNair made a remarkable play to escape two would-be tacklers to covert on a third down deep in Rams territory, setting up the Titans with a first down at the 10-yard line.
Tennessee took their final timeout with six seconds remaining, setting up one final play with ten yards standing between the Titans and a game-tying score. The ensuing play went down in NFL history as simply "The Tackle". Rams linebacker Mike Jones made the play of the game by realizing that his cover assignment was being used as a decoy and instead moving towards the actual recipient of the ball, Kevin Dyson. Jones wrapped up Dyson's legs and his dive for the end zone came up inches short.
Super Bowl XXXII: Denver 31 Green Bay 24
"This one's for John." Poor John Elway had been a Super Bowl punching bag during his three previous trips to the big game, and with his career winding down it was thought that this could be his final chance to reach the mountain top. Green Bay, who had won the previous year's Super Bowl led by a young Brett Favre, jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. Denver answered quickly and tied the game on their first drive of the game, making this the only Super Bowl in which both teams have scored touchdowns on their opening drives.
Turnovers would cost the Packers in this game, as an interception and a fumble led to Denver taking a 17-7 lead early in the second quarter. Green Bay would draw within three after embarking on a 95-yard touchdown drive that ended with just twelve seconds left in the first half. The teams traded scores during the second half and the game was tied at 24 early in the fourth quarter. With Denver on the Packers one-yard line and less than two minutes remaining, Green Bay elected to let the Broncos score in order to give themselves more time to re-tie the game. The Packers final drive would get as far as Denver's 31-yard line but that's where the Broncos made their final stand.
Super Bowl XXXVI: New England 20 St. Louis 17
One year after Kurt Warner and the Rams became the darlings of the NFL, they found their way back to the Super Bowl only to face another unknown quarterback that, like Warner, will eventually be in the Hall of Fame. The Patriots and their fresh-faced quarterback by the name of Tom Brady tuck-ruled their way to Super Bowl XXXVI to face the defending champion Rams. St. Louis' "Greatest Show on Turf" couldn't get going against the Pats stingy defense and despite outgaining New England 427-267 in total yards, the Rams trailed 17-3 during the third quarter thanks to a trio of turnovers.
St. Louis finally got going and came all the way back to tie the game at 17 with 1:30 remaining. That's when the Patriots would embark on a historic drive that would put the team, Brady and Bill Belichick on the map, permanently. With no timeouts, Brady drove New England into Rams territory, spiking the ball at the 30-yard line with seven seconds on the clock. Adam Vinateri continued being as clutch as they come, hitting the game-winning 47-yard field goal as time expired. It was the first time in Super Bowl history that a game was won by a score on the final play.
Super Bowl XXIII: San Francisco 20 Cincinnati 16
This game will always be remembered for the game-winning drive by San Francisco, led by Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. Cincinnati came into this game as big underdogs but surprised a lot of people by limiting the 49ers offense to just six points through three quarters. This game may have gone a different way had the Bengals best defensive player, Tim Krumrie, not shattered two bones in his left leg on the third play of the game.
With less than a minute left in the third quarter, Cincinnati finally scored the first touchdown of the game with a 93-yard kickoff return to take a 13-6 lead. San Francisco answered quickly with an 85-yard drive that took all of four plays, the third of which was almost intercepted by the Bengals in the end zone. Montana's 14-yard touchdown to Jerry Rice tied the game at 13 early in the fourth quarter. Undeterred, Cincinnati re-took the lead with a 40-yard field goal with 3:20 remaining in the game. Montana would then lead the 49ers on a historic 92-yard drive, capped off by a 10-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor with 39 seconds to go.
Super Bowl XLII: NY Giants 17 New England 14
I've saved the best for last. Some call this game the best Super Bowl of all time while others say it's the biggest upset in Super Bowl history. Either would be correct. The Patriots came into this game as a huge favorite, having gone 16-0 in the regular season and obviously winning their two playoff games. The Giants snuck into the playoffs as a Wild Card team and had to win three games on the road in order to reach the Super Bowl. New England featured a high-scoring offense led by quarterback Tom Brady and wide receiver Randy Moss. The Giants used the same strategy that was seen in their Super Bowl XXV win over the Buffalo Bills, controlling the clock and keeping their opponents offense on the sideline.
The Patriots held a 7-3 lead at halftime and the score stayed the same into the fourth quarter. With 11:05 left in the game, Giants QB Eli Manning hit backup receiver David Tyree for a 5-yard touchdown to put the Giants ahead 10-7. After each team went three-and-out, the Patriots got the ball back on their own 20-yard line with 7:54 to play. Brady led the Pats down the field and threw a go-ahead touchdown to Moss with just 2:42 on the clock.
Trailing 14-10, New York started their final drive from their own 17-yard line. Already having converted on a fourth down, the Giants faced a third-and-five from their own 44-yard line with 1:15 to go. Manning made a remarkable play to avoid being sacked, spinning his way out of the clutches of several Patriots defenders, and threw up a hail mary down the middle of the field in the direction of Tyree, who was covered. Tyree leaped for the ball and caught it in midair, pinning the ball to his helmet with one hand before securing it with the other, all while being tackled by the Patriots' Rodney Harrison. Four plays later, Manning found Plaxico Burress in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown with 35 seconds left in the game.
Honorable Mention- Super Bowl III: NY Jets 16 Baltimore 7
The game itself wasn't anything particularly special, but the impact it had on professional football cannot be ignored. The NFL was always thought to be far superior than the AFL, with the point further being proved by the elder league's victories in the first two Super Bowls. The New York Jets victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III helped changed the perception of the AFL and the merger between the two leagues.
Football fans and journalists were shocked to see Jets quarterback Joe Namath and running back Matt Snell have their way with the Colts dominant defensive front. New York's defense was equally impressive, forcing four interceptions between Baltimore's two quarterbacks, Johnny Unitas and Earl Morrall.
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