Ranking the top 10 Super Bowls
There was a time when Super Bowl dramatics were few and far between. But for most of the past two decades, the game has usually managed to live up to its perpetual hype. With Super Bowl 56 fast approaching, here are my top-10 Super Sunday game rankings (cardinal number, season noted in parentheses):
1. 51 (2016) New England Patriots 34, Atlanta Falcons 28 (OT): This game lacked nothing. Patriots QB Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick cemented their legacies, each becoming the first at his respective post to earn five Super Bowl titles. But securing immortal greatness required an all-time performance. Brady threw for a then-super Bowl record 466 yards, leading his team to 31 unanswered points and earning MVP honors a record-breaking fourth time as New England forged the greatest comeback ever on Super Sunday – Atlanta led 28-3 in the third quarter – while taking the game into overtime for the first time. WR Julian Edelman made a miraculous Super Bowl catch that benefited New England for a change. RB James White was the unsung hero, catching a record 14 passes while also scoring the gametying and game-winning TDS on his way to a Super Bowl record 20 points. Oh, and the Falcons, with league MVP Matt Ryan and Co., sure were impressive on both sides of the ball for nearly three quarters before their epic collapse.
2. 42 (2007) New York Giants 17, Patriots 14: Arguably the biggest upset in Super Bowl history, the Giants derailed New England’s march to the neverachieved 19-0 campaign with an unrelenting pass rush, WR David Tyree’s miraculous helmet catch and QB Eli Manning’s MVP performance.
3. 49 (2014) Patriots 28, Seattle Seahawks 24: It will forever be remembered for QB Russell Wilson’s goal-line interception with the game hanging in the balance when the Seahawks could have given the ball to bruising RB Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch, who had 133 total yards. The loss likely denied Seattle’s shot at a dynasty while burnishing the “Patriot Way.” Brady won a record-tying third MVP award as he and Belichick
collected their fourth title together after a decade-long dry spell.
4. 23 (1988) San Francisco 49ers 20, Cincinnati Bengals 16: Probably the first legitimate Super Bowl classic. In what was perhaps QB Joe Montana’s defining performance – ironically the only time he didn’t win game MVP honors – he led an 11-play, 92-yard drive that culminated with a game-winning TD pass to WR John Taylor with 34 seconds to go.
WR Jerry Rice’s Super Bowl-record 215 receiving yards earned him the MVP award. It was also Bill Walsh’s final game as an NFL head coach.
5. 43 (2008) Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23: It had a little bit of everything – Pittsburgh LB James Harrison’s 100-yard INT return to end the first half, a furious fourth-quarterback comeback led by WR Larry Fitzgerald and decided underdog Arizona, and
QB Ben Roethlisberger’s laser shot to the back corner of the end zone to toe-tapping MVP Santonio Holmes for the win. The Steelers snagged their sixth Lombardi Trophy, a mark since tied by the Patriots.
6. 34 (1999) St. Louis Rams 23, Tennessee Titans 16: The “Greatest Show On Turf” scored its third-fewest points of the season, but MVP Kurt Warner’s then-record 414 passing yards and LB Mike Jones’ tackle of Tennessee WR Kevin Dyson just shy of the goal line on the final play proved sufficient.
7. 52 (2017) Philadelphia Eagles 41, Patriots 33: Maybe a nearly six-decade wait between championships and a first Super Bowl crown was almost worth it for The City of Brotherly Love? MVP Nick Foles (373 yards and 3 TDS through the air) led the charge, his 1-yard TD grab before halftime on the now-legendary “Philly Special” serving as the indelible sequence. But Eagles DE Brandon Graham basically assured the result by serving up the game’s lone defensive highlight with a strip sack of Brady with 2:09 to go. TB12 fired off a game record 505 yards through the air before succumbing on a day when the clubs combined for an NFL record 1,151 yards of total offense.
8. 25 (1990) Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19: New York played keepaway from Buffalo’s explosive K-gun offense, holding the ball for nearly 41 minutes, and got nice efforts from MVP Ottis Anderson (102 yards, TD) and backup QB Jeff Hostetler. But the Giants only survived thanks to K Scott Norwood’s wayward 47-yard field-goal try.
9. 36 (2001) Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17: Despite one of Super Sunday’s biggest stunners, few realized this game also represented the beginning of a dynasty, coronation of a genius (Belichick) and birth of an icon as Brady won his first MVP. And there’s no forgetting K Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning, upright-splitting 48-yard FG at the gun.
10. 46 (2011) Giants 21, Patriots 17: For the second time in five seasons, New York broke New England’s heart as Eli Manning completed another improbable throw – this time to Mario Manningham – before the Giants scored a late goahead TD.