Football Jabber’s Top Ten Super Bowls
We are just days away from the biggest game of the year. The Patriots are up to becoming the first team to post a 19-0 record and the first team since the 72′ Dolphins to run the table. What better time to take a look back at the Top Ten Super Bowls played? Of course some of the games can be up for debate. Things taken into consideration were lead changes, comebacks, game deciding scores, and when the game was decided, among others things.
#10 Super Bowl III Jets 16- Colts 7
MVP: Joe Namath QB, Jets
What makes it great? I could catch some flack for this but this game barely gets in here. It bumped out the Niners and Bengals Super Bowl XVI and Joe Montana’s first MVP performance. The game wasn’t even close and the Jets were never threatened. That, however, is why it is looked at as one of the greatest Super Bowl (and Football) games in history. We all know about the guarantee. The Jets were 18 point underdogs. This is the game that showed that the AFL could hang with the big dogs, which gives us the NFL we have today.
#9 Super Bowl X Steelers 21- Cowboys 17
MVP: Lynn Swan WR, Steelers
What makes it great? The Cowboys went into the fourth quarter with a 10-7 lead. The Steelers scored four straight times with a safety, two field goals and capped it with a 64 yard from Terry Bradshaw to Lynn Swan. The Cowboys scored another touchdown with a little under two minutes to play but the game was decided. Lynn Swan becomes the first WR to be MVP. He only has four catches but he gained 164 yards and that TD mentioned above.
#8 Super Bowl XXV Giants 20- Bills 19
MVP: Ottis Anderson RB, Giants
What makes it great? The Giants come in as underdogs and they don’t have their starting QB. They go into the second half trailing 12-10. Halfway through the fourth quarter the Giants go up 20-19 on a Matt Bar field goal. The Bills have a chance to seal the deal but Scott Norwood’s filed goal sails wide right with seconds remaining. The Giants held a HUGE time of possession advantage having the ball over 40 minutes of the game.
#7 Super Bowl XIII Steelers 35- Cowboys 31
MVP: Terry Bradshaw QB, Steelers
What makes it great? The Steelers enter the fourth quarter with a small 21-17 lead. With half of the quarter scoreless the Steelers tack on two more scores with a Franco Harris run and Bradshaw to Swann TD pass. The Cowboys do not lay down and score on two Roger Staubach touchdowns in the last two and a half minutes of the game. Once again the Cowboys fall just short of beating the Steelers in the Super Bowl.
#6 Super Bowl XXXIV Rams 23- Titans 16
MVP: Kurt Warner QB, Rams
What makes it great? The Rams go into the second half with a 9-0 lead. Halfway through the third quarter Kurt Warner hooks up with Torry Holt for a nine yard TD pass. Trailing 16-0 the Titans begin their comeback and have three straight scores that tie the game. Kurt Warner hits Issac Bruce for a 73 yard TD with a little under two minutes to play. The last two minutes are some of the most exciting in Super Bowl history as the Titans drive down into scoring position. With six seconds to play and the clock running, Steve McNair hit Kevin Dyson on the three-yard line. Dyson appeared to be going in for the score when a hail marry of a tackle by Mike Jones stopped him. Dyson stretched for the score but time expired with the ball marked on the 1 yard line.
#5 Super Bowl XXXII Broncos 31-Packers 24
MVP: Terrell Davis RB, Broncos
What makes it great? The Broncos come into the game as underdogs. After giving up the first score to Green Bay, the Broncos score three times before the Packers score again just before the half. Going into the second half the score was 17-14 in the underdogs favor. The Packers tie the game up just minutes into the 3rd quarter. Within minutes of the end of the 3rd quarter and start of the 4th, the Packers and Broncos exchange blows with two more scores. In an act of desperation as the Broncos are driving for the winning score, Mike Holmgren says he lets the Broncos score so they could get the ball back. 1:45 later the game is over and John Elway has finally got that ring.
#4 Super Bowl V Colts 16-Cowboys 13
MVP: Chuck Howley LB, Cowboys
What made it great? This game is a good example of staying with it and not giving up. The Baltimore Colts had three interceptions and lost four (of five) fumbles to the Cowboys. They trailed from the first quarter, never having a lead in the first half. At the end of the second quarter the Colts trailed 13-6. The Cowboys were shut out in the second half. The Colts tied the game in the fourth quarter and then with five seconds left in regulation, Jim O’Brian hit a 32 yard field goal to win the game for the Colts.
#3 Super Bowl XXXVI Patriots 20- Rams 17
MVP: Tom Brady QB, Patriots
What made it great? The Patriots were 14 point underdogs. The largest spread since Super Bowl III when the Jets upset the Colts. The “Greatest Show on Turf” of the Rams were held to a field goal until the fourth quarter. Trailing the underdog Patriots 17-3 the Rams began a fourth quarter comeback when Kurt Warner ran a two yard TD in. With 1:30 left in the game Warner hit Ricky Proehl from 26 yard out to tie the game. As time expired Adam Vinatieri hit a 48 yard field goal to mark the biggest upset in the Super Bowl in over thirty years. In the times of 9/11 the Patriots were victorious.
#2 Super Bowl XXXVIII Patriots 32- Panthers 29
MVP: Tom Brady QB, Patriots
What made it great? The score was locked at zero until the final three minutes of the first half. The Patriots scored…then the Panthers…then the Patriots…then the Panthers, going into the half with the Patriots leading 14-10. The third quarter was another stalemate as neither team could find a way to score. Eleven seconds into the fourth quarter the Patriots started the electric final quarter of the season. The Panthers scored twice, taking a 22-21 lead. The Patriots struck back and added a 2 point conversion making the score 29-22. The Panthers would tie the game with just over a minute left when Jake Delhomme hit Ricky Proehl (yeah the one ironically mentioned at this point in game # 3 above). The Patriots, in Patriot fashion, drove down and kicked a winning field goal with four seconds left on the clock to take them to 2-2 in Super Bowls.
#1 Super Bowl XXIII 49′ers 20- Bengals 16
MVP: Jerry Rice WR, 49′ers
What made it great? Neither team could do more than a field goal in the first half. The teams exchanged another field goal each before the first touchdown was scored on a 93 yard kick return by the Bengals at the end of the third quarter. The underdogs were up 13-6 going into the final period. Joe Montana hit Jerry Rice for a touchdown within the first minute of the 4th quarter, the 49′ers first steps in the endzone in the game making the score 13-13. With just over three minutes left in the game the Bengals hit another field goal taking a 16-13 lead. From here, Joe Montana does what Joe Montana does. With 34 seconds left in the game, Montana hits John Taylor for the winning touchdown and the third ring for San Francisco.
As we go into Super Bowl weekend and the Patriots are well favored to defeat the New York Giants, hopefully I will feel like this list needs to be updated next week. Take a look at game #3…just ask the Patriots…you never know who can come out on top!
tag: Bills, Colts, Cowboys, football, Football Jabber, Giants, Jets, nfl, Rams, Rank, Steelers, Super Bowl, Titans, Top Ten, Broncos, Packers, Patriots, Panthers, 49′ers, Bengals
Just admit it; the Steelers are the greatest football club in history, as they appear twice on your list.
Honestly, the Giants-Bills game was probably the best Super Bowl I have seen in my life time. I wonder what ever happened to that kicker. I heard he had a sex change and was eventually apprehended by a pet detective.
Laces out!
Going by that logic, Bruce, the Cowboys would have to be the best, as they appear thrice. Anyway, we all know the Niners are the best Super Bowl team ever. Right? C’mon, throw me a bone here. Poor, poor, San Fran…
[...] My favorite Super Bowl prediction is that the outcome will not convince any Patriots haters to start loving the team. [...]
I liked 2002 pretty well!
Every Season they have the marathon Super Bowl Highlights on ESPN. I didn’t watch any until last night. I watched the Rams/Titans and I have Pats/Panthers, Pats/Rams recorded for today. I believe theyy are both on again today too.
Have to disagree with #4. IMO, it only makes the list because of the game winning field goal in the final seconds. Neither team did anything offensively - except turn over the football. The offenses were so horrid that for the first time in Super Bowl history (at that time) a defensive player, Chuck Howley, was named MVP. And to make it more impressive, he was on the LOSING team! Quoted directly from Wikipedia “The game is sometimes called the “Blunder Bowl” or the “Stupor Bowl” because it was filled with poor play, penalties, turnovers, and officiating miscues.” So for this game to make the Top 10 list, it only qualifies because it was such a forgettable game.
Thanks Trip. It landed there because of several factors taken into consideration for the scoring.
“Quoted directly from Wikipedia…” Come on Trip, that doesn’t make your case any more legit, anyone can edit that. Infact, I’m going in to change it to The “Superest of Super Bowls” and crediting you for it
I tease, I tease. I didn’t want to place it so high but left it where it landed with the criteria used for the scoring.