For over half a century, the National Football League season has culminated with its championship game better known as the Super Bowl.
60. XXXV=Ravens-34 Giants-7
The Ravens and Giants set records for ineptitude in XXXV as both teams combined for 21 punts, 396 yards of total offense, and 24 1st downs, all record lows in Super Bowl history.
The most entertaining part of the game occurred in the third quarter when three touchdowns were scored on three straight plays in 36 seconds; Baltimore’s Duane Starks returning an interception 49 yards a touchdown, followed by the Giants’ Ron Dixon running back the ensuing kickoff 97 yards, and concluding with the Ravens’ Jermaine Lewis returning the following kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown.
59. VIII=Dolphins-24 Vikings-7
The Dolphins won their second straight Super Bowl with a ball-control offense as they only threw the ball on seven out of their 60 offensive plays during the game.
Fullback Larry Csonka was Miami’s workhouse as he carried the ball 33 times for 145 yards and scored two touchdowns while the Dolphins defense held the Vikings out of the end zone until early in the 4th quarter when they were behind 24-0.
58. XLVIII=Seahawks-43 Broncos-8
When Broncos center Manny Ramirez snapped the ball over the head of quarterback Peyton Manning resulting in a safety for the Seahawks on the first play of the game, it was an omen on how things were going to go for Denver that day.
The Seahawks defense built up a 36-0 lead before the Denver offense finally got in the end zone on the final play of the third quarter as Seattle won its first Super Bowl title by 35 points, tying for the third largest margin of victory in a Super Bowl game.
57. LX=Seahawks-29 Patriots-13
Eleven years after their classic in Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks face off with the Patriots again, but this game lacks the excitement and drama of their first encounter as the Seattle defense dominates the game as they sack Patriots quarterback Drake Maye six times and force three turnovers.
The first three quarters of the game were rough as neither team could go into the end zone until Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throws a 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end A.J. Barner early in the fourth quarter.
56.II=Packers-33 Raiders-14
The Packers’ win in Super Bowl II was anticlimactic compared to their win over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Championship Game two weeks earlier in the famous “Ice Bowl”, where quarterback Bart Starr scored the winning touchdown with 13 seconds to go for the 21-17 victory.
Green Bay easily dispatched of the Raiders in what would be Vince Lombardi’s final game as the head coach of the Packers.
55. XI=Raiders-32 Vikings-14
The Raiders, winners of 83 games from 1969-1976, won their 84th game and more importantly their first Super Bowl title, as they gained 429 yards of offense as they cruised to victory which was sealed by Willie Brown’s 75-yard pick-six in the 4th quarter.
54. LV=Buccaneers-31 Chiefs-9
The anticipated matchup between Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady turned into a one-sided affair as Brady completed 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns while Mahomes completed 26 of 49 passes for 270 yards and was intercepted twice as the Chiefs were held out of the end zone in Tampa Bay's 31-9 win over the defending champion Chiefs.
53. XXVI=Redskins-37 Bills-24
This game was not as close as the final score indicates as the Redskins dominated the game by building up a 24-0 lead early in the 3rd quarter and then pulling away for the victory as the Bills scored two touchdowns in the 4th quarter when the game had already been decided(Washington was leading 37-10).
The most memorable part of the game occurred on the sidelines when Bills running back Thurman Thomas forgot his helmet as he missed the first two plays of Buffalo’s opening possession.
52. LIX Eagles-40 Chiefs-22
The Chiefs’ attempt to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls is thwarted by a dominant performance by the Eagles defense as Philadelphia holds Kansas City to just 23 yards and one first down in the first half while sacking quarterback Patrick Mahomes six times and forcing three turnovers.
The Eagles build a 40-6 lead as MVP Jalen Hurts accounts for 293 yards of total offense as the Chiefs score two touchdowns and convert two-point conversions in garbage time to make the final margin closer than it should have been.
51. XXIV=49ers-55 Broncos-10
What was hyped a quarterback duel between 49ers quarterback Joe Montana and Broncos quarterback John Elway, turned into a one-man show as Montana completed 22 of 29 passes for 297 yards and a then-record five touchdown passes as the 49ers set the Super Bowl record for most points in a game(55) while the defense held the Broncos to only 167 yards of total offense while forcing five turnovers and sacking Elway five times in the most lopsided game in Super Bowl history.
50. XXIX=49ers-49 Chargers-26
If there was any chance for the 18-point underdog Chargers to pull off the upset, it evaporated in the first five minutes of the game when the 49ers jumped out to a 14-0 lead as quarterback Steve Young threw two touchdown passes(a 44-yarder to Jerry Rice and a 51-yarder to Ricky Watters) as his way onto a record six touchdown passes to give the 49ers their fifth Super Bowl title.
Though the game was a blowout, both teams combined for a record 75 points and 10 touchdowns to go along with Young’s record and Chargers kick returner Andre Coleman’s record for most kickoff return yards in a Super Bowl, 244 which included a 98-yard touchdown return.
49. XX=Bears-46 Patriots-10
The Bears “46” defense put together perhaps the greatest team defensive performance in Super Bowl history as they held the Patriots to just -19 yards in the first half, finishing with allowing just 123 yards(127 of them came after the Bears had taken a 44-3 lead on William “The Refrigerator” Perry’s one-yard touchdown run), forced six turnovers and sacked New England quarterbacks seven times in the second biggest blowout in Super Bowl history.
One year after playing in the second highest scoring Super Bowl of all time, the Patriots play in the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever played as it takes until midway through the fourth quarter for a touchdown to be scored, a two-yard run by Patriots running back Sony Michel, in a game that features only one touchdown, the fewest touchdowns in a Super Bowl game.
48. VI=Cowboys-24 Dolphins-3
After losing on a last-second field goal in the previous year’s Super Bowl, the Dallas Cowboys returned to the Super Bowl to finally win the world championship after several years of close calls.
The famed “Doomsday” defense held the Dolphins out of the end zone(the only time a team has not scored a touchdown in a Super Bowl) and to just 185 yards of total offense, while the Cowboys rushed for a then-record 252 yards with Duane Thomas being the leading rusher with 95 yards.
47. XXVII=Cowboys-52 Bills-17
Believe it or not, the Cowboys held only a two-touchdown lead as the 4th quarter began, but Dallas went on to score 21 points in the 4th quarter as they forced a record nine turnovers in the game on their way to to the first Super Bowl title in 15 years and first of three championships in four years.
However, the most memorable moment came when Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett recovered a fumble and was on his way to an apparent 64-yard touchdown when Lett was stripped of the ball at the one-yard-line by Bills wide receiver Don Beebe.
46. XXXVII=Buccaneers-48 Raiders-21
Bucs head coach Jon Gruden got revenge on his former team for “trading” him before the 2002 season as Tampa Bay intercepted Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon a Super Bowl record five times, returning three of them for touchdowns(another Super Bowl record), including two in the final two minutes of the game after the Raiders had scored 18 unanswered points to pull within 13 points, 34-21, as the Buccaneers won their first and thus far only world championship.
45. XXXIII=Broncos-34 Falcons-19
Broncos quarterback John Elway finished out his 16-year Hall-of-Fame career with a MVP performance as he completed 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards and threw a 80-yard touchdown pass to go along with a 3-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter to give Denver its second consecutive Super Bowl title.
44. XV Raiders-27 Eagles-10
The Raiders became the first Wild Card team to win the Super Bowl as quarterback Jim Plunkett threw three touchdown passes while linebacker Rod Martin set a Super Bowl record by intercepting Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski three times.
But many fans stay tuned to the trophy presentation to see if there would be any fireworks when NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle presented the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Raiders owner Al Davis, who was suing the NFL to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles.
To the disappointment of some, the presentation went on without a hitch.
43. XIX=49ers-38 Dolphins-16
Many fans expected a shootout as Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, who had the records for most passing yards and touchdowns passes in a single season, faced off with 49ers quarterback Joe Montana.
While both quarterbacks threw for over 300 yards and the two teams combined for 851 yards of offense(the third most in Super Bowl history), it was Montana and the 49ers who came out on top as San Francisco gained 537 of those 851 yards, with Montana accounting for 390 of the 49ers’ 537 yards(331 passing, 59 rushing) and four touchdowns(three passing, one rushing) as the 49ers had the game sewn up midway through the third quarter.
42. XVIII=Raiders-38 Redskins-9
The Redskins were looking to win their second straight Super Bowl and complete one of the greatest seasons in NFL history as they had lost only two games during the 1983 season, both by only one point, had a scored then-record 541 points during the regular season and had a turnover margin of +43, which is still a NFL record.
But the Redskins would get rocked by the Raiders as the tone was set at the end of the Redskins’ first possession of the game when Derrick Jensen blocked Jeff Hayes’ punt and recovered it in the end zone for a Raiders touchdown, which was followed with backup linebacker Jack Squirek picking off a Joe Theismann pass and return five yards for another touchdown in the final seconds of the first half, and then Marcus Allen put the icing on the cake of the Raiders’ rout with his incredible 74-yard touchdown run on the final play of the third quarter.
41. XII=Cowboys-27 Broncos-10
Legendary NFL films narrator John Facenda described Super Bowl XII as “Fiercely fought, but frightfully flawed” as the two teams combined for a record 20 penalties and 10 turnovers, eight coming courtesy of the Broncos, with seven of those being committed in the first half alone.
However, the game did feature two memorable plays: Cowboys wide receiver Butch Johnson’s diving fingertip catch for a 45-yard touchdown, and Dallas running back Robert Newhouse becoming the first non-quarterback to throw a touchdown in a Super Bowl as his 29-yard touchdown pass to Golden Richards in the 4th quarter sealed the Cowboys’ 2nd Super Bowl title of the 1970s.
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