On February 11, the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will meet in the 58th Super Bowl, looking to put on one of the all-time best performances in the NFL’s grand finale.
Competed for by the winners of the AFC and NFC after the playoffs, it can be argued that the Super Bowl doesn’t always feature the two best teams in the NFL, but that hasn’t stopped the event from consistently creating fireworks!
Here, we’re ranking the best Super Bowls of all time, from one of the most famous late wins of the 1980s to an underdog victory that defied all expectations.
5 - Super Bowl XXIII (1989)
Entering the postseason as the top seed in the AFC with a 12-4 record, the Cincinnati Bengals were looking good to capitalize on their second-ever appearance at the Super Bowl.
While the San Francisco 49ers finished second in the NFC with a 10-6 record, the side boasting Joe Montana and Jerry Rice entered the betting as the seven-point favourites.
What came next was a very closely contested game down at the Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida, with the teams 3-3 at halftime. In the third, the Bengals took a 13-6 lead, holding a 16-13 lead with just over three minutes left.
Montana had to charge 92 yards up the field in 3:10 to have any hope of coming away with the Super Bowl. In just ten plays, Montana made it to the ten-yard line of the Bengals and found John Taylor with just 39 seconds left.
It’s said that, to calm the nerves of his offence, in the huddle, Montana pointed to the crowd and said, “Hey, isn’t that John Candy?” It seemed to work, and the 49ers won Super Bowl XXIII 20-16.
The 49ers return to the Super Bowl in 2024, and given the setting so close to Sin City, perhaps Brock Purdy will be able to make a similar shout to help San Francisco make good on its -118 odds on the NFL lines to win -1.5.
4 - Super Bowl XIII (1979)
In the late 1970s, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys were powerhouses of the NFL. The Steelers had been to Super Bowl IX, X, and now XIII while the Cowboys were returning from a Super Bowl XII victory, having previously faced the Steelers at Super Bowl X.
Coming into Super Bowl XIII, the Steelers had won the Super Bowl twice, while the Cowboys had claimed it once but stood as the reigning champions.
In 1979, the team from Texas was gunning for revenge, having lost 21-17 three years prior to the Steelers, now pitting greats Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw against each other. Both were gunning for their third ring.
It was a very close game rife with drama, particularly on the side of the Cowboys. Standing 21-17 at the end of the third, the Steelers came out seeking to punish their foes.
After scoring a touchdown to increase their lead, the Stealers were able to pounce on a slip by Ray Gerela on the kickoff, giving the ball to Bradshaw 18 yards out, who found Lynn Swann for his fourth TD pass to take a 35-17 lead.
The drama wasn’t over as the Cowboys were able to score two touchdowns within the final two minutes and 21 seconds, but in the end, their outing will be remembered for a tripping call and a dropped pass.
3 - Super Bowl LI (2017)
Still fresh in the minds of NFL fans, the incredible comeback staged by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will always be considered at the high end of lists for the best Super Bowl of all time.
To date, Super Bowl LI is also the only one to go to overtime. The first half may have looked to be skewing towards a fairly common Super Bowl walkover, but the 28-3 lead amassed by the Atlanta Falcons just wasn’t enough to stop a homed-in Brady.
The resurgence truly got going with just 2:06 left in the third period, even if the PAT was missed after the James White touchdown.
In the fourth, Stephen Gostkowski put up a 33-yard field goal. That was followed by a Danny Amendola touchdown and a two-pointer from White, and then a White touchdown run and a two-point pass to Amendola.
The game suddenly ended 28-28, with the momentum firmly behind the Patriots. Unfortunately for the Falcons, the Pats won the toss, surged up the field, and completed the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
2 - Super Bowl XLIX (2015)
Sticking with the indomitable duo of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots’ 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks also ranks in this top five of the best Super Bowls ever.
The Seahawks were the defending Super Bowl champions, had steamrolled Payton Manning and the Denver Broncos 43-8 at Super Bowl XLVIII, won the NFC with a 12-4 record, and still boasted the Legion of Boom.
However, with the Pats also coming to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, riding a 12-4 regular season record that won the AFC, and the titanic coach-quarterback duo still going strong, the bookies couldn’t pick between the two teams.
Super Bowl LVIII is very close in the best sport betting Canada has to offer, with the Chiefs narrowly out as the moneyline underdogs at +105, but even that’s a bump on how tight Super Bowl XLIX was in the odds.
The first quarter ended square at 0-0, but the second burst into life, ending the half 14-14. In the third, the Seahawks took a menacing ten-point lead, with Russell Wilson’s touchdown throw to Doug Baldwin adding to Steven Hauschka’s field goal.
Halfway through the fourth, Brady found Danny Amendola for a four-yard touchdown, and nearly six minutes later, the Pats got back into the end zone, this time courtesy of Julian Edelman to establish a four-point lead.
With two minutes left, the ball came back to Wilson. He and running back Marshawn Lynch powered down the field. With 1:05 left, the Seahawks were on the Pats’ five-yard line.
Naturally, the ball was handed off to Lynch, who chomped up four more yards. Only 26 seconds remained. Seattle had three more plays and a timeout, but they called a passing play that was intercepted by Malcolm Butler.
The decision to not just give the ball to “Beast Mode” filled hours of sports segments over the coming weeks and remains the headline story of Super Bowl XLIX – even if it got Brady and Belichick their fourth rings.
1 - Super Bowl XLII (2008)
Once again, Brady and Belichick take centre stage, only this time, the vaunted New England Patriots don’t come out on top.
Coming into the game down in Glendale, Arizona, the New York Giants were massive underdogs. The Pats were favoured by 12 points, having gone undefeated 16-0 in the regular season through to Super Bowl XLII.
The New York Giants qualified in fifth place in the NFC for the playoffs, going 10-6 during the regular season and battling since the Wild Card Round to make it to the big game.
Either the Patriots were going to have the perfect end to the NFL’s first perfect regular season since the Miami Dolphins in 1972, or the Giants would become the first wild card from the NFC to win the Lombardi Trophy.
Few backed the Giants, especially as Brady got the better of Eli Manning 38-35 to end the regular season, but at the end of the third, the score was only 7-3 to New England thanks to defensive dominance on both sides.
To open the fourth, Manning’s first drive saw him go 80 yards to cap it off with a five-yard pass to David Tyree, taking a 10-7 lead with a little over 11 minutes left to play.
Both teams choked when given the ball back next, but on the following New England possession, Brady went down the field and capitalized on a slip from Corey Webster to find Randy Moss and the 14-10 lead.
With the ball back and 2:39 on the clock with three timeouts, Manning slowly started to progress, but the catalyst for the drive came on a third-and-five from New York’s 44-yard line.
Manning was under intense pressure from the pass rush. He evaded one defenseman, had two grabbing his jersey, but managed to set his feet and fire it to Tyree for the famous helmet catch that secured a 32-yard gain.
The final, winning play saw Manning pick out the hefty 6’6’’ Plaxico Burress, who had already beaten Ellis Hobbs to get the go-ahead touchdown.
After the extra point and kickoff, the Pats had 29 seconds, but couldn’t move a single yard.
All of these Super Bowl games can be argued among the greatest of all time, but the triumph of the Giants against the Patriots at Super Bowl XLII is surely the very best of the best.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to Alamy*
