The Super Bowl is here. Every year, we wait months for the Big Game. Typically, it pays off, sometimes…not so much. There have been classic moments that cement players into historic lore. Other times, you forget a player has even won because the game was such a snoozer. There are great Super Bowls and bad Super Bowls. Here are the 3 best Super Bowls of all time.
No. 3: Super Bowl XIII:
Steelers 35, Cowboys 31
Talk about a game with some incredible legends. These two teams were both fighting for their third Super Bowl of the decade. The 70s were a time dominated by these two franchises. The Pro Football Hall of Fame calls this the most star-studded game to ever be played as there were 26 Hall of Famers from these two teams. It was an absolute shootout with Terry Bradshaw tossing four touchdowns and Roger Stabauch throwing three.
In the end, it got wild. The Steelers led 35-17 with just a few minutes to play. The Cowboys scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick, and scored again. But their final onside kick recovery was a failure and the Steelers held on to win.
No. 2: Super Bowl XLII:
Giants 17, Patriots 14
David vs. Goliath. There is no other way to describe this one. The Patriots were the biggest favorites ever in a Super Bowl entering this game. Their perfect season was on the line, history was a win away, and the title of the greatest team in NFL history could never be up for debate if they just took down a Giants team that was only in the dance because they entered through the wildcard. As this game drew near, it felt like the world had already crowned the Pats champions.
But a great New York defense threw one of the great offenses off balance and kept the game close throughout. Of course, a “helmet catch” from Eli Manning to David Tyree set in motion one of the greatest Super Bowl drives in history. Plaxico Burress caught the game winner with less than a minute to play and the Giants pulled off one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
No. 1: Super Bowl LI:
Patriots 34, Falcons 28
Tom Brady wasn’t going to be left off this list on the winning side. There was no way. This had the making of one of the worst Super Bowls in history through most of the game. Famously, the Atlanta Falcons jumped out to a 28-3 lead, and it felt like most of America turned the channel and wrote off Brady and the Pats…dumb move. What happened next is still unbelievable. The Falcons got conservative on offense, and the Pats had a little bit of luck and a whole lot of willpower to get the job done.
New England stormed back to tie the game in regulation and for the first time in Super Bowl history, they sent a game to overtime. From there, the Pats wouldn’t be stopped. James White crossed the goal line in OT and crowned the Pats the greatest Super Bowl victors.