It’s the day that NFL fans have been waiting for all year: Super Bowl 60. The biggest game in the sports landscape is when a team feels ultimate satisfaction or crippling disappointment based on how it turns out. It’s a chance to define legacies and put together a memorable performance.
5) Super Bowl 43
Steelers 27, Cardinals 23
Super Bowl 43 was a matchup between a perennial powerhouse and a plucky underdog. Who doesn’t love a classic David vs. Goliath type of story? In this matchup, the Pittsburgh Steelers returned to the Super Bowl for the first time under Mike Tomlin, having won the title three seasons prior under Bill Cowher.
Ben Roethlisberger was looking to put together a big-time performance after his first Super Bowl appearance was a bit of a dud, despite getting a win.
On the other side, the Arizona Cardinals were riding a magic carpet thanks to a renaissance from Kurt Warner, who rediscovered his MVP form in the postseason, knocking off the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, denying an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl. The biggest play of the game came just before halftime as Warner had driven the ball to the doorstep of the goal line, looking to give the Cardinals a halftime lead.
Instead, James Harrison, Pittsburgh’s best player, picked Warner off in the end zone and made his way down the field. 100 yards later, he lay flat in the end zone, unable to celebrate his game-changing play.
The Cardinals were not about to go away quietly, however, as they took a lead in the fourth quarter behind a 64-yard touchdown from Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald likely would have been the story of a postseason had the late 23-20 lead held up for the Cardinals, but Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes had different ideas.
An 88-yard Steelers drive saw Roethlisberger and Holmes account for 74 yards, capped by a game-winning touchdown that required a perfect throw and an ideal catch. Lamarr Woodley stripped Arizona’s last gasp at a Hail Mary, and the Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl title.
4) Super Bowl 25
Giants 20, Bills 19
Two words in Western New York will immediately trigger an entire fan base: Wide right. The game began with a historic moment before the two teams played a single snap, as Whitney Houston delivered an emotional performance of the National Anthem, widely considered the best rendition of the song.
The Bills were making their first of four consecutive appearances in the Super Bowl, and as history would tell it, it was their best chance to win one. The Giants were undermanned with backup quarterback Jeff Hostetler at the controls.
Buffalo had a high-powered offense with Jim Kelly handing the ball to Thurman Thomas, along with a tough defense that should have been able to control the game against the Giants.
Instead, Giants defensive coordinator Bill Belichick had other plans, turning in the first of two famous masterpieces from his defenses. The Giants controlled the clock and bogged down Buffalo’s offense, never allowing it to find a rhythm.
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Despite the difficulties of scoring points on the day, Buffalo had a chance to win the game in the final seconds, and the Bills’ hopes rested on Scott Norwood’s right foot. Instead, Norwood’s 47-yard field goal was pushed wide to the right, and the Giants were victorious.
3) Super Bowl 52
Eagles 41, Patriots 33
A statue was built outside of Lincoln Financial Field following this game for what might have been the gutsiest call in Super Bowl history. Backup quarterback Nick Foles of the underdog Philadelphia Eagles, who embraced their role all postseason long, walked to the sideline facing a fourth-and-goal from the doorstep of the goal line. He asked his coach a straightforward question: “You want Philly Philly?”
Pederson, who decided going into the game he was going to err on the side of aggressiveness, did not hesitate. Foles motioned out next to his correct tackle, and a direct snap was given to running back Corey Clement. Clement tossed the ball to Trey Burton, who found Foles all alone in the end zone to give the Eagles a big touchdown going into halftime.
Of course, the New England Patriots were not done. Tom Brady, who had already locked up his status as the greatest quarterback in NFL history, was on the other sideline. Brady turned in what might have been the best individual performance in his Super Bowl career.
He threw for 503 yards, but in what might’ve been a more remarkable feat, Foles was able to match him.
In a game where both offenses traded big plays, it was Brandon Graham stripping Brady late in the game to allow the Eagles to run some clock before taking a 41-33 lead. Brady had one more chance at a Hail Mary as time expired, but his prayer was not answered.
The ball hit the ground, and the Eagles flooded US Bank Stadium in celebration of their first Super Bowl.
2) Super Bowl 42
Giants 17, Patriots 14
New York vs Boston with perfection on the line. The New York Giants entered Super Bowl 42 as a significant underdog, which was not anything new for their playoff run. They were not expected to beat the Dallas Cowboys or Green Bay Packers on the road en route to getting to the Super Bowl.
They were supposed to be a sacrificial lamb en route to the New England Patriots cementing themselves as the most incredible team in NFL history.
The Patriots were 18-0 coming into Super Bowl 42 and looked like a well-oiled machine in their return trip to the big game. At this point, the Patriots had not lost a Super Bowl with Brady and Belichick at the controls.
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Furthermore, they were facing a Giants team that had Eli Manning, who was still erratic at times, and felt like he’d finally be overmatched against Brady and the Patriots. Sure, the Giants had kept a regular-season finale against the Patriots close, but that game was in the Meadowlands, and this one was on a neutral site. The Patriots were expected to roll.
Instead, the Giants kept the game close on the strength of their powerful defensive front. They even led 10-7 late in the fourth quarter. It felt like the clock struck midnight on the Giants’ Cinderella run when Brady found Randy Moss in the end zone to give the Patriots a 14-10 lead with 2:42 left in the game.
Of course, Manning and David Tyree found there was a little more magic left for the Giants on this night in the desert. Manning escaped the clutches of a sack and threw down the middle of the field, where Tyree caught the ball and pinned it against his helmet with Rodney Harrison draped all over him.
Shortly after Tyree’s miracle, it was Plaxico Burress all alone in the left corner of the end zone to give the Giants a 17-14 lead. Perfection was thwarted, and Manning won his first Super Bowl title.
1) Super Bowl 49
Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
This game had everything: Star power, controversy, and a memorable ending. The Seattle Seahawks were back in the Super Bowl, looking to defend their title after winning Super Bowl 48 one season prior by demolishing the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium.
The Patriots were back in the Super Bowl since being beaten by the New York Giants in Super Bowl 46.
It looked like the Seahawks were going to have a coronation in the fourth quarter as their Legion of Boom defense, led by Richard Sherman, held a 10-point lead, but Brady had other ideas. Two fourth-quarter touchdown passes gave the Patriots a 28-24 lead late in the game, and that’s when the chaos ensued.
Russell Wilson was looking to lead a game-winning drive to cement himself as one of the best quarterbacks in football, and it looked like Lady Luck was on his side when Jermaine Kearse made a juggling reception to put the Seahawks in a prime scoring position. For the Patriots, the catch by Kearse likely felt like deja vu, a trip back to the ghosts of Tyree and Mario Manningham.
With the Seahawks on the doorstep of another Super Bowl title and Marshawn Lynch in the backfield, controversy ensued from there. Lynch had built his reputation as the key identity of Seattle’s offense as a tough runner, capable of grinding out short-yardage touchdowns. With the ball on the shadow of the goal line, that would be a perfect time to give Lynch the ball, right?
Wrong, apparently. Wilson instead tried to sneak a pass to Ricardo Lockette, and the play was read perfectly by Malcolm Butler. Butler, a relative unknown at the time, became one of the most infamous players in Super Bowl history with an interception that gave Brady and the Patriots their first Super Bowl title since 2004.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks never recovered and never returned to the Super Bowl with the Legion of Boom.
