SO WHERE WAS THIS GAME ON THE ALL-TIME LIST?

by Thermocaster, The Meaningful Collateral

It's always dangerous to do too much projection and/or pontification regarding sporting events in the days that immediately follow. We get in a rush to place ourselves on one side or the other of an event, and we end up making foolish, foolish statements.

However, there have been a bunch of really wild proclamations on the greatness of last night's game floating around since the it ended. Several ESPN commentators have proclaimed it the greatest Super Bowl upset ever, as did the folks at ProFootballTalk. Some dude named Paolo Bandini who writes for the Guardian says it was among the greatest Super Bowls ever.

Plus, the Nielsens show that it was the second-most-watched broadcast in TELEVISION history.

So at this point, we might as well take a look at the historical hierarchy of Super Bowls. Where exactly was last night's game on the list of "best-evers"? Some arbitrary criteria and the rankings, after the jump.

Before we begin, here's some criteria and general notes:

- Everybody's list of "greatest-ever" games is going to be based almost solely on the perspective of the writer. In the interests of full disclosure, I will tell you that I grew up a Denver Broncos fan, but am suffering a crisis of faith with that team due to my not having gotten over the Brian Griese and Jake Plummer eras. I also enjoy the Colts (due to my Indiana roots). I have no other rooting interests.

- What did I include in the criteria for "best games"? The closeness of the game, obviously --- blowouts aren't going to be considered. The weight of the game --- were there external factors that were notable? Also, how many great plays did the game feature?

- I can only give a fair evaluation of Super Bowls that I've seen. Therefore, I'm not including any game prior to Super Bowl XX. While this does leave out some games that I've heard were excellent (e.g., Super Bowls III, V, VII, X), I don't feel like I can fairly evaluate them without having seen them.

- This isn't a ranking of "best upsets", it's a ranking of "best games". Personally, I think the whole "upset" angle for this game was dreadfully overplayed --- these teams played to within three points of one another just 5 weeks ago.

Anyway, enough preambling. Let's get to the ratings, starting with...

5. Super Bowl XXXIV - St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16: I was really torn on whether to put this game or the Rams-Patriots showcase from Super Bowl XXXVI in the fifth spot. After deliberating on it a bit, I'm going with Titans-Rams. While the Rams-Patriots game was an exciting and close contest, the collision of storylines and game action from this contest were overwhelming. Remember, there was the whole grocery-store-to-riches story of Kurt Warner, the Dick Vermeil factor, the emergence of Steve McNair as a top-flite QB, the bizarrity that was Georgia Frontiere finally on display in a national setting, and the curiosity of a Super Bowl featuring two teams that nobody expected to be there. The game itself was truly remarkable, with Rams scoring on a long bomb as the game wound down, and the Titans coming up inches short on Kevin Dyson's stretch.

4. Super Bowl XXV - New York 20, Buffalo 19: There was a lot of interesting backdrop for this game. It took place in the shadow of the first Gulf War, which would end up starting a couple of weeks later - in fact, I believe this was the only Super Bowl where they didn't televise the halftime show, instead deciding to show news updates of the war. The game featured an AFC team that looked to have a decent shot of ending the still-nascent NFC dominance of the Super Bowl (which would end up lasting another 7 years, obviously). The game was an even, back-and-forth affair, with the now-famous missed field goal by Scott Norwood capping an excellent football contest. This game's reputation was further enhanced in future years, since it was more or less surrounded by a string of Super Bowl blowouts.

3. Super Bowl XXIII - San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16: Significant in that this game crystallized Joe Montana's status as the most popular QB of all time - a status embodied by the legendary last drive that culminated in the touchdown pass to John Taylor for the winning margin. This game was similar in many ways to Super Bowl XXV - a balanced affair between two teams that had gameplanned extremely well.

2. Super Bowl XLII - New York 17, New England 14: This was perhaps the best defensive game ever played in the Super Bowl. The lack of scoring was probably a turn-off to casual fans (and might serve to damage this game's credentials in future years), but serious football fans had to admire the defensive tenacity and gameplan from both teams. Obviously, the implications of the Patriots potentially going 19-0 also raised the stakes of this game. And the two drives that closed the game - Brady's remarkable marshalling of the Patriots for a lead-taking touchdown, followed by Eli Manning morphing into Montana for the game-winning score - might have been the best 1-2 closing punch in Super Bowl history.

1. Super Bowl XXXII - Denver 31, Green Bay 24: You can call me a homer if you want, but I don't care - this Super Bowl just edges out the Pats-Giants game by a bit. While neither team was undefeated, the Packers were the defending champs, and were riding a wave of 13 straight NFC Super Bowl titles, and 15 of 16. Plus, there was the overriding storyline of John Elway getting another shot at a title after an eight-year drought. The game itself was truly remarkable - just as tense as any game on this list, but with some exemplary offensive performances, swarming defenses, and even the running storyline of Denver's best offensive player basically going blind during the game due to migraine headaches. That mix of great offense and defense is what gives this game a slight edge --- it added to the unpredictability of the contest and gave the game an added level of tension.


Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with this list, I have to say that we've been blessed with a string of pretty good games this decade. With the exception of the Ravens-Giants and Bucs-Raiders, all of the games since 2000 have been entertaining and relatively close for the balance of the contest. Previous decades were not so lucky.

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