Super Bowl 57: Where Does It Rank Among Other Epics?
Super Bowl 57 was quite the spectacle as the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts put in quite the performance, arguably one of the greatest ever from a losing player in a Super Bowl.
Patrick Mahomes, who ended up winning Super Bowl MVP, came back from an injury scare to lead a second half comeback for Kansas City.
Despite the way the game ended, many fans are putting this game as one of the greatest Super Bowls in history. There is bound to be plenty of recency bias when it comes to the game. When you look back at the greatest Super Bowls in history, what it often comes down to, as well as it the game itself, is the legacy of this game.
Whether these are great plays or great stories, Super Bowls are often defined by how people remember them. Sadly, for this game, whilst it still makes a top ten list, it will always be remembered for a dodgy refereeing call at the end of the game that robbed the Eagles of one final drive to win it all.
Here is a list of the top five Super Bowls in history.
5. Cincinnati Bengals 16-20 San Francisco 49ers (Super Bowl 23)
The game deep into the 49ers’ dynasty. It goes to show how good this game was, that this is the only one pre-21st century.
The sport has evolved so much, developing into a much more passing heavy league. As a result, we have seen the highest scoring Super Bowls come since the turn of the century.
This game is an all-time classic and features such classic moments as Joe Montana’s 92-yard drive that led to his touchdown pass to John Taylor to win the game with 34 seconds left. Montana exerted his calmness under pressure, being filmed pointing out John Candy in the crowd at the start of that drive.
Cincinnati lost to the 49ers at the start at the decade and suffered the same fate at the end of the decade to the same team. Just as it seemed that they would end their wait for a Lombardi Trophy, it was snatched away from them at the jaws of victory thanks to some Montana magic.
This was a great game, highlighted by an iconic drive.
4. New England Patriots 14-17 New York Giants (Super Bowl 42)
Arguably the biggest shock in a Super Bowl since the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl 3.
New England were heavy favourites for this game and were looking to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and just the second team in league history to go the entire season unbeaten.
Their opponents in the Giants, were seen as the underdogs and no one besides Giants fans gave them any hope of winning this game.
What transpired, was one of the greatest Super Bowls in history. For a while, this game could not have looked further away from being a classic. There were no points scored in the third quarter, with the Patriots leading 7-3 as both teams approached the final 15 minutes.
The fourth quarter exploded. It was back and forth as both the Giants and Patriots scored touchdowns through David Tyree and Randy Moss respectively.
Speaking of Tyree, he later stepped up to an entirely new scale as he was responsible for the most famous catch in Super Bowl history, one that was even given a name.
3rd and 5 with 1.15 left in the fourth quarter. Around their own 40-yard line, the Giants needed to make a play. Eli Manning is snapped the ball and faces huge pressure from the Patriots defence and the hope of any gave saving play seemed dead to rights.
In a Bermuda triangle of defensive players, Manning managed to escape, took a few steps before slinging it long towards Tyree. Up against Rodney Harrison, Tyree did the impossible and caught the ball with his helmet.
This was named the ‘Helmet Catch’ and is synonymous with this game, as the Giants went down the field and secured their third Super Bowl in franchise history.
3. Patriots 34-28 Atlanta Falcons (Super Bowl 51)
To date, this is the only Super Bowl to go to overtime. With a 28-3 lead in the third quarter, the Falcons seemed destined to win their first ever Super Bowl.
However, they forgot that Tom Brady was playing. The greatest quarterback to play the game chipped away at the Falcons defence as they edged closer towards levelling the score, getting two-point conversion after two-point conversion.
There was also a catch from Julio Jones that is seen as the greatest catch that nobody talks about, somehow finding both feet in bounds from an improbable angle.
Atlanta still had the chance to win the game, but the decision to go for a pass on second down that saw Matt Ryan sacked and then a holding call on the Atlanta offensive line was ultimately costly. This moved them out of field goal range and forced them to punt.
New England went down the other end and got what they needed to force the game to overtime, a game they eventually won.
A game with the greatest comeback, a firm feather in the cap for Tom Brady’s legacy.
2. Patriots 33-41 Eagles (Super Bowl 52)
This game had it all, brilliant offensive performances and one of the best play calls in history. The only thing lacking was great defensive play.
This game was a straight up shootout. Both quarterbacks in Brady and Nick Foles were brilliant on the day.
The 1,151 total yards between both teams is the most in Super Bowl history and the combined 854 passing yards is the most in postseason history. No Super Bowl has had less punts than the one that was seen in the entire of this game.
Brady set the record for most yards thrown in a Super Bowl (505) and most passing attempts without an interception (48). It is arguably the greatest performance from a losing quarterback in the 57 versions of the game there have been.
The opposing quarterback, the eventual Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, also had a day. He thew for 373 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He was part of the play call, later known as the ‘Philly Special’.
Philly were up 15-12 in the second quarter with 38 seconds left. It was fourth down. The decision to go for it concerned broadcaster Cris Collinsworth on the coverage as a field goal would have seen them go six points clear at the half.
The ball was snapped, but it was Foles who caught the pass as tight end Trey Burton threw to him in the end zone for a touchdown in one of the all-time infamous plays. The Eagles went on to win the game, as Tom Brady failed in a last gasp Hail Mary attempt.
The story does not end there for Nick Foles. Not only did he lead the Eagles to their first ever Super Bowl but this was not how his season was supposed to play out. He was a journeyman quarterback in his second spell in Philadelphia. Carson Wentz was the starter and was the favourite for MVP before his season was curtailed because of injury.
Foles came in and after struggling down the stretch, the Eagles were a rare breed. They were the underdogs despite being the number one seed in the NFC.
He turned into prime John Elway in the playoffs and this story alone, as well as the game itself, puts Super Bowl 52 high on this list. However, there is one Super Bowl that beats it.
1. Patriots 28-24 Seattle Seahawks (Super Bowl 49)
The Super Bowl that tops this list is the one that also took place in Arizona, as the Patriots topped the Seahawks.
Seattle led 24-14 as the fourth quarter began, one that came into life.
The Patriots took a 28-24 lead as Julian Edelman caught the ball in the end zone with 2:02 remaining in the game. This gave the Seahawks enough time to drive down the field and get the win, one that would have seen them go back-to-back and potentially start a dynasty.
Jermaine Kearse’s catch will always be remembered less because they did not win the game, but it should not be forgotten how brilliant this was to watch. With 1:16 remaining, the Seahawks were around the Patriots’ 40-yard line on first down, with two timeouts remaining.
Wilson threw it deep to Kearse, and seemingly missed his wide receiver As he was falling to the ground with the ball tipped, it fell to the legs of Kearse who incredibly managed to catch the ball in bounds.
Sadly, for Kearse, the Seahawks would later have a play that would make his hard work count for nothing. 26 seconds remained. The Seahawks had one timeout left and it was 2nd and goal.
Every Seahawks fan was crying out for the same play, using Marshawn Lynch in the run game. Lynch would ultimately be free in the end zone but Wilson did not see him. A pass intended for wide receiver Ricardo Lockette, would end up being intercepted by cornerback Malcolm Butler. Nobody knew his name before the game, but they certainly did after that play.
The Patriots would normally be able to kneel with the time remaining and lack of Seahawks timeouts but as the ball was placed on the one-yard line due to the interception, they could not kneel as it would be deemed a safety. Seattle’s Michael Bennett moved across the line of scrimmage for a five-yard penalty and they were able to kneel as a result.
This was a classic that had the most exciting ending. It couldn’t not be number one