Ranking the 25 most thrilling Super Bowls

Okay, fine, the game itself wasn't exactly a thriller. The Jets controlled play nearly the entire game, Baltimore could never get their offense unstuck, and their only score came when they were down 16-0 in the fourth quarter. That said, the Colts were such heavy favorites - 19.5 points, to be exact - and the outcome such a legitimate shock that the game was definitely thrilling, in addition to being surreal. It also had the added benefit of legitimizing the Super Bowl as a big event (it was the first iteration of the game to be called the Super Bowl), as well as the AFL itself, and paved the way for the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. You might have also heard that Joe Namath made some sort of guarantee beforehand. Not sure about that one, though.  

Here's another prime example of a game where the final score does not tell close to the whole story. Not only were the Rams highly competitive, they had a very real chance to win. Los Angeles held a 19-17 lead until a 73-yard touchdown catch by John Stallworth early in the fourth quarter. The Rams were down 24-19 but driving with just under six minutes to go, with a first-and-10 at the Steelers' 32-yard line, when Vince Ferragamo was picked off by Jack Lambert. The Steelers drove down for a game-sealing touchdown and a fourth title, but for 55 minutes, Los Angeles gave them all they could handle. 

My own personal memory of this game is faulty, as I was so completely convinced that the Patriots would win that I really didn't give the Eagles a fair shake, mentally. In reality, the game was a back-and-forth affair, and while Donovan McNabb would have needed a small miracle to get the Eagles into position for a tying field goal in the final minute, he was skilled enough to have made something happen. Alas, he didn't, and the Patriots cemented their first dynasty of the Brady-Belichick era. 

For about a half, maybe even two-and-a-half quarters, I would call this Super Bowl underwhelming. It was a defensive struggle, but not a particularly interesting game. Things got going in a hurry in the second half, however, as the teams traded punches, including some legitimately exciting long field goals, and ended regulation tied at 19, thanks to a chip shot from Harrison Butker. Curiously, the 49ers decided to take the ball first in overtime, and got a field goal for their troubles. You know what happened next. Patrick Mahomes got the ball, converted a fourth-and-the-Super-Bowl play with his legs, then eventually hit Mecole Hardman on an easy toss to make Kansas City back-to-back champs. We got five quarters of football, and about half of them were thrilling.

Green Bay raced out to a 21-3 lead, but the Steelers methodically chipped away and had cut the margin to 21-17. The Packers regained possession of the ball and the game when disaster struck for Pittsburgh in the form of a Rashard Mendenhall fumble. Green Bay scored on the ensuing possession, but the Steelers rallied back with a touchdown of their own. A Mason Crosby field goal made it 31-25 Packers and set the stage for Ben Roethlisberger to try and duplicate his heroics from two years prior. Unfortunately for Steelers fans, he was all out of magic and despite moving the ball 20 yards on the first two plays, the drive fizzled and the Packers were champions.

Still another one from the "you can't just go by the final score" files. New Orleans entered the fourth quarter trailing by a point, 17-16, and had already used an onside kick to their advantage at the start of the second half. After Matt Stover missed a field goal that kept the score 17-16, Drew Brees marched the Saints 59 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with 5:46 to go. It's doubtful New Orleans' fans felt very good about their 24-17 lead, because Peyton Manning had the ball and had moved to the Saints' 31-yard line, but then Tracy Porter stepped in front of a pass intended for Reggie Wayne and high-stepped it 74 yards for a clinching touchdown. 

"Bless his heart, he's got to be the sickest man in America." Those words were uttered in reference to Cowboys tight end Jackie Smith, whose drop near the end of the third quarter cost the Cowboys the chance to pull into a 21-all tie with the Steelers. Had Smith made the catch, it's anyone's guess how Pittsburgh would have responded. What ended up happening was that the Steelers scored two more times to open up a 35-17 lead and then withstood two late Roger Staubach touchdown passes to win, 35-31. 

Because it didn't involve the Patriots or the Giants and because the power outage that delayed the game got so much attention (and maybe helped fuel San Francisco's comeback), this game gets forgotten when people discuss thrilling finishes. Colin Kaepernick brought the Niners back from a 28-6 deficit to trail 34-29 and had his offense knocking on the door for a go-ahead score. However, Baltimore's defense rose to the task and stopped San Francisco on four shots from inside the 10-yard line to seal the victory and send Ray Lewis into retirement with his second championship.

Wouldn't you love to know what Bill Belichick and Tom Brady would say about Eli Manning if administered truth serum? The sport's greatest coach and quarterback had their undefeated season ruined by some playground magic from Manning in Super Bowl XLII, then saw their shot at revenge go by the wayside thanks to a jaw-dropping throw and catch by Manning and Mario Manningham in Super Bowl XLVI. New England failed to hold on to a 17-9 lead in this one, and when Manning got the ball back at his own 12, down 17-15 with just under four minutes to play, he got cooking and effortlessly sliced up New England's defense on the way to a winning score. 

The Steelers trailed 10-7 at the start of the fourth quarter, but a safety and two field goals staked them to a 15-10 lead. Then it was Lynn Swann's turn. Already having made two spectacular (and in subsequent years, far more famous) catches earlier in the game, Swann got free for a 64-yard bomb from Terry Bradshaw. Dallas rallied back and got the ball, down four with 1:22 left. Roger Staubach had the Cowboys moving, but his desperation pass for Drew Pearson was intercepted by Glen Edwards to seal the win for the Steelers.

By 1997, John Elway's Super Bowl disasters were well known. It was worth wondering whether he would end his career with the undesirable label of "best quarterback to never win a Super Bowl." Even after winning the AFC, it seemed like the task ahead would be too much. Elway's Broncos would have to find a way to get past defending champion Green Bay, an 11-point favorite and very much a powerhouse. Terrell Davis had other ideas. Davis ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns on his way to MVP honors. Elway ran for a TD of his own and had an iconic, drive-extending scramble, and Denver won a back-and-forth classic to claim its first Super Bowl title.

Only Super Bowls LI and LVIII have ever gone to overtime. Forty-six years prior, the Colts and Cowboys played a game that seemed destined for an extra period, but Mike Curtis picked off a Craig Morton pass to set the Colts up with great field position and less than a minute to play. Two runs got the ball within comfortable field-goal range, and Jim O'Brien booted a 32-yarder with five seconds left to give the Colts the surprising win. 

For the first 50-plus minutes of what was billed as a battle of the Chiefs' pyrotechnic offense versus the relentless 49ers' defense, San Francisco was winning, and comfortably. The Niners were up 20-10 with just under nine minutes left when Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs got revved up in spectacular fashion and finished the game with three touchdowns in the final six-and-a-half minutes. The thrills in this one came courtesy of the mounting tension, and the sense of disbelief that the vaunted Kansas City offense was stalling out on the biggest stage, followed by the Chiefs' furious, unstoppable, Damien Williams-fueled rally.

Though the Bengals were just four-point underdogs, the consensus among the "smart" football crowd was that the Rams were the clearly superior team, and would batter Cincinnati's Joe Burrow into submission. For 53 minutes, it looked like they would all be proven wrong, as the Bengals clung to a 20-16 advantage. Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp saved the day for Los Angeles, however, teaming up to power a 15-play, 79-yard touchdown drive, culminating in Kupp's game-winning one-yard touchdown catch with 1:25 remaining. The Bengals quickly moved to midfield and looked poised to send the game to overtime, but Aaron Donald's clutch stop on third and one, followed by his hurry of Burrow on fourth and one, sealed the win for the Rams.

Many call this the greatest Super Bowl in history, but it is ranked a little lower here simply because Tom Brady had already proved time and again that counting him out of any game, no matter the deficit, was a fool's errand. Down 28-9 with 10 minutes left, Brady was flawless in rallying the Pats to 19 unanswered points to force overtime. Once the Pats won the coin toss, the ending felt like a foregone conclusion, and it was, with James White trotting in from two yards out to earn Brady and Bill Belichick their fifth Super Bowl together, setting a new record for a coach-quarterback tandem (that they would then add to two years later).

The Chiefs' current status as two-time defending champions is the result of a pair of Super Bowls that played out in remarkably similar fashion; their NFC opponent looked like the better team, top to bottom, but Patrick Mahomes' brilliance was such that it just didn't matter. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles opened the scoring and didn't trail until the early minutes of the fourth quarter. They then managed to tie the game at 35 on a late Jalen Hurts touchdown run. Of course, that all went for naught when the Chiefs did what they tend to do, which is deliver the dagger. In this case, it was a 27-yard Harrison Butker field goal with less than 10 seconds to play.

The 49ers never seemed to have any trouble in the Super Bowl — unless they were playing the Bengals. Cincinnati bent but rarely broke on defense in this one, and when Jim Breech kicked a go-ahead field goal with 3:44 left, there was plenty of reason to think that perhaps it just wasn't San Francisco's night. That's when Joe Montana stepped up and very much earned his "Joe Cool" nickname, driving the Niners 92 yards for a winning score and only once facing even a third down, let alone a fourth. For Cincinnati, it was merely more Montana-induced heartache.

This one was tight, if unspectacular, through three quarters. The Patriots held a 14-10 lead. The fourth quarter brought with it complete chaos, 37 combined points, countless big plays by both sides and a game of "can you top this" between Jake Delhomme and Tom Brady. For the second time in two years, a Ricky Proehl touchdown catch with less than two minutes to go tied the game, but just as he did in Super Bowl XXXVI, Brady had the answer, driving the Pats 37 yards in one minute to set up Adam Vinatieri for a game-winning, 41-yard attempt. Once again Vinatieri's aim was true, and the Pats had their second title in three years.

Several factors make this one of the best, and unquestionably most thrilling, Super Bowls of all time. First there was the sheer unlikelihood of Nick Foles outdueling Tom Brady, and catching a touchdown pass to boot. Then there was the near-constant action, with each quarter featuring at least one touchdown. The game wasn't just full of big plays: It also was full of spectacular ones, with unsung heroes like Corey Clement taking center stage. Finally, there was Philadelphia's defense sealing the game and preventing what most people assumed would be another Tom Brady comeback. If this were a list of the best Super Bowls from start to finish, this would be No. 1. Sixth-most thrilling isn't bad either. 

Arizona looked down and out, trailing 20-7 midway through the fourth quarter. Then the Cards exploded, sandwiching a safety between two touchdowns, the second a spectacular catch-and-run by Larry Fitzgerald, to seize a 23-20 lead with 2:30 left. Ben Roethlisberger didn't flinch, leading the Steelers down the field and connecting with Santonio Holmes for a toe-tap touchdown to take back the lead and take home the Steelers' then-league-record sixth Super Bowl.

The irresistible force met the immovable object in this one, and for most of the game it seemed that Seattle's Legion of Boom would hold firm against Tom Brady. Brady conjured up some fourth-quarter magic to take a late lead, but Russell Wilson led the Seahawks right back down the field, getting them to within feet of New England's goal line. On second and goal, with Marshawn Lynch in the backfield, Seattle decided to try a quick slant. Malcolm Butler jumped the route for a clinching interception, and the Pats had a great escape and their fourth Super Bowl title.

No one could stop New England. The Pats' coronation as Super Bowl champs was supposed to be a formality, the capstone of their season-long revenge tour after Spygate, and the final piece of a 19-0 season that would go down as the best in league history. David Tyree and Eli Manning had other ideas. The Giants' ferocious pass rush kept Tom Brady in check and kept the game tight, and Tyree's circus catch, one that saw him pin the ball against his helmet, was the pivotal play on a game-winning drive that ended when Manning hit Plaxico Burress for a touchdown. This game still stands for many as the biggest upset in Super Bowl history.

Once upon a time, the Patriots were plucky underdogs — really — and were trying to knock off a juggernaut St. Louis team that was seeking its second crown in three seasons. The Pats dominated play from the start, building a 17-3 lead. The Rams rallied, however, and tied the game on a Ricky Proehl touchdown catch with 90 seconds left. Most thought that the Pats would settle for overtime. Enter Tom Brady. Brady threw for 53 of his 145 total yards on a final drive that was all pass plays, effortlessly moving New England into position for a 48-yard, game-winning attempt by Adam Vinatieri. His attempt was true, and the Pats were on their way to becoming the team of the 2000s.

Something that got lost in the shuffle (both in the moment and in retrospect) was the fact that for three quarters, this Super Bowl was a bust. Then in the fourth all hell broke loose. The Titans rallied from 10 points down to tie the game with just over two minutes remaining, only to have Kurt Warner hit Isaac Bruce for a go-ahead touchdown. Undeterred, the Titans marched it right back down the field to the St. Louis 10-yard line with five seconds left. Steve McNair hit Kevin Dyson on a slant, but St. Louis' Mike Jones secured his place in Super Bowl lore by bringing him down feet shy of the goal line.

Super Bowl XXV was a classic chess match. Could Bill Parcells and the Giants defense slow down Buffalo's vaunted K-Gun offense? The answer to that question, if we're being truthful, was no. Buffalo moved the ball successfully most of the night, and Thurman Thomas racked up 135 yards rushing. Problem was, the Bills had the ball for less than 20 minutes because of New York's ball-control attack. Still, Buffalo marched it from its own 10 to the Giants' 29 to set up Scott Norwood for a 47-yard attempt at immortality. We all know what happened next.