Helmet Catches, Wide Right, and Joe Cool Highlight The Best Super Bowls Ever

The Super Bowl pits the two remaining conference champions against each other and the game itself is an often thrilling and memorable matchup with almost literally the entire world watching. There have been 53 Super Bowls (and counting), so to choose the five greatest is purely an exercise in subjectivity--even choosing the 20 greatest would leave out some amazing Super Bowls. For the sake of argument, though, we’re going to narrow it down to five great ones, based on the merits of historical significance, great performances, tension, drama, etc. etc. Most important of all, these games were fun as hell to watch.

So with no further ado, the 5 greatest Super Bowls ever, Roman numerals included.

5. Super Bowl XIII - Pittsburgh Steelers 35 Dallas Cowboys 31

The first Super Bowl this writer remembers watching, Super Bowl XIII was the last one of the 1970s and almost feels like the stepping stone between the classic and modern eras of the NFL. It was the football version (to my eyes at least) of Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader, as the golden boy Cowboys were in the early stages of their “America’s Team” persona, and the big bad Steelers, all clad in their Vader-black jerseys, were the true “empire” of the league and going for their 4th championship of the decade. The Cowboys were the defending champs, and this was also a rematch of Super Bowl X, which Pittsburgh won. This game was significant for a few reasons. It was the first Super Bowl rematch, it was the first time a defending champion lost in the title game, and the first time a team scored 30 in this game and lost.

4. Super Bowl XXIII - San Francisco 49ers 20 Cincinnati Bengals 16

If the Pittsburgh Steelers were the team of the ‘70s, then the San Francisco 49ers were the team of the ‘80s. They dominated the decade, but this Super Bowl win was easily their most dramatic. Jerry Rice had a monster game with over 200 receiving yards, but even with that, the 49ers found themselves down 16-13 with just over three minutes remaining in the game and on their own 8-yard line. The story goes that during the huddle to start the drive, with everybody freaking out around him, Niners QB Joe Montana quiets everyone down and says, “Hey isn’t that John Candy over there?” (it was), and that calmed everyone in the huddle down. They went 92 yards and Montana threw the winning touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left. The legend of Joe Cool was born.

3. Super Bowl XLII - New York Giants 17 New England Patriots 14

This one was supposed to end with a Patriots coronation as the official Greatest Team Ever, as they went 16-0 in the regular season, but it ended with a helmet catch and a bunch of old geezers sipping champagne in Florida somewhere as still the only undefeated team (regular and postseason) in the history of the NFL. This was arguably the biggest upset in Super Bowl history, but don’t cry for New England. They still have six of these things, but it’s always nice to see them go down once in awhile.

2. Super Bowl XXV - New York Giants 20 Buffalo Bills 19

The first of four straight Super Bowl appearances (all losses) by the Bills, this one was the only one of that quartet that was close. Watching this game even as an impartial viewer, the tension was palpable. Both teams left everything out there on the field, which is how every Super Bowl should be played. The Bills had a chance to win late, but kicker Scott Norwood’s 47-yard field goal attempt went wide right with eight seconds remaining. That remains the only game-winning field goal attempt with under 10 seconds left by a team that was losing in Super Bowl history. For Buffalo fans, this is still the worst sports moment in their city’s history.

1. Super Bowl LII - Philadelphia Eagles 41 New England Patriots 33

Picking the Best Super Bowl Ever is an impossible task, and one that can succumb to recency bias, but so be it if that’s the case. This Super Bowl had great storylines on and off the field, not the least of which was Eagles QB Nick Foles seeking redemption as the former starter who got the huge contract and left Philly, only to come back and be the backup to the hugely popular rookie Carson Wentz, himself having an MVP season before tearing his ACL late that year. Foles had a postseason to remember that year, culminating in a Super Bowl MVP. This game had everything. Back and forth scoring (a whopping 74 total points and the Pats never punted) and big plays made throughout (who could ever forget the Philly Special?) The Eagles came into the game underdogs, but left it hoisting their first ever Lombardi Trophy. A game for the ages.

For more Super Bowl facts, including the Super Bowl spread and Super Bowl betting tips, as well as all the NFL lines leading to and including the big game, visit 888Sport NJ and place your bets! Good luck!

*Credit to the main photo of this article belongs to Charlie Riedel/Associated Press, Kathy Willens/Associated Press, Eric Gay/Associated Press