🏈🏈 My Personal 10 Favorite Super Bowls 🏈🏈

 

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Super Bowl LV Champions 

         

   

One last post about Super Bowls, before returning back to the real world. The time around Super Bowls usually succeeds in getting me to think about the big game and it's history, and then, to reflect on the ones I personally remember fondly.

Recently, I gave a list of what I believe to be the greatest Super Bowls in history, at least to this point.              

Now, I wanted to go ahead and give my top ten list of favorite Super Bowls. Trust me, it is not the same list.              

Why not?              

Well, because I was not born for some of the early Super Bowls, and did not watch until the 49ers beat the Bengals the first time that the two teams met in the big game, which was more than a decade and a half after the Super Bowls started.              

Also, my personal favorite Super Bowls would tend to feature teams that I like. So in other words, there are some classic Super Bowls that I mentioned on the previous blog entry, because those were the big games that I feel had the best combination of being highly entertaining, memorable, and had an impact on the legacy of the Super Bowl.              

This list is just about the games that were the most fun for me. And when I talk about that particular list, then there is one Super Bowl in particular that clearly heads the list, blowing pretty much all of the other Super Bowls away. I should mention that this list consists only of Super Bowls that I was actually around for. The Jets beating the Colts would surely have been on this list, bur since I was not even born, it would feel a bit funny and, frankly, unfair, for me to add that to this list.  So let me begin with that one, and then work my way down through the top ten:  

1.     Super Bowl XXV – This was my favorite Super Bowl of all time, and my second favorite NFL game of all time. My favorite was the NFC Championship Game that was played just a week before this one, when the Giants edged the 49ers, ending their dynasty of the Montana-Rive era. But this game was almost as good, and it was intense. Physical. Both teams brought their strengths, and it was a clash of styles. The fast-paced offense of the Buffalo versus the conservative, clock eating, physical approach of the Giants, who held onto the ball for over 40 minutes. Some great plays by both teams, a close game filled with intensity. A thrilling end, coming down to the final seconds, and the missed field goal that secured the second Super Bowl title in five seasons for the G-Men. I was incredibly happy after they won this, and I think I watched the video recording I made maybe two or three times later that week. Hell, I still even got nervous when it came time for Norwood’s kick, as if the results had been too good to be true, and maybe this time, he was going to make the kick and win it for Buffalo. What a game!  

2.     Super Bowl LII – How often do you get to see an undefeated team reach the Super Bowl? It has only happened twice, and the first time was before I was born, when the Dolphins went and completed what still remains as the only undefeated season in NFL history. But New England came close in 2007, with probably the most dominant season in NFL history, at least leading up to this game. They were prohibitive favorites, but the Giants defense wore down that record shattering offense, holding them to a mere 14 points total, their lowest point total of the season. This game was going to make history no matter who won, and it wound up being the Giants, after a series of very memorable plays in that last drive, including the most famous one: the helmet catch. A great game that is remembered as one of the most iconic Super Bowls in history, and for good reason.  

3.     Super Bowl XLVI – The rematch between the G-Men and the Pats. I had always wanted the Giants to be involved with a Super Bowl rivalry, and to win both, like the Steelers did in the seventies. And they managed it with this appearance and win against the Pats, once again. This game was not quite as thrilling as the first game between these two teams, even though there were similarities. Firstly, they both went came down to the final minutes. The Giants won both, after a very memorable catch. This time, it was Mario Manningham. In both games, New England were the favorites, although in fairness in XLII, the Pats were much heavier favorites. But this was an entertaining game, and the outcome was in doubt right to the final seconds, on the game’s last play. An excellent Super Bowl, even though it did not crack my list of top 10 greatest of all time.  

4.     Super Bowl XXI – This was the first Giants win in the Super Bowl, and so it felt like a thrill, a dream come true at the time. The whole season was a thrill, as the Giants seemed to grow stronger and stronger. By the time that playoffs rolled around, the Big Blue Wrecking Crew were juggernauts, and felt like the hands down favorites. They crushed San Francisco, shut out Washington, and then beat Denver down in the second half to capture their first Super Bowl title. The first half was fantastic, but the G-Men really dominated in a second half that was a lot less competitive. As much of a thrill as it was for me that they won this game, it was not quite as entertaining as the other Giants Super Bowl wins, which is why I ranked it behind those others.  

5.     Super Bowl LI – Seeing a comeback like this can be really thrilling, especially as it happens live. This game reminded me of the Bills-Oilers wildcard about twenty years and change earlier. This game was filled with history, as it was the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, the first overtime game in Super Bowl history, and then the first time that a quarterback (Tom Brady) and head coach (Bill Belichick) managed to win a fifth Super Bowl title. This one has been remembered and debated ever since, but it clearly has not been forgotten, nor will it.  

6.     Super Bowl XXX – This game was better than most people remember. Until the Pats-Falcons Super Bowl a few years ago, this was, hands down, my favorite Super Bowl not involving either the Jets or the Giants. I was intrigued by the Steelers-Cowboys Super Bowl rivalry of the seventies, and it was amazing not only to see these two teams meet in a Super Bowl, but especially this one, which was played in the Arizona desert sunshine, at least in the first half. Maybe I am overly sentimental, but there is really something to be said about Super Bowls played in the bright and warm sunshine. When the Giants first made it to the Super Bowl in Pasadena early in 1987, it felt like a reward of sorts to see them in the warm sunshine, being from the northern New Jersey area as they were, which being from there myself, was why I was a fan of the team. So Super Bowl XXX, in the bright sunshine and with the flashy silver and blue uniforms of the cowboys clashing against the black and gold of the Steelers was not just classic, but aesthetically pleasing, to boot. And it was an entertaining game. Dallas was dominating for most of the first half, but the Steelers came back and pulled to within a field goal, even getting the ball back late in the fourth quarter with an apparent chance to win, before an interception by Neil O’Donnell was returned very deep in Pittsburgh territory, and Emmitt Smith was able to punch it in to ice the game a few minutes later.  

7.     Super Bowl XXIII – Most people who know me know that I cannot stand the 49ers. So why add this one, which the 49ers won? Well, because it was a damn fine game, well played by both teams. It was the first truly exciting finish to the big game during my lifetime, as well. It also was a fun time for me and the family, as well, as those memories of that playoff season still remind me of the family trip to Montreal that we took during Christmas week in late 1988 into New Year’s of 1989. This was just a very memorable and fun game to watch, and even though I was admittedly pulling for the Bengals, and it was a heartbreaking loss, I can still appreciate a truly great game. And yes, this was one for the ages!  

8.     Super Bowl XXVII – Okay, why in the hell would I pick this Super Bowl? The Cowboys absolutely blew out the Bills in this Super Bowl, so why pick it as one of my favorites? Well, for a few reasons, and admittedly, not all of them are even about this particular football game, or even about football at all. As mentioned before, Super Bowls sometimes remind me personally of times in my life, and the early part of 1993 was a very fun and exciting time in my life. I was young, and starting to put some of the problems of my past behind me, and it felt promising. And memories of this game bring me back to that feeling that the whole world was in front of me, like I could still feel that springtime of my life, if you will. Also, when I mention this Super Bowl, I am thinking about these playoffs, which were truly fantastic this year. There was the “Comeback” of the Bills over the Oilers, another underrated comeback win by the Eagles over the Saints, the terrific road run by the Bills to reach a historic third straight Super Bowl, and then that epic NFC Championship Game in San Francisco, when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Niners in what was a kind of passing of the torch. Plus, aesthetically, the first half of this game just looked good, and the game was competitive until the final minutes of the first half. I never said that my favorite Super Bowls would necessarily be the closest or the best played. This one I remain fond of for reasons not always even related to football, and I am sticking with it.  

9.     Super Bowl XXXII – Another game that reminds me of the times. This was a fantastic, and often underrated, Super Bowl. It was a great quarterback match-up, with John Elway’s Broncos going against Brett Favre’s Packers. It was another sunshiny game in the first half. The Broncos, representing the AFC, had lost all four of their previous Super Bowl appearances, and were pretty much prohibitive underdogs. Remember, the AFC had lost 13 straight Super Bowls during the NFC “Streak,” but it ended here. The Packers looked like the juggernaut everyone thought they were early on, marching down the field and seemingly moving the ball at will, which culminated in an early touchdown and a 7-0 lead. It seemed that this game was going to go according to script. And then, the Broncos came roaring back, and outplayed Green Bay, which was impressive. Remember, the Packers were the defending Super Bowl champs, and had dominated the 49ers in San Francisco, which seemed to be the de facto Super Bowl. But it was not, and Denver finally ended their Super Bowl miseries with one of the most memorable Super Bowl wins in history. Also, late 1997 and 1998 were largely good times in my life, and so memories of this game bring me back to that. And yet, I actually mostly just listened to this game live, as I was working, and only caught snippets of this game live on television from the bar at the mall that I was working security at.  

10.  Super Bowl XXII – Another Super Bowl blowout. Yes, I know. But again, this game reminds me of the times, and for the most part, my memories of January of 1988 were mostly pleasant. Yet, this game was a bit better than most think, as well, at least in certain ways. First of all, it was a West Coast game, and so while not the sunniest, it was daylight in the first half. The Broncos looked sharp and explosive in the first quarter, jumping out to a 10-0 lead. John Elway became the first quarterback to get a reception in the Super Bowl. Indeed, it seemed like they were capable of blowing Washington out. And then, we get to the second quarter. A 35 point quarter for Washington, and I had never seen any team score that many points in a single quarter. Doug Williams made history as the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, and he threw four touchdown passes, all of them in that incredible second quarter. Rookie running back Timmy Smith set a new Super Bowl record for rushing with 204 rushing yards, and two touchdowns (this accounted for over one third of all the yards he would run throughout his four-year NFL career, subsequently).