The football game fans have waited all year for is just over a week away as the defending champion Seattle Seahawks look to keep New England quarterback Tom Brady from tying a NFL record with a fourth Super Bowl victory. While some will debate the best teams of the Super Bowl era or the best games, a number of Super Sunday contests have had great historical significance. Here’s a countdown of the five most significant games in Super Bowl history:
5. Super Bowl I
It was the game that started it all although at the time, it was hardly the spectacle it’s become today. In fact, the first Super Bowl, at the Los Angeles Coliseum, failed to sell out. The Green Bay Packers were able to top the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in Super Bowl I and repeated the following season by defeating the Oakland Raiders 33-14. The head coach of those Green Bay teams was Vince Lombardi for whom the trophy for winning the Super Bowl is now named.
GLENDALE, AZ – FEBRUARY 03: Wide receiver Plaxico Burress #17 of the New York Giants catches a 13-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter over Ellis Hobbs #27 of the New England Patriots during Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
4. Super Bowl XLII
Against a New England Patriots team that was one win away from the greatest season in NFL history, the New York Giants pulled off one of the more shocking upsets in Super Bowl history. After completing a 16-0 regular season, the Patriots stormed through the playoffs and were one win away from becoming the second team to complete a perfect season. New England led 14-10 in the fourth quarter, but Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning led a game-winning drive that included a miraculous escape by Manning and an even more unbelievable catch by David Tyree. Manning put the Patriots away with a strike to Plaxico Burress with under a minute remaining. The Giants made NFL history by thwarting it with a 17-14 victory.
3. Super Bowl XXII
For years in the NFL, the notion of African Americans playing the quarterback position was taboo. In some regards, they were thought to not have the mental makeup to read defenses or be leaders, but in Super Bowl XXII against the Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins’ quarterback Doug Williams proved all the naysayers wrong. After falling behind 10-0 and Williams going down with an injury, things looked bleak. Williams however, returned to engineer the greatest offensive quarter in Super Bowl history. In the second quarter, Williams threw four touchdown passes and led five Redskins touchdown drives. Williams finished the day with a then Super Bowl record 340 yards passing as Washington dismantled the Broncos 42-10. Williams became the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl and it would be 26 years later before that feat was duplicated.
2. Super Bowl VII
It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but in January of 1973, the Miami Dolphins did something that no other team has been able to — complete a perfect season. Facing the Washington Redskins, the Dolphins raced out to a 14-0 lead on a short touchdown run by Larry Csonka and a long pass from Bob Griese to Howard Twilley. Jake Scott had two interceptions to lead a Miami defense that did not yield a point to the Washington offense. The Redskins were able to get on the board on a bad snap and an interception throw by kicker Garo Yepremian that was returned for a touchdown, but at the end of the day, the Dolphins were 14-7 winners. More than 40 years later, the Dolphins stand alone as the only team to complete a perfect season.
1. Super Bowl III
The NFL had dominated the AFL in the first two Super Bowls and Super Bowl III was expected to be more of the same as the New York Jets were 18-point underdogs to the Baltimore Colts, who had finished the regular season 13-1. Jets’ quarterback Joe Namath guaranteed a victory to the chagrin of his teammates as they thought the guarantee would fire up the Baltimore Colts. With the help of his teammates, Namath made good on his guarantee. Namath passed for over 200 yards, Matt Snell rushed for a touchdown, Jim Turner made three field goals and the New York defense forced five turnovers. The Jets not only beat the Colts, they dominated them. It took a Baltimore touchdown with just over three minutes left just to break up the shutout. New York’s 16-7 victory ultimately changed the National Football League as the NFL and AFL worked out a deal to merge the following season.