Top Super Bowls of All Time – Honorable Mentions

Super Sunday.  The very words conjure up vivid memories that for most football fans will stay with them for as long as the game exists.  From it’s humble beginnings it has grown to be the most viewed television show in America every year.  It has transcended American culture and in the process become an entity unto itself.

How will this year’s game be viewed?  Will it surpass all the previous games to be the greatest one ever?  We’ll find out soon enough.  In an effort to prepare for the greatest “unofficial” American holiday there is, starting today through the end of Super Bowl week I will submit for approval a countdown of the top 10 Super Bowls and offer thoughts on each game.

This list was based on a few things: competitiveness, legendary match-ups, lasting images from the game, and historical significance to the National Football League.  I believe that any game worthy of being called “best” must possess at least a few of these qualities, and throughout the history of the league the greatest games have done just that.

We’ll begin with those games that just missed the cut.  Here are the Honorable Mentions, in chronological order…

• 3 – Jets shock the football world – Although this game doesn’t measure up to other Super Bowls in competitiveness, it more than makes up for it in significance.  Game MVP Joe Namath’s famous guarantee may have all the headlines from this game but it was the running of Matt Snell and an opportunistic Jets defense that won the day.  New York would end up forcing the Colts into five turnovers and sending 1968 NFL MVP Earl Morrall to the bench in favor of an ailing John Unitas.  By that point even the magic of Unitas couldn’t save the heavily favored Baltimore squad, as they fell in one of the most shocking upsets in sports history.
• New York Jets 16 – Baltimore Colts 7

• 7 – Miami completes perfect season – Led by a powerful running attack and a ferocious Miami defense, Don Shula’s team closed out one of the greatest single seasons ever by dominating George Allen’s “Over the Hill Gang”.  Game MVP Jake Scott intercepted two Billy Kilmer passes and defensive lineman Manny Fernandez dominated the Washington offensive line to keep the Redskins out of the end zone the entire game.  In the closing minutes, a blocked field goal attempt and historic football folly would lead to the only score the Redskins would see all day.  In the end the final score would show the game was closer than it actually was, as Miami completed the only perfect season in NFL history.
• Miami Dolphins 14 – Washington Redskins 7

• 14 – Rams come close – Super Bowl 14 was supposed to be a coronation of the Steelers as the team of the 70’s.  Nobody thought to tell the Rams.  Through most of the game and into the fourth quarter the scrappy overachievers from Los Angeles went toe-to-toe with the three-time champions from the Steel City.  No matter what the Steelers tried they could not shake the Rams, who were appearing in the game with a backup quarterback and the worst record ever for a Super Bowl participant.  In the end the Rams would fall short, as game MVP Terry Bradshaw would lead a Steelers charge in the final period to overtake the underdogs and claim their fourth Super Bowl in six years.
• Pittsburgh Steelers 31 – Los Angeles Rams 19

• 16 – 49ers hold off furious Bengals charge – Super Bowl 16 ushered in the “Team of the 80’s”.  Joe Montana and Bill Walsh served notice that there was a new era in the NFL and the 49ers were at the forefront of it.  An innovative offensive attack was complemented by an under-rated and fierce defense that featured veterans Jack Reynolds and Fred Dean and a secondary with rookies Eric Wright, Carlton Williamson, and future Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott.  Ironically, it would be the 49er defense, rather than the offense, that would author THE moment of the game with the greatest goal-line stand in Super Bowl history in the third quarter.
• San Francisco 49ers 26 – Cincinnati Bengals 21

• 44 – Saints late pick-6 puts Mr. Manning on ice – New Orleans was making their first ever appearance in the Super Bowl.  Indianapolis was appearing in the game for the second time in four years.  Both teams featured high-powered offenses led by great quarterbacks.  The game turned on an onside kick at the start of the second half that caught the Colts by surprise and began the Saints comeback.  In a game that had all the makings of a shootout, it was the New Orleans defense that made the biggest play.  Late in the fourth quarter as the Colts were driving for the tying touchdown, Saints cornerback Tracy Porter intercepted a Peyton Manning pass and raced 74 yards for the score that would decide the game.
• New Orleans Saints 31 – Indianapolis Colts 17

Every Super Bowl has it’s own identity.  All of the champions had a good season and should be recognized for their accomplishments.  This countdown is not meant to degrade any championship season, it’s meant to celebrate the great American game that we’ve all grown to love, and in the process give some historical perspective to the current race toward Super Sunday.  Whatever team ends this season by raising Mr. Lombardi’s trophy will have earned it, and take their place among the game’s great teams.  It will remain to be seen if history judges their journey to be one of the best of all time.