Most Stunning Champions in Super Bowl History

Since the Super Bowl began back in 1967, 46 years of professional football lore have passed.

That being said, the New York Giants won their fourth Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday with a win over the New England Patriots. However, that wasn't as stunning of a win as the following franchises.

In Super Bowl history there have been only a select number of major upsets and four have come in the past 15 years.

1968 New York Jets

As 18-point underdogs to the 15-1 Baltimore Colts, the 12-3 New York Jets pulled off arguably the single greatest upset in the history of American sports.

It wasn't so much that the Jets were considered a bad team heading into the game as it was the NFL's dominance over the AFL during Super Bowls I and II.

There, the Green Bay Packers held up the fort with a combined score of 68-24 over the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders.

Now it was the Colts turn to keep the NFL rolling and fortunately for the future of pro football, Joe Namath and the Jets won 16-7. Thanks to 121 rushing yards and a touchdown by running back Matt Snell, the two leagues would merge after the 1970 season.

1997 Denver Broncos

The next major stunning Super Bowl champion came in the form of the 1997 Denver Broncos.

In 1996, the Broncos finished 13-3 and were the AFC's No. 1 seed, but were upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional Round.

That same year the Green Bay Packers would win Super Bowl XXXI over the New England Patriots and claim a thirteenth consecutive victory for the NFC in the big game. In some sense, it was like the AFL and NFL were recreated during that span.

The Broncos would make the postseason as a Wild Card in 1997.

With 15-year veteran John Elway still leading the charge, Denver as the 11-point underdogs would upset the defending champion Packers in Super Bowl XXXII, 31-24.

2001 New England Patriots

Heading into the 2001 NFL season, the New England Patriots were led by a solid quarterback in Drew Bledsoe but coming off an 5-11 campaign in 2000.

Bledsoe gets injured early in the season and second year, sixth-round draft pick Tom Brady is expected to take over.

Long story short, the Patriots would go on to win Super Bowl XXXVI over the defending champion St. Louis Rams who were 14 point favorites.

It was tied for the third largest point-spread in Super Bowl history and the second biggest upset on the big stage other than the '68 Jets. In addition, this game propelled the Patriots to becoming 2000's team of the decade and the NFL's most recent dynasty.

2007 New York Giants

The New York Giants Super Bowl XLII upset over the New England Patriots is by far the more stunning win than Super Bowl XLVI.

The spread was 12 points in favor of New England, and the Giants were led by a young, inexperienced Eli Manning who hadn't won a postseason game until that very season.

Not to mention, the Patriots were 18-0 and had defeated New York earlier in the season.

The Giants were against all odds just before the 2007-08 playoffs. They were just 3-6 from 1993-2006 in January. But, thanks to a stout pass rush and David Tyree, New York brought home a fourth Lombardi Trophy, 17-14.

2010 Green Bay Packers

Although the Green Bay Packers were favored by 1.5 points over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, they hadn't won a playoff game since the 2007 season.

The Steelers on the other hand, were arguably the next dominant team to New England. It was their third Super Bowl appearance since 2005 (won Super Bowls XL and XLIII).

Green Bay also dealt with numerous injuries all season and were without without leading rusher Ryan Grant, tight end Jermichael Finley and linebacker Nick Barnett in the postseason.

Then to make matters even more difficult, team leader Charles Woodson goes down in the Super Bowl.

All this said, Green Bay managed to overcome the injuries and snuck into the playoffs at 10-6 as the NFC's No. 6 seed and defeated Pittsburgh 31-25.

John Rozum on Twitter.