Super Bowl XLV and the 15 Best Super Bowls of the Last 25 Years
Super Bowl XLV became another great entry in the growing list of Super Bowls. While early Super Bowls were characterized by blowouts and mismatches, the Super Bowl truly has begun to live up to its hype more years than it hasn't in the last 25 years.
The games are a lot more competitive and come down to the last quarter—if not the last minute—and you get to see the games' best players leaving it all out on the field.
We're sorting the best of the best out from the last 25 years, so here are the 15 best Super Bowls of the last quarter century.
15. Super Bowl XXXI
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Brett Favre led the Packers to their first Super Bowl victory since Vince Lombardi stalked the sidelines in this game.
The Packers shot out to a 10-0 lead, but the Patriots scored twice to go up 14-10. Brett Favre then threw a bomb to Antonio Freeman and the Packers went up 17-14, increasing the lead to 27-14 at the half.
New England would close the lead to 27-21 in the second half, but the Packers ran the kickoff back for a touchdown, and Favre successfully executed the two-point conversion to make the score 35-21, which would be the final score of the game.
14. Super Bowl XLIV
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This game will be remembered for two things: The Saints' incredibly gutsy play-calling, including an onside kick to start the second half, and Colts head coach Jim Caldwell getting completely outfoxed in the second half.
The game still was an exciting one, and the score was 17-16 with the Colts on top at the end of the third quarter, but the Saints owned the fourth quarter and won the game 31-17.
13. Super Bowl XL
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Ben Roethlisberger didn't have a great game, but the Steelers defense was brilliant, holding Matt Hasselbeck to fewer than 300 yards and keeping the Steelers in the game.
This game had several dubious calls, some of which the referees later admitted to botching.
The game was in doubt until the end, and the Steelers captured their first Super Bowl trophy since the Steel Curtain era and Terry Bradshaw.
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12. Super Bowl XXX
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The last time the Steelers lost a Super Bowl, it was to Dallas in Super Bowl XXX. This game was fairly close until the fourth quarter, when the Steelers began to fall apart after quarterback Neil O'Donnell forgot what color jersey his team wore.
Like this year's game, Steelers turnovers were the difference, and the Cowboys finally beat the Steelers in the game that counted the most.
11. Super Bowl XXXII
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The Green Bay Packers were the defending Super Bowl champions and were looking to make it two in a row behind quarterback Brett Favre.
The aging John Elway stood in the way, and he was looking to make up for all the blowout Super Bowl losses early in his career.
Make up for it he did as the Broncos out-dueled the Packers to get the Lombardi Trophy.
10. Super Bowl XLI
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Peyton Manning and the Colts finally made it to the Super Bowl, and Manning had a pretty good day, throwing 247 yards with one touchdown and one pick.
The game was competitive through three quarters before a pick six by Kelvin Hayden shifted momentum for good to the Colts.
The Colts sealed their 29-17 victory in the fourth quarter and Manning got his first, and so far only, Super Bowl ring.
9. Super Bowl XLV
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If it weren't for the drops, this game might have been a lot more one-sided. The Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers battled it out for four quarters in Cowboys Stadium.
The Steelers were going for their seventh Super Bowl ring while the Packers were trying to win their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXXI.
Aaron Rodgers was brilliant, and three Steelers turnovers proved to be the difference in the game as the Packers held on, stopping the Steelers in the last minute of the game to seal the victory.
8. Super Bowl XXXIX
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The Patriots claimed their third Super Bowl of the decade with this clutch victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The game was tied going into the fourth quarter, and the Patriots then went up 21-14. An Adam Vinatieri kick later made the score 24-14.
Then Donovan McNabb threw an interception, the Patriots punted the ball back and McNabb and head coach Andy Reid ran too much time off of the clock before Greg Lewis scored a touchdown to cut the deficit to three.
The Patriots recovered the Eagles' onside kick and punted back to the Eagles with little time left, but McNabb was unable to make any good decisions, throwing an interception with nine seconds left to play.
7. Super Bowl XXV
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The first of four Buffalo Bills Super Bowl losses, this game was the closest the Bills came to winning any of their four appearances.
Giants head coach Bill Parcells kept the ball out of Jim Kelly's hands by grinding the clock down with a brutal running game that just ate up chunks of clock.
Down 20-19 in the final seconds of the game, Scott Norwood's field goal sailed wide right and the Giants won the game.
6. Super Bowl XXIII
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Joe Montana at his finest. This was a low-scoring game that many were going to consign to the "Boring Bin" until the fourth quarter, when things began happening fast and furious.
Down 16-13 with only 3:10 left to play, Montana drove 92 yards and threw the winning touchdown pass to John Taylor with 35 seconds left in the game.
5. Super Bowl XLIII
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The Steelers turned the tide of this game right before halftime with a 100-yard pick six by James Harrison off of Kurt Warner.
The game remained close in the fourth quarter, but Ben Roethlisberger drove the Steelers down the field and threw the game-winning pass to Santonio Holmes, giving the Steelers their sixth Super Bowl victory in the history of the franchise.
4. Super Bowl XXXIV
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The Greatest Show on Turf, the St. Louis Rams, met the Tennessee Titans in an epic clash that literally came down to the last play, and a tackle for the ages.
Despite having two powerhouse offenses, the game was a defensive battle. The Rams were moving up and down the field, but only getting field goals out of it in the first half.
The Titans tied the game up in the second half, 16-16, but the Rams finally were able to score like they were used to and went up 23-16.
On the final play of the game, Kevin Dyson caught the ball, but Mike Jones made the best tackle of his career and the Titans came up one yard short of sending the game into overtime.
3. Super Bowl XXXVIII
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The Patriots got their second Super Bowl win of the 2000's with a high-scoring game that again came down to an Adam Vinatieri kick against Carolina.
With the game tied, Vinatieri booted the game-winning kick through the uprights with four seconds remaining, and that was that.
2. Super Bowl XXXVI
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Once again, the St. Louis Rams and the Greatest Show on Turf were back in the Super Bowl. But this little team from New England with a coach named Bill Belichick and a quarterback named Tom Brady were there as well.
Maybe you heard of them?
The Belichick defense shut down the Rams, but tied 17-17, Adam Vinatieri kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.
1. Super Bowl XLII
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David Tyree's helmet catch is the defining moment of the game, but this was one of the most anticipated Super Bowl's ever as New England needed one more victory to seal the perfect season.
The Giants had lost to the Patriots in the final week of the regular season and were looking to spoil the Patriots plans for perfection.
Eli Manning ended up being a little better that day, driving the Giants down the field in the fourth quarter scoring the go-ahead touchdown with a pass to Plaxico Burress.
The Giants defense then shut down Tom Brady and the Patriots to give the Giants the victory and send the Patriots home in stunned defeat.
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