Best Super Bowl Plays
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It seems like the Super Bowl just keeps growing every year. One of the reasons why people tune in is because they don’t want to miss out on a moment that will go down in history. To recap some of those special moments, we’re taking a look at the best Super Bowl plays of all time, concentrating on the last two decades of action.
Since the turn of the millennium, football fans have watched some of the most amazing Super Bowl games ever (and bet on them, too). From the Patriots dynasty to incredible to last-second thrillers to unbelievable upsets, the game has had it all. And of course, there have been a great many scintillating plays along the way.
With that in mind, we’re here to take a look at the best Super Bowl plays of all time. We’re focusing on the last 18 years of action. And we’re choosing one play per game to get a complete overview of this time period. In case you missed them earlier, here’s where you can find part one and part two of this series.
Super Bowl XXXVII: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Oakland Raiders 21
Raider quarterback Rich Gannon was coming off one of the most efficient seasons in NFL history. But he didn’t account for the Buccaneer defense, which would pick him off five times. The first of those by Dexter Jackson (who would end up with two picks and be named MVP) set up a go-ahead second-quarter field goal and put Tampa on their way.
Super Bowl XXXVIII: New England Patriots 32, Carolina Panthers 29
The Panthers gamely fought back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the score. And it looked the game might be headed for overtime when the Pats faced a third down on their final drive. That’s when Tom Brady hit Deion Branch for a clutch 17-yard completion, setting up Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning field goal.
Super Bowl XXXIX: New England Patriots 24, Philadelphia Eagles 21
Although the Eagles scored the game’s final points to cut the deficit to three, they were roundly criticized for taking way too long to do so with huddles and delays between plays. As a result, they had only 46 seconds left when they got the ball back for a final drive. And that drive ended with the Pats’ Rodney Harrison’s clinching interception of Donovan McNabb.
Super Bowl XL: Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Seattle Seahawks 10
Veteran running back Jerome Bettis was the heart and soul of this Steeler squad. But it was his backfield running mate Willie Parker who made the game-changing play. His 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter opened up a tight, sloppy contest.
Super Bowl XLI: Indianapolis Colts 29. Chicago Bears 17
In his first ever Super Bowl, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was challenged all night by a rugged Bears’ defense. Thus, he was fortunate his own defense stepped up. In particular, Kelvin Hayden’s 56-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth-quarter gave Indy the cushion it needed.
Super Bowl XLII: New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14
This game was a nail-biter for pro sports bettors. The Patriots held a late 14-10 lead as they tried to become the second NFL team to go undefeated and win a Super Bowl. But Eli Manning escaped the grasp of a defender and made a desperation third-down heave to little-used Giant receiver David Tyree on their final drive. Tyree leaped and balanced the ball on his helmet to make the 32-yard catch, setting up the winning score a few plays later.
Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23
The Steelers watched a 13-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate as the Cardinals rallied behind Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald. But quarterback Ben Roethlisberger coolly led them down the field in the final minutes. With 42 seconds left, Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes, who tiptoed to stay inbounds, for the game-winning six-yard score.
Super Bowl XLIV: New Orleans Saints 31, Indianapolis Colts 17
Both the Saints’ Drew Brees and the Colts’ Peyton Manning put up big passing numbers. But Manning’s late attempt to tie the game was thwarted by New Orleans defensive back Tracy Porter. He anticipated a Manning throw, intercepted it and took it back 74 yards for the game-sealing score.
Super Bowl XLV: Green Bay Packers 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 25
The Steelers had cut an 18-point deficit to four and were in Green Bay territory looking for more at the start of the fourth quarter. But Packer linebackers forced a fumble by Steeler running back Rashard Mendenhall, and Green Bay recovered. The Packers would score on that possession to seal the victory.
Super Bowl XLVI: New York Giants 21, New England Patriots 17
Down two with under four minutes to go, the Giants were backed up on their own 12-yard line.
Super Bowl XLVII: Baltimore Ravens 34, San Francisco 49ers 31
The Ravens were up at 21-3 at half and received the second-half kickoff. Jacoby Jones decided to return the kick despite being eight yards deep in the end zone. 108 yards later, he was in the end zone, and the Ravens had padding they would need to stave off the Niners’ furious comeback.
Super Bowl XLVIII: Seattle Seahawks 43, Denver Broncos 8
The first play from scrimmage telegraphed what kind of game it was going to be from Denver. A shotgun snap sailed over Peyton Manning’s head, and the Broncos had to cover it up for a safety. Seattle’s defense tightened the grip from there, forcing four turnovers in the romp.
Super Bowl XLIX: New England Patriots 28, Seattle Seahawks 24
The Seahawks were on the brink of a winning touchdown and back-to-back titles, sitting at the New England one-yard line with 26 seconds to go. Eschewing a handoff to bruising running back Marshawn Lynch, Seattle tried a quick slant pass. But Patriot cornerback Malcolm Butler saw it coming and stepped in from the interception to end it.
Super Bowl 50: Denver Broncos 24, Carolina Panthers 10
In a game where both offenses struggled, it was a first-quarter defensive play that made the difference. Panther quarterback Cam Newton was sacked by Denver’s Von Miller and fumbled. The Broncos’ Malik Jackson scooped it up at the Panther one-yard line and fell in for the tone-setting touchdown.
Super Bowl LI: New England Patriots 34, Atlanta Falcons 28
The greatest comeback in Super Bowl history was capped on the first possession of overtime. The Patriots, who had rallied from a 28-3 deficit to tie, won the coin flip and took the ball. After a 75-yard drive, James White ran for the score, his third of the game, to win it.
Super Bowl LII: Philadelphia Eagles 41, New England Patriots 33
In a wild, offensive slugfest, a one-yard pass might have made the difference.
It ended with tight end Trey Burton lofting a strike to quarterback Nick Foles for the crucial touchdown.
Super Bowl LIII: New England Patriots 13, Los Angeles Rams 3
Best Super Bowl Plays Of All Time
The game oddsmakers predicted, via the over/under line, would be the highest-scoring game in Super Bowl history proved to be the lowest-scoring one of all. It was fitting then that a defensive play, Stephon Gilmore’s fourth-quarter interception of the Rams’ Nick Foles, made the biggest impact. That pick ended Los Angeles’ hopes of tying the game.
Super Bowl LIV: Kansas City Chiefs 31, San Francisco 49ers 20
The Chiefs vaunted offense was stuck in neutral for much of the game, and they faced a 20-10 deficit halfway through the third quarter. On a 3rd-and-15, Kansas City quarterback made an unlikely scrambling throw to Tyreek Hill for a 44-yard gain. Kansas City would score a touchdown on that drive and their next two to come from behind for the win.
Conclusion
We hope you’ve enjoyed our look at the best Super Bowl plays of all time. There are plenty of more Super Bowls to come, and we can’t wait to see what memorable plays will emerge from those games.
There have been better finishes. There have been more memorable moments. There have been games with more on the line. But never has a Super Bowl been as great, from start to finish, as the one played Sunday night by the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots.
On one side, there was the Eagles, a hard-luck franchise without a Super Bowl title to its name, a fact worn like a scarlet letter by a fanbase with a chip on their shoulders approximately the size of the Liberty Bell. On the other side, the dynastic Patriots, led by the greatest coach and quarterback combo in NFL history, going for a record-tying sixth Super Bowl and attempting to win three Super Bowls in four years for the second time.
Add in the intrigue of the Eagles’ young, MVP candidate Carson Wentz going down late in the season and being replaced by cast-off Nick Foles, and it was as much soap opera as football game.
A majority of the list of best all-time Super Bowls tend to have two things in common.
The first: slow starts. Last year’s 28-3 comeback by Brady was historic and made for one of the best finishes the NFL has ever seen, but it came at the expense of a mostly unwatchable first half. The same went for the Rams-Titans Super Bowl that came down to the final play. Ditto for both of the Pats’ other title-game losses. The Belichick/Brady Pats had never before scored in the first quarter of their seven previous Super Bowls.
The other is that the games can usually be defined by a single, decisive play that swung (or helped swing) the result. The Tyree catch. Kevin Dyson coming up short. John Riggins 43-yard rumble. Santonio Holmes’ toe-tapper. Malcolm Butler’s pick. Adam Vinatieri’s kicks. James White in overtime.
Super Bowl LII was a barnburner from the opening kick. As for defining moments: how much time ya got? Here’s why Sunday night’s classic will go down in history as the G.O.A.T.
1. There was controversy.
Oh, was there controversy. The two biggest plays of the game were disputed touchdown catches by the Eagles, both of which were ruled TDs on the field and then, upon replay, looked like clear incompletions, even by the confusing, oft-arbitrary nature of the NFL’s much-maligned catch rule.
On the first, Corey Clement bobbled the ball and didn’t get both feet in bounds after gaining possession. Officials somehow determined that Clement’s bobble didn’t reset the process of his catch and the Eagles went up by 10 points. On NBC’s broadcast, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were in disbelief after the ruling. They’d spent the previous few minutes outlining all the ways Clement’s flub meant the touchdown would be wiped off the scoreboard.
Amazingly, the next touchdown overrule appeared even more of a no-brainer. Zach Ertz caught the ball near the goal line, reached out and then bounced the football off the turf in the end zone, losing possession. It was a virtual replay of a play that went in the Patriots favor in December when Pittsburgh’s Jesse James made an identical move and had his last-minute touchdown overturned. That play handed New England home-field advantage in the playoffs and forced the Steelers to play a tougher divisional playoff game than the Pats. It changed the entire landscape of the AFC.
Ertz’s “catch” was upheld though, this time with the reasoning that the tight end had established himself as a runner. If a receiver is in the process of making the catch when he bounces the ball in the end zone, it’s a drop. If he’s running into the end zone, it’s a touchdown.
How Ertz, who took a half-step before crossing the goal line, was ruled a runner will go down as one of the most controversial calls in Super Bowl history. (The irony of the New England Patriots being on the receiving end of two horrible officiating decision shouldn’t be lost on anyone, by the way.)
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2. Doug Pederson’s play-calling.
Almost a decade after it happened, Saints coach Sean Payton still gets lauded for his risky (and ultimately successful) decision to open the second half of Super Bowl XLIV with an onside kick. With the guts he showed Sunday, Eagles coach Doug Pederson made Payton look positively conventional.
After New England grabbed momentum by scoring a touchdown near the end of the first half, the Eagles got to fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line. A field goal and a six-point lead looked like a fine way to go into halftime. But Pederson, as he’s done all season, rolled the dice – this time in the high-stakes room.
Not only did he leave his offense on the field, but he called for a gadget play that featured a direct snap to the running back, who tossed to tight end Trey Burton, who threw on the run to a wide open Nick Foles – yeah, the quarterback – in the end zone. Touchdown.
There was a fourth-quarter lead change in the game so you can’t say the Pederson decision won Philly the Super Bowl. But after it happened, beating the Pats suddenly felt probable, not possible.
Oh yeah; Pederson called the play after Josh McDaniels and the Patriots ran the same exact one earlier in the quarter. On that one, Brady was wide open but the ball slipped through his fingertips. The ebbs and flows of the game were tremendous.
Best Super Bowl Plays Of All Time
3. The wildness extended all the way to the special teams – and not in a good way.
Stephen Gostkowski, one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history missed a chip-shot field goal, the Eagles failed to convert an extra point and then Pederson gambled (poorly, for once) with an early two-point conversion attempt that failed and could have been a crucial lost point for Philly. The Super Bowl tends to bring out the crazy and this one delivered it.
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4. Bill Belichick got out-coached.
In a Super Bowl. By a second-year coach calling plays in the biggest game of his career. It was staggering to watch in real time and even more remarkable upon analysis. Belichick’s defense was so ineffective that making a third-down stop and holding Philly to a fourth-quarter field goal felt like a moral victory. The sitting of Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler will be talked about for years. And then there was the backbreaker: A 14-play, seven-minute drive at the end of the game that killed almost the entire clock and forced New England into what was basically a one-and-done drive. The Super Bowl has never seen anything like it.
5. Even after a backbreaking fumble that appeared to end the game, New England managed a stop on the Eagles to force a field goal with 1:05 left.
Brady would have 58 seconds and no timeouts to get a touchdown and two-point conversion for the tie. After the Eagles gave up underneath yardage on a few plays, the Pats were in position to attempt a Hail Mary with nine seconds left. Brady ducked out of the rush (shades of Eli Manning in Super Bowl LII) and heaved the ball into a scrum at the goal line. It was tipped and, as it was falling to the ground, there was a split-second when it appeared that Phillip Dorsett might make a miracle touchdown grab off the deflection. As the entire city of Philadelphia held its breath, the ball bounced harmlessly into the end zone.
6. The teams combined for 1,151 yards, the most ever in any NFL game – not just the playoffs, but the regular season too.
The 74 combined points were the second-most in Super Bowl history and New England’s 33 points were the most for any team in a title-game loss.
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Some will say that a game with such horrible defense can’t be one of the best ever. Others will look at the final score years from now and think that a game needs to be closer than eight points to be a classic. They’ll be wrong. The back-and-forth, 60-minute thrill ride of Super Bowl LII goes down as the best in the 52-year history of the game. With so much on the line, a team everybody left for dead just before Christmas stunned the world to bring home the Lombardi Trophy for the first time.
Super Bowl Highlights 50
When Eagles kicker Jake Elliot made the field goal that essentially cinched the game, Bill Belichick stared straight ahead, clearly pondering his next move. Tom Brady had done it before. How was he going to do it again? But as the future Hall of Famer was about to sift through the unparalleled football knowledge he’s gained through the decades, he did something you rarely see, whether on the sideline or off. It was almost imperceptible and went away as quickly as it came. But for that briefest of moments though, it looked like Bill Belichick smiled.
He knew.