Super Bowl 49: Ranking the most dramatic finishes
By Will Osgood
1. Super Bowl XXXVI: New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17
I recall Super Bowl XXXVI for reasons other than football—most notably that it was the first Super Bowl after the tragedies on September 11th. And for the Patriots being the first team in memory to be introduced as a team, instead of as individuals.
That display and the game that followed spawned the idea of “the Patriot way”, which interestingly contradicts the notion that in this game they were America’s team. “The Patriot Way” de-emphasized the individual, while focusing on the team concept—as about un-American as is possible.
Equally interesting was that the Rams had been in this position a few short years earlier. But there was a very American element that developed in this game. Tom Brady came out of nowhere to rise to prominence as a result of his play in this game.
Like Warner, he came into the league with little acclaim and required an injury to the starting quarterback to take the reins of the offense and lead them to a Super Bowl title.
In both cases, the result was an NFL career which will lead to a bust of their face being displayed in Canton, Ohio. They are probably the two most successful quarterbacks who came into league with such little notoriety. Call it poetic justice that they played one of the most dramatic Super Bowls against one another, as Warner somewhat passed torch to Brady, certainly unknowingly at the time.
But it was also the beginning of the coronation of Bill Belichick, who designed a game plan which mostly confused and frustrated “The Greatest Show on Turf”. Veteran cornerback Ty Law returned a Warner interception for six points to give the Patriots a 7-3 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Pats would, in a bit of a foreshadowing of the end, mount a touchdown drive to end the first half, which culminated in an eight-yard touchdown pass from Brady to David Patten in the back of the end zone.
Adam Vinatieri would give New England a more commanding lead with a 37-yard field goal near the end of the third quarter, then making the score 17-3 Patriots.
But the championship quarterback Warner would not go down so easily, mounting back-to-back touchdown drives, the second which last just 21 seconds and tied the score at 17 on a 26-yard touchdown to the veteran Ricky Proehl who tip-toed down the Louisiana Superdome sideline before cutting back to find himself in the end zone with exactly 1:30 to play in the fourth quarter.
It looked like we’d be headed for our first Super Bowl overtime, but instead of kneeling down, Belichick gave offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and Brady the freedom to attempt a game-winning drive. The drive began with no timeouts at the Patriot 15-yard line.
You know the rest of the story, as Brady dinked and dunked his way down the field with beautiful execution of the short passing game, before stopping the clock with seven seconds to play at the Rams’ 30-yard line.
Adam Vinatieri then made, what to this day is probably the most clutch kick in NFL history to give the Patriots their first Super Bowl victory in stunning fashion.