All-time Super Bowl power rankings: Which game was the best?
By James Dudko
27. Super Bowl XXII: Washington Redskins 42, Denver Broncos 10
The halfway point of the list is high for a 42-10 game. But Washington’s destruction of the Broncos lands here because of 15 minutes, otherwise known as “The Quarter.”
It was the second quarter to be exact, the period when the Redskins scored five touchdowns before halftime.
Four of those touchdowns came off the arm of quarterback Doug Williams, a backup for a good portion of the ’87 season, but the star of this Super Sunday. Truthfully, Williams ought to have shared the spotlight with previously unknown running back Timmy Smith.
He went from obscurity to a surprising start and 204 yards rushing, behind an admittedly awesome O-line, still a record in the big game.
Williams’ and Smith’s performances are part of Super Bowl lore, so it’s only fitting this game lands at 25.
26. Super Bowl LII: Philadelphia Eagles 41, New England Patriots 33
Some might quibble with this ranking, but it falls in the middle for a few reasons. For starters, no defense was played the entire game. Secondly, while Nick Foles was a great story in the moment, it wasn’t exactly two great quarterbacks slugging it out against one another.
The Eagles and Patriots combined for more than 1,000 total yards before Brandon Graham made the one and only defensive play of the game, stripping Tom Brady to put an end to the proceedings.
It’s impossible to argue that the game was not entertaining between Brady throwing for more than 500 yards and the Philly Special, but was it one of the all-time greats? Probably falls a bit shy of that lofty goal.