All-time Super Bowl power rankings: Which game was the best?
By James Dudko
21. Super Bowl I: Green Bay Packers 35, Kansas City Chiefs 10
Great game? No. Absolutely not. Significant game? You’d better believe it. The first-ever Super Bowl deserves more than being buried in the lower echelons of this list. After all, this was the matchup that started it all.
The game was also a who’s who of Hall of Fame level talent from the sixties. Let’s start with the Packers, the Packers of Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderley and Willie Davis. As good as the Pack were, the Chiefs were no slouches.
These were the Chiefs of Dawson, Lanier and Bell. If the Packers were the dynasty of the NFL during the decade, KC were the dominant force of the old AFL.
20. Super Bowl XVII: Washington Redskins 27, Miami Dolphins 17
The 17th edition of the NFL’s title game was a colorful affair. It pitted Washington’s Hogs against Miami’s Killer B’s defense. There was also room for Redskins fullback John Riggins, who would, not for the first time in a decorated career, ultimately steal the spotlight.
Riggins had to wait until the fourth quarter to stamp his mark on the game and make an imprint on Super Bowl history. His moment came on fourth down when the ‘Diesel’ turned a short-yardage call into a 43-yard touchdown run to break the Dolphins’ spirits.
Before then, the two teams had traded blows in a contest littered with big plays and missed opportunities. The big plays included Fulton Walker returning a kickoff 98 yards for six for the Dolphins. But Miami also accounted for the biggest missed opportunity when rush end Kim Bokamper was denied an interception off his own tip after Washington quarterback Joe Theismann made a desperate lunge to knock the ball loose.
The game also increased the NFL’s international appeal as the first Super Bowl broadcast live in the UK thanks to Channel 4’s coverage.