All-time Super Bowl power rankings: Which game was the best?
By James Dudko
2. Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23
This game was a whisker away from taking top spot. Only one other Super Bowl credibly compares to the intensity, quality and excitement the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers produced in 2009.
The Cardinals weren’t expected to be anywhere near the Super Bowl, despite Kurt Warner now wearing Arizona red. Warner led an offense featuring three 1,000-yard receivers, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston.
Despite boasting star names galore, the Cards were tipped to struggle moving the ball against Pittsburgh’s swarming defense. The Steelers defense held sway in the first half, helping Pittsburgh build a 17-7 halftime lead, thanks largely to James Harrison’s 100-yard interception return on the brink of the intermission.
Harrison’s stunning runback was just one of many iconic moments from this game. Another was Fitzgerald resembling Jerry Rice when he took a slant 64 yards in the fourth quarter to give Arizona an unlikely 23-20 lead with just over two-and-a-half minutes remaining.
The sight of euphoric Cardinals fans barely believing what they were seeing reminds us why we love football.
Their joy proved short-lived, though, thanks to one more memorable moment. It came when Ben Roethlisberger drove the Steelers 78 yards for the winning score, a six-yard tightrope catch by Santonio Holmes.
Unlike the second 49ers-Bengals tilt, this Super Bowl was about way more than just the winning drive.
1. Super Bowl XLIX: New England Patriots 28, Seattle Seahawks 24
This game had it all, from a quarterback clinic by Brady to outstanding defense and even a touch of the bizarre, courtesy of Jermaine Kearse’s bobbled catch off a tipped ball. The catch paved the way for THAT call.
The call in question was Seattle’s decision to pass at the goal-line rather than hand off to powerhouse running back Marshawn Lynch. It was a foolhardy risk that blew up in the faces of Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell when quarterback Russell Wilson’s pass was picked off in the end zone by Malcolm Butler, making a star of the previously unheralded cornerback.
Seattle’s decision to throw from the one instead of letting mountain of muscle Lynch bulldoze his way over the line is the most contentious call in pro football history.
The debate surrounding the call sums up everything wrong with how many fans and pundits consume sports today. No matter what analytics sites and their advanced statistical analysis tells you, the decision to pass was a BS call. Plain and simple, regardless of situation, tendencies and personnel.
The call aside, this was a corker of a contest. Brady was the MVP, but the award would surely have gone to Michael Bennett had the Seahawks won. He has redefined D-line play in the NFL’s modern era, and played a game for the ages.
On the coaching level, both staffs excelled (at least up to THAT call in Seattle’s case). Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels found a way to exploit the Seahawks’ vaunted coverage schemes by utilizing Shane Vereen out of the backfield.
Two superb teams playing outstanding football and producing a finish sure to be hotly-debated as long as football is around. You couldn’t ask for more from a Super Sunday.