50. Super Bowl XXIX: San Francisco 49ers 49, San Diego Chargers 26
Arguably as inevitable as any other Super Sunday blowout, the San Diego Chargers were hopelessly overmatched against the nouveau riche 49ers.
San Fran had thrown free-agency dollars at every big-name defensive player left standing in an effort to overtake the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC. Ken Norton Jr., Gary Plummer, Rickey Jackson, Richard Dent and a certain Deion Sanders all arrived to get the D’ up to par.
But the true greatness of this team was found on offense. Shanahan got the job in Denver based on how he directed arguably the most loaded unit of all time.
Steve Young threw the passes to Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Brent Jones, Ricky Watters and William Floyd. There was just no way Stan Humphries, Natrone Means and Junior Seau stood a chance.
Young’s record-setting six-touchdown day is the abiding memory of this game. But plenty of fans will wish the Chargers hadn’t taken away the chance to see what the Pittsburgh Steelers and their ‘Blitzburgh’ defense might have done against Young and Co.
49. Super Bowl XLVIII: Seattle Seahawks 43, Denver Broncos 8
Defense wins championships, but a championship-winning defense doesn’t always make for good viewing. So it proved in 2014 when the classic matchup of a stellar defense, in this case the Seattle Seahawks, and a high-powered offense, courtesy of Peyton Manning and the Broncos, quickly devolved into a damp squib.
Denver botching a snap to give away a safety on the first play let everyone know the most prolific scoring machine in NFL annals hadn’t shown up and wasn’t going to anytime soon.
Instead, the Seahawks, never the most graceful in defeat or victory, proceeded to strut, crow and gloat their way through an epic beatdown.
Manning’s attempts to connect with wide receivers who had no stomach for beating the press coverage of Seattle’s ‘Legion of Boom’ secondary became the football equivalent of watching paint dry.