All-time Super Bowl power rankings: Which game was the best?
By James Dudko
38. Super Bowl IV: Kansas City Chiefs 23, Minnesota Vikings 7
This is the first time on the list the quality of a Super Bowl game hasn’t solely determined its ranking. If it had, there’s no way the Kansas City Chiefs’ comprehensive destruction of the Minnesota Vikings would rank this high.
The game itself was one-sided and pedestrian. It meant the entertainment had to come from another source. Enter Chiefs head coach Hank Stram.
You only need to hear the phrase “65 Toss Power Trap” to conjure images of Stram’s Oscar-worthy performance while mic’d up on the sidelines for an eternally grateful NFL Films.
Stram was a comedic genius who uttered one-line side-splitters more prolifically than most stand-up stars can ever dream of doing.
It wasn’t all about Stram, though, whose humour often masked his brilliance as an innovator in coaching circles. Yet not even Stram’s carnival turn can overshadow the greatness of the KC team he put together.
His creative “Stack” defensive front was loaded with legends of the game, including linebackers Willie Lanier and Bobby Bell, along with monster D-tackle Buck Buchanan.
Offensively, quarterback Len Dawson was a precision machine in the clutch. Meanwhile, towering wideout Otis Taylor was “Megatron” way before Calvin Johnson took up the name.
The Chiefs of this period were one of history’s outstanding teams. They also evened things up at two Super Bowl wins apiece for the soon-to-be defunct AFL.
Never underestimate the lasting impression this Super Bowl made.
37. Super Bowl XXVI: Washington Redskins 37, Buffalo Bills 24
The 1991 Bills had been one kick short of winning the Super Bowl the previous season and thought they were even stronger the next year. Unfortunately, Joe Gibbs’ last great Washington Redskins team was stronger still.
The ’91 Redskins were a well-oiled machine in every phase. Offensively, they were built on a line better than the iconic ‘Hogs’ of the early to mid-eighties.
Left tackle Jim Lachey and guards Mark Schlereth and Raleigh McKenzie knocked open big enough holes for an ageing Earnest Byner to be a 1,000-yard rusher. They also kept the pass pocket so clean Mark Rypien passed his way to a Super Bowl MVP award. Scarcely believable to this day.
Rypien, Byner and a trio of gifted receivers led by Art Monk tore through the Bills in Minneapolis. But it was an unfashionable Washington defense that delivered a performance to rank alongside the most dominant defenses in Super Bowl history.
The Redskins logged five sacks, intercepted four passes and held star running back Thurman Thomas to just 13 yards on 10 carries.
Don’t be fooled, this was nowhere near as close as the 13-point scoring margin might suggest. In fact, it was over after Buffalo’s first offensive play, one Thomas missed because he couldn’t find his helmet!
The Bills’ ineptitude, along with a dire halftime show and arctic weather made this one of the more forgettable Super Bowls.