For the third straight year, I have been able to claim a hollow 'victory' at the end of the NFL season, because the team I preferred has won. The last two years, it was because of my contempt for the opponents, the longtime rival Colts and Steelers, but this year, it was because I was at a game in New York this season; their week 2 win over the Rams on Monday Night Football. For this reason, I had temporary ownership of the Giants, in a sense; I was part of their Super Bowl season, and I think that's pretty damn cool.
Anyhow, this of course was my tenth Super Bowl, and at this glorious benchmark, I thought I'd rank them from worst to best. Not necessarily by the quality of the game, but how I look back on them. (spoiler: XLI will not rank highly)
#10: Super Bowl XLI
February 4, 2007
Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17
Oh come on. As if it would have been anything else? This game ranks far, far at the bottom for me for a plethora of reasons, and yes, the most obvious one is the most prominent: my most hated rival won the Super Bowl. At the end of each season, when the Titans were eliminated, I could at least rest easy knowing that the Colts met a similar fate. I guess it's because the two teams were neck and neck for so long: we traded AFC south crowns back and forth, shared MVP honours in 2003, and seemed unable to break through and win the big one.
Then, they did it. Peyton Manning's Colts handled Rex Grossman's Bears with ease. And in my mind, it was predominantly because of the horrible play of the latter. Rex Grossman was a disaster in this game, completing 20 of 28 passes for 165 yards, with one touchdown and two picks. It felt less like the Colts won this game, more like Rex Grossman lost it.
The only highlight was right at the beginning, when the Bears' Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for six points. From there, it was an ugly battle duelled in ugly, rainy conditions.
And to top it all off, Peyton won MVP honours on 25/38, 247 yards, 1 TD and 1 Int. And that is ludicrous. If the decision makers had balls, they would have given the award to the man who truly shined for the Colts: no-name running back Dominic Rhodes: 21 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown. He sustained drives, and took the Colts downfield. It's true, and you all know it.
#9: Super Bowl XL
February 5, 2006
Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Seattle Seahawks 10
Speaking of ugly, this game likely wins the award in that department. From the play of Ben Roethlisberger (9/21 for 123 yards, 2 Ints) to the officiating, this was simply not the way your championship game should look. Indeed, if I were to advise someone who had never seen a game before to avoid watching one Super Bowl, this would be it.
Unbelievably, and I feel guilty about it now, I wasn't entirely dissatisfied seeing the Steelers win that season. It makes me feel dirty spouting such slander, but I truly wanted to see Bill Cowher, Hines Ward and Jerome Bettis win a championship. It just felt right, y'know? However, I really would have preferred for it to have been a year earlier, against those damned Patriots (impossible seeding notwithstanding)!
Matt Hasselbeck was one of my favourite quarterbacks long before he became a Titan, and it's unfortunate to have seen him and his Seahawks stooged in a poorly managed game. Additionally, the Seahawks are the closest thing I have to a home team, so I would have to imagine that in their next Super Bowl, unless they're playing Tennesee or Toronto (fingers crossed!), I would be steadfastly behind them. Maybe it's because of my treachery that they faltered?
#8: Super Bowl XXXVII
January 26, 2003
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Oakland Raiders 21
This one is such a distant memory for me, it's hard to quite recall much about it, beyond it being a blowout.
The 2002 Raiders were one of my favourite teams: their stars included Rich Gannon, Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Charles Woodson, Rod Woodson and Bill Romanowski. Damn man, I thought they were an automatic win. They were favoured by 4, but unfortunately for them, Bill Callahan, or whoever was in charge of playcalling that day, was an absolute idiot.
For them to have recycled Jon Gruden's playbook, to the point of even having the exact same audible signals, is simply unfathomable. If I had known such a thing was going to happen (and admittedly at that point, I didn't know squat about football), I may have seen it coming.
On the plus side however, when I learnt more about football, I discovered that I liked a lot of the guys on the Buccaneers' roster, so I could celebrate (post-script) their win. After all, I owe my very interest in football to the exploits of Warren Sapp, and I certainly think that's something worth being thankful for!
#7: Super Bowl XLII
February 3, 2008
New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14
It's funny, actually, that while some people consider this to have been one of the best Super Bowls of all time, I found it quite boring up until the fourth quarter. I'm not against defensive struggles (after all, I played and loved defense!), but when you've got the record-setting offense of the '07 Patriots out there, you expect a show.
Instead, the teams traded jabs back and forth, and it looked towards the end like the Patriots would complete their undefeated season in the exact nature that was expected. Then, it happened: With 1:15 left to play, on 3rd and 5 from his 44-yard line, Eli Manning escaped the grasp of Adalius Thomas, Jarvis Green and Richard Seymour. He flung the ball downfield, and David Tyree came down with an impossible catch. Hopefully, that'll be the last I'll have to mention of that overrated homophobe.
This year, for most of the game, I was hoping for the Patriots to win it all. I like Randy Moss and I love Junior Seau: I wanted them to claim the rings they'd long deserved. Then, on that game-winning drive, New York won me over, and my allegiance changed. Funnily enough, part of that was seeing Peyton Manning cheering his brother on. I liked that. What I didn't like, however, was the gutless decision on the MVP award again. Eli, at 19/34, 255 yards, 2 TDs and 1 Int, did win them that game with his heroics at the end. Justin Tuck, with 5 tackles, 1 assist, 2 sacks and a forced fumble, however, was the reason they were in a position to win, in my mind.
#6: Super Bowl XXXVIII
February 1, 2004
New England Patriots 32, Carolina Panthers 29
Again, I hardly remember this one. I wanted the Panthers to win it, that was for sure, with Tony favourites like Jake Delhomme, Muhsin Muhammad and Stephen Davis, but of course, it was not to be.
The defining moment was likely John Kasay's late kickoff that went out of bounds, putting New England at the 40-yard line and allowing them to drive down field to kick the winning field goal, but for some reason, I don't remember it having happened. I would imagine John Kasay would like to feel the same way, for that matter.
One of the main reasons, and I had forgotten this until now, that I wanted the Panthers to win was because the Patriots had defeated the Titans en route to this Super Bowl, and it's just one more reason why Steve McNair never got his ring. Damned Patriots, now I'm really glad they lost today.
#5: Super Bowl XXXIX
February 6, 2005
New England Patriots 24, Philadelphia Eagles 21
Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens were the headliners for an explosive Eagles team in 2004, and they were gunning for the Patriots. I was definitely backing them, I was fast growing sick of New England's winning ways, and looked forward to seeing a new breed of champion crowned.
This one is tarnished in my memory because of my dad's problems with diabetes, which hit their peak at this point. Severe foot pain led to his early retirement from the game, and I'm always going to remember it as a deflating ending. To top it off, Donovan McNabb ran out of gas in the end, and I labelled him a choke artist.
I truly feel bad for this misjudgement now, because I lacked all of the information. I hadn't realised that McNabb was vomiting in the huddle, hardly able to stand, and yet, was still in there, trying desperately to mount a comeback. What I had once seen as weakness, I now know to be incredible bravery. The late game heroics that nobody knew about at the time. McNabb really deserves more credit for that, I think.
#4: Super Bowl XLIV
February 7, 2010
New Orleans Saints 31, Indianapolis Colts 17
Now the race is getting much tighter: the last few Super Bowls have all been really, really good, and the fact that 2010's game ranks fourth isn't as much a reflection on it, as it is a statement of how stiff the competition has been.
Many people hate the Indianapolis Colts, and many people love the New Orleans Saints. So clearly this year, I was among the vast majority who were hoping for the Saints to close out their Cinderella season, and claw to the top, not only to rectify the franchise's history of futility, but to give strength to a city that had suffered so much.
Early on, it was terrifying for me to watch. Marques Colston looked nothing like his usual self, making at least one completely inexcusable drop (can't remember if it was more than just the big glaring one that hit him right in the face), but the Saints were able to right the ship towards the end, and began really outclassing the Colts.
I was very confident when Peyton had to drive Indianapolis down the field to fight off a 24-17 deficit, but I couldn't have possibly foreseen the amazing 74-yard interception by Tracy Porter that iced it.
It's probably my favourite play in my brief Super Bowl-watching history. I believe I said it best with the text message I wrote to a friend of mine right after it had happened:
"Yes yes yes yes fuck yes fuck yes"
#3: Super Bowl XLVI
February 5, 2012
New York Giants 21, New England Patriots 17
It hasn't quite set in yet, and my mind may change on some things, but right now, I'm pretty convinced that third is a good place for XLVI. This year's game absolutely flew by, because it had consistent completed passes (record-setting, for that matter) and a lack of penalties. One of the things I'll most take from this game, is that this was the most un-Patriot I have ever seen New England look. Tom Brady's first pass was a poorly judged deep ball to nobody that resulted in a safety, and shortly after, they negated a fumble recovery by having twelve men on the field. Usually, when there is a penalty for too many players on the field, it's because one guy couldn't get off quickly enough. But this time (twice, when it happened to New York as well), there were twelve men actually lined up. Ridiculous!
New England were schooled in the first half right up until the end, where they somehow claimed a 10-9 lead. They took that momentum incredibly into the third quarter, and it set up a fantastic fourth quarter. It was a combination of New York's gutsy play that won, as well as New England's sudden offensive futility that lost. The better team won today, and yes, Eli Manning (30/40, 296 yards and 1 TD) was definitely the right choice for MVP.
#2: Super Bowl XLV
February 6, 2011
Green Bay Packers 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 25
This was no doubt my most complete Super Bowl experience. I had all my boys around, my dad's health was (and still is) in peak condition, and we just had a ball. One of my mates is a Packers fan, and the other a Steelers fan, so there was a lot invested in both teams. Of course, I was a Packers fan that day.
It's a little bit cruel, but one thing I like is seeing teams I dislike make errors. Ben Roethlisberger had another lousy showing (25/40, 263 yards, 2 TDs and 2 Ints), and Rashard Mendenhall wasn't much better, losing a critical fumble at the worst time.
This year's Super Bowl was certainly a lot more tightly contested, so there's a chance it might creep up and claim the #2 spot with time, but for now, the sight of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers claiming a long-awaited fifth Super Bowl over the spoilt Pittsburgh Steelers is golden enough to keep it safely ahead.
#1: Super Bowl XLIII
February 1, 2009
Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23
Now this game was special. It's starting to fade from my memory a lot quicker than I expected (though in all fairness, I do watch a lot of football, so games tend to blur), so perhaps the highlights are just making it seem a lot better than it really was, but as it stands, it is in my mind the best Super Bowl I have seen.
Unless you follow a rival NFC west team, how could you possibly hate the Arizona Cardinals? One of the league's most lovable losers somehow, in some way, overcame all of the odds in the playoffs, beating teams that should have handled them with ease, and then coming so incredibly close to winning the Super Bowl. It's definitely second place for the one I most wish had ended with a different result. But unlike Colts vs. Bears, this one was at least a fantastic game to watch.
James Harrison's 100-yard interception return was the most exciting play I have ever seen in a Super Bowl, and I could have sworn that when the Cards scored their last touchdown, with 2:37 left, they had enough momentum to stop the Steelers, and win the upset. Of course, Santonio Holmes made a great endzone catch to claim victory, and I will never forget the look of horror in Larry Fitzgerald's face as he watched it all slip away, shaking his head in disbelief.
Good times, y'all. Let's try and make sure the Titans are present in at least one of the next ten, eh?!
