The Super Bowl. Is there a bigger event in sports today? The NFL is the most popular and most successful business in the sports world and their championship game is so popular its watched by millions around the world. It cost $3 million for a 30 second ad during the game. With this much focus and attention being drawn to one particular game, its important for the NFL to "put on a good show". In the 80's and 90's, it wasn't always a good game. There were quite a few blowouts. The Bears blowing out the Patriots 46-10, San Francisco blowing out the Broncos 55-10, then blowing out the Chargers 49-26, the Cowboys destroying the Bills 52-17... I think you get the idea. These games were over by halftime. The Super Bowl was getting to be known as the "Super Blowout". Nobody was watching by the second half and advertisers were not interested in buying ad time during the second half since less people would see it. The match ups were somewhat boring as well. What story was there behind San Diego vs San Francisco? They're both California teams... so what? Dallas and Buffalo... nothing in common, no story. There was hardly any story behind the match ups. Well that was until the 2001 season. Everything then magically changed.
St. Louis Rams vs New England Patriots 2001 - In wake of 9/11, the NFL decided to make the theme of the Super Bowl a "patriotic" one. This was the year of the infamous "tuck rule". Oh you know, that play where Brady does a pump fake, resets, gets hit, fumbles, Oakland recovers the fumble, Brady goes the sidelines and puts his head down, Belichick takes off his headset, Oakland gets ready for a kneel down... but suddenly the refs get together, review the play and say that the fumble was actually an incomplete pass. Uhhh yeah sure... The Patriots were allowed to keep the ball, they score a TD, win the game and then go onto the Super Bowl. The Patriots playing in the patriotic super bowl, what a coincidence! Not only that, but they go on to win with a last second 48 yard field goal. The whole nation (except St Louis) was so happy to see the Patriots do our our country proud by winning the Super Bowl!
Oakland Raiders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2002 - The Raiders old coach Jon Gruden leaves Oakland and takes the head coaching job in Tampa. Less than a year later, wouldn't you know it, Gruden is facing his old team in the Super Bowl. What are the odds of that happening?
Carolina Panthers vs New England Patriots 2003 - The Patriots failed to make the playoffs in 2002, which gave some conspiracy theorists a reason to believe that what they did in 2001 was the work of the NFL especially with the whole "tuck rule" incident. Well that Pats make it back to the Super Bowl and its almost an exact replay of the game from two years ago. Ricky Proehl scores a late TD for the other team to tie it, Vinateri kicks a field goal to win it in the final seconds. Yay for "America's team" again.
New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles 2004 - Not since the 70's Steelers have we seen 3 Super Bowl victories in 5 years. What a story it would be if "America's Team" the Patriots won 3 out of 4. They would be a dynasty and possibly the greatest team of all time!
Seattle Seahawks vs Pittsburgh Steelers 2005 - In this season the Super Bowl location is Detroit. Kind of an odd place for a big game, but not unprecedented, it was there in 1982. Wouldn't you know it though, future Hall of Famer and Steelers RB Jerome Bettis was born in Detroit and he let it be known that this was going to be his last year. What a way to go, winning the Super Bowl in your hometown. Going out on top! What a story!
Indianapolis Colts vs Chicago Bears 2006 - For the last several seasons, the Colts were one of the top teams in the league, but could never quite get over the hump. They had great regular season records and every year you would hear about Tony Dungy possibly being the first black head coach in the Super Bowl. Finally it was he year and wouldn't you know it, he would be coaching against another African American coach Lovie Smith. The two were already very good friends and would make history together by being the first two black head coaches in the Super Bowl with one of them being the first black coach to win the Super Bowl. Great feel good story!
New York Giants vs New England Patriots 2007 - It was discovered earlier in this season that America's Team was a "fraud". They got caught cheating during their championship seasons and the public was outraged. Outraged that it happened and outraged that the NFL merely gave them a slap on the wrist when they were caught. People were starting to say that the cheating was the only reason they won. What could save the face of the NFL and the integrity of the league? Ohhh how about a 16-0 regular season without cheating? Then go into the Super Bowl 18-0 with the chance to be called the greatest team of all time. Unfortunately for the NFL, the Giants won the Super Bowl in the final minute causing the Patriots to go 18-1. But you know what? A team blowing their chance at perfection in the final minute of the last game is a huge story!
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Arizona Cardinals 2008 - When long time head coach Bill Cowher retired, the Steelers had a choice to make. Who do they make the next head coach? Current OC Ken Whisenhunt, offensive line coach Russ Grimm or Rooney Rule candidate Mike Tomlin. The Steelers, of course, went with Tomlin, while Whisenhunt and Grimm went off to the desert in Arizona. Wouldn't you know it, one year later, its Tomlin vs Whisenhunt and Grimm in the Super Bowl? What are the odds, right? Especially since the Cardinals hadn't even been to any type of championship game since 1947. The Steelers win, Tomlin shows the Rooney's they made the right choice and Pittsburgh is known as "Sixburgh".
New Orleans Saints vs Indianapolis Colts 2009 - In the Saints 42 year history, they have never even made it to the Super Bowl. They were the laughing stock of the league for decades. The "Aints", as they were called, only had one good player even worth mentioning and that was QB Archie Manning. He was the lone bright spot on a very dark franchise history. With Hurricane Katrina destroying the city of New Orleans it really is a fantastic story that this city was able to be rebuilt and recover. Wouldn't it be great though if the Saints actually went to the Super Bowl too? Heck, not only would it be great if they went to the Super Bowl, but what if they were to go up against Archie Manning's son, Peyton?! Wouldn't that be an awesome story?!
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Green Bay Packers 2010 - Green Bay's first round pick from 2005, Aaron Rodgers, didn't get to start in his first NFL game till 2008 thanks to the "evil" Brett Favre holding him down. At the beginning of the year, Favre wanted to give it one last go to win a Super Bowl before retiring. However Favre wasn't very good, he lost to his old team twice, got injured numerous times, watched his consecutive games streak come to an end as well as his career. Meanwhile, in the city that the "evil" Favre used to dwell, a new hero comes to the light in the form of Aaron Rodgers, the guy Favre was trying to hold down. Rodgers goes on to win his first championship in the same year that is Favre's last. As Favre's light is extinguished, Rodgers light shines brightly through the NFL world as he offers more promise to Green Bay than the Favre ever did.
New York Giants vs New England Patriots 2011 - One of the closest most emotion filled, intense Super Bowl's in recent history was the Giants vs Patriots back in January of 2008. It pretty much had it all. New York vs Boston. Brady vs (Eli) Manning. The wildcard, barely made the playoff Giants vs the unbeaten Pats. It came down to the last thrilling minute. It was so good, why not have it again? Surely, the Pats would get their revenge, right? Not so much. In fact, this game was eerily similar to the one played in 2008. Eli needing to drive his team down the field in the final minutes, an unbelievable throw and catch, a last minute TD, Brady lobbing bombs down the field from his end out of desperation. Nothing makes a non-Patriot NFL fan smile like the Patriots losing in the Super Bowl.
However, I always felt like this was a mistake. Had it not been for the 49ers Kyle Williams' fumble on a punt in OT and Billy Cundiff's chipshot miss against the Patriots, it could very well have been John vs Jim Harbaugh in this years Super Bowl. You know what they say... better luck next year.
Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers 2012 - So after another long, hard fought, unpredictable season, both Harbaugh brothers are in conference championships again. What are the odds right? I mean, especially since the 49ers were starting a 2nd year QB that only started 8 games this year and the Ravens backed into the playoffs losing 4 of their last 5. Its incredible that they were both able to make it back to the Conference championships again in back to back years. And wouldn't you know it... they both won this time around! Its the Harbaugh Bowl! Brother vs brother! John vs Jim! What a great story!
Seattle Seahawks vs Denver Broncos 2013 - For the first time in years, there really wasn't a special story to go along with this Super Bowl. Except it was being played in NYC for the first time ever, which has an outdoor stadium and could potentially open the door for other northern US cities to host future Super Bowls. Plus, we had the number one offense in the NFL with TD pass record breaker Peyton Manning playing against the league's number one defense, which apparently never happened before in Super Bowl history. Pretty awesome, just like old times where the best two teams go to the Super Bowl, with really no story surrounding the game. Sounds like a good idea on paper, however, in reality it was a boring Super Blowout with the Seahawks winning 43-8. Maybe the NFL should makes some "adjustments" to get some additional interest in the game.
New England Patriots vs Seattle Seahawks 2014 - Here we go! Now we're talking. The team of the 2000's vs this young potential dynasty team of the 2010's looking to go back-to-back. Are the Pats still the kings of the NFL or is this a changing of the guard? Ohhh but wait! What's this? The footballs that the Patriots were using in the AFC championship game were under inflated? Isn't that against the rules? Isn't that cheating? Didn't the Patriots already get caught and punished for cheating before? Who knows? Let's talk about Deflategate (because everything has to end with "-gate" these days) non-stop for two weeks on all the major news networks leading up to the Super Bowl. That should generate PLENTY of interest for a game that's already interesting. Then there's the game itself. One of the best of all time.
Some guy comes off the Seahawks practice squad and makes these sensational catches. Tom Brady passes Joe Montana for Super Bowl TD passes. Then there's that ending that will have people talking for years. After blowing a 10 point lead, the Seahawks were on the move in the minutes, just like the Giants were in both their games against the Patriots. Then Jermaine Kearse makes this impossibly spectacular catch, just like Giants receiver David Tyree and Mario Manningham did in their game against the Patriots. The Seahawks have the ball on the NE 5 yard line, hand off to their unstoppable bulldozer, Marshawn Lynch and he grinds it to the 1 yard line. There's no way Lynch doesn't get 1 yard on the next three plays. He is the perfect RB to have in your backfield in this situation. He bulls over people, breaks tackles, moves piles. Surely Belichick will use one of his two timeouts to kill the clock because there's no way Lynch isn't getting into the endzone at some point. The game's going to end the same way as it did in those two matchups against the Giants with a TD in the final minute, Brady lobbing up bombs in the final seconds and ultimately losing the Super Bowl again. Wait a minute... Belichick isn't using his timeouts? Seattle is going to score a TD. Lynch has been running over Patriots defenders all night. They could put 20 guys on the field, he's not going to be stopped. Use a timeout, Bill! Wait a minute... why is Seattle lining up in the shotgun? They're on the one yard line. Ohhh maybe they'll do a draw play to Lynch or have Wilson run it in or roll out and attempt a pass or run it in that way. A slant pass?! From the one yard line?! To the busiest, most crowded part of the field?! Intercepted!! Patriots win! What the...? What just happened? How did that happen? Why did that happen? Did Pete Carroll suddenly develop a phobia of big silver football trophies and decided to call the worst play you could possibly do in that situation? How do you NOT hand the ball to the NFL leader in rushing TDs on the 1 yard line with 30 seconds left and the Super Bowl on the line? How does someone get to the Super Bowl twice and make a call that bad? I mean, throwing a pass isn't a good idea, even if it was a safe play like a shovel pass or a fade or an out. But to throw a slant pass from the one yard line is just non-sense! There's only 11 yards of field to work with, the safeties play up with the LBs because they have no where else to go. With all the Patriots defenders stacked in the middle, you'd have to be blind, paid off or stupid to throw it there. Football experts try to rationalize it and say that the Pats were expecting the run, so they had to pass. Running a play with a low chance of success with a Super Bowl championship one yard away is idiocy. Plain and simple. There's no way Marshawn Lynch gets the ball three times from the one yard line with the Super Bowl on the line and doesn't get one yard. If by some fluke of a reason that does happen. Oh well. You fired your best gun until you ran out of ammo, but this war just wasn't meant to be won. Football experts with common sense just shake their heads in disbelief. How the hell does someone just basically give away a Super Bowl? How? I don't know, but I'm sure while we're all talking about "what the hell were the Seahawks thinking" the NFL will quickly and quietly be sweeping Deflategate under the rug.
Carolina Panthers vs Denver Broncos 2015 - With the outcome of Deflategate seriously damaging the NFL's reputation, they needed something or someone to fix it. Enter Peyton Manning. Over past 18 years, nobody has done more to promote or help the image of the league more than number 18. He is one of the league's greatest players and ambassadors. With Peyton struggling at the end of last year and entering the final year of his contract, many believed this would be his final season. Unfortunately, Manning's struggles continued into this year and in the first nine games threw just 9 TDs and 17 INTs. Despite the worst numbers of his career, he was somehow able to lead the Broncos through the playoffs (after backup and future Broncos QB Brock Osweiler got them into the playoffs) and back to the Super Bowl. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, NFL player of all time playing his final game in the Super Bowl. He even managed to beat out his arch-nemesis, Tom Brady to get there. What a great feel good story. How could anyone not root for Peyton? He's one of the classiest, nicest, most well respected figures in sports. If you didn't already know that, it became even more obvious how good a person he was when compared to Super Bowl QB counterpart, Cam Newton of the Panthers who is pretty much the exact opposite of Manning in just about every way. As he had all year, Manning struggled in the game, turned the ball over twice and was very ineffective. However, the Broncos top ranked defense and a Super Bowl record tying number of penalties (12) called against the Panthers, ensured that the NFL would end this tumultuous season on a high note. For the 3rd time in the last 10 years, one of the league's greatest players, would go out on top. Peyton Manning. Football Hero. Ambassador to the game. All around good guy. Finishes his illustrious career with the Lombardi Trophy in hand. What a great story!
New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons 2016 - In the offseason, Deflategate reared its ugly head again. At this point its pretty much forgotten, but the NFL loves its attention and controversy. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was like the NFL put this on hold so they could finish out Peyton's story the year before and then go back to this. Well wouldn't you know, that's what happened. The timing of the suspension was interesting too. It was literally right smack in the middle of the offseason. Three months after the Super Bowl ended and three months before preseason games began. Almost like, "Hey nobody's talking about us right now. Let's suspend Brady!" Anyways, this led to a Austin vs McMahon style rivalry between the league's best player and the commissioner of the NFL. However, things backfired for McMahon, err I mean, Goodell and the Pats went 3-1 without Brady. Then the glass shattered, Brady marched out with swagger and started his big COMEBACK. Brady went 14-1 and headed to another Super Bowl to face the NFC South flavor of the year, the Atlanta Falcons. All the hype going into this game was Goodell vs Brady. The evil leader of the NFL vs one of the league's all time greats. While most NFL fans didn't like either person, it made for a great story. The game itself was one of greatest of all time. The Falcons jumped on the Patriots fast and had a commanding 28-3 in the 3rd quarter. With Goodell grinning evilly from the pressbox, the end of Brady's COMEBACK revenge tour seemed near. However, like with most stories, when all hope seems lost, that's when the hero makes his great COMEBACK. The Patriots furiously fight back and (with the help of the Falcons idiocy) manage to tie the game 28-28 to go to OT. The Patriots win the coin toss, drive down the field and complete Brady's big COMEBACK revenge tour with the greatest COMEBACK in Super Bowl history in its first ever overtime! Wow! What an incredible story!
Philadelphia Eagles vs New England Patriots 2017 - With the Patriots on the verge of winning their record tying 6th Super Bowl, they were faced with an unusual test as something dark and twisted emerged from the NFC. Now stop me if you heard this story before, but a smart aggressive head coach in his second year and his back up QB lead their team to an improbable Super Bowl berth to face heavily favored team of Super Bowl champions. No, I'm not talking about the 2001 Patriots, I'm talking about the Dark Patriots aka the Philadelphia Eagles. JOURNEYMAN Nick Foles and OFFENSIVE mastermind Doug Pederson led this bizarro version of the Patriots to a 41-33 win in the highest scoring Super Bowl this century (2nd all time). It was like the Patriots beat themselves (in more ways than one) and Goodell emerged victorious. Would this be the end of the dynasty?
New England Patriots vs Los Angeles Rams 2018 - A few years ago the NFL decided it wanted to have a team in the second largest city in the US and why not? The bigger the city, the bigger the profit. Rams owner Stan Kroenke was all for it, decided to move his team back to LA and the NFL didn't do anything to stand in his way. Why not two teams? The Chargers left San Diego and moved to LA the very next season. Think of all the money the NFL could make having two teams in LA now... except... ummm.... ahhh... one problem. Nobody in LA cares about the Rams or Chargers. Attendance is embarrassingly low. Ticket prices are insanely low. Tickets for the Rams home opener for this season, despite having a pretty good team, were selling for as low as $4. There were rumors about the Chargers possibly moving back to SD. What a nightmare for the NFL! Well, wouldn't you know it, both teams played really well this year. The Rams jumped out to an 8-0 start and ended up with the 2nd seed. The Chargers, who had only been in the playoffs once since 2010, were magically a 12-4 team and if it hadn't been for the surprising emergence of rookie QB Patrick Mahomes, would have ended up with the top seed in the AFC. Nothing rekindles fans' interests like winning, am I right? Wouldn't it be magical (and convenient) if one of these LA teams made it to the Super Bowl? Well it almost didn't happen, but fortunately, the refs officiating the Saints vs Rams NFC championship game missed the most blatant pass interference penalty in the history of the NFL. The Rams were able to get the ball back, tie it up and win in OT. LA is in the Super Bowl and they would go on to play, who else? The New England Patriots. The trilogy needed to be completed. It was 17 years ago to the day that the Patriots dynasty started by beating the, then, St Louis Rams in the Super Bowl. What are the odds that these two teams would meet up again 17 years later, with the dynasty possibly ending with the a record tying 6th Super Bowl trophy? Like most trilogies, its starts off great with the hero winning against impossible odds (biggest comeback in Super Bowl history), then the villains get back at the hero in a story that typically has a darker tone (Dark Patriots beat New England), only to have the hero accomplish their mission but in less than spectacular fashion (Patriots win 6th Super Bowl in lowest scoring game of all time). The greatest dynasty in the history of the NFL, all took place in this little 18 year window. How awesome!
San Francisco 49ers vs Kansas City Chiefs 2019 - The NFL has had some pretty memorable moments created by some legendary players over the past 100 years. Its been around a long time and so have a lot of these great players that are still in the league today. However, there's a lot of talk about retirement concerning a great number of these players. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, that great 2004 QB class of Ben, Eli, Philip. Who knows how much longer these guys will be around? There HAS to be an upcoming generation of players ready to take the reigns for when these legends retire in the near future. Enter Patrick Mahomes. After a 50 TD and MVP rookie season, the NFL sees him as the next bright star in the football sky. Let's not worry about the fact that the Chiefs were 6-4 through the first 10 games of the season and yet somehow ended up with the 2nd seed. Those blown calls against the Pats in Week 14 speak volumes now eh? One of the trends that's started in the past few Super Bowls is unusual play calling by the coaches. Not calling timeouts when it makes sense to, passing when running makes more sense, mismanaging the clock, you know all things that they easily handle in route to the big game. With the game tied at the 2 minute warning and the Chiefs about to punt, the 49ers inexplicably don't use a timeout. The Chiefs run the clock down to 1 minute before punting and the Niners, with all 3 timeouts, try to run out the clock. Jimmy Garoppolo is the 5th highest paid QB in the NFL, he has all three timeouts, could have had almost two full minutes and the Chiefs don't exactly have the Steel Curtain. They're getting the ball first in the second half, they could have scored twice before Mahomes would have even stepped on the field again. Another suspicious fact, the 49ers run the ball (2nd in the league) and play defense really well (1st in the league). In their first playoff game, they threw 19 times and ran 47 times and won. In NFC championship game, they threw it 8 times (yes, EIGHT) and ran it 42 times and won. Makes sense, they're a rushing offense and lucky them, they're facing a KC defense that ranks near the bottom in run defense. But for some inexplicable reason in the Super Bowl they threw it 31 times (more than the other two playoff games combined) and ran it just 29 times. They were averaging 6.4 yards per carry on the ground and were either tied or ahead for most of the game. Why decide to throw now? Hmmm. The Chiefs overcame a 10 point deficit in the final minutes of the game and went on to win 31-20 all thanks to the amazing performance of the newest NFL superstar... Damien Williams? Well despite rushing for over 100 yards, scoring two critical TDs in the 4th quarter, and leading them to victory, it was the NFL's new golden boy, Patrick Mahomes that was awarded the MVP award. His 2 INTs, 4 sacks and 2 fumbles, yet still winning the MVP, to me, is proof that the NFL had an agenda for this one. Patrick Mahomes is the new NFL icon and stats be damned, he's getting that Super Bowl and MVP award. Not to break out the wrestling term, but if the shoe fits, it kind of feels like the Niners jobbed to the Chiefs. What other reason could they have to stop doing all the things that made them successful in the biggest game of the year? Even Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said after the game "We were grateful they got out of the run and started to throw the ball". Yeah, I'm sure you were. If they had stuck with the run, you would have lost and it wouldn't even have been close.
New York Giants vs New England Patriots 2011 - One of the closest most emotion filled, intense Super Bowl's in recent history was the Giants vs Patriots back in January of 2008. It pretty much had it all. New York vs Boston. Brady vs (Eli) Manning. The wildcard, barely made the playoff Giants vs the unbeaten Pats. It came down to the last thrilling minute. It was so good, why not have it again? Surely, the Pats would get their revenge, right? Not so much. In fact, this game was eerily similar to the one played in 2008. Eli needing to drive his team down the field in the final minutes, an unbelievable throw and catch, a last minute TD, Brady lobbing bombs down the field from his end out of desperation. Nothing makes a non-Patriot NFL fan smile like the Patriots losing in the Super Bowl.
However, I always felt like this was a mistake. Had it not been for the 49ers Kyle Williams' fumble on a punt in OT and Billy Cundiff's chipshot miss against the Patriots, it could very well have been John vs Jim Harbaugh in this years Super Bowl. You know what they say... better luck next year.
Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers 2012 - So after another long, hard fought, unpredictable season, both Harbaugh brothers are in conference championships again. What are the odds right? I mean, especially since the 49ers were starting a 2nd year QB that only started 8 games this year and the Ravens backed into the playoffs losing 4 of their last 5. Its incredible that they were both able to make it back to the Conference championships again in back to back years. And wouldn't you know it... they both won this time around! Its the Harbaugh Bowl! Brother vs brother! John vs Jim! What a great story!
Seattle Seahawks vs Denver Broncos 2013 - For the first time in years, there really wasn't a special story to go along with this Super Bowl. Except it was being played in NYC for the first time ever, which has an outdoor stadium and could potentially open the door for other northern US cities to host future Super Bowls. Plus, we had the number one offense in the NFL with TD pass record breaker Peyton Manning playing against the league's number one defense, which apparently never happened before in Super Bowl history. Pretty awesome, just like old times where the best two teams go to the Super Bowl, with really no story surrounding the game. Sounds like a good idea on paper, however, in reality it was a boring Super Blowout with the Seahawks winning 43-8. Maybe the NFL should makes some "adjustments" to get some additional interest in the game.
New England Patriots vs Seattle Seahawks 2014 - Here we go! Now we're talking. The team of the 2000's vs this young potential dynasty team of the 2010's looking to go back-to-back. Are the Pats still the kings of the NFL or is this a changing of the guard? Ohhh but wait! What's this? The footballs that the Patriots were using in the AFC championship game were under inflated? Isn't that against the rules? Isn't that cheating? Didn't the Patriots already get caught and punished for cheating before? Who knows? Let's talk about Deflategate (because everything has to end with "-gate" these days) non-stop for two weeks on all the major news networks leading up to the Super Bowl. That should generate PLENTY of interest for a game that's already interesting. Then there's the game itself. One of the best of all time.
Some guy comes off the Seahawks practice squad and makes these sensational catches. Tom Brady passes Joe Montana for Super Bowl TD passes. Then there's that ending that will have people talking for years. After blowing a 10 point lead, the Seahawks were on the move in the minutes, just like the Giants were in both their games against the Patriots. Then Jermaine Kearse makes this impossibly spectacular catch, just like Giants receiver David Tyree and Mario Manningham did in their game against the Patriots. The Seahawks have the ball on the NE 5 yard line, hand off to their unstoppable bulldozer, Marshawn Lynch and he grinds it to the 1 yard line. There's no way Lynch doesn't get 1 yard on the next three plays. He is the perfect RB to have in your backfield in this situation. He bulls over people, breaks tackles, moves piles. Surely Belichick will use one of his two timeouts to kill the clock because there's no way Lynch isn't getting into the endzone at some point. The game's going to end the same way as it did in those two matchups against the Giants with a TD in the final minute, Brady lobbing up bombs in the final seconds and ultimately losing the Super Bowl again. Wait a minute... Belichick isn't using his timeouts? Seattle is going to score a TD. Lynch has been running over Patriots defenders all night. They could put 20 guys on the field, he's not going to be stopped. Use a timeout, Bill! Wait a minute... why is Seattle lining up in the shotgun? They're on the one yard line. Ohhh maybe they'll do a draw play to Lynch or have Wilson run it in or roll out and attempt a pass or run it in that way. A slant pass?! From the one yard line?! To the busiest, most crowded part of the field?! Intercepted!! Patriots win! What the...? What just happened? How did that happen? Why did that happen? Did Pete Carroll suddenly develop a phobia of big silver football trophies and decided to call the worst play you could possibly do in that situation? How do you NOT hand the ball to the NFL leader in rushing TDs on the 1 yard line with 30 seconds left and the Super Bowl on the line? How does someone get to the Super Bowl twice and make a call that bad? I mean, throwing a pass isn't a good idea, even if it was a safe play like a shovel pass or a fade or an out. But to throw a slant pass from the one yard line is just non-sense! There's only 11 yards of field to work with, the safeties play up with the LBs because they have no where else to go. With all the Patriots defenders stacked in the middle, you'd have to be blind, paid off or stupid to throw it there. Football experts try to rationalize it and say that the Pats were expecting the run, so they had to pass. Running a play with a low chance of success with a Super Bowl championship one yard away is idiocy. Plain and simple. There's no way Marshawn Lynch gets the ball three times from the one yard line with the Super Bowl on the line and doesn't get one yard. If by some fluke of a reason that does happen. Oh well. You fired your best gun until you ran out of ammo, but this war just wasn't meant to be won. Football experts with common sense just shake their heads in disbelief. How the hell does someone just basically give away a Super Bowl? How? I don't know, but I'm sure while we're all talking about "what the hell were the Seahawks thinking" the NFL will quickly and quietly be sweeping Deflategate under the rug.
Carolina Panthers vs Denver Broncos 2015 - With the outcome of Deflategate seriously damaging the NFL's reputation, they needed something or someone to fix it. Enter Peyton Manning. Over past 18 years, nobody has done more to promote or help the image of the league more than number 18. He is one of the league's greatest players and ambassadors. With Peyton struggling at the end of last year and entering the final year of his contract, many believed this would be his final season. Unfortunately, Manning's struggles continued into this year and in the first nine games threw just 9 TDs and 17 INTs. Despite the worst numbers of his career, he was somehow able to lead the Broncos through the playoffs (after backup and future Broncos QB Brock Osweiler got them into the playoffs) and back to the Super Bowl. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, NFL player of all time playing his final game in the Super Bowl. He even managed to beat out his arch-nemesis, Tom Brady to get there. What a great feel good story. How could anyone not root for Peyton? He's one of the classiest, nicest, most well respected figures in sports. If you didn't already know that, it became even more obvious how good a person he was when compared to Super Bowl QB counterpart, Cam Newton of the Panthers who is pretty much the exact opposite of Manning in just about every way. As he had all year, Manning struggled in the game, turned the ball over twice and was very ineffective. However, the Broncos top ranked defense and a Super Bowl record tying number of penalties (12) called against the Panthers, ensured that the NFL would end this tumultuous season on a high note. For the 3rd time in the last 10 years, one of the league's greatest players, would go out on top. Peyton Manning. Football Hero. Ambassador to the game. All around good guy. Finishes his illustrious career with the Lombardi Trophy in hand. What a great story!
New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons 2016 - In the offseason, Deflategate reared its ugly head again. At this point its pretty much forgotten, but the NFL loves its attention and controversy. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was like the NFL put this on hold so they could finish out Peyton's story the year before and then go back to this. Well wouldn't you know, that's what happened. The timing of the suspension was interesting too. It was literally right smack in the middle of the offseason. Three months after the Super Bowl ended and three months before preseason games began. Almost like, "Hey nobody's talking about us right now. Let's suspend Brady!" Anyways, this led to a Austin vs McMahon style rivalry between the league's best player and the commissioner of the NFL. However, things backfired for McMahon, err I mean, Goodell and the Pats went 3-1 without Brady. Then the glass shattered, Brady marched out with swagger and started his big COMEBACK. Brady went 14-1 and headed to another Super Bowl to face the NFC South flavor of the year, the Atlanta Falcons. All the hype going into this game was Goodell vs Brady. The evil leader of the NFL vs one of the league's all time greats. While most NFL fans didn't like either person, it made for a great story. The game itself was one of greatest of all time. The Falcons jumped on the Patriots fast and had a commanding 28-3 in the 3rd quarter. With Goodell grinning evilly from the pressbox, the end of Brady's COMEBACK revenge tour seemed near. However, like with most stories, when all hope seems lost, that's when the hero makes his great COMEBACK. The Patriots furiously fight back and (with the help of the Falcons idiocy) manage to tie the game 28-28 to go to OT. The Patriots win the coin toss, drive down the field and complete Brady's big COMEBACK revenge tour with the greatest COMEBACK in Super Bowl history in its first ever overtime! Wow! What an incredible story!
Philadelphia Eagles vs New England Patriots 2017 - With the Patriots on the verge of winning their record tying 6th Super Bowl, they were faced with an unusual test as something dark and twisted emerged from the NFC. Now stop me if you heard this story before, but a smart aggressive head coach in his second year and his back up QB lead their team to an improbable Super Bowl berth to face heavily favored team of Super Bowl champions. No, I'm not talking about the 2001 Patriots, I'm talking about the Dark Patriots aka the Philadelphia Eagles. JOURNEYMAN Nick Foles and OFFENSIVE mastermind Doug Pederson led this bizarro version of the Patriots to a 41-33 win in the highest scoring Super Bowl this century (2nd all time). It was like the Patriots beat themselves (in more ways than one) and Goodell emerged victorious. Would this be the end of the dynasty?
New England Patriots vs Los Angeles Rams 2018 - A few years ago the NFL decided it wanted to have a team in the second largest city in the US and why not? The bigger the city, the bigger the profit. Rams owner Stan Kroenke was all for it, decided to move his team back to LA and the NFL didn't do anything to stand in his way. Why not two teams? The Chargers left San Diego and moved to LA the very next season. Think of all the money the NFL could make having two teams in LA now... except... ummm.... ahhh... one problem. Nobody in LA cares about the Rams or Chargers. Attendance is embarrassingly low. Ticket prices are insanely low. Tickets for the Rams home opener for this season, despite having a pretty good team, were selling for as low as $4. There were rumors about the Chargers possibly moving back to SD. What a nightmare for the NFL! Well, wouldn't you know it, both teams played really well this year. The Rams jumped out to an 8-0 start and ended up with the 2nd seed. The Chargers, who had only been in the playoffs once since 2010, were magically a 12-4 team and if it hadn't been for the surprising emergence of rookie QB Patrick Mahomes, would have ended up with the top seed in the AFC. Nothing rekindles fans' interests like winning, am I right? Wouldn't it be magical (and convenient) if one of these LA teams made it to the Super Bowl? Well it almost didn't happen, but fortunately, the refs officiating the Saints vs Rams NFC championship game missed the most blatant pass interference penalty in the history of the NFL. The Rams were able to get the ball back, tie it up and win in OT. LA is in the Super Bowl and they would go on to play, who else? The New England Patriots. The trilogy needed to be completed. It was 17 years ago to the day that the Patriots dynasty started by beating the, then, St Louis Rams in the Super Bowl. What are the odds that these two teams would meet up again 17 years later, with the dynasty possibly ending with the a record tying 6th Super Bowl trophy? Like most trilogies, its starts off great with the hero winning against impossible odds (biggest comeback in Super Bowl history), then the villains get back at the hero in a story that typically has a darker tone (Dark Patriots beat New England), only to have the hero accomplish their mission but in less than spectacular fashion (Patriots win 6th Super Bowl in lowest scoring game of all time). The greatest dynasty in the history of the NFL, all took place in this little 18 year window. How awesome!
San Francisco 49ers vs Kansas City Chiefs 2019 - The NFL has had some pretty memorable moments created by some legendary players over the past 100 years. Its been around a long time and so have a lot of these great players that are still in the league today. However, there's a lot of talk about retirement concerning a great number of these players. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, that great 2004 QB class of Ben, Eli, Philip. Who knows how much longer these guys will be around? There HAS to be an upcoming generation of players ready to take the reigns for when these legends retire in the near future. Enter Patrick Mahomes. After a 50 TD and MVP rookie season, the NFL sees him as the next bright star in the football sky. Let's not worry about the fact that the Chiefs were 6-4 through the first 10 games of the season and yet somehow ended up with the 2nd seed. Those blown calls against the Pats in Week 14 speak volumes now eh? One of the trends that's started in the past few Super Bowls is unusual play calling by the coaches. Not calling timeouts when it makes sense to, passing when running makes more sense, mismanaging the clock, you know all things that they easily handle in route to the big game. With the game tied at the 2 minute warning and the Chiefs about to punt, the 49ers inexplicably don't use a timeout. The Chiefs run the clock down to 1 minute before punting and the Niners, with all 3 timeouts, try to run out the clock. Jimmy Garoppolo is the 5th highest paid QB in the NFL, he has all three timeouts, could have had almost two full minutes and the Chiefs don't exactly have the Steel Curtain. They're getting the ball first in the second half, they could have scored twice before Mahomes would have even stepped on the field again. Another suspicious fact, the 49ers run the ball (2nd in the league) and play defense really well (1st in the league). In their first playoff game, they threw 19 times and ran 47 times and won. In NFC championship game, they threw it 8 times (yes, EIGHT) and ran it 42 times and won. Makes sense, they're a rushing offense and lucky them, they're facing a KC defense that ranks near the bottom in run defense. But for some inexplicable reason in the Super Bowl they threw it 31 times (more than the other two playoff games combined) and ran it just 29 times. They were averaging 6.4 yards per carry on the ground and were either tied or ahead for most of the game. Why decide to throw now? Hmmm. The Chiefs overcame a 10 point deficit in the final minutes of the game and went on to win 31-20 all thanks to the amazing performance of the newest NFL superstar... Damien Williams? Well despite rushing for over 100 yards, scoring two critical TDs in the 4th quarter, and leading them to victory, it was the NFL's new golden boy, Patrick Mahomes that was awarded the MVP award. His 2 INTs, 4 sacks and 2 fumbles, yet still winning the MVP, to me, is proof that the NFL had an agenda for this one. Patrick Mahomes is the new NFL icon and stats be damned, he's getting that Super Bowl and MVP award. Not to break out the wrestling term, but if the shoe fits, it kind of feels like the Niners jobbed to the Chiefs. What other reason could they have to stop doing all the things that made them successful in the biggest game of the year? Even Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said after the game "We were grateful they got out of the run and started to throw the ball". Yeah, I'm sure you were. If they had stuck with the run, you would have lost and it wouldn't even have been close.
Kansas City Chiefs vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2020 - 2020... a year that everyone will remember. The year of the Corona virus. The year of the quarantine. The year that everyone was encouraged to "stay home" to prevent the spread of the virus. Staying home was a big part of this calendar year. Fortunately, the NFL was able to start the season on time, handle the virus when it became a problem for certain teams with Tuesday and Wednesday night football games and finish the season with a Super Bowl in the city of Tampa. Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year sending shock waves through the NFL. Along with a few other superstars getting signed to the team, the Bucs, combined with the stars they already had were able to make it to the NFC championship game to face off against the Packers. The Bucs smacked down the Packers pretty hard early on, but the Pack made a huge comeback and pulled within 5 points. On a 3rd and 4, Brady threw an incomplete pass and Rodgers would get the ball back with about 2 minutes left and a chance to win the game. However, the refs threw a SUPER late flag on the Packers on that play for pass interference, which resulted in an automatic first down and sent the Bucs to the Super Bowl. For the first time in NFL history, a team would play the Super Bowl on their home field. So in a year when everyone is told to "stay home", the Bucs would be "staying home" to play in the Super Bowl. What a coincidence, right?? The game itself was kind of secondary. Legendary quarterback Tom Brady looking for his 7th Super Bowl versus up and coming superstar Patrick Mahomes looking to go back to back. It looked like Brady would be passing the torch to the next great QB superstar, but that didn't happen... again actually. This is now the SECOND time this story has played out in less than 10 years. In 2012 season, Russell Wilson lost in the playoffs, then won the Super Bowl in 2013, only lose to Brady in the Super Bowl in 2014. Patrick Mahomes just did the exact same thing in his first three years in the league. What are the odds of that happening again eh? Brady wins his 7th Super Bowl, more than both the Patriots and Steelers franchises and his 5th Super Bowl MVP award. Some things just won't go away... kinda like this virus.
Los Angeles Rams vs Cincinnati Bengals 2021 - I don't even know where to start with this one. Its the whole season this year. Let's start with the brand new Week 18. The worst team in football beat the Colts, who just needed to win to get into the playoffs. Their unlikely failure meant Ben Roethlisberger, who was playing in his final season, would get one more crack in the playoffs unless the Raiders and Chargers tied. And wouldn't you know it? The game was 2 seconds away from ending in a tie. I mean, entire seasons go by without a tie occurring but this ONE game that couldn't end in a tie was TWO seconds away from being just that. But the Raiders kicked a field goal, that they really didn't need, and won the game. Made for some great TV. The playoffs, which are bringing in HUGE ratings had great stories too. Ben lost his playoff game and retired. A week later Tom Brady retired after losing a game very reminiscent of Super Bowl 52, but in this one Brady's comeback wasn't enough. In fact, ALL FOUR GAMES in the Divisional Round ended on the final play of the game and each game was more thrilling for the winner and more heartbreaking for the loser. How fortunate for the NFL to have all of these games end in such thrilling fashion? What would the NFL do for an encore? Well the conference championships featured the biggest COMEBACK in AFC championship history and the biggest second half COMEBACK in NFC championship history. Two HUGE comebacks on the same day. Wow! The NFL really couldn't have scripted this any better. Onto the Super Bowl. The NFL really wants football to work in LA. That much was obvious from a few years ago when the Rams rode a very questionable non-call to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, they lost the Super Bowl and the people of LA still didn't care about the Rams and even less about the Chargers. When playing the 49ers at home, the Rams fans were heavily outnumbered. For the NFC championship game, Kelly Stafford, QB Matthew Stafford's wife, spent a quarter of a million dollars buying tickets to make sure Rams fans would be in attendance. Well nothing draws fans to a sports team like winning. Not only were the Rams assembled like an All Star team, but they were also hosting the Super Bowl. How convenient for Rams fans. And wouldn't you know it, for the second straight year, the city hosting the Super Bowl would also have their team playing as well. I mean, it didn't happen for over half a century and now its happened twice in a row. To make things even easier for them, they're playing against a team that was 4-11 last year and only 10-7 this year, the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams looked shaky against good teams this year, so it was pretty lucky for them they drew the Cinderella Bengals for the Super Bowl. As with every Super Bowl though, the NFL needs it to be close. If its a blowout, it'll scare away advertisers that like to throw big money for 30 second spots. The Rams looked primed for a blowout win, but one of their star receivers, Odell Beckham, injured his knee and was out for the game which kept things close. The Bengals took the lead on the first play from scrimmage in the second half on a 75 TD pass with one of the most obvious cases of offensive pass interference maybe ever. Bengals receiver Tee Higgins grabbed defender Jalen Ramsey's facemask, turned him around and knocked him to the ground. No call. The Rams offense sputtered and sputtered hard. They couldn't get the ball to their top receiver Cooper Kupp since the Beckham injury. The offense itself couldn't even get a first down. They managed to just get three points, which the Bengals also matched leaving the score 20-16. Then all of a sudden like a miracle on the final drive of the game for the Rams, Kupp was open. He was open on pretty much every play, until he wasn't. But not to worry, the referees, who hadn't called any penalties on either defense throughout the entire game, called 3 penalties in a row on the Bengals defense moving the ball down to the 1 yard line with 1:29 left in the game. Stafford throws a TD to Kupp and the Rams go on to win the game. Yay for the Rams, yay for the city of Los Angeles. Yay for Rams ownership who should no longer have trouble filling the seats of that brand new stadium with Rams fans now. Sorry Bengals. Thanks for jobbing to the Rams for the benefit of the NFL. See you again... well probably not until another NFC teams needs to win the Super Bowl.
Kansas City Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles 2022 - What another crazy unforgettable year its been in the NFL. Brady retires and the un-retires. The defending Super Bowl champs, the Rams, don't even make the playoffs. The Broncos trade for Russell Wilson and somehow get worse. The Panthers trade away their best player and somehow get better. The Vikings defeated the Colts in the biggest comeback in NFL history, on a nationally televised Saturday game. The Jaguars make the playoffs and comeback from a 27 point deficit to win in the WildCard round. Due to snowy weather conditions, the Bills end up playing a home game in Detroit, then later that same week play another game in Detroit as the away team. However, all of it pales in comparison to what happened in Week 17 on nationally televised Monday Night Football. In a highly touted matchup between the Bills and Bengals, Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin made a seemingly normal looking tackle, but immediately after collapsed on the field and went into cardiac arrest. When hit with blunt force at a specific time, the heart can go into an abnormal and potentially deadly rhythm called "commotio cordis". This happened to Hamlin and was given CPR as medics rushed to save his life. The game was suspended and later cancelled as players and coaches from neither team could continue after witnessing the event. Fortunately, Damar was able to be saved and the out pouring of love for him, his charity and the Bills swept the nation. The opening kickoff of the Bills first game back since the incident was returned for a TD. It had been 3 years and 3 months since the Bills returned a kick off for a TD. Damar Hamlin's number was 3. The Bills entered the playoffs as the second seed and would face the Miami Dolphins for the 3rd time this year. Due to injuries, they would face the Dolphins 3rd string QB and win the game by 3 points. Next up, the Bills would face the 3rd seeded Bengals, the team that all of this started against. If the Bills beat the Bengals that would face the Chiefs for the 3rd year in a row on a neutral field for the AFC championship, an unprecedented moment for the NFL. Unfortunately, the Bills just didn't have it in them. They were emotionally and physically drained from the chaotic season and fell to the Bengals. The NFL was without its story. So what do writers do when they need to produce another episode but are out of ideas? They do a clip show and rehash some of their favorite moments of the past. This year's Super Bowl features Kelce vs Kelce (Brother Bowl II see Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers 2012), KC coach Andy Reid facing his old team in the big game (see Oakland Raiders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2002) and the first ever black QB vs black QB Super Bowl (see Indianapolis Colts vs Chicago Bears 2006). Its a good thing the refs gave the Chiefs extra downs, favorable calls and basically the game on a silver platter or we could have missed all this.
That's a pretty incredible span. 19 of the 21 games with an intriguing storyline. Half of them were decided by 4 points or less. Only three games were won by more than 14 points. With the exception of the Patriots lost perfect season, all of them are considered to be "happy endings", at least in the minds of the NFL/average American football fan with no interest in either team. A dynasty, history being made, going out on top, former allies matched up against one another, brother vs brother, redemption, greatest comebacks, overtime. The past two decades have been pretty good huh?
I'm not saying that the NFL is "fixing" their games, but its naive to think this is all happening naturally. It went from being just two really good teams playing each other, most of the time it ended up in a blow out, to every game is really close and has an intriguing back story for the media to hype for two weeks prior to the game being played. The NFL needs this game to have it all and for 19 of the last 21 Super Bowls, it has. Coincidence or fixed? You tell me.
UPDATE: I've updated this blog post with 2021 to keep track of this continuing trend of incredibly fascinating games that the NFL is lucky enough to have each and every year.
UPDATE: I've updated this blog post with 2021 to keep track of this continuing trend of incredibly fascinating games that the NFL is lucky enough to have each and every year.
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