The NFL has a long history of entertaining fans worldwide, with the Super Bowl as its highlight. Since 1967, the championship game has evolved into a major spectacle that attracts millions of viewers worldwide.
With the 60th edition of the Super Bowl around the corner, now is a good time to look back on the 59 previous editions and the best-ever moments from the grandest season finale in American sports.
From ‘Wide Right’ to David Tyree’s famous helmet catch, from the best NFL comebacks to the greatest Super Bowl upsets, here are Flashscore’s top 15 moments from Super Bowl history.
Super Bowl LI: 28-3
Down 28-3 in the third quarter, Tom Brady needed a miracle of epic proportions to win a remarkable fifth Super Bowl ring. But when you need a miracle, you need Tom Brady.
After the Falcons expanded their lead following Lady Gaga’s halftime show, Brady took over and led the Patriots on a truly historic comeback. James White caught a touchdown, after which Stephen Gostkowski missed the extra point. The kicker soon made good on his mistake, giving the Patriots a lifeline in the final quarter.
Danny Amendola got the Patriots going with a six-yard touchdown grab that reduced the Falcons' lead to just eight points following James White’s 2-point conversion. After a truly incredible catch by Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, who caught the ball with millimetres to spare, White then ran it in with 57 seconds to go, and Amendola caught the 2-point conversion to take the game to overtime for the first time in Super Bowl history. It was James White who sealed the Falcons’ fate, breaking three tackles en route to a Super Bowl-winning touchdown in overtime.
28-3 – a scoreline the Falcons will never live down.
Super Bowl LII: The Philly Special
One year after Tom Brady’s magical 28-3 comeback, the Patriots quarterback would be part of another iconic Super Bowl, but this time, he’d be on the opposite end of the miracle.
Up 15-12 in Super Bowl LII, Philadelphia Eagles QB Nick Foles ran over to head coach Doug Pederson amid a timeout on fourth down. There, Foles spoke the words that would later become an instant classic: “You want the Philly Philly?”, asking Pederson if he wanted to run the trick play the Eagles had up their sleeves.
Foles lined up behind center Jason Kelce, but slowly shifted to the right, allowing running back Corey Clement to catch the snap. Clement flipped the ball to the incoming tight end Trey Burton, who passed the ball two yards to a wide-open Foles, who became the first player in Super Bowl history to both pass and catch a touchdown.
The Philly Special – a one-of-a-kind play that eventually won the Eagles their first Super Bowl.
Super Bowl III: Joe Namath’s promise
When you’re 17-point underdogs in a competition the opposing conference has emphatically won twice in a row, how much can you really promise? According to Joe Namath: a lot.
Three days before Super Bowl III, New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath was spending his day at a Miami Touchdown Club event. ‘Broadway Joe’ had heard everyone praise the NFL’s Baltimore Colts, the Jets’ Super Bowl opponents, all week long. The Colts were being called the “greatest football team in history,” but Joe was having none of it - in an intoxicated state, Namath told the press at the event he’d win the game: “We’re going to win the game. I guarantee it.”
Joe Namath, the same quarterback who wore fur coats on the sideline, did not let New York down. The Jets beat the Colts 14-7 in one of the most shocking Super Bowl results of all time. And Joe? Joe won Super Bowl MVP. That’s ‘Broadway Joe’ for you.
Super Bowl XLIX: Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception
With 26 seconds remaining in the game, the Seattle Seahawks had the ball at the New England Patriots’ 1-yard line. With everyone expecting running back Marshawn Lynch – the best short-yardage back in the NFL at that point - to pound it across the line, what happened next shocked the world.
Quarterback Russell Wilson got caught the snap and did not hand it off to Lynch, but instead threw a quick pass to wide receiver Ricardo Lockette. Cornerback Malcolm Butler read it perfectly, however, and picked off Wilson’s pass to effectively seal the game for the Patriots, who won their fourth title in team history.
Super Bowl XLVII: Blackout Bowl
The first Super Bowl in history between two brothers was lights out. Seriously.
Jim and John Harbaugh stood on opposite sides of the field in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans when the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens faced each other in 2013. The Ravens were dominating and just saw Jacoby Jones return the second-half kickoff for a 108-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 28-6 when a partial power outage left half the stadium in darkness, and all of it in shock.
After power was back up, the 49ers took over and scored 17 unanswered points to come back to 28-23. After Ravens kicker Justin Tucker made a 19-yard field goal, 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick scored a 15-yard touchdown, but the ensuing two-point conversion failed, meaning the Ravens maintained a two-point lead. After another Tucker field goal, the 49ers had one last shot at winning their sixth Super Bowl, but were turned over on downs on the Ravens’ 5-yard line, which sealed their fate.
Super Bowl XLIII: The Immaculate Interception & Santonio Holmes’ tip-toe catch
The Pittsburgh Steelers delivered not one, but two moments of magic in their spectacular 27-23 Super Bowl XLIII win over the Arizona Cardinals.
After taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, the Steelers had their backs against the wall when Kurt Warner and the Cardinals reached the 1-yard line with just 18 seconds to go. Linebacker James Harrison, a sack specialist, intercepted the ball intended for Anquan Boldin and spectacularly returned it 100 yards for a touchdown – a play that’d later be named ‘The Immaculate Interception’.
Later in the game, the Steelers found themselves on the back foot again after Cardinals legend Larry Fitzgerald scored a 64-yard touchdown to give Arizona a 23-20 lead. It left Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger with 78 yards to go in 2 minutes and 37 seconds, and after a penalty, 88 yards. A magical drive ended with an even more magical catch from Santonio Holmes, who caught a perfectly placed pass in the back of the end zone after tip-toeing to stay inbounds with 37 seconds to go.
Super Bowl LXII: David Tyree's helmet catch
What looked to be the most one-sided Super Bowls of all time went down to the very wire – Tom Brady’s unbeaten New England Patriots were looking to write football history by becoming the second team in NFL history, but faced off against the same New York Giants that forced a 38-35 comeback win in the final game of the regular season.
With the Patriots leading 14-10 with 1:15 on the clock, the Giants faced a critical third down from their own 44-yard line. Quarterback Eli Manning evaded three defenders to avoid a sack before throwing a deep ball to David Tyree – a receiver with just seven receptions all season – who magically caught the ball by pushing it to his helmet.
The catch – Tyree’s last-ever in the NFL - won the Giants the championship, with Manning throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress four plays later.
Super Bowl XLI: Devin Hester’s kickoff return
There has never been a returner as good as Devin Hester. In 2006, Hester had an unbelievable rookie season, in which he scored a historic five touchdowns from punt and kick returns. However, Hester, nicknamed ‘Anytime’, saved his best for last.
The Chicago Bears returned to the Super Bowl for the first time since their 1985 triumph and faced the electric Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts in Miami. The scene felt like one out of a movie – sold-out stadium, cameras flashing everywhere, and the ball in the hands of the best returner to start the game. Showtime.
In classic Hester fashion, ‘Anytime’ returned it 92 yards for the first kickoff return touchdown in Super Bowl history. Colts head coach later revealed they didn’t even want to kick it to him: “We had decided all week that we were not going to kick the ball to Devin Hester … Thirteen seconds later, he was in the end zone, and everybody is looking at me like, ‘Whose idea was that?’”
Super Bowl XXXII: John Elway’s helicopter run
John Elway’s Super Bowl could’ve best been described as a painstaking road leading nowhere each year. That was until a 38-year-old Elway and the Denver Broncos faced the heavily-favoured Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII in what looked like Elway’s final chance at winning a championship.
Midway through the third quarter, the two teams were level at 17 when the Broncos faced a crucial third down on the Packers’ 12-yard line. The play broke down, but instead of throwing it away, Elway scrambled and got a first down after being hit by four Packers defenders and being spun sideways in mid-air.
‘The Helicopter’, as the player would later be called, was a defining moment in Super Bowl XXXII, which resulted in Elway’s first and only championship.