Super Bowl History

It’s hard to believe that the Super Bowl is about to be 50 years old. It is probably already receiving mail solicitations from AARP and trying to decide whether it needs a little cosmetic surgery.

There have been great Super Bowl games and stinkers. Some games combined aspects of both.

Super Bowl V, won 16-13 by the Baltimore Colts over the Dallas Cowboys, was a horror show of turnovers. And Jim O’Brien, who kicked the game-winning field goal, got to be a hero only because he had missed an extra point earlier. Super Bowl XXIII, which the San Francisco 49ers won 20-16 over the Cincinnati Bengals, also played out poorly, except for the late touchdown drive that won it. As the estimable writer Paul Zimmerman remarked to me in the stadium amid gushing praise for the victors: “It was not a great game. It was a great ending.”

So which were really well-played and exciting? I start with Super Bowl XXV, in which the New York Giants beat the Buffalo Bills 20-19. The teams were of contrasting styles, with Buffalo and its potent, fast-paced offense, against the smash-mouth, run-oriented Giants. Scott Norwood’s missed field goal in the final seconds supplied the final dramatic touch and started the Bills’ run of four consecutive Super Bowl defeats.

Super Bowl XLIII between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals had great drama as well. James Harrison’s huge interception return for a touchdown on the last play of the first half and late scoring drives, one by each team, made the Steelers’ 27-23 win a classic.

You can’t really do a list like this without Super Bowl III. Memorable, but not a great game. The New York Jets struck a blow for the AFL by beating the Baltimore Colts 16-7 after Joe Namath guaranteed a win against the heavily-favored NFL representatives. Not a pretty affair, but who doesn’t recall that famous shot of Namath heading for the Orange Bowl tunnel with one finger raised?
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman