Top Super Bowl Plays
- Top Super Bowl Plays Of All Time
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- Top Super Bowl Plays
- Top Super Bowl Plays Of All Time
- Famous Super Bowl Plays
- David Tyree made a legendary Super Bowl play Al Bello/Getty Images. Trailing in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots, 14-10, the New York Giants and Eli Manning had just over a minute to put a touchdown on the board or they’d lose the game. On third-and-five from their own 44-yard line, Manning faced a near sack.
- Using Pro Football Reference’s model, I measured the change in win probability for all 7,717 plays in super bowl history and have ranked the top 25. While some may argue that this gives unfair weight to plays that happen at the end of games ( high-leverage situations ), there will be more on this discussion later.
In 1993, Michael Jackson created the Super Bowl halftime show as we know it today. Vulture ranks every performance up to The Weeknd’s 2021 halftime show, from the worst to the best. Check out ESPN.com's ranking of the best players in Super Bowl history. Today, we unveil Nos. 10-1, led by a quarterback who has three Super Bowl MVP awards and four Super Bowl titles. Before Super Bowl 53 kicks off in Atlanta, let’s look back at 10 of the best plays in the game’s history.
There was a time not long ago when it was a given that the Super Bowl would be a blowout. Lopsided results for America’s biggest game were so common that the whole thing became like a bad joke from an early ‘90s stand up. “What’s the deal with airline food? I’d rather watch a Cowboys/Bills Super Bowl with my mother-in-law!” From 1984 to 1995, 10 of the 12 Super Bowls were decided by a margin of 13 or greater. Look at some of these scores: 38-9, 46-10, 55-10, 52-17. Honestly, 52 to 17? What a horrible game for the casual fan.
But around that time—around the turn of the century—the Big Game started to tighten up. Perhaps as a reflection of the salary cap era that began in 1994, teams seemed more even and, as a result, Super Bowls became a hell of a lot more entertaining. The Patriots won* three championships in four years each by a margin of only three points. We’ve had the Giants win by three. The Steelers win by four. The Giants again by four. The Ravens by three. And, of course, last year’s goal line interception which ended with New England winning in the waning moments by four.
That interception, undoubtedly one of the most exciting, dramatic, there-aren’t-enough-adjectives-to-describe moments in sports history...was not the best Super Bowl play ever. Honestly, it wasn’t even the best one in the last eight years. That distinction probably goes to a play where David Tyree pinned a football against his helmet after a miracle heave from Eli Manning to upset the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
That’s how great these games have been lately.
We’ve had so many remarkable moments recently that we had to break them down—with a little assistance from several NFL players and celebrity fans. These are the most Immortal Super Bowl Moments of the Millennium.
These days, Tom Brady’s name is synonymous with the Super Bowl. He’s won six of them and appeared in nine. But which ones featured his best games and which ones featured his worst? Let’s take a closer look at all nine of Brady’s Super Bowl appearances, ranked in terms of performance. (All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.)
9. Super Bowl XLII: Giants 17, Patriots 14
When Plaxico Burress predicted the Giants would win this game 23-17, Tom Brady famously laughed, incredulously asking, “We’re only going to score 17 points?” Burress got the score wrong, but he actually spotted the high-scoring Patriots three points too many. This was easily Brady’s most disappointing Super Bowl, as the loss spoiled their undefeated season. The juggernaut offense the Patriots had assembled came up short, with Brady looking befuddled by the Giants fearsome pass rush.
8. Super Bowl XLVI: Giants 21, Patriots 17
Four years after Tom Brady and the Patriots lost to the Giants, they found themselves with another opportunity to beat the franchise that robbed them of an undefeated season. Unfortunately for Brady, the result was similar. Brady threw an interception and was sacked twice while throwing for 276 yards in his second loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl.
7. Super Bowl LIII: Patriots 13, Rams 3
Top Super Bowl Plays Of All Time
Last season’s Super Bowl was a boring game on the offensive side of the ball. Brady threw zero touchdowns, one interception, and fumbled the ball twice. He also only threw for 262 yards. The Patriots won in a defensive struggle, but the Pats’ game plan didn’t call for Brady to do anything spectacular.
6. Super Bowl LII: Eagles 41, Patriots 33
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Tom Brady did everything he could to win it for New England, throwing for 505 yards and three touchdowns. It wasn’t enough, unfortunately, as Nick Foles and the Eagles avenged the organization’s 2004 Super Bowl loss. Brady went 28 for 48 in this game for a completion percentage of 58.8% — his worst in a Super Bowl.
5. Super Bowl XXXIX: Patriots 24, Eagles 21
Top Super Bowl Plays
In what was Brady’s last Super Bowl victory for a decade, he threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots withstood a late drive by the Eagles to hold on to win. Brady completed 11 of his passes to Deion Branch, and the receiver who won MVP of the game.
4. Super Bowl XXXVI: Patriots 20, Rams 17
Top Super Bowl Plays Of All Time
Brady’s first Super Bowl was also one of his less outstanding in terms of on-field performance. He completed 16 of 27 passes for only 145 yards. But this was a different Patriots team and a different Brady. This was before Brady earned his confidence on the field as a leader and Bill Belichick only asked him to be a game manager.
3. Super Bowl XXXVIII: Patriots 32, Panthers 29
Brady’s second Super Bowl victory was his first great statistically productive Super Bowl as well. He had 354 yards passing and three touchdowns for a QB rating of 100.5. Brady’s stellar play during the game set up Adam Vinatieri to kick his second Super Bowl-winning field goal as time expired.
2. Super Bowl XLIX: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
It had been ten years and two Super Bowl losses since Tom Brady had won a Super Bowl, but in 2014 he did it again by barely edging out the Seattle Seahawks for the Pats’ fourth Super Bowl victory. The game was more well known for the final drive where the Seahawks opted not to put the ball in Marshawn Lynch’s hands. Russell Wilson threw the game-clinching interception to Malcolm Butler. During the game, Brady passed for 328 yards and four touchdowns.
Famous Super Bowl Plays
1. Super Bowl LI: Patriots 34, Falcons 28
Early in the game, this looked like easily Brady’s worst Super Bowl. The Patriots trailed 28-3, and the QB threw a devastating pick-six. That was before Tom Brady engineered the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, however. He’d lead the team to a 34-28 victory in overtime.