Post by tigertowner 68 on Feb 2, 2016 14:00:58 GMT -5
The most convincing performances in the Super Bowl era.
It will be 50 Super Bowls and counting on February 7, 2016.
The discussion here could be debated into the next fifty years, that much is certain. I am not going to make this a lengthy article. The one that follows will be more lengthy. Just enough to stoke the spirited and perhaps combustible debate. Let me just warm up by listing the top five single and most convincing, relevant and finally, significant Super Bowl performances by an individual football team. In my opinion, of course. The five games are in no particular order.
• Chicago Bears 1986 (1985 regular season). Super Bowl XX
Chicago Bears 46
New England Patriots 10
It wasn't even that close. The Bears held the Patriots to 7 yards rushing for the entire game. 1 for 10 on third down. 123 yards total offense. How did New England's passing game fare? Don't ask. Tony Eason and Steve Grogan were sacked a combined 7 times, including 1.5 by MVP Richard Dent. Offensively they scored a then-record 46 points. Everybody on that defense, including William (the Refrigerator) Perry, who scored a TD on offense, played a big role. The only sad thing is that he "vultured" a possible TD from Bears all-time great Walter Payton on that one.
• San Francisco 49ers 1990 (1989 regular season). Super Bowl XXIV
San Francisco 49ers 55
Denver Broncos 10
An offensive show for the ages orchestrated by QB Joe Montana and WR Jerry Rice. Utter domination. You can count the regular season games that a team puts up 55 points at one or perhaps two per season. This was the meeting of, at least theoretically, the top two teams in the league- in the season's ultimate test. How about these team numbers. Yards gained 49ers 461, Broncos 161. First downs 49ers 28-12. Time of possession 49ers 39:31-20:29.
• Seattle Seahawks 2014 (2013 regular season). Super Bowl XLVIII
Seattle Seahawks 43
Denver Broncos 8
This was almost a redux of the Bears in SB XX. I thought I was watching it all over again. A totally dominant defense flexes it's muscle. Not as dominant as the Bears were against the Patriots, but Peyton Manning was the QB for the opponent, not Tony Eason. For that, one could argue it was as impressive as the performance put up by the Bears 28 years earlier.
• Green Bay Packers 1967 (1966 regular season) NFL-AFL Championship Game (later known as Super Bowl I)
Green Bay Packers 35
Kansas City Chiefs 10
There was arguably more pressure on the Packers here than on any team that ever participated in any Super Bowl. Why? For starters it was the first Super Bowl and the haughty NFL risked ridicule if their representative lost the very first one to the upstart Chiefs. Second, if it was even close the game would have been looked upon by the public as at the very least a moral victory for the AFL. K.C.'s Fred "The Hammer" Williamson boldly predicted a huge Chiefs upset. His team was "hammered" instead by the veteran Packers.
• New York Jets 1969 (1968 regular season) Super Bowl III
New York Jets 16
Baltimore Colts 7
The converse situation to the one that faced the Packers just two years earlier in the first Super Bowl. 98% of the fans in the nation expected the Packers to win the first one. 98% of the fans in the nation expected the Jets to lose in this third Super Bowl. Jets QB Joe Namath made, then backed up the most famous promise ever made in team sports when the Jets completely shut down the powerful 16 point (and higher in some circles) favored Colts. Sure, the score was "only" 16-7 but for shock value this game still ranks at the top. The merger was due to take place in 1970, but it would have never been looked upon as perhaps at least a "marriage of equals" without this stunning performance.
Honorable mention:
1993 Cowboys 52, Buffalo Bills 17.
1988 Washington Redskins 42, Broncos 10
1987 New York Giants 39, Broncos 20
It will be 50 Super Bowls and counting on February 7, 2016.
The discussion here could be debated into the next fifty years, that much is certain. I am not going to make this a lengthy article. The one that follows will be more lengthy. Just enough to stoke the spirited and perhaps combustible debate. Let me just warm up by listing the top five single and most convincing, relevant and finally, significant Super Bowl performances by an individual football team. In my opinion, of course. The five games are in no particular order.
• Chicago Bears 1986 (1985 regular season). Super Bowl XX
Chicago Bears 46
New England Patriots 10
It wasn't even that close. The Bears held the Patriots to 7 yards rushing for the entire game. 1 for 10 on third down. 123 yards total offense. How did New England's passing game fare? Don't ask. Tony Eason and Steve Grogan were sacked a combined 7 times, including 1.5 by MVP Richard Dent. Offensively they scored a then-record 46 points. Everybody on that defense, including William (the Refrigerator) Perry, who scored a TD on offense, played a big role. The only sad thing is that he "vultured" a possible TD from Bears all-time great Walter Payton on that one.
• San Francisco 49ers 1990 (1989 regular season). Super Bowl XXIV
San Francisco 49ers 55
Denver Broncos 10
An offensive show for the ages orchestrated by QB Joe Montana and WR Jerry Rice. Utter domination. You can count the regular season games that a team puts up 55 points at one or perhaps two per season. This was the meeting of, at least theoretically, the top two teams in the league- in the season's ultimate test. How about these team numbers. Yards gained 49ers 461, Broncos 161. First downs 49ers 28-12. Time of possession 49ers 39:31-20:29.
• Seattle Seahawks 2014 (2013 regular season). Super Bowl XLVIII
Seattle Seahawks 43
Denver Broncos 8
This was almost a redux of the Bears in SB XX. I thought I was watching it all over again. A totally dominant defense flexes it's muscle. Not as dominant as the Bears were against the Patriots, but Peyton Manning was the QB for the opponent, not Tony Eason. For that, one could argue it was as impressive as the performance put up by the Bears 28 years earlier.
• Green Bay Packers 1967 (1966 regular season) NFL-AFL Championship Game (later known as Super Bowl I)
Green Bay Packers 35
Kansas City Chiefs 10
There was arguably more pressure on the Packers here than on any team that ever participated in any Super Bowl. Why? For starters it was the first Super Bowl and the haughty NFL risked ridicule if their representative lost the very first one to the upstart Chiefs. Second, if it was even close the game would have been looked upon by the public as at the very least a moral victory for the AFL. K.C.'s Fred "The Hammer" Williamson boldly predicted a huge Chiefs upset. His team was "hammered" instead by the veteran Packers.
• New York Jets 1969 (1968 regular season) Super Bowl III
New York Jets 16
Baltimore Colts 7
The converse situation to the one that faced the Packers just two years earlier in the first Super Bowl. 98% of the fans in the nation expected the Packers to win the first one. 98% of the fans in the nation expected the Jets to lose in this third Super Bowl. Jets QB Joe Namath made, then backed up the most famous promise ever made in team sports when the Jets completely shut down the powerful 16 point (and higher in some circles) favored Colts. Sure, the score was "only" 16-7 but for shock value this game still ranks at the top. The merger was due to take place in 1970, but it would have never been looked upon as perhaps at least a "marriage of equals" without this stunning performance.
Honorable mention:
1993 Cowboys 52, Buffalo Bills 17.
1988 Washington Redskins 42, Broncos 10
1987 New York Giants 39, Broncos 20
