As of this month, fifty five Super Bowls have been played. Out of these fifty five super bowls, roughly half have been unwatchable blowouts, or slow snail races. But every now and then, we get one of those amazing football games. You know the ones that have you on the edge of your seat, bringing the game down to the final drive. Things like this are what football fans love to see.

What constitutes as a great Super Bowl can be boiled down to two things. One, an amazing game. Two, a great story. From John Gruden’s win over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl 37, to John Elway getting his first Super Bowl ring. There is a lot of fun to be had watching storylines unfold.

Today, I will pick the five Super Bowls I see fit for the title (in no particular order), as well as a few honorable mentions. Just a warning this is pretty subjective, and you will probably disagree with me. Also a lot of Super Bowls prior to the 21st century were less intense, mainly because football was a different game, and a little more lopsided. The game of football became way more optimized as of late to make things fair, and I wasn’t even alive for a lot of them, so I don’t really have any emotional connection to the older games.

SUPER BOWL 51: FALCONS VS PATRIOTS

The Patriots are gonna be on this list a lot. Which sucks really bad, but I can’t deny the team’s greatness so I will just get it over with. To sum this thing up the Atlanta Falcons were up 28 – 3 late in the third quarter. Naturally, in pure Falcons fashion, they blew it without giving up a single onside kick. The Falcons imploded so badly, that we now get to hear about how great of a quarterback Tom Brady is despite him playing like garbage for three quarters. Thanks Kyle Shanahan. (This will not be the last time said coach blows a 10+ point lead in the Super Bowl).

SUPER BOWL 49: SEAHAWKS VS PATRIOTS

Look, another Super Bowl where Tom Brady played like trash but got all the credit because his defense bailed him out in the end, yay. Of course this isn’t about Brady throwing screen passes in the Super Bowl, this is about the Seahawks refusing to run the ball. This game was a shootout that saw the Seahawks down 28 – 24 at the Patriots one yard line. On the final throw of the game, Malcolm Butler made the greatest interception in Super Bowl history, winning the game for the Patriots. If the Seahwaks had just handed the ball off to Marshawn Lynch (the greatest running back in the league at that time) they would’ve won the game easily. Sadly, it seems like Pete Carrol decided to go senile at the worst possible time.

SUPER BOWL 43: STEELERS VS CARDINALS

Super bowl 43 was closer than everyone expected. The underdog Arizona Cardinals were coming off a nine win season, and were held back by a horrible defense. The Pittsburgh Steelers however, had the best defense in the league, and were coming off of a Super Bowl win three years prior. Nobody expected Arizona to keep it close in this game, and for a while, it seemed like Arizona was going to get blown out as they were down 20 – 7.

But in the fourth quarter, with 7:43 to go, the Cardinals scored a touchdown. This brought the lead to 20 – 14. After that they got a safety and made it a four point game. Then, Larry Fitzgerald made a great catch and run for a 64 yard touchdown, making this game 23 – 20 for the Cardinals.

Finally, with 2:30 left to go, Ben Rothlisberger led an amazing game winning drive.  Capped off with one of the greatest Super Bowl catches ever made, Big Ben threw it to Santonio Holmes in the back of the endzone for a game winning touchdown. The Cardinals couldn’t do anything, and the game ended 27 – 23 for Pittsburgh.

The underdog can’t always win, but even without a ring, Larry Fitzgerald will always be the greatest wide receiver in my eyes. I hope he has fun during retirement, he deserves it.

SUPER BOWL 34: RAMS VS TITANS

This Super Bowl was a dogfight between the “Greatest Show on Turf” S.T. Louis Rams, vs the Miracle of a team Tennessee Titans. Both teams were insanely tough, with the Rams led by an amazing quarterback named Kurt Warner, and the Titans led by their quarterback Steve Mcnair. 

This game was a steady back and forth. Even though the Rams messed up on a few field goals, they still had the lead late in the 4th 23 – 17. This prompted Steve Mcnair to leave an amazing drive at the end of the game, and with six seconds left to go, Steve Mcnair threw the ball to Kevin Dyson who looked to run it in for the touchdown.

The only thing in between the receiver and the endzone, was linebacker Mike Jones, who had joined the Rams three years prior. And in the words of Al Micheals, “Mike Jones made the tackle” keeping Kevin Dyson one yard short of the endzone.

All around this game was amazing, but the Titans just couldn’t keep up with the greatest show on turf. Although, we still have one more game to go, and before we get to that; let me talk about some honorable mentions.

SUPER BOWL 3: JETS VS COLTS

This super bowl is pretty much only known for Joe Namath, and his promising to prove that the AFL can compete with the NFL, and that they did. The Jets upset the Colts 16 – 7 in a fairly boring game.

SUPER BOWL 13: COWBOYS VS STEELERS

A lot of people remember this Super Bowl, as an amazing high scoring game to solidify the Steelers dynasty.  My big issue with it is the fact that some of the Steelers players were using steroids for this game. Which is a big no no in my book.

SUPER BOWL 38: PATRIOTS VS PANTHERS

The only Super Bowl win that Tom Brady ever had that he actually played well in.

Now that the honorable mentions are over, let’s get into the final game on this list.

SUPER BOWL 42: GIANTS VS PATRIOTS

Any football fan probably saw this coming from a mile away. This is my personal choice for the greatest Super Bowl of all time, and for good reason. This is one of the few times where a low score doesn’t affect my opinion on a game.

The New York Giants were a wild card team heading into the 2007 playoffs. Nobody thought that this team would make a run at all, sure the defense was great but could Eli Manning actually throw the ball? Well surely enough, he did. 

First they got a nice win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24 – 14. Then they pulled off a beautiful smacking of the Dallas Cowboys 21 – 17. Finally, they upset the Green Bay Packers in overtime, 23 – 20. Thus moving onto the Super Bowl.

The Patriots on the other hand, were undefeated in the regular season and cruised through the playoffs, sporting an 18 – 0 record. With help from Wes Welker and Randy Moss, Tom Brady threw a career high 50 touchdowns, (he wouldn’t break 40 for another 13 years lol). Although the defense was just as amazing, finishing fourth in the league for points against. 

Everybody expected the Patriots to blow out the underdog Giants, but that’s not what happened. Somehow, late in the fourth quarter, the game was only 14 – 10 for the Patriots. Then, with just over two minutes left to go, Eli manning led the greatest final drive in Super Bowl history. On third down Eli managed to avoid getting sacked, then threw the ball down the field to David Tyree, who caught the ball up against his helmet. This setup the Giants in perfect position to get a touchdown, winning the game 17 – 14. Leaving the Patriots 18 – 1.

Eli Manning defeated the evil empire, and would go on to do it again four years later. And now, it takes Tom Brady twice the amount of elite wide receivers to throw four fifths of the amount of touchdowns he did in that season.

It seems like that’s the list. Did you agree with my choices? Did you not? Who cares, I’m leaving for Hawaii in two days anyways.