In this special Super Bowl week edition of Nick's Lists, we take a look at the 5 worst Super Bowls of all time. If you are interested in the happier side of things, Josh, Dustin, and the good folks over at Lattanzi Land have compiled their list of the top 10 best Super Bowls of all time. Check it out, it's some good stuff. Before we get to the official list, we have a look at some more (dis)honorable mentions. Those Super Bowls that were bad...but not quite bad enough to make this undistinguished list.
Super Bowl XVIII: Raiders 38 Redskins 9
Yeah, yeah, yeah go ahead and say it, Nick's bitter. True, I am, but I was also only 6 months old, so I don't really remember what happened. What I do know is that the Redskins, in this game had a punt blocked for a touchdown, gave up a pick 6 on "rocket screen" (a play they have never run since), botched a PAT, and allowed Marcus Allen to do a little do-si-do in the backfield and run 75 yards untouched. The Redskins played one of their worst games of the decade coming off of a season when they scored over 500 points and finished 14-2. The Raiders gladly accepted these gifts on "Black Sunday" in Tampa.
Super Bowl XXXVII: Buccaneers 48 Raiders 21
This game was seriously considered for our featured list, mostly because the Raiders failed to show up. John Gruden got his revenge on the team that "traded" him that past offseason, and put on a defensive clinic as a way to say thank you. After a first half that was dominated by field goals, the Bucs finally got on track with touchdowns. Then the interceptions started. Dwight Smith took one back to the house, followed by Derrick Brooks, then Dwight Smith again to put the icing on the cake. Yes, Jerry Rice caught a TD for Oakland, but when you throw 3 pick-6's, your offense and passing game are completely overmatched.
Super Bowl XX: Bears 46 Patriots 10
To see William Perry score a touchdown and not Walter Payton ought to be enough to put this one on the list...so our famous 5 should be pretty lousy. The Bears' final total of 46 was fitting considering that it was the 46 defense that gave the Pats (and the NFL) fits all season. I'll give you a cookie if you can tell me who the Patriot's starting (and finishing) quarterback was in that game. The starter didn't last long and the finisher was just fed to the wolves.
And now I present to you the 5 worst Super Bowls of all time!
Sorry, Ravens fans...at least you can say that you won this game. What do Duane Starks, Ron Dixon, and Jermaine Lewis all have in common? They all scored touchdowns on back-to-back-to-back plays in this game that went from offensive mudpit to one of the best displays of "olé" tackling that I have ever seen. Neither side really seemed to want it more than the other...except for the Raven's defense. One of the key criteria for making this list is having a defensive player win an MVP. Ray Lewis didn't get to go to Disneyworld (nobody gave him a reason...), but he did win the MVP award because Kerry Collins just could not get anything going on offense. The Ravens couldn't either...the same team that went 5 consecutive weeks in the regular season without scoring a touchdown...winning 3 of them! Bruising defense that has become the team's staple for the decade usually leads to ugly games, and this one was no exception. On the NFL films video of the game, Brian Billick himself admitted that all the Ravens had against the Giants defense were verticals (watch it for yourself). That's how the Ravens scored on a bomb to Brandon Stokely (one that he almost dropped).
To call this game one-sided is an understatement. This was a systematic demolition of apocalyptic proportions. The 49ers dominated the Broncos in all aspects of the game...a game that was built up as Montana vs. Elway. Montana already had 3 rings, Elway was still looking for his first after being twice unsuccessful. Bill Walsh retired, but George Seifert didn't miss a beat in getting the 49ers back to the big game after a 14-2 regular season. Check out these stats for San Francisco: 461 yards of offense (vs. 167 for Denver), 39:31 time of possession, 28 first downs (12 for Denver), and 317 net passing yard for Montana (vs. 103 for Elway). Needless to say, Montana won the MVP in really the only Super Bowl that one can say was an absolute walkover from the start. Elway had been blown out in Super Bowls before (yay Dougie Williams!), but not like this. By the time the Broncos finally found the endzone, the niners had already hung 41. This game was over before it started. Super Bowl ads were not quite as expensive then as they are now, but there were some very angry corporations who had purchased 30 second spots in the 3rd and 4th quarters.
The first Super Bowl to be played indoors, not many people (including the players and coaches) knew what to expect. The result was a sloppy game on both ends. Craig Morton threw two first quarter interceptions leading to 10 Dallas points. The Cowboys "Doomsday Defense" pass rush kept the Broncos offense off-balance all day, forcing a total of 8 turnovers and keeping Denver to 21:22 time of possession. Fortunately for Dallas, their attempts at giving the ball away were unsuccessful, fumbling, but not losing, the football twice in the first half. Sacks were not officially recorded in this game (they were not yet an official statistic), but Morton was looking for the aspirin by the time this one ended, only going 4-15 passing. The turnovers led to the Cowboys having excellent field position all day, not giving Denver's "Orange Crush" much of a chance to stop them. The result was not just one, but two defensive MVPs for Dallas: Randy White and Harvey Martin. At the end of the day, the recaps would read that the 'Boys adapted well to the new conditions, and the Broncos didn't...not playing indoors makes you drop the football, but anyway.
This game is most remembered as the one where the 1972 Dolphins completed the only perfect season in the Super Bowl era. This team is remembered for its perfection, but they were far from pretty. This game was no exception. The pregame buildup featured the Dolphins' "No Name Defense" and their quest for perfection versus George Allen's Redskins and the "Over the Hill Gang." The No Name Defense dominated, only allowing Billy Kilmer and the Redskins offense to cross midfield 4 times in the whole game. This game could've been (and really should've been) a shutout, except for one ill-fated attempt at a forward pass from everybody's favorite kicker: Garo Yepremian. A botched snap on a mostly meaningless field goal was picked up by Yepremian, who attemped a forward pass. The pass was batted into the air and Mike Bass intercepted it and took it back for the only Redskins score of the game. The Dolphins won the game on the strength of their defense, and on an offense that went hyper-conservative, making heavy use of Larry Czonka since Bob Griese was still not quite 100% after suffering a broken leg in week 5. The Redskins' bend-but-not-break defensive philosophy held Miami to 14 points, but that was 7 points too many. The Redskins would exact their revenge on Shula and the Dolphins 10 years later (woot woot!). Keeping with our theme, Miami safety Jake Scott took home the MVP with two picks, including one in the endzone in the fourth quarter, which at the time preserved the 14-0 lead.
1) Super Bowl V: Colts 16 Cowboys 13
The "Blunder Bowl." This game is generally considered the epitome of bad Super Bowls. Not only did a defensive player win the MVP (Chuck Howley), but he came from the losing team (and he decided not to accept it because the game had been so bad and the Cowboys had lost). Neither offense could get anything going at all. Johnny Unitas threw the only touchdown pass for Baltimore, but not before that pass was deflected twice into the hands of "look what I found!" John Mackey who raced 75 yards to the house. This game had 6 total interceptions and 6 total fumbles (5 of which were lost). Ball security was not emphasized at all on both sides, in one of the sloppiest football games period (let alone a World Championship). The Cowboys committed 10 penalties. The Colts botched an extra point and missed a field goal. Miscues were a-plenty in this cover-your-eyes awful game. Ultimately, the game was decided on a field goal on the last play. I don't think anybody at the Orange Bowl that day wanted to see overtime...as their football fandom was in serious jeopardy after watching this train wreck.
There you have it...the 5 worst Super Bowls of all time. Feel free to chime in with your list, and keep it here on Caputo's Corner for all of your unofficial official Super Bowl Week coverage! Let's hope Super Bowl XLV does not end up on this list....
Pretty good list. Also should be on the dishonorable mention is SB 33 (Atlanta/Denver) and SB 40 (Seattle/Pittsburgh). Both games were sloppy as hell and the latter was marred completely by botched officiating that STILL has Seattle fans seething.
ReplyDeleteSuper Bowl XXIX (San Diego Chargers, 26 vs. San Francisco 49ers, 49) is missing from your list. This was as terrible a one-sided affair as any. My parents also went to it.
ReplyDelete@Josh XL is actually one I've been hearing a lot about lately as a bad one. I do remember that game as being pretty lousy...probably should have put it in the dishonorable mentions.
ReplyDelete@Ron XXIX was not the best game, but I always recall that game as being the Steve Young redemption game, finally winning the big one (taking the monkey off his back) so it has a feel-good story about it and I didn't really consider it. Also, the Chargers were coached by the old MD Terps coaches of the 80s (Ross and Friedgen). Too bad they were way outmatched
Oh, and thanks for the pimp of our SB Countdown. One of the best sets of posts we have ever done over at Lattanzi Land.
ReplyDeleteI would think that Super Bowls where one team cheated, both to get there and to win, merited consideration for this list. But that's just me.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, guess that means you must've loved #8 on Josh's countdown :-)
ReplyDeleteAh yes, #8. When the Oakland Raiders were denied the right to face the Greatest Show on Turf thanks to the Worst Referee on Earth (with all due respect to the 1990 Missouri Tigers and the Referee That Couldn't Count).
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