Each year, the biggest stars make the biggest plays on the biggest stage. In the NFL, there is no greater stage than the Super Bowl. This year, Super Bowl LVII pits the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
Kansas City returns to the big game after a year hiatus and is the third of Patrick Mahomes’ young career already. Three Super Bowl appearances in four years is about as impressive as it can get. The kings of the NFC come in hot after dispatching the league’s best defense in San Francisco. Jalen Hurts leads the way on offense with an elite, balanced defense on the other side.
Super Bowl LVII is shaping up to be a great one, so be sure to always be checking the Super Bowl live scores if you’re not in front of the TV! Since this is the 57th edition of the biggest game, there have been some phenomenal performances through the years. Let’s take a trip to the record books and recount the best of the best.
10 Amazing Super Bowl Records
Longest Offensive Play: Jake Delhomme pass to Muhsin Muhammed (85 yards)
It’s Super Bowl XXXVIII, Carolina Panthers vs New England Patriots. Tom Brady is two years removed from his miraculous run to his first of seven Super Bowls but Jake Delhomme and the Panthers did not make it easy.
After an Antowain Smith touchown run at the beginning of the 4th, the Panthers were staring at a 21-10 deficit. They drove down the field to score to make it 21-17. Then, as New England was looking to score again, the defense came down with an interception. It looked like the drive had stalled out, considering they had managed minus four yards in five plays, Delhomme hit a wide-open Muhammed to take the lead, 22-21.
Unfortunately for Carolina, the two-point conversion failed, and the Patriots answered, took the lead, and gave it right back to set up an Adam Vinatieri field goal to break the 29-29 tie. This was the first of back-to-back titles for New England.
Longest Defensive Play: James Harrison’s 100-yard interception return
Super Bowl XLIII was an instant classic. The Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Arizona Cardinals in Mike Tomlin’s second year leading one of the NFL’s premier franchises. Super Bowl XLIII had fans glued to the screen from the first kick until 0:00 on the board.
After the Steelers built up a 10-0 lead, Arizona finally got on the board with a touchdown catch by Ben Patrick. After trading punts, the Cardinals got their break. Ben Roethlisberger then fires a pass across the middle of the field where its tipped to the sky and intercepted by Karlos Dansby around midfield. Then, history.
The Cardinals drove down to the Steelers two yard line and Kurt Warner was looking for Anquan Boldin on a slant to take the lead but James Harrison read it all the way. He jumped in the way and rumbled, stumbled, and barreled 100 yards into the endzone as the first half came to an end.
It marked the longest defensive play in Super Bowl history and still stands to this day.
From there, Pittsburgh managed just a field goal before Arizona came stroming back, scoring 16 unanswered points, capped off by a 64-yard touchdown reception by Larry Fitzgerald, to take a 23-20 lead. Then, as we all know, Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes in the side of the endzone on a near-impossible catch to take the game, 27-23 for the Steelers sixth ring.
Longest Special Teams Play: Jacoby Jones’ 108-yard kickoff return
Super Bowl XLVII was the Harbaugh Bowl. Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers won the NFC and earned the right to face off against John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens. Led by yet another legendary defense, the Ravens shut down Colin Kaepernick and got out to a commanding 21-6 lead at half only to receive the second-half kick.
Normally, fielding a kickoff – especially one while holding a 15-point lead – at the back of the endzone would not be wise. Don’t tell that to Jacoby Jones. He pulled the kick down, took off, and the rest is history. The blocking on the play was nearly immaculate and Jones waltzed into the endzone almost untouched to extend the lead to 28-6.
San Francisco would come storming back, but would never take the lead. Baltimore kept the 49ers at arms length and John Jarbaugh got the better of his brother, 34-31.
Biggest blowout: Super Bowl XXIV (45 points)
Joe Montana, to many, has held the title of GOAT for a long time. This game is largely why.
The San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XXIII against the Cincinnati Bengals the year prior, so expectations were high to begin with. After losing just two games all year, they were even better. Montana put on a clinic against a Denver Broncos team who was not accustomed to giving up 55 points. His 22/29, 297 yards, five touchdowns was one of the most dominant performances in Super Bowl history.
Jerry Rice, who is still considered the GOAT receiver, was on the reeciving end of just seven passes but went for 148 yards and three touchdowns.
This game got out of hand early and often. There have been a few massively lopsided Super Bowls since then, but none have stood even close to this 45-point beatdown.
Largest comeback: Super Bowl LI (25 points)
It’s the game that sprung all kinds of memes. It’s also the game that likely turned Tom Brady haters into truthers. The Atlanta Falcons were dominating the New England Patriots for, essentially, three quarters. Tevin Coleman hauled in a touchdown pass to make it a 28-3 lead with 8:31 to go in the third and the Falcons had already begun planning the parade.
Then, the Patriots went on the greatest tear ever seen in Super Bowl history. Over the last 17:06, the Patriots scored a James White touchdown (two-point failed), Stephen Gostkowski field goal, Danny Amendola touchdown (two-point good), and another White touchdown (two-point good) to tie the game at 28-28 with seconds to spare.
In addition to Super Bowl LI holding the record for largest comeback, it’s the only Super Bowl to go to overtime. There, Brady led his team down the field for a White game-winning touchdown run to complete the historic comeback.
Since this game, Atlanta has not quite recovered. The next year, they made the playoffs as a wild card team and beat the Rams in the Wild Card round but lost to the Eagles in the Divisional. Since Super Bowl LI, Atlanta has yet to win the NFC South.
Greatest rookie performance: Chris Smith
Every year, it seems like rookies breakout in big ways on the biggest stages. Just last year, Ja’Marr Chase recorded five catches for 89 yards and would have done even more if Aaron Donald had just stepped left instead of right and Joe Burrow would’ve hit Chase wide open for the game-winning 49-yard touchdown with Jalen Ramsey already on the ground. Alas, it was not to be.
The greatest Super Bowl performance by a rookie would belong to (then) Washington Redskins running back, Chris Smith in Super Bowl XXII.
Washington faced off against the Denver Broncos in what ended up as another lopsided loss for Denver, 42-10. Smith was nearly flawless in helping his quarterback, Doug Williams, become the first Black quarterback to win a title and win the game’s MVP.
Not to be overshadowed, of course, Smith put on a clinic himself. He rushed the ball 22 times for 204 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The kicker? This was Smith’s first career start.
Jerry Rice: Wide Receiver Goat
We can break down each and every receiving record in Super Bowl history, but it’d just be easier to copy and past Jerry Rice’s name.
Single game:
215 receiving yards in Super Bowl XXIII
Three receiving touchdowns in Super Bowl XXIV and XXIX
Career:
Receptions (33)
Receiving yards (589)
Total scrimmage yards (604)
Receiving touchdowns (8)
Points scored (48)
Save for Brady, Rice is the most accomplished NFL player in Super Bowl history, accruing these stats over four games and two teams.
Winless/undefeated teams
Getting to the Super Bowl is the hardest thing to do in the NFL and, to date, four teams have never made it to the big game: Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Detriot Lions.
Some franchise have made it a number of times like the Patriots (11 times), or Steelers and Cowboys (eight), but there are just four teams with an unblemished record in the Super Bowl: the Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, and New York Jets.
Both the Ravens and Buccaneers own spotless 2-0 records on the NFL’s biggest stage and all four games have happened since the turn of the century. Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Joe Flacco, and Tom Brady quarterbacked these teams to the title.
The Saints and Jets have each had one opportunity to win it all and made the most of it. The Jets took down the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. Later, the Saints dominated their way to a wain over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
Meanwhile, there are a few teams who have made it to the Super Bowl but have yet to experience the euphoria of lifting that Lombardi Trophy. In all, there are eight teams: Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, and St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals.
For the Cardinals and Oilers/Titans, they’ve only managed one appearance in their respective histories. NFC South rivals Falcons and Panthers have each failed on two separate occasions, most recently in the aforementioned Atlanta 28-3 blown lead.
The Bengals had their opportunity to get on the board last year and very nearly did it. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, very nearly does not get rid of the zero in the win column and the two losses to the 49ers added to the Rams loss. Buffalo, on the other hand, is fascinating. Both they and the Vikings faltered four times each, but the Bills managed to lose four consecutive Super Bowls between XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII.
Team with Most Losses
In order to win it all, you have to first get there. Unfortunately, at least one team must lose. There are two teams to lose five Super Bowls, most in history. No matter how this year goes, neither the Chiefs (2-2) nor Eagles (1-2) will join the ranks of the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos.
Starting with New England, the Patriots are 0-1 in Super Bowls without Tom Brady, dropping Super Bowl XX to the teams many believe as the greatest NFL team ever assembled, the ‘85 Bears. Since then, New England rattled off back-to-back titles in Super Bowl XXXVIII and XXXIX. They then dropped Super Bowl XLII and fell short of a perfect 19-0 season. They got back in Super Bowl XLVI but Eli Manning and the Giants stood tall yet again.
Then, in Super Bowl XLIX, Pete Carroll decided to throw the ball on the one yard line and Darius Butler saved Tom Brady and the Patriots, securing its first title in 10 years. Since then, New England took home LI after the comeback, lost to the Philly Special in LII, then won a defensive struggle over the Rams in LIII.
The Broncos, however, are a bit more sporadic with their appearances. Their first appearance was a loss in Super Bowl XII. Their second, a loss in XXI. Their third, the next year where they were destroyed in XXII. Two years later, they earned the right to be throttled again in XXIV.
Then, in Super Bowl XXXII, John Elway bested Brett Favre to secure the first Super Bowl in Broncos history. They followed that up with a win in XXXIII the next year. Then Peyton Manning came to town, set the world on fire, destroyed Broncos records only to be completely snuffed out in Super Bowl XLVIII for the franchise’s fifth loss. Manning would get a chance to ride off into the sunset as a champion two years later, however.
Tom Brady.
You absolutely cannot tell the story of the NFL without Tom Brady. He has been the single most dominant figure in the sport’s history over the last 20 years and owns nearly every record to boot. Brady is the GOAT and if someone disagrees, they can argue with a wall. Here are his 14 Super Bowl records:
Single game:
Oldest player (43 years old, Super Bowl LV)
Pass attempts (62, Super Bowl LI)
Pass completions (43, Super Bowl LI)
Consecutive completions (16, Super Bowl XLVI)
Passing yards (505, Super Bowl LII)
Pass attempts without an interception (48, Super Bowl XLII and LII)
Career:
Super Bowl appearances (10)
Super Bowl wins (7)
Super Bowl MVPs (5)
Pass attempts (421)
Pass completions (277)
Passing yards (3,039)
Passing touchdowns (21)
Main Image: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY
