The Top 7 Super Bowls Since 1989

By John Gorman
Love of Sports Correspondent

It’s pretty much the Modus Operandi of every highfalutin’, self-aggrandizing sports website to offer up a list of the top Super Bowl games of all time. So, naturally, we had to throw our helmet into the ring.

Look, by now you know most of the games on this list by heart, but that doesn’t make any of them not worth reliving. (Unless we’re talking about that one with Scott Norwood, but you’ll find out why in just a little bit.)

All the usual suspects are here. The last-minute comebacks, the goal-line stands and the unforgettable performances have all come to party. However, in a little something we like to call competitive differentiation, we’re going to attempt to put a unique spin on the familiar list.

Here’s how:

1.) Any games I didn’t see don’t count. I’m not going to judge a game’s relative merits when the only experience I have of viewing them involves Steve Sabol’s narration. (Watch as his hair gets progressively grayer from episode to episode!) This is not the proper way to experience a Super Bowl, and I always found it a bit strange when young sportswriters waxed nostalgic about Joe Namath’s guarantee. Now, I’m not as old as I feel, so that means anything before Super Bowl XXIII is left out. That’s all right, because that makes the time-frame we’re dealing with an even 20 years. I like round numbers. They’re easy.

2.) It’s a Top 7! Anybody can give you a Top 5, a Top 10 is totally cliché and a Top 20 is really stretching it quite a bit. There are even those intrepid all-inclusive types who attempt to rank every single game. Forget about that. This isn’t Casey Kasem’s countdown. This is America. Only the crème de la crème sont que me souviens, mon frère. (Beat that, Casey!)

3.) We’re going to let you guys rank these yourselves! I’m simply going to present these Super Bowls chronologically (for now) and let you – the insightful and logical fan – offer your insights as to which game belongs where in the comment thread below. I’ll pop in with my actual Top 7 eventually also. We’ll tally up the rankings and post the winners next week. We’re all about community here, people.

The other quirks, you’ll find out as you go.

So, cue John Facenda, blare that brass section and play that slow-motion video. It’s time to take a moonlit stroll down memory lane with the best Super Bowls of our generation.

Super Bowl XXIII – 1989 – San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16

My Super Bowl viewing cherry was popped right here, in an absolute classic game. It was a back-and-forth affair we should really remember as much for the Bengals’ inability to run out the clock as we should for the 49ers’ late score to clinch it. But oh, what a drive. I remember being totally and completely riveted during that final march, watching as Joe Montana made Cincinnati Chili out of the Bengals’ secondary. This night was also special because it marked the first time (in my memory) my parents let me stay up past 10 o’clock on a school night. By the way, Cincinnati Chili is a completely underrated dinner idea for the big game. It’s chili and chopped onions served over spaghetti, with enough cheese on top to feed a third-world nation for three months. What’s not to love? And when you’ve eaten all the spaghetti, you can inevitably scoop the chili and cheese up with tortilla chips! It’s actually the perfect Super Bowl entrée. I’ll give you the detailed recipe if you’re clamoring for it. I know that you are. I’ll bet you’re salivating right now.

Super Bowl XXV – 1991 – New York Giants 20, Buffalo 19

“Your World Champion Buffalo Bills.” I spent my entire life longing to hear those words just once. When our eternally cursed warriors took a 12-3 lead in the second quarter, I felt my little eight-year-old heart racing beyond explanation. Could this be the beginning of the greatest sports night of my life? In my youthful ignorance, I had no real concept of how fragile a nine-point lead against a clock-grinding offense really was. The Giants (with their backup bleeping quarterback!) closed the first half with a quick strike touchdown, then opened the second half with a nine-minute scoring drive, converting what seemed like eight consecutive third-and-12s. The Bills offense sat idle for over an hour. Those bone-crushing drives, more than Norwood’s famous shank, is what truly cost the Bills that game and crushed the hearts of an entire broken-down city. Your World Champion Buffalo Bills. They did make it back to three more Super Bowls, but they never got any closer to winning it all than they got right here. Bonus points for this game are awarded for half my family being in the Norwood end zone, back when the common man could still get a ticket without making a humiliating YouTube video or foreclosing on his house.

Super Bowl XXXII – 1998 – Denver 31, Green Bay 24

This was the first Super Bowl I got to watch exclusively with friends rather than family. The Super Bowl was a pretty big deal in my house, so for my mom to let go of her first-born son as he was left unattended with other high school boys, it had to be a little discomforting. The evening started off pretty innocently, with NFL Gameday ’98 being played for hours on end, then a bunch of coming-of-age boys gawking at Jewel’s ummm … voice (yeah, that’s it!) as she sang the national anthem. And there would be nachos; bowls upon bowls of nachos. However, as the drinks began to flow, someone decided it would be a good idea to duck tape one of our friends up by his hands and feet and shove him in the backroom, conspicuously starting a new Super Bowl tradition. Yes, it was a small town, and we were simple people. He missed one hell of a game. Terrell Davis ran wild for 157 yards, despite sitting out most of the second quarter with a migraine. Even better, the game came down to the last possession. Denver’s defense held strong on a fourth down in their own territory with just over a minute to play. The Broncos win, and Elway finally gets his ring. That kid, meanwhile, is still in that room. I wonder what happened to him?

Super Bowl XXXIV – 2000 – St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16

This Super Bowl was so pristine and refreshing, it made 7-Up jealous. One team had just moved from Houston and had never made it to the big stage. The other team was coming off a decade-long string of futility where they lost 99 out of a possible 145 games. (That’s a 5-11 year, every year, for nine years.) To see these two new unknowns go head-to-head, with Air McNair vs. The Greatest Show on Turf, I knew the evening had the potential to be mildly intriguing. Oh, how magical it was. The game was every bit as unexpected as we had hoped. The Rams took a 9-0 halftime lead, complete with badly missed field goals by both kickers. They stretched that lead to 16-0, then watched the Titans completely erase it in the fourth quarter. Kurt Warner’s magical bomb to the Reverend Isaac Bruce set the stage for the most heart-pounding finish in Super Bowl history. McNair drove his team down to the Rams’ 10 with just six seconds left and called timeout. The ball was snapped, the seconds ticked off, and McNair chucked a short pass to Kevin Dyson, who had an opening! To the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 … meet Mike Jones. The tackle was picture perfect form, the kind they teach in instructional videos. Dyson stretched out his arm, but fell just shy. Game over. Ladies and gentlemen – your world champion St. Louis Rams! (It sounded a lot weirder at the time. You really had to be there.)

Super Bowl XXXVI – 2002 – New England 20, St. Louis 17

I had made the four-hour trek from Utica, New York to a dorm room in Western Connecticut State University to visit my girlfriend on Super Bowl Weekend. We had just finished pregaming (read: not watching television), ordered a pizza, downed some tequila and settled in for the big contest. My love affair with the Rams’ high-powered offense was still going strong from two years prior. She was Connecticut born and bred, so naturally she was pulling for the Patriots. That would have been cute on its own, except she invited a bunch of big dumb New England oafs to cheer along with her. As the Patriots staked a 17-3 lead, I could feel my girlfriend (and her fellow New England Kappa Tappa Keggas) start to cheer loudly and obnoxiously in my face. When the Rams clawed back to tie it up at 17, it was a hollow victory. My cheers became muted, and I felt guilty for being the Midwest-sympathizing outcast. And finally, when that dreamboat QB (what’s his name again?) announced his royal greatness to the world by leading his team down to set up the game-winning field goal, I swallowed the rest of the tequila and wished pestilence upon spoiled New Englanders and the football team they suddenly loved. I left that evening and drove four hours in a blinding snowstorm back up to Utica. I saw her just once after that fateful evening, and we broke up not long thereafter. She’s married now, and the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl – not like I harbor ill will or anything.

Super Bowl XXVIII – 2004 – New England 32, Carolina 29

I didn’t get a chance to watch the Pirate Bowl on live television (Yarrrr, Bucs vs. Raiders from the year beforrrrrre), because I had to work. I made double-secret sure to request off for this date three months in advance, so there would be no mix-up by placing me on the schedule. I was still pretty new to Buffalo at the time, so I couldn’t invite anyone over, which was just fine. I love to watch me some Super Bowl, even if I am alone. I grabbed a case of Killians, a couple packs of smokes, ordered some pizza and wings and drank in the sublime beauty of a Super Bowl game undisturbed by any girls asking who has the ball, any family telling me I’ve really had enough Milwaukee’s Best and, of course, any duck tape. My television became my best friend that evening, and it didn’t disappoint. The Super Bowl went scoreless for 27 straight minutes, followed by a 24-point explosion in the final three of the first half. Another scoreless third quarter ensued, leaving the score 14-10 New England. All this set up the most exhilarating, maniacal, bombastic final 15 minutes of a Super Bowl ever played. Back and forth the action teetered until they stood locked at 29-29 with a minute left to play. New England’s adorable quarterback (what’s that guy’s name again?) drove the Patriots down the field to set up the game-winning field goal, and Adam Vinatieri kicked it straight and true. Those of you who had 32-29 in your squares probably made off with some serious loot that night. (Author’s Note: I didn’t end up watching this entire game alone. A couple of cute girls came over in the third quarter and tried to break my concentration. They failed … until after time expired.)

Super Bowl XXXIX – 2005 – New England 24, Philadelphia 21

What’s better than having a Super Bowl party? Of course, it’s having a Super Bowl Block Party! It was early February and 55 degrees in Buffalo, and I detected an aura of Christmas morning upon rising from my slumber. I reached into the beer fridge and pulled out a Yuengling. I opened the front door and sat on my front porch. It was 9:30am. By 11, the sidewalks were filled with an unusual amount of hustle and bustle for a suburban neighborhood. Friends and neighbors of mine began making pilgrimages between houses, drinking each other’s beer, laughing and whooping it up. This is what the Super Bowl is all about. I must have drank 15 beers at four different houses before the game even started. When whoever could fit in my living room piled back into my house for kickoff, we were all sloppy messes. I remember the game was on FOX. I remember Terrell Owens put on one of the grittiest displays of athletic courage in recent memory. I remember Andy Reid forgot how to properly utilize the two-minute drill. I also remember the dimple-chinned super-sensational New England quarterback (man, what is hisname?) making quick work of the Eagles’ secondary, with a lot of help coming from some guy named Deion Branch. That’s all I remember. I was fast asleep by 11pm. I skipped class the next day.

See? No big surprises. The quality of a Super Bowl isn’t all that subjective, unless you have an emotional stake invested in one of the teams. A good game is a good game, and on this oversized stage, it goes down in American folklore as an epic battle.

However, the lasting image of a Super Bowl experience is truly what you make of it. All things considered, I’ve been blessed enough to truly enjoy several unbelievable games in my lifetime.

Sometimes I watched with close friends, sometimes with family and other times I’ve stared at the screen with whoever I happen to be dating at the time.

But it doesn’t matter who you’re with. If you treat the day like the national holiday it truly is, you’ll never come away disappointed. Not if the final score is 14-0, and not if it’s 38-35.

So, readers, we hand the pigskin off to you. How do you rank these games? What are your favorite Super Bowl memories?

We welcome and eagerly await all of your responses, and hope this column and wiki-list will be as fun for you as it will be for us.

Do discuss. This is, after all, the Super Bowl. And if we can’t talk about the Super Bowl, I don’t think we should see each other anymore.