The best Super Bowl? Impossible to measure

by Ed Valentine on Feb 3, 2009 9:53 AM EST in New York Giants News

Why is everyone so obsessed with figuring out the "best" of everything?

What do we keep hearing after Pittsburgh's thrilling victory in Sunday's Super Bowl?

Was James Harrison's 100-yard interception return better than David Tyree's catch -- which was last year's best Super Bowl play ever?
Was Ben Roethlisberger's game-winning drive better than the one Eli Manning put together a season before?
Was this Super Bowl better than last season's Super Bowl, which pundits had declared the best Super Bowl ever played?

Why do we try to answer these questions? Are they even possible to answer?

Ask a Steelers' fan you get one answer. Ask a Giants' fan you get another. Ask a neutral observer and ... ah, who really cares?

Does arguing about this stuff really matter? Of course not. It just fills time, takes up newspaper space, TV air time and Internet bandwidth.

The knee-jerk reaction is always -- yes, always -- that the last 'great' moment you see is always the 'best' great moment. We are emotional creatures -- even reporters and columnists. That's just how we are.

Over the years we have seen many great Super Bowls, and many great plays. What about Marcus Allen's incredible reverse-field touchdown run? Joe Theismann's intercepted screen pass? Joe Montana to John Taylor against the Cincinnati Bengals? Scott Norwood's wide right? Len Dawson to Otis Taylor? The Jets beating the Colts?

Were these moments any less dramatic or less thrilling than what we have seen the past two seasons? Probably not. Our memories of them have just dimmed over the years.

Let's just be thankful we have had two great Super Bowls in a row. At least great games give us stuff to argue about.

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Comments

Last year was THE best.

I agree with the sentiment that journalists get carried away with ranking and comparing previous performances, but there are a few indisputable reasons why Super Bowl XLII was the best.

1- The Giants were a wild card team that played every NFC playoff game on the road… 2- The Patriots were 18-0 going into the game and were stopped short of being the only 19-0 team in the history of the NFL… 3- The winning TD drive was filled with more drama than this year’s. You still can’t top Eli eluding 3 defenders and finding Tyree for a circus catch on 3rd and long, in addition to the 4th down conversion on the same drive… 4- Unless the Patriots bounce back next year and win another title, I think its safe to say we ended their run of being an NFL dynasty.

by JINTS14 on Feb 3, 2009 10:43 AM EST reply actions

agreed

for the most part. I’m not 100% sure last year was the BEST EVER, but I am 100% sure that it was better than this years. I am also 100% sure that, IMO, the Giants-Bills, Broncos-Packers, Rams-Titans, Pats-Rams, and Pats-Panthers SB’s were as good if not better than this years. This year was a bad game defined by one exciting play for 3 quarters, which had a great 4th quarter. Those other games were all more well-played games (well played meaning both teams showed up for all 4 quarters, and the refs didn’t overtly factor into the outcome). I’m gonna have more on this in a bit, but my class is ending and I’ve gotta shut down my PC….

by cjmulrain on Feb 3, 2009 11:54 AM EST up reply actions

It's still Super Bowl XXV

Two teams playing at their absolute best with everyone making plays throughout the game. It was an exceptionally played game for 4 quarters. There were no TOs in that game. If you’ve never seen it and get a chance, watch it from start to finish—I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Last year’s game (XLII) is close and may have meant more on an historical level, but I don’t think it was as well played (and arguably wasn’t as good as their regular season matchup).

Let’s not sell this game short either. I thought the first half was exciting, generally well played, and ended on arguably the most incredible play in the history of the Super Bowl. The third quarter was kind of blah with the Steelers time-consuming, penalty-laden FG drive. But the fourth quarter may have been the best in Super Bowl history (Super Bowl X would be in that discussion as well as XXXVIII).

by DoubleB on Feb 3, 2009 5:32 PM EST reply actions

That's a good point

SB XXV was a tremendously well played and game and you can’t get any closer. I think non-Giants fans will not give it the credit it deserves because they see the Bills losing it more than the Giants winning it, but what they fail to understand was that it was the Giants strategy that led to only a deep FG attempt.

by potroast on Feb 4, 2009 8:18 AM EST up reply actions

Ok back for more

anyway, the reason it annoys me to see people annoint this the “best Super Bowl ever” is based purely on the fact that it had a great 4th quarter. But the 4th quarter this year was almost identical to the 4th quarter last year. 3 TD’s scored, 2 lead changes in the last 3 minutes, incredible catches, and a last gasp falling short. The big difference, of course, is which side came out on top – this year it was the favored team who won, last year it was the biggest underdog in the history of the Super Bowl except maybe the Jets in SB III.

And honestly, I didn’t think the Harrison interception return was that great. When I was watching it, I was more thinking “wow, what a crappy play by the Cardinals” than “wow, what an incredible play by Harrison.” I was wondering a) how Warner threw that pick, b) how Warner didn’t knock him out of bounds, c) how none of the Cardinals could catch up with him. To me, the greatest plays in SB history that I remember watching are Manning-to-Tyree and the Elway helicopter run, both of which made me jump up and say “wow” when they happened. The Harrison play reminded me more of Leon Little getting the ball swiped out of his hands inside the 5 in the Cowboys-Bills Super Bowl. Great effort by one guy, but mostly just a terrible play by the other team.

Ok, done ranting now – it WAS a great Super Bowl. Just not nearly the “best.”

by cjmulrain on Feb 3, 2009 6:01 PM EST reply actions

*Leon Lett

not sure where I got Leon Little from.

by cjmulrain on Feb 3, 2009 6:03 PM EST up reply actions

Easy to understand

This is new, last year is old, so this year’s game must be better. Notice how the Colts aren’t even mentioned anymore? The story-lines on ESPN, NFL Network and the rest will be all-Steelers-all-the-time from here until they lose in next year’s Super Bowl. Although the media may still throw the Chargers in there as contenders, as has been the popular thing to do.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Feb 3, 2009 8:17 PM EST up reply actions