Super Bowl LIX Run-Up: Which Past Super Bowls Were Most Important?

• Super Bowl LIX is for history as the Chiefs go for a threepeat
• The Eagles will be remembered forever if they prevent it
• Specific past Super Bowls have been critical for the NFL and its growth

When asking the question: “Which were the most important Super Bowls in NFL history and why?” it’s easy to get caught up in the peripheral factors. As the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles prepare for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, there’s the anticipated halftime show featuring Kendrick Lamar. Travis Kelce’s girlfriend Taylor Swift will presumably be present (though not performing). The normal cascade of stars from every genre will attend, promote, and party. And then there are the commercials.

But the league’s rise to becoming one of the world’s most culturally significant events did not hinge solely on the pageantry. The game is still crucial. Let’s look at past Super Bowls that exploded the NFL’s global popularity more than any halftime spectacle ever could.

Super Bowl III, Jets 16-Colts 7

“They’re gonna beat us.”

Vince Lombardi, a year into his retirement as Packers head coach, was in Miami for Super Bowl III and had an intense loyalty to the NFL over the upstart AFL. He referred to the game as “us” vs “them” even though it was Baltimore and not Green Bay representing the senior league.

Lombardi loved Joe Namath’s quick release, powerful arm, and uncanny accuracy. He would have needed to rein in the off-field behaviors if he got his hands on the QB.

Namath guaranteed a Jets win the week of the game despite Don Shula’s Colts being an 18-point favorite. New York played flawlessly building a 16-0 lead. Namath completed 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards and refused head coach Weeb Ewbank’s offer to let him get a late TD pass, preferring to run out the clock.

Super Bowl III proved that the AFL was in the same class as the NFL and the pending merger was justified.

Super Bowl IV, Chiefs 23 – Vikings 7

The Vikings were 12-point favorites over the Chiefs. There was a lingering sense that the NFL remained superior and that the Jets’ win over the Colts the year before was a fluke. Kansas City coach Hank Stram was still smarting over Lombardi’s dismissive response to the Chiefs and the AFL after Green Bay beat KC 35-10 in Super Bowl I.

This was the last Super Bowl in which the AFL and NFL were separate leagues. Against the Vikings, Chiefs QB Len Dawson followed Stram’s instructions and matriculated the ball down the field on the way to a 23-7 win.

Super Bowl VII, Dolphins 14-Redskins 7

Shula’s Dolphins set the standard for excellence with their undefeated season. It was 51 Super Bowls ago and no one has ever matched the accomplishment.

Miami ran the ball down Washington’s throat. Their defense smothered their QB Billy Kilmer, holding him to 104 yards passing, and intercepting him 3 times. The shutout was ruined by kicker Garo Yepremian’s ill-advised pass attempted after a blocked field goal.

Super Bowl XVI, 49ers 26-Bengals 21

It’s easy to laugh now, but at the time, the 49ers were still seen as something of a one-off. They barely squeaked by the Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game on Joe Montana’s desperation TD pass to Dwight Clark subsequently known as “The Catch.” Privately, Dallas players insist that Montana was fleeing from its pass rush and trying to throw the ball through the end zone.

Super Bowl XVI amounted to a pick’em: San Francisco was a 1-point favorite over Cincinnati.

The key was San Francisco’s third-quarter goal-line stand, stopping Cincinnati and holding onto a 20-7 lead. This was the first of the 49ers’ four championships in the 1980s and was the start of the Bill Walsh-Montana duo.

Super Bowl XXII, Redskins 42-Broncos 10

The game itself was a massacre and over at halftime with Washington having built up a 35-10 lead. Denver entered the game as 3.5-point favorites. For Washington, unheralded running back Timmy Smith ran for 204 yards on 22 carries and lasted 15 more games in the league before fading away.

Doug Williams was the game’s MVP completing 18 of 29 passes for 4 touchdowns, all in the second quarter. He was the first Black quarterback to start a Super Bowl. This elicited a media frenzy with some of the most ridiculous narratives coming to light. The NFL itself had people in power positions clinging to the moronic notion that white quarterbacks were better suited to the nuance of the position.

One reporter asked Williams how long he’d been a Black quarterback.

As silly as the stereotypes were, Williams destroyed them once and for all with his performance.

Super Bowl XXXVI, Patriots 20-Rams 17

The Rams were 14-point favorites. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady were in the Super Bowl for the first time. It was after the “tuck rule” saved them from losing to the Raiders in the Divisional Round.

When teams make an unexpected run, the difference between an extended string of dominance and receding to the crowd is simply winning or losing. One of the biggest “ifs” with the Belichick/Brady Patriots is if they would have become the six-time champs had they not won the first one. There’s no definitive answer.

Super Bowl LV, Buccaneers 31-Chiefs 9

Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid were going for their second straight Super Bowl against the ghost Mahomes is now chasing, Brady. Mahomes seemed to wilt against Brady, going 26 for 49 and getting picked off twice. Brady completed 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The game’s importance goes beyond Tampa stopping KC from repeating. This was Brady’s first year with the Bucs after two decades with New England. The Belichick/Brady divorce and Brady’s Super Bowl win gave ammo to the Brady camp that the QB was more important.

The simplest conclusion is this:

• Brady left and won a Super Bowl in his first year away
• Belichick’s Patriots collapsed and he was fired four years later

Super Bowl LIX Will Be on This List

Regardless of what happens in Super Bowl LIX, it will land on the list of most important Super Bowls in NFL history because it will either be a Chiefs threepeat — the first in NFL history — or the Eagles will prevent it.

Either way, it is a worthy addition. So which are your most important Super Bowls?

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