The Super Bowl

So three days after the Pro Bowl it comes down to a post about the Super Bowl. The author has been neglecting his duties again. However, the discussion today, albeit late, is in fact all about the big game, which had big plays, tough plays, and two comebacks.

It should be noted that in the past, the big game was just a name. A name that went hand in hand with some other terms for the NFL championship game, such as Super Bore, or Super Blowout. You see, through the 1980s and 1990s, your average Super Bowl was a good old fashioned shit kicking. In fact, through much of this period the NFC championship game was considered the real Super Bowl, as the teams involved were usually playing for the right to hammer the living bajeezus out of the Broncos or the Bills.

Then on January 25th, 1998 something happened. John Elway happened. The same John Elway who was on the list of great Super Bowl whipping boys such as Fran Tarkenton or Jim Kelly. The same John Elway who was destined to go down in history as a great player who just couldn't get it done in the big game. In the third quarter, the Broncos went on a 92-yard romp to take the lead. This drive was highlit by one of the most iconic plays in football. Skip to 1:20.



It's not that Elway had a great game. In fact, he didn't (the next time the Broncos had the ball he gave up an interception that allowed the Packers back into the game). It was simply John Elway doing what it takes to win the big one. And with this play a new era for the Super Bowl began.

In the years that followed the Super Bowl became an event that actually lived up to its billing. Two years later this happened:



The Patriots would win three championships in 4 years, with a three point margin for each victory. They would go into another with an 18-0 record, and go into the closing minutes with the lead:



Then this year, the Cardinals came back from a 13 point deficit in the 4th quarter, capped by this:



On its own that would have made for a pretty nice ending, but then:



So congratulations to the NFL. You've certainly come a long way from a string of Super Bowls where the most memorable play was Don Beebe hustling to knock the ball out of Leon Lett's hand, so the Bills could lose 52-17 instead of 59-17.