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Super Bowl Upsets

If New England gets past the Chargers in the AFC title game, they will be favored over the NFC champion, and perhaps by a double digit margin. With New England being favored by such large numbers in so many games this season, it got me thinking about the biggest Super Bowl upsets in history. It is only fitting that New England has accounted for one of them.

In Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots were two touchdown dogs to the St. Louis Rams and its high powered spread offense led by Kurt Warner, a host of talented wideouts, and Marshall Faulk. This number came as no surprise really, considering that the Rams had won by an average of nearly two touchdowns per game all season and the Patriots’ biggest playoff weapon was luck. I think you all remember the Tuck Rule. But at the end of the day, the Patriots were Super Bowl champs on Adam Vinatieri’s 48-yard stunner.

And how about Super Bowl XXV featuring the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants? This is probably one of the more memorable Super Bowl games of all time. The spread was just 7-points in favor of Buffalo, but no one was giving the G-Men a shot against Jim Kelly and the Bills’ no-huddle offense. As good as the Bills were that season has since been forgotten by most, as Scott Norwood’s last second field goal attempt went wide right to put the 1990-91 Bills in the history book as a goat.

Favre has a chance to get another one if he can get past the Giants Sunday. He has one under his belt already, but he did let one get away in Super Bowl XXXII. You probably don’t even remember that the defending Super Bowl champion Packers were 12-point favorites in this game. Favre had looked unstoppable for two season’s straight and it looked like Green Bay would do what it hadn’t done since Super Bowl’s one and two. Prior to this game, the NFC had won 13 straight NFL titles. In fact, in the 8 previous Super Bowls, the NFC had won by an average of 20 ppg. But it was finally John Elway’s time. Elway had been denied in 3 previous Super Bowls, but not this one, thanks to Terrell Davis’ 157 yards and 3 touchdowns.

I’m sure you all know the greatest Super Bowl upset of all time. Way back in Super Bowl III, Namath’s Jets took on the mighty Baltimore Colts. The Jets were an 18-point underdog when this line dropped and were 20-point dogs by kickoff. That didn’t stop Mr. Namath from guaranteeing victory and delivering a 16-7 win.

January 19th, 2008