The Ultimates

The Ultimates
by rick olivares

“If it's the ultimate game, how come they're playing it again next year?"

Thus said Dallas running back Duane Thomas in an impeccable display of logic on the eve of Super Bowl VI in 1972 where his Cowboys would dismantle the Miami Dolphins 24-3.

So if Super Bowl XLII was the greatest ever considering the implications of a New England win (that would have given them a perfect 19-0 season record and their fourth title) as 12-point favorites and the unimaginable New York upset where they won a record 11 consecutive road games, did anyone think that it was going to be topped this year by the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals?

Maybe not. Maybe as improbable as a David Tyree (who is muttered and cursed in the same breath as one Bucky Dent by the fine folks from the New England area) catch. For all the pomp and splendor of the National Football League’s championship game, teams have been skewered 25 times by 12 points or more. Another four matches were won by at least 10 points while only 12 were decided by a touchdown or a field goal.

In the mid-1980’s, Al Davis’ Los Angeles Raiders took the fun out of the big game by fashioning the first of five routs. After that win by the silver and black, four NFC teams took the next titles by a combined 109 points taking out the life of the ultimate game.

If at this point, the millions glued to the tube were more interested in the commercials and halftime show because of the repeated laughers, Joe Montana’s San Francisco 49ers provided the MTV Generation with all drama of a taut thriller in Super Bowl XXIII that equated the NFL with life as a game of inches.

That game at the Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida wasn’t as dramatic as Doug Flutie’s 63-yard Hail Mary pass to Gerald Phelan with six seconds left that gave Boston College the 1984 College National Championship that opened up American football to a modern and more international audience.

But Super Bowl XXIII was close and is the stuff of legend. Boomer Esiason’s Cincinnati Bengals spotted the 49ers with a 20-16 lead after a field goal. There was 3:10 left to play and San Francisco began their drive at their own 8-yard line.

Sensing that his team was somewhat shaken by the Bengals’ resiliency, Montana, in a moment that cemented his “Joe Cool” reputation, uttered his famous “Hey, isn’t that John Candy” quip. It soothed frayed nerves and he led the 49ers to an 11-play 92-yard TD drive that culminated with a 10-yard reception by John Taylor with eight seconds left for the win.

The close game seemed to be an aberration as San Francisco returned to defend their title the following year and there they hammered the Denver Broncos 55-10.

Just as there was the game-winning TD, there too was the game-losing miss as the Buffalo Bills’ Scott Norwood missed a 49-yard field goal with three seconds left that gave the New York Giants the slimmest margin of victory in the Super Bowl 20-19.

And there’s the game winning-stop when St. Louis Rams linebacker Mike Jones slammed the end zone shut on Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kevin Tyson’s drive which ended at the one-yard line as time expired for a pulsating 23-16 win.

Sure the Super Bowl will be played next year (and at Miami for 10th time in league history). But who knows if anyone can top the last two years of championship football?

The ultimate game?

Nah. Wanna bet that it hasn’t been written yet?

My Best Super Bowl Games Ever:
1) XLII Giants 17 vs. Patriots 14
2) XLIII Steelers 27 vs. Cardinals 23
3) XXXIV Rams 23 vs. Titans 16
4) XXXVI Patriots 20 vs. Rams 17
5) XXV Giants 20 vs. Bills 19
6) XXIII 49ers 20 vs. Bengals 16
7) XIII Steelers 35 vs. Cowboys 31
8) XXXVIII Patriots 32 vs. Panthers 29
9) XXII Broncos 31 vs. Packers 24
10) III Jets 16 vs. Colts 7