If it is anything like the three previous Super Bowls played in Arizona, Super Bowl LVII will be on the short list of the greatest Super Bowls ever played
Eagles-Chiefs -- which will kick off in a matter of hours -- is set up to be a great one, but it has its work cut out for it if it is to best the three previous Super Bowls played in the desert. Each of the previous Arizona Super Bowls were highly competitive games that came down to the wire. The first Arizona Super Bowl was the final chapter for one of the NFL's great dynasties. The second one was the second greatest upset in NFL history. The most recent big game played in Arizona had the most shocking ending to any Super Bowl before or since.
Here's a look at the competition this year's Super Bowl is facing regarding the greatest Super Bowls played in Arizona. We've ranked each of the previous three Super Bowls, starting at No. 3 with the first big game played in "The Grand Canyon State."
3. Super Bowl XXX
Arizona's first Super Bowl was the only Super Bowl played at Sun Devils Stadium, Arizona State's home stadium and the longtime site of the Fiesta Bowl.
The heavily-favored Cowboys raced out to a 13-0 lead before needing two second half interceptions by MVP Larry Brown to hold off the Steelers. Brown's interceptions set up both of the Cowboys' second half touchdowns as Dallas became the first team to win three Super Bowls in four years.
Pittsburgh lost, but it left the game with much to be proud of. Nicknamed Blitzburgh, the Steelers' defense held Emmitt Smith to just 49 yards rushing as the Cowboys gained just 64 yards in the second half. Pittsburgh's defense did its part, but Brown's two picks proved to be too much to overcome.
"If we don't turn the ball over, I think we win that game by at least two possessions," then-Steelers linebacker Levon Kirkland recently told CBS Sports. "They took us a little lightly, until we were in the game, then it was like, 'Whoa, these guys can play with us.'"
2. Super Bowl XLIX
This Super Bowl is up there as one of the best of all-time. Down 24-14 late to the defending Super Bowl champions, Tom Brady willed the Patriots back with two fourth quarter touchdown passes that included the go-ahead score to Julian Edelman with 2:02 left.
Undaunted, the Seahawks put themselves in position to win their second ring after Russell Wilson completed a bizarre, 33-yard completion to Jermaine Kearse that got Seattle to the New England 5-yard-line. Two plays later, instead of giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch from one yard out, the Seahawks instead decided to throw for the winning score.
That decision has gone down in infamy after Malcolm Butler jumped the route while recording one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history. Butler's great play also preserved the Patriots' first Super Bowl win in a decade.
1. Super Bowl XLII
- February 3, 2008
- Giants 17, Patriots 14
- MVP: Eli Manning
This was the greatest upset since Joe Namath led the Jets to victory over the Colts in Super Bowl III. It took a ferocious pass rush and one miraculous completion to take down a Patriots team that was trying to become pro football's first 18-0 team.
David Tyree's jaw-dropping helmet catch set up Eli Manning's game-winning touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 39 seconds left.
New York held on for the win despite Brady's last ditch effort to save New England's perfect season.
Led by Justin Tuck, the Giants' defense sacked Brady five times and hit him four other times. In defeat, the Patriots received a stellar game from Wes Welker, who caught 11 of his 14 targets for 103 yards. Randy Moss, who scored an NFL single season record 23 touchdowns during the season, gave the Patriots a late lead before Manning and Co. made history.