It’s the one weekend a year everyone is a football fan.
Super Bowl weekend is here, and there should be a great game on tap with the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs meeting the San Francisco 49ers.
Both teams have playmakers on both sides of the ball, and you never know what snap could determine the game.
The only downside this year, if you’re a fan of New York football teams, is that neither the Jets nor Giants are playing. Neither team has played since the regular season ended last month.
But we will always have our memories.
The Giants and Jets have played in five Super Bowl games between them. And while Tom Brady has more championships than those teams combined, New York football teams have had some of the most memorable plays (and quotes!) in the history of the big game.
So before we watch the game, see Taylor Swift in the suite and debate which commercial was the best, let’s take a look back on the greatest moments in New York Super Bowl history.
10. Wide left
This would have been higher, but it wasn’t really a great play by the Giants. It was the play that decided Super Bowl XXV. Bills kicker Scott Norwood booted a 47-yarder as time expired, but it went wide left, giving the Giants the Lombardi Trophy. At the time, it was the closest Super Bowl of all time.
9. Third-quarter heroics
The Giants trailed Denver by a point at halftime of Super Bowl XXI. After intermission, the Giants got a 13-yard touchdown pass from Phil Simms Mark Bavaro and a 1-yard TD run from Joe Morris, sandwiching a 21-yard field goal from Raul Allegre. Denver never recovered.
8. O.J. Anderson gives the Giants the lead
The Bills started the second half of Super Bowl XXV with a lead, but the Giants went on a 14-play drive that ended with a one-yard plunge by eventual MVP, O.J. Anderson.
7. Jets ground Colts
The star of the Jets Super Bowl team was the quarterback, but the defense had a huge hand in bringing the trophy to New York. The Jets picked off four passes, including three in the second quarter to stun the Colts. In fact, the Colts only touchdown drive of the game was greatly aided by two personal foul penalties. Running back Matt Snell’s efficiency (30 carries, 121 yards).
6. Original football pool
Long before people were passing around office pools, the most famous Super Bowl pool was when Namath skipped out on a mandatory press session prior to Super Bowl 3 to relax by the pool. He was fined $50 for missing picture day, but didn’t seem bothered by it. “They’ve got 10,000 pictures of us, why do they need more than that?” Namath said.
5. Down goes Elway
Going up against one of the best quarterbacks in the game and trailing 10-7 late in the second quarter, the Giants sacked Elway on first down, forced an incomplete pass on second down and on third down, George Martin dropped Elway again, this time in the end zone for a safety. The play gave the Giants momentum heading into halftime and they won in the second half.
4. Plaxico Burress TD
It was the touchdown that ended the Patriots’ winning streak. It capped off the drive where Tyree hauled in his helmet catch. It was a fine throw by Manning, and it shook the entire NFL. But the key to the entire thing was Plaxico Burress was hauling in the pass. Giants fans were elated, and finally, after a full season of football, the 1972 Dolphins could toast to still being the last team to ever finish the season undefeated.
3. Mario Manningham catch
Under-heralded Giants receivers love making big plays when they’re down late against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. This one wasn’t quite as dramatic, but it might have been a better catch. Between two defenders, Manningham caught the 38-yard pass and somehow got both his feet inbounds with just under four minutes to go in the game, and the Giants trailing by two. New York made the most of the drive. They scored and won the Super Bowl, once again sending Tom Brady home upset. At least this time it didn’t ruin a perfect season.
2. Joe’s guarantee
We have to go all the way back to Super Bowl III for this one, but it’s an all-time, all-timer. Prior to the game against the heavily favored Baltimore Colts, Joe Namath said “I’ve got news for you. We’re gonna win the game. I guarantee it.” Few at the Miami Touchdown Club dinner believed him, but he was right. Final score: Jets 16, Colts 7.
1. David Tyree’s helmet catch
The Eli Manning-David Tyree connection wasn’t one fantasy football players put a lot of stock in, but the duo had arguably the biggest play in NFL history. Manning, under great pressure, shook off New England defenders and hurled a pass 32 yards downfield, where Tyree caught the ball, pinning it between his hand and helmet. A few plays later (we’ll get to that) New York scored on the drive, winning the Super Bowl and handing the Patriots their first loss of the season. NFL Films president Steve Sabol called it “the greatest play the Super Bowl has ever produced.” He