The Super Bowl, the greatest event in all of sports.
For football fans, almost nothing is more of a buzzkill than seeing an NFL season conclude with a boring and uneventful Super Bowl game. And trust us, there have been many of those.
What adds insult to injury? When we were oh-so-close to getting a dream Super Bowl matchup in a specific year — only for the dream to fall just short. And with that, we were instead provided with quite the yawn fest of a big game.
Here are 10 years where we wanted — AND ALMOST GOT — a dream Super Bowl matchup that was instead taken over by the reality of a crappy game.
Wanted: Denver Broncos vs. Minnesota Vikings In Super Bowl 33
Going into 1998 Conference Championship weekend, every average football fan knew what they wanted: The 15-win, record-setting Minnesota Vikings facing John Elway and the defending champion Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 33.
The Atlanta Falcons were a cute story and all, but they weren’t supposed to be a match for the Vikings. Led by Randall Cunningham and the dynamic receiving duo of Cris Carter and rookie sensation Randy Moss, the Vikings scored a record 556 points — a single-season record that held up for nine years.
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But we all know how this story played out. Vikings kicker Gary Anderson — perfect all year long — missed a field goal that would have put Minny up by 10 points with two minutes remaining.
The Falcons drive down the field, get the game-tying touchdown then go on to win in overtime on a Morten Andersen field goal. The Vikings dream season is dead.
Hours later, Elway and the Broncos take care of the New York Jets to set up a “meh” Super Bowl 33 showdown with the Falcons. That game turned out to be as boring as advertised, with the Broncos cruising to a 34-19 victory in Elway’s swan song performance.
We’re still bitter that the Vikings and Broncos never met in Super Bowl 33. Denver running back Terrell Davis won MVP honors that year, and it was the Broncos who finished with the second-highest scoring offense behind only the Vikings.
Don’t mind us for calling this the greatest Super Bowl matchup that never was.
Wanted: Chicago Bears vs. Miami Dolphins In Super Bowl 20
Mike Ditka’s legendary ‘85 Chicago Bears team won 15 of 16 regular season games. Their only loss? Against Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins in a classic Week 13 Monday Night football clash.
While the Bears cruised through the NFC bracket to reach Super Bowl 20, the Dolphins looked poised to reach the big dance for the second straight year.
Once the top-seeded Los Angeles Raiders were knocked out by the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round, it felt like nothing would stop Miami from facing Chicago in the Super Bowl.
The only thing stopping Miami, ahem, was themselves. They coughed the ball up six times in the AFC Championship Game and had no answer for a Patriots offense that gashed the ‘Phins for 255 yards.
The Patriots cake walked to a 31-14 road win to meet the Bears in Super Bowl 20.
But as everybody expected, that legendary Bears’ defense absolutely annihilated a hapless and punchless Patriots offense — en route to a 46-10 blowout win in the big game.
Yeah, Marino vs. that ‘85 Bears defense would have been a way better game. Just sayin’
Wanted: Buffalo Bills vs. San Francisco 49ers In Super Bowl 27
If the Bills didn’t have to draw Troy Aikman’s dynastic Dallas Cowboys in back-to-back Super Bowls, maybe Buffalo would have formed a dynasty. And maybe us football fans would have been treated to two non-crappy Super Bowls in a row.
The Cowboys’ upset of the 49ers at Candlestick Park in the ‘92 NFC Championship Game set up a Super Bowl 27 clash with Jim Kelly’s Bills. It was a five-star matchup on paper, but it instead turned out to be arguably the worst Super Bowl ever.
The Cowboys destroyed the Bills 52-17 to win their first of three Super Bowls in the ‘90s. Good for them and all, but we still wish it was a 49ers-Bills Super Bowl instead.
Remember, the 49ers and Bills met in Week 2 back in that same 1992 season. Jim Kelly and Steve Young both threw for over 400 passing yards and tossed TDs apiece in a 34-31 Buffalo victory.
Now imagine if we got the sequel on the grand stage.
Wanted: Oakland Raiders vs. Philadelphia Eagles In Super Bowl 37
At first glance, Super Bowl 37 between the Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders felt like a dream match because of one man: Jon Gruden.
After the 2001 season, the Raiders traded Gruden to the Buccaneers — and Bill Callahan was promoted to Oakland’s head coaching position.
Rich Gannon spear-headed a Raiders offense that culminated in him winning MVP honors. Gruden inherited a star-studded defense from Tony Dungy and took it to another level — with the Bucs allowing only 12.3 points per game.
Anywho, Super Bowl 37 was an all-time yawn-fest because Gruden obviously knew every play that was coming from his old team. The Bucs forced five turnovers — three of them being pick-sixes — and five sacks in a 48-21 blowout win.
If us fans got our way, it would have been a Raiders-Eagles Super Bowl. Donovan McNabb and the Andy Reid-led aerial assault against football’s top quarterback that year? With no Gruden to sabotage the entire Raiders’ game plan? That would have been a far more satisfying Super Bowl, thank you very much.
And just think about how different history could have been. The Gruden trade ends up being a letdown for the Bucs. Either the long-suffering Raiders win it all in 2002 and perhaps sustain consistent success — OR Andy Reid leads the Eagles to their first-ever Super Bowl before Doug Pederson finishes the job.
Wanted: Carolina Panthers vs. New England Patriots In Super Bowl 50
In what would be the final showdown between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, it was the Broncos who prevailed 20-18 in the 2015 AFC Championship Game to qualify for Super Bowl 50.
Hours later, the Panthers were celebrating a 49-15 shellacking of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game to reach Super Bowl 50. So with that, it was MVP Cam Newton against the Broncos’ No-Fly Zone in the big dance.
While it was nice to see Peyton Manning ride off into the sunset with that long-awaited second Super Bowl ring, the game itself sucked. A 24-10 final.
Six total turnovers — four by the Panthers alone. A whopping 12 total sacks. Heck, the Broncos only had 194 yards of offense in the victory. Oh, and the two teams combined for 18 penalties worth 153 yards.
Looking back, why didn’t the Patriots just beat a past-his-prime Manning and those Broncos in the AFC Championship Game? Then we’d have MVP Newton and the league’s highest-scoring offense going against Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champs.
Two teams with MVP-caliber quarterbacks, top-10 offenses and top-10 defenses? YES PLEASE! Not to mention the first two NEwton-Brady meetings in 2013 and 2017 were high-scoring thrillers that came down to the very final play.
So yeah, something tells us Super Bowl 50 between those two clubs would have been downright epic. Does Brady capture his fifth ring then and there in Levi’s Stadium, or does Newton change his legacy forever by capping off the MVP season with a championship ring?
We’ll never know, because it just had to be a snooze-fest of a Broncos-Panthers Super Bowl instead.
Wanted: Indianapolis Colts vs. Seattle Seahawks In Super Bowl 40
The 2005 Indianapolis Colts looked destined for a trip to the Super Bowl. They started out 13-and-0 before finally losing their first game to the Drew Brees-led San Diego Charges in Week 15.
Peyton Manning would have won MVP if not for Shaun Alexander’s historic season. Nonetheless, the 14-and-2 Colts finished second in both scoring offense and scoring defense — and it should have set up an easy trip to Super Bowl 40.
But the sloppy Colts were stunned by Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round, with reliable kicker Mike Vanderjagt missing a game-tying field goal in the waning seconds.
Seattle ran through the NFC to reach their first ever Super Bowl, while the Steelers crushed the Broncos to set up what would be a very boring showdown.
As everyone knows, the Steelers won a sloppy defensive slugfest that was highlighted by awful officiating that completely favored Bill Cowher’s squad. The Seahawks were totally robbed in a yawn-fest of a 21-10 defeat.
Now imagine if it was the Colts and Seahawks. Football’s two highest-scoring offenses that year? MVP Alexander vs. MVP runner-up Manning? A game that the refs wouldn’t have completely determined on their own?
What a dandy this would have been, alright. Most importantly, a Seahawks-Colts meeting in Super Bowl 40 would have thwarted perhaps the worst Super Bowl ever.
Wanted: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. San Francisco 49ers In Super Bowl 29
Just how awful was Super Bowl 29 between the 49ers and San Diego Chargers? San Fran was an 18.5 point favorite — and they had covered that spread by the second quarter.
The final score of that game was a 49-26 blowout for San Francisco. But yanno something Mean Gene (Hulk Hogan voice), the Super Bowl would have been even better if it was the 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers instead.
Bill Cowher’s Steelers were the AFC’s top team with a 12-and-4 record — thanks to a stingy defense that allowed the second-fewest points. Their championship dreams were crushed by the underdog Chargers in the AFC title game, however, which set the stage for an all-time boring Super Bowl.
But seeing a defensive mastermind like Cowher going up against Steve Young and that prolific 49er offense would have been a sight to behold. You’d have two historic organizations that formed the first two dynasties in the Super Bowl era, with so much at stake here.
Thanks to the Chargers for blowing that dream away from us. And for good measure, of course they just had to no-show the Super Bowl against San Francisco.
Wanted: New England Patriots vs. New Orleans Saints In Super Bowl 53
If it weren’t for the NOLA No-Call, the Saints would have been in Super Bowl 53. For one, that would’ve meant a once-in-a-lifetime Super Bowl showdown between Tom Brady and Drew Brees — the NFL’s two all-time passing yards and passing touchdowns kings.
It also would have thwarted the brutal and boring Super Bowl 53 clash that saw the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3. Yippee.
Brees and Sean Payton never won that elusive second Super Bowl. 2018 was easily their best chance to win another, and it was strictly the worst non-call in NFL history that cost them another championship.
Brees, Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas vs. Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman? Payton – an all-time offensive guru — vs. the game’s greatest defensive-mind ever in Bill Belichick?
THAT would have been a five-star Super Bowl showdown. But of course the stupid NOLA No-Call had to ruin it and prevent the ultimate dream Brady-Brees Super Bowl clash.
Wanted: Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs In Super Bowl 55
Everything was lined up for the dream Aaron Rodgers-Patrick Mahomes showdown to become a reality in Super Bowl 55. Surely, MVP Rodgers and the Packers wouldn’t choke away another NFC title game – this time at home — to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers…right?
Actually, that’s exactly what happened. Costly turnovers, mind-boggling blown coverages — hello, Kevin King! — and questionable decision-making by Matt LaFleur led to the Packers falling to Tom Brady’s Bucs at Lambeau Field.
Meanwhile, Mahomes and the Chiefs dismantled Josh Allen’s Bills at Arrowhead to reach their second straight Super Bowl.
If you recall, just about everybody expected the Chiefs to roll through Brady’s Bucs. Instead, it was Tampa Bay who cruised to an easy 31-9 blowout win — mostly because Mahomes was running for his life all-game long behind a duct-tape o-line full of backups.
Rodgers wouldn’t play in another NFC Championship, so the dream Super Bowl clash against Mahomes never transpired. Seeing how boring and uneventful Super Bowl 55 was, we remain sad that it couldn’t have been a Packers-Chiefs game.
Green Bay’s pass rush was nothing close to Tampa’s ferocious unit, so Mahomes wouldn’t have been running around all night long. We would have had a thrilling back-and-forth shootout between two generational talents — on the biggest stage no less.
Wanted: Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers In Super Bowl 28
We got to see the Chiefs and 49ers meet in Super Bowl 54 — and then a second time in super Bowl 58. But if every football fan outside of Dallas had its way, a Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl would have happened way-back-when in the 1993 season.
The reason is obvious: After the 1992 season, the 49ers chose Steve Young and traded franchise icon Joe Montana to the Chiefs. San Fran was now Young’s team — and Montana got the chance to further build his legacy elsewhere.
But alas, the 49ers lost to the Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game for the second straight year. Montana’s Chiefs also reached the final four but were no match for the Bills, who punched a fourth straight ticket to the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl 28 was more of the same: The Cowboys made easy work of the Bills, winning a second straight Lombardi Trophy by a final score of 30-13.
So that Super Bowl sucked. Now what if we got to see Young’s 49ers against Montana’s Chiefs? The ultimate revenge game for “Joe Cool”? Or does Young get the monkey off his back by beating the very legend that he succeeded?
To think we were this-close to a Young vs. Montana Super Bowl. It just wasn’t meant to be, unfortunately.
What other dream Super Bowl matchups do you wish we got to see, only to be served with a crappy one?
