With New Orleans set to hold its 11th Super Bowl, let’s take a look back at some of the previous big games held in the Big Easy
With the Super Bowl set to be played in New Orleans for a record-tying 11th time, now is a great opportunity to look back at the previous 10 Super Bowls hosted by the city. Many of those Super Bowls in New Orleans have launched or validated some of the greatest dynasties in NFL history, and have also been the finale to some of the greatest postseason runs we have ever seen. With this in mind, and Super Bowl LIX on the horizon, let’s take look back and rank the previous Super Bowls hosted by New Orleans.
10. Super Bowl VI (6): Dallas Cowboys 24, Miami Dolphins 3 (1971 season)
Entering this Super Bowl the Dallas Cowboys had come to be known as “next year’s champions” due to their recent proclivity for losing on the big stage. Despite a 52-16-2 record and a roster full of Hall of Famers, over the previous five seasons the Cowboys had lost two NFL Championship Games and Super Bowl V the previous year. The Cowboys would prove their greatness in Super Bowl VI however by dominating the Miami Dolphins in a 21-point win. The difference between this and the previous Cowboy teams would prove to be future Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach. After winning an early season QB controversy, Staubach went 13-0 in games he started and won Super Bowl MVP.
The game was relatively mundane, as the Dolphins were unable to find the end zone, making them the only team to fail to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl until the Rams in 2018. Mike Ditka caught a touchdown pass early in the 4th quarter to seal the Cowboys first ever championship, while cornerback Herb Adderley won his third Super Bowl in the last six years after winning Super Bowls I and II with Green Bay. This would be the last game the Dolphins would lose until the 1973 season.
Photo by Focus on Sport via Getty Images
9. Super Bowl XII (12): Dallas Cowboys 27, Denver Broncos 10 (1977 season)
Another uncompetitive Super Bowl featuring the Cowboys, this time against a Broncos team featuring an all-time great defense known as the “Orange Crush”. Denver had beaten the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC playoffs, the two teams that had combined to win the previous three Super Bowls, but still entered the first ever Super Bowl played in the Superdome as 6-point underdogs to the powerhouse Cowboys. Denver starter Craig Morton, the quarterback that Roger Staubach had beaten out in Dallas in 1971, would complete the same number of passes to the Cowboys as he did to the Broncos, throwing 4 interceptions and completing just 4 of 15 passes, only one of which went for positive yards. The Broncos were unable to keep up with Staubach and rookie running back Tony Dorsett, as they would fail to score any points in the first half and fourth quarter. This game would cement the Cowboys legacy in the 1970s, winning their second world title during the decade.
Photo by Sylvia Allen/Getty Images
8. Super Bowl XV (15): Oakland Raiders 27, Philadelphia Eagles 10 (1980 season)
Another unremarkable Super Bowl thanks to bad quarterback play on behalf of the losing team. Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski would throw 3 interceptions (all to Raiders linebacker Rod Martin) and lose one fumble as the Eagles would not find the endzone until the 4th quarter when the game was already in hand. The Raiders would become the first ever wild card team to win the Super Bowl, as quarterback Jim Plunkett was named MVP following a 3-touchdown game. There was more drama off the field than on during this Super Bowl, as prior to the season NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle had denied Raiders owner Al Davis’s request to move his team to Los Angeles. This would lead Davis to sue Rozelle and the NFL for the right to move his team, a lawsuit that was ongoing at the time Rozelle presented Davis with the Lombardi Trophy.
7. Super Bowl XXIV (24): San Francisco 49ers 55, Denver Broncos 10 (1989 season)
The largest margin of victory and the most points ever scored in a Super Bowl is a great way to cement your legacy. The 49ers led by Joe Montana and Jerry Rice completely dominated John Elway’s Broncos, scoring exactly two touchdowns in every single quarter. Montana and Rice would set the record for most touchdown passes and touchdown receptions in a single Super Bowl with five and three respectively, while Montana won his then record third Super Bowl MVP. The 49ers repeated as Super Bowl champions while the Broncos lost their third Super Bowl in the past four years by a combined score of 136-40. The game, while a blowout, was still exciting throughout given the sheer level of domination leveed by the 49ers offense, and the greatness on display by Montana and Rice.
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6. Super Bowl IX (9): Pittsburgh Steelers 16, Minnesota Vikings 6 (1974 season)
A slugfest in every sense of the word between two of the greatest defenses in NFL history, Super Bowl IX matched the Steel Curtain vs the Purple People Eaters, defenses which featured a combined eight future Hall of Famers between them. Despite a matchup of future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw and Fran Tarkenton, the two defenses dominated throughout, as the score at halftime was a measly 2-0 following a safety forced by Pittsburgh. The Vikings offense would be shutout, as their only points came by way of a blocked punt returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. This would pull the Vikings to within 3, but the Steelers responded with an 11-play 66-yard touchdown drive lasting 6:47 which put them up by 10.
The difference proved to be Steelers running back Franco Harris, who ran 34 times for a then Super Bowl record 158 yards and one touchdown. The Steelers only gave up 119 total yards, still the fewest amount of yards ever given up in a Super Bowl. This would be the Vikings second Super Bowl loss in a row, and the third of ultimately four lost by the team in the decade. The Steelers had been a playoff team the previous two years, but this year were supplemented by a draft in which they selected four future Hall of Famers and signed a fifth as a UDFA. This would be the first of four Super Bowls in a six-year period for the Steelers, starting a dynasty many would consider to be the greatest of all-time in a single decade.
Photo by Rich Pilling/Diamond Images via Getty Images
5. Super Bowl XX (20): Chicago Bears 46, New England Patriots 10 (1985 season)
Another game which showcased one of the most dominant teams in NFL history, the New England Patriots simply did not belong on the same field as the ‘85 Chicago Bears. A Patriots upset of the Miami Dolphins in the AFC championship game prevented a rematch with the only team that had beaten the Bears that season, as New England advanced to their first ever Super Bowl, doing so as a wild card team. The game did not start so smoothly for the Bears, as Walter Payton fumbled on the second play of the game leading to the Patriots taking a 3-0 lead, the first points the Bears had allowed that postseason (yes you read that right). The Bears would then score 44 unanswered points, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by William “The Refrigerator” Perry. Despite being a blowout, the ‘85 Bears are perhaps the greatest team and defense we have ever seen in a single season. After the game both head coach Mike Ditka and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan were carried off the field by the Bears players, the only time two coaches have been carried off the field after a Super Bowl. This would be Ditka’s third Super Bowl win in New Orleans, the first two coming as a player and then as an assistant coach both with the Cowboys. This game was the most viewed Super Bowl at the time and finished as the second most viewed of the 20th century.
4. Super Bowl IV (4): Kansas City Chiefs 23, Minnesota Vikings 7 (1969 season)
The final Super Bowl before the NFL-AFL merger, the Kansas City Chiefs validated the AFL’s place as a league equal to the NFL following the New York Jets upset of the Baltimore Colts the year before with their own upset of the Minnesota Vikings. The first ever Super Bowl played in New Orleans also featured the first time a coach wore a microphone during the Super Bowl, as Chiefs coach Hank Stram’s quotes from the sideline during the game became some of the most famous NFL Films clips of all-time. The Chiefs earned redemption for their loss in Super Bowl I, as their defense, which featured an incredible six future Hall of Famers, would completely dominate the Vikings for the entire game. The Chiefs opened up a 16 point lead in the first half following a 5-yard touchdown run on the play known as 65 toss power trap. The Vikings would eventually find the end zone, but Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson would matriculate his way down the field and throw a game sealing 46-yard touchdown pass late in the 3rd quarter.
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3. Super Bowl XXXI (31): Green Bay Packers 35, New England Patriots 21 (1996 season)
The Green Bay Packers made their return to the Super Bowl after winning the first two ever played under coach Vince Lombardi. Now competing for the trophy named after their former coach, the Packers met the Patriots making their second trip to the Super Bowl, this time under future Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells who had turned the team around from a 2-14 record just four seasons prior. The Packers, led by Brett Favre on offense and Reggie White on defense, would hold a 27-14 lead at halftime after trailing 14-10 early thanks to two 50+ yard touchdown passes by Favre. The Patriots would cut the lead to 27-21 in the 3rd quarter, but return specialist and game MVP Desmond Howard would return the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to put the Packers back up by two scores. White would have a Super Bowl record three sacks, including one which all but sealed the Packers’ first Super Bowl title since Super Bowl II. White would famously run around the perimeter of the field in the Superdome holding the Lombardi Trophy high over his head to celebrate the win.
2. Super Bowl XLVII (47): Baltimore Ravens 34, San Francisco 49ers 31 (2012 season)
The most recent Super Bowl in New Orleans is perhaps the most infamous. Thanks to a partial power outage in the Superdome, the game was delayed for 34 minutes early in the 3rd quarter with the Ravens holding a 28-6 lead. The 49ers and quarterback Colin Kaepernick would take advantage of the delay, and score 17 unanswered points in the 3rd quarter to cut the lead to 5. The 49ers would have a chance to win the game on their final drive still down 5 points, and managed to set themselves up with a 1st-and-goal from the Ravens 7-yard line with just over two minutes remaining. The drive would stall however, thanks to Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith getting away with a pass interference on 4th down in the eyes of some. This would be the first Super Bowl the 49ers franchise would lose after winning their previous five trips. This game would also be the last in the careers of both Ray Lewis and Randy Moss, arguably the greatest defensive and offensive players in the league in the late 1990s and 2000s.
Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
1. Super Bowl XXXVI (36): New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17 (2001 season)
Up until this point, the Patriots had not fared too well in the Super Bowl. Making their third appearance in the Super Bowl, all of which in New Orleans, the Patriots entered the game as 14-point underdogs to the St. Louis Rams and their Greatest Show on Turf offense. The Rams had won the Super Bowl two years prior after a previously unknown backup QB Kurt Warner took over in the preseason following an injury to starter Trent Green. Now, the Patriots were also led by an unknown backup QB named Tom Brady who took over for starter Drew Bledsoe who sustained an injury in Week 2 against the Jets. In this same game, a Jets fumble would be reversed by a little known rule called the Tuck Rule, a rule that would later help the Patriots reach the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
The Patriots would build a 17-3 lead late in the 3rd quarter, as the Bill Belichick coached defense would stymie the Greatest Show on Turf for the first three quarters. Warner and the Rams would mount a comeback however, scoring two touchdowns in the 4th quarter to tie the game at 17 with 1:30 remaining in the game. The Patriots took over on their own 17-yard line with no timeouts left, and were still just on their own 41-yard line with 29 seconds left to go. Brady would then hit receiver Troy Brown over the middle for a gain of 23 yards to set up a 48-yard field goal made by Adam Vinatieri for the win, the first Super Bowl ever won on the final play of the game. The win would be the beginning of the Patriots dynasty which lasted until 2018 and earned six Super Bowl titles and nine appearances overall.
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