EVERY SO OFTEN, a game that lasts for hours can be decided by a few moments of genius – or madness.
5. Scott Norwood
Buffalo Bills – Super Bowl XXV
Say the words ‘wide right’ to any Bills fan, and they’re likely to mutter the name Scott Norwood beneath a torrent of swear words.
Down 20-19 to the New York Giants, the Bills took possession of the football with just over two minutes to play on their own 10-yard line. QB Jim Kelly then produced one of the great clutch drivers, marching the Bills steadily down the field to the Giants 29-yard line with eight seconds remaining.
This left kicker Scott Norwood – the Bills all-time leading points scorer – with a 47-yard kick to win it all. The rest, as they say, is history. Wide right, wide right, wide right.
Pittsburgh Steelers – Super Bowl XL
With just over nine minutes to go in Super Bowl XL, the Steelers held a narrow 14-10 lead over the Seattle Seahawks. With the ball on the Seahawks 44-yard line, most commentators expected Pittsburgh to work their way slowly down the field, in typical smashmouth style.
It looked as if that’s exactly what was going to happen when Roethlisberger handed the ball off to running back, Willie Parker. What happened next though, surprised everyone.
Roethlisberger had actually called ‘Fake 39, Toss X Reverse, Pass’. The result, Randle El became the first wide receiver to throw a touchdown pass in Super Bowl history.
3. John Elway
Denver Broncos – Super Bowl XXXII
This wasn’t necessarily a game winning play by Elway, but it swung momentum so much that the Green Bay Packers never really recovered.
Late in the third quarter, having advanced the ball to the Packers 12-yard line, Denver seemed to run out of ideas. If Green Bay could have stopped the Broncos on third and five, and force them to kick a field goal, they may have gone on to win this game.
However, John Elway had other ideas. After scrambling for eight yards, Elway was hit so hard by two Packers defenders that he was spun in the air – in what has since become known as the ‘helicopter play’ – but crucially held onto the ball for he first down. Two plays later, the Broncos took a 24-17 lead and never looked back.
2. James Harrison
Pittsburgh Steelers – Super Bowl XLIII
Ominously for the Packers, the Steelers have a habit of making game winning plays when it comes to the Super Bowl and they can do it on both sides of the football.
With 18 seconds left in the first half, the Steelers were leading 10-7 but looked as if they’d go in 14-7 down as the Cardinals had a first down at their 1-yard line. However, Cardinals QB Kurt Warner threw into tight coverage and instead of one of his receivers he found the hands of Steelers linebacker James Harrison.
What has since become known as the ‘immaculate interception’ was followed by a 100-yard touchdown run that resembled the car crash scene from Blues Brothers. Watch out Packers.
1. Eli Manning & David Tyree
New York Giants – Super Bowl XLII
There can only really be one winner. On third down on their own 44-yard line and with only one minute and 15 seconds remaining in the game it looked as if the Giants’ Super Bowl dreams were over as the Patriots sent a five-man blitz towards Giants QB Eli Manning.
Two players (Jarvis Green and Richard Seymour) both had Manning by the jersey but couldn’t bring him down. Having steadied himself, he then threw a 32-yard pass down the middle into triple coverage.
Somehow, David Tyree managed to come up with the football, using his helmet in place of a second hand. So much could have gone wrong on that play but didn’t and it helped keep alive the game winning drive. Spectacular.
