10 Greatest Games for Each Season of the Super Bowl Era

[Rupert Patrick]

For 1967 I had for the NFL (1) The Ice Bowl, of course, and (2), I chose the Week 14 Rams Colts game. Even though it turned out to be a disappointing game, you had a team chasing an undefeated season and both teams locked into an all-or-nothing game for the postseason. One quirky bit of trivia is that the two coaches who met in the game would face off in the Super Bowl on this same field a little over five years later, both coaching different teams, with the same coach who trying to achieve an undefeated season and failing in this game trying to do the same thing in the Super Bowl.

For the AFL games I chose (1) Jets vs. Oakland 12/17 and (2) Jets vs. Boston 11/19.

[74_75_78_79_]

For 1967 I had for the NFL (1) The Ice Bowl, of course, and (2), I chose the Week 14 Rams Colts game. Even though it turned out to be a disappointing game, you had a team chasing an undefeated season and both teams locked into an all-or-nothing game for the postseason. One quirky bit of trivia is that the two coaches who met in the game would face off in the Super Bowl on this same field a little over five years later, both coaching different teams, with the same coach who trying to achieve an undefeated season and failing in this game trying to do the same thing in the Super Bowl.

For the AFL games I chose (1) Jets vs. Oakland 12/17 and (2) Jets vs. Boston 11/19.

Nice bit of trivia for that Colts/Rams finale!

The '67 opener at Lambaeu, Lions up 17-0 at the half with GB then rallying, 17-0, in the 2nd half to tie it in the end. Two questions: should this game be considered (I know the Pack turned it over 5 times to Detroit's 1) and that final score of the game, Packer FG, how much time was left?

[Todd Pence]

For the AFL games I chose (1) Jets vs. Oakland 12/17 and (2) Jets vs. Boston 11/19.

I almost chose the Chargers' 31-31 tie with the Patriots Sept. 8. But I figured one tie game was enough for one list.

[BD Sullivan]

For 1967 I had for the NFL (1) The Ice Bowl, of course, and (2), I chose the Week 14 Rams Colts game. Even though it turned out to be a disappointing game, you had a team chasing an undefeated season and both teams locked into an all-or-nothing game for the postseason. One quirky bit of trivia is that the two coaches who met in the game would face off in the Super Bowl on this same field a little over five years later, both coaching different teams, with the same coach who trying to achieve an undefeated season and failing in this game trying to do the same thing in the Super Bowl.

For the AFL games I chose (1) Jets vs. Oakland 12/17 and (2) Jets vs. Boston 11/19.

The '67 opener at Lambaeu, Lions up 17-0 at the half with GB then rallying, 17-0, in the 2nd half to tie it in the end. Two questions: should this game be considered (I know the Pack turned it over 5 times to Detroit's 1) and that final score of the game, Packer FG, how much time was left?

Chandler kicked a FG with 1:43 left and the Pack defense then held. Green Bay got it to midfield with eight seconds left and Starr connected with Dowler, who was knocked out of bounds. However, some clock controversy resulted because the scoreboard clock stopped with a few seconds left but the line judge said no time was left for Chandler to try a 45-yard FG--against the wind. Interestingly, Norm Schacter was the referee in this game and his blunder the following year in the Rams-Bears game got he and his crew suspended.

[Todd Pence]

1968

9/29 - Bills 37, Jets 35
Buffalo gets only win of year over eventual champs as Namath throws three pick-sixes

9/29 - Cardinals 21, Saints 20
Cards stun NO with 21-point 4th quarter rally

10/5 - Jets 23, Chargers 20
Classic back and forth duel between Namath and John Hadl

10/27 - Bears 26, Vikings 24
Bears save game on last second FG after Vikes had staged fourth quarter rally to lead

10/27 - Broncos 21, Dolphins 14
Marlin Briscoe leads 21 point rally capped off by calling own number on QB sneak - from the Dolphin ten!

11/10 - Steelers 28, Cardinals 28
Cards rally back from 21, game features four 50+ yard scores

11/17 - Raiders 43, Jets 32
The "Heidi" Game

11/24 - Broncos 34, Bills 32
Marlin Briscoe's miracle pass to Floyd Little salvages last second FG after Broncs almost blow 14-pt 4th qtr lead

12/15 - Packers 28, Bears 27
Bears almost overcome 18-point deficit in game full of big play scores

12/29 - Jets 27, Raiders 23
AFL Championship game classic

[Rupert Patrick]

1968

List of games snipped for brevity

Didn't you overlook a certain "guaranteed" game? I had it as an AFL game since the Jets won, with the outstanding AFL Championship number two; these were the two best pro football games of the year. Both were no brainers in my opinion. From a historical standpoint Super Bowl III was next to the 58 NFL Championship the most important game in pro football history. It was not as big an upset as most people think because nobody understood the relative strength of the AFL compared to the NFL and that the best teams of the AFL were just about as good as the best teams in the NFL. You had a great QB who cemented his reputation as a legend with his prediction that David would indeed slay Goliath, and he did it with his defense and by playing an uncharacteristic ball control game and disregarding his usual vertical passing game. The Colts blew numerous chances in the first half where they could have put 14 or 17 points on the board, and if the Jets had found themselves behind in the second half, it would have changed the game plan as Namath would have to scrap his game plan and come out firing. Shula should have brought Unitas in much earlier, probably to start the second half.

As far as best NFL games, 1968 is one of those two or three years (along with 1993 and I haven't sat down and worked out 2015 yet) where I have real question marks as to what the most interesting games were. In 1968 I currently have in there the Minnesota vs. Chicago 10/27 number one and St. Louis vs. New Orleans 9/29. Both were good games but I am not sure they are the best the NFL had to offer in 1968.

[BD Sullivan]

1968 Choices:

9/29: Lions 23, Packers 17--Lions trailed 10-0, Pack tied it at 17, Lions scored winning TD with 1:55 left.
10/5: Jets 23, Chargers 20--AFL record crowd of 63,786; Jets score game-winner with 1:43 left, Hadl picked off at Jets 4 with 29 seconds left,
10/20: Browns 30, Colts 20--only Colts loss until SB III and the emergence of Bill Nelsen as Browns QB.
10/27: Chiefs 27, Chargers 20--Record crowd of 50,344 in KC sees 762 yards of total offense.
10/27: Bears 26, Vikings 24--Mac Percival kicks 47-yard FG with 3 sec. left to win. Bears led 23-17, but Minny scored on TD pass with 1:06 left.
10/28: Packers 28, Cowboys 17--The 2-3-1 Pack defeat the 6-0 Cowboys in Dallas in the first official meeting since the Ice Bowl.
11/10: Giants 27, Cowboys 21--Giants led 14-0, with Dallas tying the game twice. Two 4th Q FG's and Meredith being picked off with 2 min left.
11/17: Raiders 43, Jets 32 (The Heidi Game)
11/24: Lions 20, Saints 20--Multiple lead changes, with each team missing FG attempts in the final minutes.
12/8: Bears 17, Rams 16 (The missed down)

[Todd Pence]

Didn't you overlook a certain "guaranteed" game? I had it as an AFL game since the Jets won, with the outstanding AFL Championship number two; these were the two best pro football games of the year. Both were no brainers in my opinion. From a historical standpoint Super Bowl III was next to the 58 NFL Championship the most important game in pro football history.

This estimation is of course absolutely correct. But an "important" game is not the same as a "good" game. While I am going to give sleight weight to postseason games on the list, The Super Bowl was a dull, one sided contest. If it had been a game played in the regular season between two evenly regarded opponents, it would have garnered no attention whatever. Of course the fact that it was a fantastic upset must have made it the most exciting game to watch of the year. Maybe I'll eventually change my mind on this one. This is really, why I'm putting these lists out there, to get feedback and to spark this kind of discussion and debate.

[BD Sullivan]

Didn't you overlook a certain "guaranteed" game? I had it as an AFL game since the Jets won, with the outstanding AFL Championship number two; these were the two best pro football games of the year. Both were no brainers in my opinion. From a historical standpoint Super Bowl III was next to the 58 NFL Championship the most important game in pro football history.

This estimation is of course absolutely correct. But an "important" game is not the same as a "good" game. While I am going to give sleight weight to postseason games on the list, The Super Bowl was a dull, one sided contest. If it had been a game played in the regular season between two evenly regarded opponents, it would have garnered no attention whatever. Of course the fact that it was a fantastic upset must have made it the most exciting game to watch of the year. Maybe I'll eventually change my mind on this one. This is really, why I'm putting these lists out there, to get feedback and to spark this kind of discussion and debate.

I've mentioned before that even Steve Sabol admitted that the SB III highlight film was slanted to make it seem as if the Colts JUST missed pulling off the comeback.

[Todd Pence]

1969

9/21 - Giants 24, Vikings 23
Fran Tarkenton two TD fourth-quarter rally against old (and future) team, just-promoted coach Alex Webster wins his debut, Vikes go on to reel off twelve straight

9/28 - Browns 27, Redskins 23
Frank Ryan's last minute drive spoils 'Skins rally

10/12 - Rams 27, 49ers 21
Maybe best Gabriel-Brodie showdown ever, Rams rally from 8 down late to stay unbeaten.

11/2 - Jets 34, Dolphins 31
NY rallies late to win in game featuring seven TD passes from Namath and Griese

11/2 - Packers 38, Steelers 34
Bart Starr comes off bench to throw game winning bomb after two-TD Steeler rally gave them lead, Travis Williams has two return TDs

11/9 - Eagles 28, Redskins 28
Norm Snead engineers two late TD drives to force draw in matchup against man he was famously traded for

11/16 - Saints 25, Giants 24
Tom Dempsey kicks four field goals including game-winner with 11 seconds left, Kilmer and Tarkenton each have TD bombs

11/23 - Eagles 34, Cardinals 30
Four lead changes in fourth quarter

11/23 - Saints 43, 49ers 38
Barn-burner features a wild back and forth fourth quarter, over 850 yards total offense

12/27 - Vikings 23, Rams 20
Epic clash between NFL's two best teams results in memorable, gritty Vike 4th-quarter comeback