Super Bowl Sunday's three biggest upsets

With the Super Bowl almost upon us, we thought it a good time to recall some of the classic games of the past - the ones that likely prompted more tears than a Vernon Davis winning touchdown.

By Kent McGroarty (guest blogger)

The Super Bowl has become a sort of holiday over the years, and is arguably more fun than February’s “official” breathers, Groundhog and Valentine’s Days. Yes, there’s also Mardi Gras, but people get just as hammered on Super Bowl Sunday as they do when piling on the beads. At any rate, Super Bowl usually comprises one team crushing the other, making the big day less exciting than it ought to be. Then there are times when the team everyone thought would get their cleats handed to them actually wound up winning the whole shebang. Such games are also among the best entertainment in the game’s history. 

Super Bowl upsets make for some awesome football, so here are three of the biggest ever:

Super Bowl IV: Kansas City Chiefs 23 - Minnesota Vikings 7

Not only were the Kansas City Chiefs widely regarded as not having a snowball’s chance in hell in this one, they were also dealing with a gambling scandal around quarterback Len Dawson. Despite Minnesota being the overwhelming favorites, the Chiefs took a 16-point lead at halftime, and their defense repeatedly kept the Vikings from invading the Chiefs end zone. Amazingly, KC held the Vikings to one touchdown on 67 offensive yards, and scored the game-winner on a 46-yard run. Dawson threw for 142 total yards and was named MVP. 

Super Bowl XXXVI: New England Patriots 20 - Saint Louis Rams 17

It could be said that Super Bowl XXXVI was during a time when nobody really feared the Patriots or Tom Brady. Though the Pats took a 17-3 start, league MVP Kurt Warner and the Rams scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tie it with a minute and a half on the clock. Many figured the game would go into overtime, yet Brady drove his team to the Ram’s 30-yard line to put Adam Vinatieri in perfect position to kick the game-winning field goal. The astonishing victory thrust Brady into the spotlight, and there he has remained as one of the game’s greatest quarterbacks. 

Super Bowl XXXII: Denver Broncos 31 - Green Bay Packers 24

Though it may be hard for some to remember when Brett Favre was just a pretty-young-thing, it was assumed Favre and the Packers would crush the aging John Elway and his Broncos. Though the Packers had won the Big Dance the previous year, they couldn’t stop Terrell Davis from rushing for 157 yards and scoring three touchdowns, including the winner with a mere two minutes on the clock. Elway finally won his ring.

Kent McGroarty is a Philadelphia based blogger for Gold Star Games, a tailgate gear supplier.