3 and Out- The Worst Super Bowls

Welcome to the first installment of 3 and Out. These are a series of shorter pieces, which will usually be appearing mid-week, to break up the longer column-type entries we'll be doing. Often times, the 3 and Outs will be very subjective, inviting rebuttals from the unwashed masses.

With this being Super Bowl Week, the first 3 and Out is dedicated to the Worst Super Bowls. Since I haven't been around for all of them, I'll limit it to the ones I've seen. That means everything from the first Bills-Cowboys game in Super Bowl 27 (Sunday At 1 promises to do it's part to limit your Roman numeral overexposure this week) to last year's Saints-Colts game. We really are truly lucky in that Super Bowls these days are generally competitive, compared to the 1980's and early 1990's, when the NFC Champion would simply pound on the Denvers and Buffalos of the world.

My list isn't necessarily the least competitive games, although that is a factor. In addition to closeness, memorability, uniqueness of matchup, and whether there was any incidental boobie also play into my list.

Honorable Mention:
Super Bowl 29: San Francisco 49-San Diego 26.
Game was over literally halfway through the 1st Quarter. Doesn't make the cut because it was exciting to watch the great 49er offense tear San Diego apart and the storyline of Steve Young finally exorcising the Joe Montana demons.

Super Bowl 40: Pittsburgh 21- Seattle 10.
A fairly close game, with almost no sizzle and awful Quarterback play. Will be remembered for a series of close calls, all of them could've gone either way, but all of them ended up going to Pittsburgh.



3. Super Bowl 28: Dallas 30-Buffalo 13
I know you're assuming I meant the other one. True, the year before's 52-17 game between the 2 teams was more one-sided. But by January of 1994, we were looking at Buffalo's 4th straight title game. They were playing the exact same team that had murdered them (and probably a few hookers) the year before. I can't remember one person being excited about Buffalo's chances to win that game. The astute read will say "But Neumann, Buffalo led that game 13-6 at Halftime." But 45 seconds into the 2nd Half,  Leon Lett forced a fumble that Dallas picked up and ran in for a score to tie it at 13. And the route was on. A predictable outcome, with an unlikable, overwhelming favorite hammering an underdog we were frankly all tired of. And it didn't even have the bluster of the year before when the Cowboys won their first title under Jerry Jones and blew the game open from the start.

2. Super Bowl 35: Baltimore 34- Giants 7
People will naturally assume I'm putting this game on my list because I'm a Giants fan and this was an awful game for Giants fans. But really, outside of Ravens fans, this was an awful game for everyone. The Giants, although 12-4 and the NFC's 1 seed, were clearly one of the weaker Super Bowl teams ever. The Ravens, with a dominating defense and steady at best offense, weren't the kind of team that casual fans embraced. Couple that with Ray Lewis off-the-field issues being less than a year prior, and there was not a lot for middle America to latch onto.

The game itself? Kerry Collins threw 4 interceptions. New York's only offense was a Kick Return TD that made the game 17-7. Unfortunately on the next play Baltimore's Jermaine Lewis scored a Kick Return TD of his own to make it 24-7. Baltimore's defense was phenomenal that year, but playing an uncompetitive game against a team that most years wouldn't have come close to making it does not a good Super Bowl make.

1. Super Bowl 33- Denver  34- Atlanta 19
Admit it. You just said to yourself "I completely forgot about that game." You have reason to. After the year before's classic between Denver and Green Bay, no one remembers anything about this game, except that Denver repeated. If I gave you 5 chances, you wouldn't remember who started at QB for the 1998 Falcons. Or who their coach was. There is literally nothing memorable about this game. Denver was ahead 17-6 at halftime and won 34-19. Looking at the box score now, it appears their was an 80 yard TD pass to Rod Smith and a 94 yard Kickoff return by Tim Dwight. Don't remember 'em. I was in 7th grade at the time. Kids would always be talking about whatever sporting event was on, and I remember the next day, no one even wanted to discuss this game. The 13 year old consensus then is just as true now "It was boring." Not a huge blowout that becomes memorable, not a classic that goes down in folklore, just a game that felt like a Week 6 game on the old Sunday Night football back when it was on ESPN and always had crappy games.

Those are my thoughts on the worst games of recent Super Bowl History. What are yours?