There's no worse way to end an NFL season than a bad Super Bowl. Sometimes the biggest sports event of the year fails to live up to the hype and leaves fans sorely disappointed. So here are the 9 worst Super Bowls that everyone hated:
Super Bowl LV: Buccaneers 31, Chiefs 9
Boy, was this game a snoozefest. A Patrick Mahomes vs. Tom Brady could have been an ultimate shootout, but the Bucs dominated from start to finish, as Patrick Mahomes was held to single-digit points for the first time in his career thus far. And it's not like anyone was really that thrilled about Tom Brady winning a seventh Super Bowl. Fans also aren't fond of excessive penalties in what should be a matchup between the league's two best teams, and the Chiefs committed a record eight penalties in the first half. Super Bowl LV simply didn't live up to the hype.
Super Bowl LIII: Patriots 13, Rams 3
Defensive football games aren't necessarily boring, but this game never felt very close. The Rams' high-flying and high-scoring scoring offense should have made this game exciting, but Bill Belichick's defense dominated the dull 60 minutes that was Super Bowl 53. And just when the Rams looked to get going on offense, a Stephon Gilmore interception in the red zone iced what was a lame excuse for a Super Bowl. Similarly to Super Bowl LV, it's not like fans were eagerly hoping Tom Brady would win yet another Super Bowl.
Super Bowl XL: Steelers 21, Seahawks 10
If there's anything football fans hate more than an uninteresting Super Bowl, it's a Super Bowl decided by the refs. The NFL's 40th Super Bowl was both of those things. Despite the Steelers winning by two scores, the zebras missed seven calls that helped Pittsburgh take home the Lombardi Trophy giving the Seahawks none. An awful offensive PI call on Darrel Jackson that would have been a touchdown, a missed goal line touchdown call on Ben Roethlisberger, and a missed holding call on Seattle that negated a touchdown, to name a few. Commentator John Madden said himself, "I didn't see holding." The outcome of Super Bowl XL left fans with a sour taste in their mouths, especially Seahawks fans.
Super Bowl XLVIII: Seahawks 43, Broncos 8
Super Bowl XLVIII should have been an intense battle between the best offenses in NFL history and the legendary legion of boom. Instead, this game was well over by the first twelve seconds. The Broncos' very first snap sailed over Peyton Manning's head and into the end zone for a safety. Seattle's vaunted defense completely dominated during the next 59 minutes of regulation to round in an utter snoozefest of a Super Bowl. The NFL also made a questionable decision by deciding to host Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in New York in February.
Super Bowl XXXV: Ravens 34, Giants 7
Similar to Super Bowl XLVIII, this game got ugly quickly, as the Giants never came close to the Ravens in a 34-7 beatdown. Baltimore's top-ranked defense controlled what was an uneventful 60 minutes of football despite the spread only favoring the Ravens by three. Super Bowls are often exciting because two of the NFL's best quarterbacks are dueling blow for blow, but Super Bowl XXXV featured the worst quarterback to win a Super Bowl, Trent Dilfer. Dilfer wasn't even the Ravens' starting QB heading into the season. There also weren't many intriguing storylines heading into Super Bowl XXXV, giving an already unsatisfying outcome even less importance to the complexion of the NFL.
Super Bowl XXIV: 49ers 55, Broncos 10
There's no reason that the most lopsided Super in NFL history shouldn't be on this list. What should have been an ultimate clash between two of the best quarterbacks in football at the time (Joe Montana and John Elway) was instead a massive blowout. The Broncos imploded, getting just 176 yards of offense and turning the ball over four times. And no one besides 49ers fans were all that thrilled to see Joe Montana win his 4th Super Bowl.
Super Bowl VIII: Dolphins 24, Vikings, 7
The score of Super Bowl VIII certainly indicates its lacking of excitement, but doesn't truly show how monotonous of a game it actually was. The Dolphins got ahead by two scores early on and never looked back by running all over Minnesota's defense. The fins just kept running and running. So much so that they only passed the ball seven times, eliminating any razzle-dazzle plays from a game that was never close. The Dolphins winning their second Super Bowl in a row in dominating fashion wasn't an outcome that most fans were satisfied with.
Super Bowl II: Packers 33, Raiders 14
Even though the Packers creamed the Chiefs in Super Bowl I, the first NFL vs. AFL championship game was obviously exciting. But Green Bay winning another beatdown, we've seen that movie before. The excitement of the first NFL vs. AFL championship had left, leaving only the dullness of a blowout in the Super Bowl. After a low-scoring first quarter, the Packers scored 13 in quarter two and never looked back, cruising to a 33-14 victory and covering the 14-point spread. The Raiders never came close to Green Bay, as the AFL was viewed as the little brother to the NFL at the time.
Super Bowl XXVII: Cowboys 30, Bills 13
The Cowboys won another Super Bowl: what a shocker. The Bills lost another Super Bowl: what a shocker. Super Bowl XXVII was not only a movie we had seen before but a pretty subpar movie at that. Unlike the other games on this list, the Bills were actually leading 13-6 at halftime. But Buffalo collapsed in the second half to cap off four straight Super Bowl losses and their second straight to the Cowboys. The average NFL fan definitely didn't want to see Dallas win the Super Bowl, let alone in dominating fashion.
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