When it comes to the Super Bowl and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the two share a long, illustrious history together.
Winners of six Super Bowls (second all-time in NFL history) with appearances in eight total (also second all-time), the Steelers are seemingly synonymous with the big game. With 55 editions of the Super Bowl already in the books ahead of Sunday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals in the 56th edition of Super Bowl Sunday, CBS Sports’ Will Brinson took a crack at ranking the 55 Super Bowls from No. 1 to No. 55.
Unsurprisingly, the Steelers were featured prominently in the top 10 of Brinson’s rankings, though not as prominently as the New England Patriots, who had four in the top 5 overall.
However, the Steelers did see two of their Super Bowl appearances — both wins — land in the top 10.
According to Brinson’s rankings, the Steelers’ 35-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII ranks as Pittsburgh’s best-ever Super Bowl appearance, coming in at No. 5 overall in his rankings.
“Watch the highlights of this game and realize it’s exactly what we wanted (and got) with the Eagles and Patriots in Super Bowl LII,” Brinson writes. “Two really talented offensive teams lobbed up a ton of points with two great quarterbacks. Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw combined for seven touchdowns in this one.”
Super Bowl XIII slots in between Super Bowl LI (New England Patriots 34, Atlanta Falcons 28, OT) at No. 4 and Super Bowl XXV (New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19) in Brinson’s all-time rankings.
As for the second top 10 Super Bowl for the Steelers, you can probably guess it.
That’s right, Super Bowl XLIII. Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23.
“Tons of epic plays in this game, from James Harrison’s wild interception touchdown return in the first half to the epic Ben Roethlisberger touchdown throw to Santonio Holmes in the end zone for the win,” Brinson writes. “If you want to talk about greatest catches of all time, that one deserves consideration as much as the Tyree catch. …An all-time postseason by Larry Fitzgerald really went to waste here.”
There really shouldn’t be a discussion for greatest catch of all time, especially between David Tyree’s helmet catch and Holmes’ toe-tapping game-winner.
One legitimately won the Super Bowl for the Steelers, while the other was simply a key play on a drive that resulted in a Plaxico Burress touchdown catch. They aren’t in the same conversation, if we’re being honest.
Aside from the two top 10 appearances for the Steelers, Brinson also had Super Bowl XIV between the Steelers and Los Angeles Rams (31-19 Steelers win) at No. 13.
“Terry Bradshaw won the Super Bowl MVP award despite throwing three interceptions, largely because of his clutch fourth-quarter play that resulted in a pair of Steelers touchdowns that were the difference in a close game,” Brinson writes. “The first one was a beautiful bullet deep, a 73-yard strike from Bradshaw to give the Steelers their fourth Super Bowl victory in six years.”
Unfortunately, Super Bowl XLV — a 31-25 Steelers’ loss to the Green Bay Packers ranks at No. 17 for Brinson, and Super Bowl XXX, a game in which many Steelers fans try to forget thanks to Neil O’Donnell, cracks the top 20 at No. 20 overall.
Elsewhere, Super Bowl X (Steelers 21, Cowboys 17) lands at No. 23, Super Bowl XL (Steelers 21, Seahawks 10) comes in at No. 27, and Super Bowl IX (Steelers 16, Vikings 6) comes in at No. 36.
The worst Super Bowl according to Brinson? Super Bowl XXIX. San Francisco 49, San Diego 26. Oof.
