As Super Bowl LVIII approaches tomorrow, it’s only natural for the memories of Steelers’ Super Bowls of the past to come flowing back.
And what memories they are. The Super Bowls the Steelers have played in have been some of the best in NFL history. From James Harrison’s iconic interception to heroic moments by Terry Bradshaw, there is quite the Super Bowl lore in Pittsburgh.
But according to Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame and his list of the “best Super Bowls”, none of the Super Bowls involving the Steelers made the top five.
Here is where they all rank out of 57 Super Bowls:
56. Super Bowl XL: Steelers 21, Seahawks 10
37. Super Bowl IX: Steelers 16, Vikings 6
27. Super Bowl XXX: Cowboys 27, Steelers 17
19. Super Bowl XIV: Steelers 31, Rams 19
15. Super Bowl XLV: Packers 31, Steelers 25
12. Super Bowl XIII: Steelers 35, Cowboys 31
10. Super Bowl X: Steelers 21, Cowboys 17
6. Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers 27, Cardinals 23
Perhaps the most surprising thing from this list is that the Steelers-Cardinals Super Bowl ranks outside the top five, given that it was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever seen. Not only did it feature the longest interception return in Super Bowl history in James Harrison’s touchdown right before halftime, but there was also an exhilarating game-winning drive.
Ahead of that game, Verderame ranked the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl which ruined New England’s perfect season, the Patriots-Falcons with the 28-3 comeback, and the Rams-Titans Super Bowl where Kevin Dyson was tackled at the one-yard line. The top two consisted of the Patriots-Seahawks with the Malcolm Butler interception as well as the Giants-Bills game where Scott Norwood went wide right, which took the top spot.
Another Steelers Super Bowl that seemed a little low was Super Bowl XIII against the Cowboys, which ranked 12th. Verderame noted that “Few Super Bowls have ever had the star power of this one, with 16 Hall of Famers in the starting lineups.”.
16 Hall of Famers in one game is unlikely to ever be matched again, and they came to play. Bradshaw set an at-the-time Super Bowl record with 318 passing yards and added four touchdowns, and both Lynn Swann and John Stallworth recorded over 100 yards. Mel Blount also had a huge interception at the end of the half, stopping a Cowboys drive and leading to a Steelers touchdown right before the half.
While there are limited things to root for this week for Steelers fans, there’s always the solace of having a lot more entries on a list like this than most teams do.
