Well, “The Big Game” is behind us. Super Bowl XLVI was another in a line of instant classics that we seem to have been having for the last decade or so.
But it wasn’t always that way.
The N.Y. Giants’ 21-17 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI is the sixth Super Bowl out of the last nine to have been decided by a touchdown or less. In fact, the margin of victory for the past nine Super Bowls is 6.4 points.
But if you start with Super Bowl XXXVII – the last blowout – and count backward, the average margin of victory is much greater. The winning team won those first 37 “big games” by a margin of 17.8 points.
And in terms of blowouts, there were some real yawners out of those first 37.
- Super Bowl XXXV (Ravens over Giants) – 27 point margin of victory
- Super Bowl XXXVII (Buccaneers over Raiders) – 27
- Super Bowl II (Packers over Raiders) - 29
- Super Bowl XVIII (Raiders over Redskins) - 29
- Super Bowl XXII (Redskins over Broncos) – 32
- Super Bowl XXVII (Cowboys over Bills) - 35
- Super Bowl XX (Bears over Patriots) – 36
And Super Bowl XXIV (the whopper of ALL blowouts) resulted in a 45 point victory for San Fran over the Denver Broncos!
Those were the days. Well, not really. But, in those blowout days you really WERE looking forward to the commercials. Or the halftime shows. Or SOMETHING. Sad to say, most of those blowouts were in the pre-halftime extravaganza era. No Madonna. No Black-Eyed Peas. No (insert name of older rock-n-roll band).
Maybe the series of bad games is why we invented the Super Bowl party? We needed something to give us some sort of diversion on Super Bowl Sunday.
Then, a funny thing happened. We started having good games (to go with the good parties). Really, even before that Tampa Bay thrashing of the Raiders back in ’03, we were starting to have some good games in the late 90s.
It all makes me wonder…why. What changed?
The NFL markets the notion of parity; the idea that on any given Sunday, any team could beat any other. And they also tout the concept that a team with a 3-13 record this year could be a playoff team next year and an 8-8 team this year could be next year’s champion.
I suspect the notion of parity works its way all the way up to the top. The Giants are this year’s champion. But, they got two breaks in the form of two fumbled punts by San Fran in the NFC Championship Game in order to have the chance to win that game and advance to play the Super Bowl. Without those turnovers, we could’ve easily been talking about the 49ers playing in Super Bowl XLVI. And they could’ve very well been matched up against Baltimore, who came within a hair of beating New England in the AFC Championship Game.
And none of those teams had the best record in the NFL during the 2011 season. That honor went to the defending champs, the Green Bay Packers. For the better part of three months, I think we all imagined they’d be playing yesterday to defend their title.
But, alas, it was not to be.
My point is, I think, there isn’t much difference between the top five teams. Thus, we get an even match-up and, when well-played, an even game.
I suppose that wasn’t the case for Super Bowls 1-37. Anyway, that’s my working hypothesis.
Now, I’m on to solving the next mystery. Why is it that some advertisers insist on referring to the Super Bowl simply as…”The Big Game?”
JG
(Source: nfl.com)
Originally posted 2/6/2012
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