Live scores, commentary and updates, as the Kansas City Chiefs face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.
Can Brady-Mahomes top these heralded Super Bowl QB matchups?
Can Brady-Mahomes top these heralded Super Bowl QB matchups?
Super Bowl 1 (Jan. 15, 1967)
Bart Starr vs. Len Dawson
Packers 35, Chiefs 10: The inaugural game featured the highest-rated quarterback in the NFL (Starr) and the highest-rated AFL passer (Dawson). Can’t get much better than that. Starr passed for 2,257 yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions while leading Green Bay to a 12-2 regular season. Dawson passed for 2,527 and 26 touchdowns for the 11-2-1 Chiefs.
Epilogue: The Packers led 14-10 at halftime before pulling away. Willie Wood picked Dawson early in the second half and returned it 50 yards to the Chiefs’ 5, setting the blowout in motion. Starr finished 16-for-23 for 250 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, earning game MVP honors. Dawson was 16-for-27 for 211 yards, with a touchdown and a pick.
Super Bowl 6 (Jan. 16, 1972)
Roger Staubach vs. Bob Griese
Cowboys 24, Dolphins 3: Sprawled across the nation’s 1970s landscape was a constellation of backyard games featuring fledgling quarterbacks mimicking Staubach and Griese. The Cowboys went 7-0 down the regular-season stretch after Staubach was anointed full-time starter, and he finished as the NFL’s top-rated passer (101.8). Griese, the AFC MVP, threw for more than 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Epilogue: The Cowboys dominated on the ground (252 rushing yards) and held Miami’s normally-daunting run game to 80 yards. Griese threw for more yards (134) than Staubach (119), but the latter had two scoring passes (to Griese’s none) and was named game MVP.
Super Bowl 51 (Feb. 5, 2017)
Tom Brady vs. Matt Ryan
Patriots 34, Falcons 28 (OT): “Matty Ice” was at a career apex in the 2016 season, leading the NFL in passer rating (117.1) while throwing for nearly 5,000 yards and earning league MVP honors. Brady was suspended for the season’s first four games as a result of the “Deflategate” scandal, but still tossed 28 touchdown passes with only two picks. His passer rating (112.2) ranked second only to Ryan.
Epilogue: Ryan (17-for-23, 284 yards, two touchdowns) owned the outset, but Brady set Super Bowl records for completions (43), attempts (62) and yards (466) while rallying New England from a 28-3 second-half deficit. The victory gave him a record fifth Super Bowl ring as a starting quarterback.
