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Close games are sometimes the most exciting of all, but when it comes to the Super Bowl, it’s even more so. Throughout the last few decades, we’ve witnessed countless Super Bowls come down to the final drive or even the final possession. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the five closest Super Bowl finishes in the history of the NFL.
To keep this short, we’ve only included five separate Super Bowls in this article, four of which are tied for second place in terms of closest ending scoreline for a Super Bowl with a three-point margin between teams. Starting the list is one of multiple occurrences made by the New England Patriots, first in 2004 in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers, where the game would finish 32-29 to the Pats. Both teams would combine for 37 points in the final quarter, making it a close game right to the end, but ultimately Tom Brady would come out victorious with an MVP award, setting the record for most pass completions (32) for 354 yards and three touchdowns.
We’d like to note that both Super Bowl XXXVI (2002) and Super Bowl V (1971) were both three-point margin Super Bowl games, and although not included in this list, were similar to the finish of Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005. The Philadelphia Eagles would put up a fight in this matchup against Brady and New England, but would ultimately fall to a Patriots team that had won three of the last four Super Bowls. The Pats prevailed 24-21 in a close matchup, with wide receiver Deion Branch named Super Bowl MVP for 11 total catches.
Super Bowl XLII would once again see the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl in 2008, although they wouldn’t get the result they wanted, falling to the New York Giants 17-14 and missing out on their perfect season (they were 18-0 at that point, going 16-0 in the regular season and winning both playoff games). This matchup made for one of the biggest upsets in sports history as well as one of the most competitive Super Bowls to ever occur, coming down to a fourth-quarter game-winning drive from Eli Manning and the Giants, highlighted by David Tyree catching a ball off his helmet.
The most recent game on this list came in 2013 in Super Bowl XLVII between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, was one of the closest three-point differences in history. In this game, the Ravens bested the 49ers on a 34-31 tally in a game where two brothers coached separated teams, facing each other in the Super Bowl for the first time in NFL history. Joe Flacco was named Super Bowl MVP from completing 22 of 33 passes for three touchdowns. The game was as close as could be, with Baltimore just about edging it even after there was a power cut that caused the game to be paused for 45 minutes!
The standalone closest Super Bowl finish to ever happen came in 1991 as the New York Giants battled the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV, with the teams separated at the end of the game by just one point. When it comes to nail-biters in sports, you won’t find a closer championship game than this, with the Giants coming out on top by the skin of their teeth in a 20-19 Super Bowl victory, due to Bills kicker, Scott Norwood, missing a field goal in the final seconds of the game. Currently, it is the only one-point differential in the history of the Super Bowl, making it the closest-ever finish.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.