Super Bowl week is here! The NFL's biggest game is just days away. The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will battle for the Vince Lombardi Trophy this Sunday.
Winning the Super Bowl is the NFL's ultimate pinnacle. It is one of the world's biggest sports games. And the Super Bowl often provides incredible moments and big-time plays.
History-defining moments litter the Super Bowl's 21st-century history. Here are DAZN's top five Super Bowl plays from the 21st century.
1 - Super Bowl 42: The Helmet Catch
It is still the most famous play in modern Super Bowl history. Eli Manning to David Tyree for a 32-yard completion does not sound noteworthy. However, 16 years later, this play still feels improbable.
The New York Giants trailed by four points with one minute and change left in the game. Big Blue had the ball in their territory, facing a 3rd and 5. The New England Patriots were two defensive stops away from completing a perfect 18-0 season. The greatest regular season team in history were on the brink of sporting immortality.
Sadly for the Perfect Patriots, a stretchy Giants jersey and David Tyree's helmet had other plans. New England's defense played it perfectly; their defenders collapsed in on Giants quarterback Eli Manning. It looked as if the Patriots would sack Manning and end the game. Several Patriots had a hold of Manning's jersey, but somehow, Manning escaped the sack.
Peyton's younger brother then left the pocket and threw a prayer into the middle of the field. Three Patriots defenders were in the vicinity. But so was David Tyree. Tyree climbed the ladder and clutched the ball to his helmet, surviving the ground and a Rodney Harrison tackle.
It was an improbable completion. NFL media voted it the greatest play in NFL history. One play later, Manning found Plaxico Burress for the winning touchdown. The Giants had pulled off the impossible victory. The Patriots had fallen at the final hurdle. David Tyree never caught another ball for the Giants. Nevertheless, this one catch cemented his name in history.
2 - Super Bowl 51: The Edelman Catch
Fast forward nine years, and it was the Patriots' turn to pull off the impossible. New England found itself in a 28-3 hole. The Atlanta Falcons had played a near-perfect game, and it seemed they were closing in on their maiden Super Bowl title.
The Patriots had started to stir in the fourth quarter. With two minutes left, the Patriots trailed 20-28. Quarterback Tom Brady faced a 1st and 10 from his own territory. The Patriots required a big play, and unlike Super Bowl 42, fate was on their side this time.
Brady threw a ball into triple coverage. A Falcons defender undercut the ball and tipped it into the air. That led to a three-way scrum for the ball. Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman somehow fought off three Falcons defenders and completed a juggling catch that also ricocheted off a Falcons defender's leg.
The Falcons intercept the ball and win the Super Bowl any other night. Sadly for them, Edelman's grit and a slice of luck had other ideas. New England scored a touchdown later on that drive. And they went on to win the Super Bowl in overtime. That play deflated the Falcons.
3 - Super Bowl 49: Malcolm Butler's interception
Super Bowl 49 is the greatest Super Bowl of all time. It featured the defending champion Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots. The game was a titanic battle. Both defenses made big plays, and both offenses found ways to get critical scores.
Tom Brady was at his Hall of Fame-best in the fourth quarter. He led the Patriots on two touchdown drives. New England scored 14 unanswered points in the final quarter. Having trailed going into the final quarter, New England had a lead thanks to their legendary quarterback.
When the Patriots took the lead thanks to a Brady-Edelman touchdown, it seemed as if they were in the clear. But in the same stadium where the Helmet Catch happened, the ghosts of Super Bowl 42 had one more twist.
Russell Wilson underthrew a ball to Jermaine Kearse. Cornerback Malcolm Butler got his hands on the ball. However, as both players fell, the ball deflected and hit Kearse's leg. Kearse clutched the ball after it bounced off his leg, and the Seahawks had the ball at the goal-line. It looked as if fate had cost the Patriots again.
But Malcolm Butler had one more chance to make a play. At the goal-line, the world assumed the Seahawks would run the ball. The Patriots did, too. And they sent out a heavy goal-line defense. The Seahawks saw this and called a pass play. The Patriots had trained this exact play during a training session ahead of the Super Bowl.
Butler executed it perfectly and beat the Seahawks wideout to the ball. The undrafted rookie intercepted the ball and won the game for New England. It ended New England's near-decade-long wait for a Super Bowl and ushered in a new era of dominance.
4 - Super Bowl 46: The Manningham Catch
Before the Patriots celebrated victory at Super Bowl 49, Eli Manning and the New York Giants had more heartbreak to dish out. Like Super Bowl 42, the Giants trailed late in the fourth quarter.
Backed up near their goal-line, Manning heaved a ball to wideout Mario Manningham. Manning fired the ball into the tightest window, beating two Patriots defenders and the sideline.
Manningham brilliantly executed the catch. He got two hands on the ball, did not panic with closing defenders, and walked the sideline tightrope to complete the catch.
The Giants scored a touchdown on this drive and never relinquished the lead. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told his defenders to make Manning throw to Manningham. Manning did, and in doing so, he broke New England's hearts again.
Manning to Manningham is arguably the greatest throw and catch in Super Bowl history.
5 - Super Bowl 56: Matthew Stafford's no look pass
After going all in to win a Super Bowl, the LA Rams trailed 20-16 with just over three minutes left on the clock. The Cincinnati Bengals had stymied LA's offense all second half. It seemed as if LA's Super Bowl dream was slipping away.
Until Matthew Stafford uncorked a classic no-look throw to Cooper Kupp and revived the Rams, no-look passes are incredibly popular; Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert have made the no-look pass go viral.
But Stafford was the modern-day originator. And in the most significant moment of his career, Stafford made the best throw. The veteran quarterback looked off three Bengals defenders, creating a narrow window for Cooper Kupp. Stafford stared down the defenders and ripped a trademark fastball into Kupp's path.
The throw moved the chains for LA, and the Rams would duly score on this drive. The touchdown gave them the winning lead, and they would win Super Bowl 56. It all started with one of the greatest throws of all time.
Honourable mentions
Super Bowl 52: Philly Special
On fourth down, Doug Pederson and Nick Foles loaded up an outrageous trick play for a touchdown. Quarterback Foles moved out into a receiver position, and caught the ball from Trey Burton. Pederson and Foles' gall to make this call was stunning, especially as the Patriots had tried to run this play earlier in the game and failed.
Super Bowl 44: On-side kick
On-side kicks are almost impossible to execute. Losing 10-6 to the Indianapolis Colts at Super Bowl 44, the Saints had the second-half kick-off. Sean Payton did not want to return the ball to Peyton Manning and risk falling further behind.
He instructed kicker Thomas Morstead to kick an on-side kick. The Saints recovered and scored a touchdown. It gave them a lead and offered them a foothold in the game.
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