Since 1967, the Super Bowl has brought together the champions of the two conferences to determine the ultimate "world champion".
The first Super Bowl, won by Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers over the Kansas City Chiefs set the standard with the underdog Chiefs pushing the highly favoured Packers.
Not all Super Bowls have been great games. The early 1990s saw a significant discrepancy in quality between the AFC and NFC, resulting in some big but forgettable blowouts like Super Bowl XXIV when the San Francisco 49ers thrashed the Denver Broncos, or the Dallas Cowboys' hammering of the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII.
Peyton Manning's third Super Bowl appearance, a 43-8 humiliation at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks at Super Bowl XLVIII was similarly unmemorable. The 2019 decider between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams was another one to forget as the Pats ground out a 13-3 win.
But when the Super Bowl is good, it's very good indeed.
The game that made the Super Bowl
Super Bowl III - New York Jets vs. Baltimore Colts
With the NFC (still called the NFL at the time, with the AFC being the AFL), having won each of the first two Super Bowls comfortably, the idea that there was a fundamental talent imbalance between the two conferences had begun to take root. Whispers began to be spoken that the concept might be done away with altogether.
The New York Jets had qualified for the Super Bowl with an 11-3 record under third year quarterback Joe Namath. Namath, a risk-taking acolyte of the deep ball, made a famous guarantee before the match against the Baltimore Colts that his team would win the big game.
Namath backed up his words with an immaculate, MVP-winning performance. Namath set Super Bowl records for completions and completions without an interception as he led the Jets to a shock 16-7 win. The Colts had been favoured by 19.5 points before the game.
The unexpected victory, was a turning point in Super Bowl history.
The perfect season ends
Super Bowl XLII - New York Giants vs. New England Patriots
The 2007 New England Patriots have a strong claim to be one of the greatest teams of all time and almost certainly are the greatest team to not win the Super Bowl.
With Tom Brady at quarterback and nine All-Pros, the Bill Belichick coached Patriots had steam-rollered everyone en-route to the big game.
With a 16-0 record - just the eighth time in NFL history a team finished the regular season without defeat - and NFL records set for passing touchdowns (Brady with 50), receiving touchdowns (Randy Moss with 23), and most points in a season (589), it seemed inevitable that the Patriots would join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only undefeated Super Bowl champions in history.
Standing against this historic behemoth were the five-seed 11-5 New York Giants helmed by Eli Manning. The Giants had faced the Patriots in the last game of the regular season and given them an almighty scare, losing 38-35 as the Patriots preserved their unbeaten season, so even complacency wasn't going to be a problem for New England.
The Patriots led 7-3 at half-time as the Giants' smothering defense did what no other team had managed to do that season and all but stifle Brady's offense. The only touchdown had been a Laurence Maroney run from the one-yard line. In the third quarter, the Patriots were driving down the field until a Michael Strahan sack caused the drive to stall out. The Pats still led by four points with only the fourth quarter to play.
Eli Manning, the son of one Hall of Famer (Archie) and the brother of another (Peyton) began making a case for himself as the fourth quarter began. Manning led an 80-yard drive that ended with unheralded receiver David Tyree making a catch to give the Giants a 10-7 lead. Brady found Moss in the endzone shortly afterwards to restore the Patriots' lead, but Manning stepped up again to find Plaxico Burress for a 17-14 lead. The Giants rode out the final minutes and were crowned champions in an historic upset.
The second of four
Super Bowl XXV - New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills (1991)
The Buffalo Bills' run of four consecutive Super Bowl defeats from 1990 to 1993 is one of the most remarkably things to have happened in the NFL's long history.
Quarterback Jim Kelly's run-and-gun offense had averaged 26.75 points per game and their defense was the sixth best in the NFL. They led the league for offensive touchdowns with 48, and had the AP Defensive Player of the Year in Bruce Smith. They had 10 Pro Bowlers, five of which were All-Pros, and came into the playoffs with a 13-3 record. They reached the Super Bowl by destroying the Oakland Raiders 51-3, and had just lost the Super Bowl the previous year.
On the other sideline stood one of the greatest defenses in NFL history, led by Lawrence Taylor and coached by Defensive Coordinator Bill Belichick. The Giants had allowed only one opposition touchdown through the playoffs. The two sides had faced off at Giants Stadium late in the season, with the Bills winning 17-13.
The Giants decided to slow the game down, deliberately burning off clock on offense and frustrating the Bills who liked to play a speedy, no-huddle style. The two sides exchanged field goals in the first quarter before Don Smith ran in a touchdown to give the Bills a 10-3 lead. A Smith sack for a safety inched the Bills' lead to 12-3 in the second quarter, but the Giants cut the deficit with a Stephen Baker touchdown reception just before half-time. Ottis Anderson ran in a touchdown in the third to put the Giants ahead. Thurman Thomas ran one in for the Bills in the fourth as the lead swapped again. A 14-play 74-yard Giants drive ended with a field goal that put New York back in front 20-19.
The Bills' final possession ended at the 29-yard line with a 47-yard field goal required to win it all. Kicker Scott Norwood stepped up and pushed his attempt right of the goal post, by less than a yard. The miss sealed the Giants' victory and has been immortalised as simply 'wide right'.
The Greatest Show on Turf
Super Bowl XXXIV - St. Louis Rams vs. Tennessee Titans
The high-powered St Louis Rams offense of the early 2000s was nicknamed the "Greatest Show on Turf".
They set NFL records for scoring, offensive yards and produced three NFL MVPs. Near unstoppable, they rolled into the Georgia Dome on January 30, 2000 for what was expected to be their coronation.
The top seed in the NFC and boasting stars on both sides of the ball, the Rams had also shown they could win dirty in the 11-6 NFC Championship Game win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Titans were also a good team, having matched the Rams with a 13-3 record and beaten the AFC's top seed Jacksonville handily in the AFC Championship Game. The Super Bowl began with three straight Rams field goals, before a Torry Holt touchdown catch made it 16-0 to St Louis.
The Titans got on the board late in the third quarter with Eddie George's touchdown run, but the Rams still seemed on track. Forcing the Rams to punt on the next possession, George ran in another touchdown to make it 16-13. A Titans field goal then levelled the game. It was the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, but the game was still in the balance. The Rams scored on the first play of their next drive, a 73-yard touchdown catch by Isaac Bruce, equalling the Super Bowl record for longest touchdown catch in history.
With less than two minutes on the clock, the Titans got the ball on their 12-yard line and began to drive forward. They reached the Rams' 10-yard line with six seconds to play and used their final timeout. Wide receiver Kevin Dyson was the target on the play, and he made the catch five yards from the goalline. Dyson raced towards the endzone but was tackled. Reaching out with the ball as he fell, Dyson was just short and the game clock expired.
The Rams had won, and the Titans were left to remember the play forever as "One yard short".
The comeback to end all comebacks
Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons
The 2017 Super Bowl pitted the 11-5 two-seed Atlanta Falcons against the 14-2 top-seeded New England Patriots. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick were leading their team into a seventh Super Bowl, having already won four together. MVP Matt Ryan stood on the other sideline, ready to lead his high-powered offense to victory as he had done against the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers en-route to the Big Game.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Falcons offense clicked into gear and Ryan found wide receiver Julio Jones for big gains before Devonta Freeman ran in the game's first score. The Patriots went three-and-out on the following series, giving the Falcons good field position which they exploited. Ryan found tight end Austin Hooper for the second touchdown of the game, putting the Falcons 14-0 up. The stuttering Patriots offense was helped by three holding penalties on the next drive, but it ended with a Brady pick-six that put the Falcons into a 21-0 lead. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski got the Patriots on the board before halftime with a field goal.
The Falcons added another touchdown early in the third quarter through Tevin Coleman, and led 28-3 with 8:31 left to play in the third quarter.
That was as good as it got for Atlanta.
Brady led a 75-yard drive for the first New England touchdown of the game through running back James White.
A failed onside kick gave the Falcons great field position and they rolled down the field to the Pats' 32 but a holding penalty pushed them back and Atlanta punted.
A New England field goal reduced the deficit to 28-12 but there were under 10 minutes remaining. Ryan was hit with a huge sack on the next drive, fumbling to allow New England a quick score.
After a successful two-point conversion, the Patriots were only eight points behind. Freeman, who had missed his block on the sack, made some amends with a big catch that took the Falcons deep into New England territory, but another Matthews holding penalty pushed them back out of field goal range. Brady got the ball on his nine-yard line with three minutes on the clock. Julian Edelman then made a scarcely believable catch to keep the drive alive, and suddenly the result began to feel inevitable.
White scored, Brady found Amendola for the two-point conversion and the scores were level at 28-all. The game went into overtime, and another Falcons mistake - pass interference by De'Vondre Campbell - kept New England's opening drive alive.
White scored the winning touchdown as New England completed arguably the greatest comeback in sporting history.