The Ghosts of Super Bowl Fantasy Past

For the most part, fantasy doesn’t exist in the Super Bowl. Some would say it’s downright illegal. No..really, it’s illegal. Anyone offering a Super Bowl only fantasy game with a cash buy-in could be facing hard time under federal statute. Buuuuuut, if we were to pretend that it was legal, here’s what it would have looked like. (Hopefully RG can utilize the cloaking feature to make sure this isn’t seen by the FBI.)

We’re going to try and get them all here so it might get a little long, but let’s go:

NOTE Hopefully, using the year of for the regular season will be less confusing than the year the actual Super Bowl took place. For example, the 1st SB took place in January 1967, but will be marked as 1966 for that football season.

1966 Everyone remembers (ok, only old people remember) the battle between Len Dawson’s Chiefs and Bart Starr’s Packers in the 1st ever Super Bowl. It wasn’t close. The Pack blew them out (34-10) and neither QB did much to distinguish themselves in SB lore. The same can’t be said for Green Bay WR Max McGee, who’s best days were thought to be long behind him. The 34 year-old caught only 4 passes during the regular season, his next to last, but he had a day to remember against the Chiefs. His 7 catches for 138 yards and 2 TD’s set the early mark for fantasy greatness in the big game with 29.3 points.

1967 The Packers are back at it again. This time against the Raiders. The result was much the same (33-14), but this was Raider WR Bill Miller (22.9 points) who came out of obscurity to have the biggest day with 5 receptions for 84 yards and 2 TD’s.

1968 We can all recall (ok, again, maybe just old people) Willie Joe Namath’s guarantee. No, not the guarantee that he was going to smooch the sideline reporter after a few drinks. (Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ1gD2YZMNU&feature=player_embedded) He guaranteed his Jets would win this game against the Colts and they did, 16-7. The Jet D held Baltimore QB Johnny Unitas (3.4 points) to 11 of 24 for 110 yards and an INT. Namath (8.24 points) threw for 206 yards without a TD or INT, but he can thank RB Matt Snell (24.1 points) for making him an honest man. His 161 total yards and a TD led all players.

1969 The Vikings are the whipping boys in the early days of the big game. The Chiefs get their 1st championship, 23-7, in a game that was never in doubt. Not much to see here as KC WR Otis Taylor (17.1 points – 6 catches/81 yards/TD) is the only player with more than 15 points.

1970 The 70’s began with a low scoring struggle between the Colts and Cowboys. Baltimore turned the ball over a stunning 7 times….and they WON 16-13! Hall of Fame TE John Mackey (2 catches/80 yards/TD) led the way with exactly 15 fantasy points. Only 4 Cowboys touched the ball on offense more than once the entire game! Dan Reeves (7.1 points) is in the loser’s locker room for his the 1st time. He’ll get used to it.

1971 Most of these early Super Bowls continue to be fairly uncompetitive. The Cowboys whip the Dolphins 24-3. WR Duane Thomas (18.7 points – 112 total yards/TD) is the only player to break 15 fantasy points or 100 total yards.

1972 The QB position combined for 192 yards, 1 TD, and 4 INT’s in this barn burner between the Dolphins and Redskins. Miami fans are happy (14-7), but there’s not much to see here. Washington RB Larry Brown (12.3 points – 98 total yards) is the best this game has to offer.

1973 The Dolphins beat up on the Vikings (24-7) to complete their perfect season. QB Bob Griese (2.92 points) goes 6 for 7 for 73 yards. Larry Csonka (26.5 points) thanks him for showing up, but says, “Take a seat. I got this”. He carries 33 times for 145 yards and 2 TD’s.

1974 The Vikings have now appeared in 3 Super Bowls in the last 5 years and have totaled 20 points, never once scoring more than 7. This year, they lose to the Steelers 16-6. QB Fran Tarkenton (1.08 points) threw for 102 yards (11 of 26) and 3 INT’s. Pittsburgh RB Franco Harris (21.8 points) runs 34 times for 158 yards and a TD.

1975 Steelers again, this time vs the Cowboys. I guess this is what qualifies for a shootout back then. A 21-17 Pittsburgh victory starring WR Lynn Swann (24.1 points – 4 catches/161 yards/TD).

1976 Hey look, the Vikings put up 14 (now 34 in 4 Super Bowl losses in a 7 year stretch), but they give up 34 to the Raiders. 12 different players carried the ball in the game, but Viking WR Sammy White (84 total yards + 1 TD) led all players with 16.9 fantasy points.

1977 Vikings say, “We’ve had enough. We’re outta here.” Enter the next whipping boy….the Denver Broncos. In their 1st Super Bowl loss, 27-10 to the Cowboys, QB Craig Morton (-2.44 points) completes just 4 of 15 passes for 39 yards and 4 INT’s!!! Dallas gives him an honorary ring.

1978 Steelers and Cowboys, the rematch. Our 1st legitimate Super Bowl shootout. Both QB’s play their parts well. Roger Staubach (23.82 points) throws for 228 yards and 3 TD’s, but is bested by Terry Bradshaw (27.22 points) with 318 yards and 4 TD’s. Steelers take it 35-31. 4 Steelers pass the 15 fantasy point mark in all.

1979 The Steelers have become the dominant team. This year they face the Rams. Sharing the wealth, the top performer this year is Franco Harris (24.7 points) with 112 total yards and 2 TD’s.

1980 Jim Plunkett (23.34 points) excels with 261 yards and 3 TD passes in his 1st Super Bowl victory as a Raider. They beat the Eagles 27-10.

1981 A new dominant force begins to emerge in the NFL. Young 49er’s QB Joe Montana (18.08 points) has a modest showing, passing for 157 yards and a TD, but also running one in to pad his fantasy stats in his 1st big game. They lead the entire way and hold off the Bengals, 26-21, despite 11 receptions for 104 yards and 2 TD’s by Dan Ross (27.9 points).

1982 John Riggins (24.6 points) runs wild on the Dolphins. He touches the ball an astounding 39 times for 181 total yards and a TD as the Redskins beat the fish 27-17.

1983 We’ve been covering his amazing post-season every step of the way, but now Raider RB Marcus Allen caps it off with the best performance in Super Bowl history. He total 209 yards, running for 2 TD’s, and setting a new Super Bowl fantasy standard with 33.9 points. It’s a 38-9 blowout of the Redskins.

As a side note, this is the 1st football game I can remember watching and paying attention to. I instantly became a Raider fan (along with a Cowboy fan and then later a Jet fan). Allen and the ageless Howie Long became my favorite players.

1984 Dan Marino (14.72 points) thought it was going to be easy, getting to the big game in just his 2nd season. He never returned. He threw the ball 50 times, but Joe Montana (37.14 points – 331 yards/3 TD/59 rushing yards/1 TD) bests Marcus Allen’s mark just a year later en-route to his 2nd ring. RB Roger Craig (35 points – 135 total yards/3 TD’s) has a monster game as well in the 38-16 win.

1985 The Chicago Bears finish off their Super Bowl Shuffle with a 46-10 demolishing of the Patriots. They were running on all cylinders as the DST (19.5 points) returned 1 of 6 turnovers for a TD, adding that to 7 sacks. QB Jim McMahon (23.64 points) is the 1st to realize that you get more fantasy points for running the ball into the end zone than passing it. So he scored 2 TD’s on the ground, but didn’t pass for any. Walter Payton (6.1 points) disappointed owners with 61 yards on 22 carries without a score.

1986 The Broncos lose another one. Phil Simms (25.22 points) is almost perfect, gaining more than a fantasy point per pass attempt as he goes 22 for 25 with 3 TD’s. John Elway (23.86 points) with 331 total yards and 2 TD’s in a galant effort, but 39-20 G-men.

1987 This game makes Redskins QB Doug Williams (28.4 points) famous. He throws for 340 yards and 4 TD’s. Two of his teammates have even bigger games. RB Timmy Smith (33.8 points) totals 213 yards and 2 TD’s. WR Ricky Sanders (35.4 points) catches 9 targets for 193 yards and 2 TD’s as well. A 42-10 romping. Guess who the loser is? Elway (15.28 points) not as impressive in this loss, but he does become the 1st QB in Super Bowl history to have at least 20 yards passing, rushing, and receiving in the game.

1988 Jerry Rice (33.5 points) makes his mark on the big game and the Cincinnati Bengals. He touches the ball 12 times for 220 total yards and a TD. His teammate, John Taylor (7.5 points) catches only 1 pass for 10 yards, but it’s the game winner in the 4th quarter from Joe Montana (23.58 points). 49er’s 20-16.

1989 The dominant winner of the past decade takes on the dominant….loser? It’s even uglier than you’re probably thinking. The 49er’s score exactly 2 TD’s in every quarter. It’s the same cast of characters thriving. Joe Montana (33.38 points) with a Super Bowl record 5 TD passes. Jerry Rice (36.3 points) catches a record 3 of them in a 55-10 blowout of Denver. The NFL considers re-naming the game the “Joe Montana Bowl”. “Rice Bowl” doesn’t sound as exciting.

1990 The closest game in Super Bowl history. Most of it centers around the RB’s. Otis Anderson (17.4 points) runs for 102 yards and a TD for the Giants. Thurman Thomas (27.5 points) totals 190 yards and a score for the Bills. But it ultimately comes down to the Buffalo kicker. Scott Norwood becomes famous by missing the game winning FG in the final seconds and costing this writer his Super Bowl Pool final with Bills 2, Giants 0. You would think the agony would turn me off to the horrors of gambling at an early age…..you would think, but it takes a lot more misery than that to get through to this guy. Giants win 20-19.

1991 The last of the glory years for the Redskins and Marv Levy’s Buffalo Bills have picked up where Dan Reeves’s Broncos left off. They can’t blame a kicker this year. More likely QB Jim Kelly’s (16.3 points) 4 INT’s are the culprit. WR Gary Clark (20.9 points) leads the way in the 37-24 victory. Washington’s Gerald Riggs (12.7 points) would have been a nice pickup. He carried the ball 5 times for 7 yards, but scored twice.

1992 Much like Denver, the longer it went on, the uglier it got. Buffalo turned the ball over 9 times! The Dallas DST (17 points) ran one back and owners still curse Leon Lett for costing them another 6. The rise of the last Cowboy dynasty was led by Troy Aikman’s (29.72 points) 4 TD tosses and Michael Irvin’s (26.4 points) 2 TD receptions. 52-17, your final.

1993 Cowboys/Bills Part II. Closer score, but same result. The Dallas DST (12.5 points) runs back a fumble for the 2nd year in a row, but this year they give Emmitt Smith (29.6 points) a chance to shine. The future Hall of Famer piled up 158 total yards and 2 TD’s in the 30-13 Cowboy win. Thurman Thomas (18.4 points) ran for a combined 56 yards on 27 carries in both games, but scored a TD in each.

1994 Another blowout in favor of the NFC. Once again, it’s the 49er’s, but not Joe Montana. Steve Young (41.9 points) says anything he can do, I can do better. He simply goes out and has the only 40 point fantasy game in Super Bowl history. 374 total yards and 6 TD’s. Jerry Rice (39.4 points) scores 3 TD’s in the big game for the 2nd time and has the 2nd best game in SB history. Ricky Watters (30.3 points) is the 3rd 49er to accumulate 30 fantasy points in the 49-26 beating of the Chargers.

1995 It feels like the 70’s again with the Cowboys and the Steelers. And it played like the 70’s as well. No player totaled more than 100 yards and neither QB threw for more than 1 TD. Somehow, Dallas still managed to put 27 points on the board to Pittsburgh’s 17. Emmitt Smith (17.7 points) tops all players in fantasy points with 2 TD’s despite his 52 total yards.

1996 This is the 1st Super Bowl in a decade that hasn’t featured either the Cowboys, 49er’s, Bills, or Broncos. Sandwiched around that decade is 2 Patriot losses. This time, it’s not a ferocious defense they face, but the gun-slinging Packers. Brett Favre (25.04 points) stars in his 1st championship game as he throws for 2 TD’s and runs another 1 in to lead his team to the 35-21 win.

1997 The Broncos are back for another beating….wait! What? They won? Well good for Dan Reeves finally…..oh, no? He’s not? At least John Elway (11.62 points) got to enjoy this one, even if it was not his best game. The stars were Antonio Freeman (29.1 points – 9 catches/126 yards/2 TD) for the Packers and Terrell Davis (35.5 points – 165 total yards/3 TD) for the champs. 31-24 Broncos.

1998 Denver is just plain greedy now. Two in a row for Elway (22.64 points), who throws for only a single TD, which is 1 more than he threw for last year, but runs 1 in for the 2nd straight year. Rod Smith (23.7 points) catches that pass and 4 others for 152 yards.

1999 Well, here’s 2 teams completely new to Super Bowl lure. While the Scott Norwood game may have been the closest in score, this game was actually the closest Super Bowl ever in the minds of many. The Titans WR Kevin Dyson (6.1 points) was tackled on the 1 yard line as time expired, his team losing 23-16 to the Rams. RB Eddie George (26 points) totals 130 yards and 2 TD’s for the losers, while WR Isaac Bruce (25.2 points) caught 6 passes for 162 yards and a TD for the winners.

2000 The Ravens DST (23 points) smashes the Giants. They score 2 TD’s and force 5 turnovers along with 4 sacks in 34-7 beating. In something out of the 70’s, losing QB Kerry Collins (1.68 points) tosses 4 picks and neither QB completes 50% of their passes.

2001 No Super Bowl has ever gone to Overtime. If Adam Vinatieri 48 yard FG attempt had sailed wide in the closing moments, this would have been the 1st, but he succeeded where Norwood previously failed. The heavily favored Rams came from 14 down in the 4th quarter to tie the game at 17 as Rams QB Kurt Warner (23.2 points) threw and ran for a TD. No Patriot passed the 100 yard mark and Tom Brady (10.1 points) only threw for 145 yards and a TD in his 1st SB, but his team wins 20-17.

2002 Raider QB Rich Gannon (14.18 points) wants to forget this game. Although not a complete fantasy disaster, he threw 5 picks, 3 of them returned for TD’s. The Tampa Bay DST scores 25.5 fantasy points. John Gruden’s new team, whips his old 48-21.

2003 He did it again! 37 points were scored in the 4th quarter and Adam Vinatieri 41 yard FG with 4 seconds left stops another game from going to OT. Tom Brady (26.36 points) and Jake Delhomme (24.92 points) each throw 3 TD passes and Deion Branch (25.3 points) catches 10 passes for 143 yards and TD in the 32-29 Patriot shootout win over the Panthers.

2004 Donovan McNabb (23.28 points) can’t get his team down the field in the final minute and Tom Brady (17.34 points) gets more jewelry as the Patriots hang on against the Eagles 24-21.

2005 Ben Roethlisberger (11.42 points) struggles mightily, but salvages his fantasy day with a rushing TD. Hines Ward (22.6 points) has the big game with 141 total yards and a TD. Steelers beat the Seahawks 21-10.

2006 Peyton Manning (12.88 points) gets his 1st and only championship ring. He was merely average (247 yards/1 TD) in a game where the Bears turned the ball over 5 times and the Colts DST (11.5 points) returned 1 for a TD. Joseph Addai (19.3 points) was the top fantasy performer with 143 yards total and 10 receptions. Colts 29-17.

2007 The last time the Giants and Patriots met in the Super Bowl was 4 years ago, when New England entered the game 18-0 and the ’72 Dolphins were watching on the edge of their seats. David Tyree (11.8 points) made that crazy catch and then faded into obscurity as the G-men shocked the undefeated Pats, much like they’ve done to the Packers and 49er’s in the current post-season, 17-14. Eli Manning (17.6 points – 255 yards/2 TD) is the game’s top scorer.

2008 The Steelers blew a 20-7 4th quarter lead to the Cardinals, but Santonio Holmes (23.6 points – 9 catches/131 yards/TD) catches the game winning score as Pittsburgh perseveres 27-23. On the Arizon end, Kurt Warner (26.08 points – 377 yards/3 TD) and Larry Fitzgerald (28.2 points – 7 catches/127 yards/2 TD) have big days.

2009 Most of the country were Saint fans on this day, rooting for a city rebuilding after a natural disaster (Katrina), Drew Brees (19.42 points – 288 yards/2 TD) allowed people to forget their pain for one evening, leading New Orleans to the championship, 31-17. Peyton Manning (16.32 points) again throws for only a single TD. Joseph Addai (23 points – 135 total yards/TD) is the game’s top fantasy option.

2010 Strange how it works sometimes. This year, the Packers were the top team in the NFL and went out in their 1st game. Last year, they were the 6th seed and rode that to a Super Bowl victory. Jordy Nelson (24.5 points) is the game’s top option and only player to top 100 yards with 9 receptions for 140 and a TD. But the discount double-check man, Aaron Rodgers (23.96 points – 304 yards/3 TD), gets most of the attention in a game that Green Bay led the entire way and barely hold on against the Steelers, 31-25.

Including this year, you see that Super Bowl appearances were dominated by 10 franchises, 1/3 of the league, that throughout it’s history have made at least 5 appearances. The Pittsburgh Steelers (8), Dallas Cowboys (8), New England Patriots (7), Denver Broncos (6), San Francisco 49er’s (5), Green Bay Packers (5), Washington Redksins (5), LA/“Oakland Raiders(player-profile)”:/fantasyplayers/OAKLAND_RAIDERS-13201 (5), Miami Dolphins (5), and New York Giants (5).

Of those teams, only the 49er’s have never lost. The Broncos (2-4) and Dolphins (2-3) are the only teams with losing records.

Only 5 Super Bowls have been played without an appearance by these teams.
Super Bowl III (Jets v Colts)
Super Bowl IV (Chiefs v Vikings)
Super Bowl XXIV (Rams v Titans)
Super Bowl XLI (Colts v Bears)
Super Bowl XLIV (Saints v Colts)

Only 1, Super Bowl XXIV, has featured a game without a team with at least 4 appearances and no game has ever been played without at least 1 participant that hasn’t appeared at least 3 times.

Still, 4 currently active franchises still have zero Super Bowl appearances. They are the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans.

The New Orleans Saints were the last team to make their Super Bowl debut.