Ranking the 5 greatest upsets in Super Bowl history

The Chiefs' first Super Bowl in franchise history would be their last as a part of the AFL. The merger between the NFL and its AFL counterparts was official, combing both leagues into one starting next season. Before that, Kansas City found themselves facing the champions of the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings were one of the best teams in the league, whose ferocious defense was anchored by the famous 'Purple People Eaters' defensive line which included Hall of Famers Alan Page and Carl Eller. However, Minnesota wasn't able to do much on offense as the Chiefs limited them to only 67 rushing yards, forcing three interceptions, and recovering two fumbles.

Len Dawson was named Super Bowl MVP, completing 12 of 17 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown, with one interception and led Kansas City to their first title, and their last until Patrick Mahomes and co. won a Lombardi 50 years later. The most memorable moments from this game may not have been the football, but the commentary from Chiefs head coach Hank Stram, who was the first coach ever to be mic'd up during the Super Bowl. If you haven't watched him chuckling and laughing on the sidelines, I highly suggest you do.

Some may think that this is low considering the legend surrounding this game, but the actual football itself was not very entertaining. The "guarantee" from Joe Namath prior to Super Bowl III is what most fans remember, but it was as far from a guarantee as it can get. The Jets entered the Super Bowl as a near 20 point underdog, due in large part to the AFL still getting no respect from the media, along with the Colts being one of the most dominant teams in the NFL at the time.

The game was not pretty, but the Jets' only touchdown from Matt Snell, as well as their defense, was the true reason for their success. New York's defense picked off Colts QB Earl Morral three times, forcing Johnny Unitas to come in for mop-up duty but even Johnny U wasn't enough as the Jets were able to leave the Orange Bowl with a 16-7 victory and the only Lombardi Trophy in the history of the franchise. Broadway Joe went 17/28 for 206 yards and was named MVP.

Looking back, the Jets had just as much talent across the board as the Colts did, which is why this game is so low on our list despite what the spread was.

Everyone knows the movie script career of Tom Brady. Before the 'GOAT' made his mark on the NFL, Super Bowl XXXVI was the first of many. After Drew Bledsoe went down with a lung injury against the Jets in Week 2 of the 2001 season, Brady came off the bench and lead the Pats to their first Super Bowl appearance since Bledsoe did so only four years prior. The story behind New England reaching the games' biggest stage only a few months following the terrorist attacks on 9/11 was a great one in and of itself, but no one gave them a chance a shot at beating "The Greatest Show on Turf' St. Louis Rams whose offense was coming off its best season yet with league MVP Kurt Warner commending the ship.

Although the Rams out-gained the Patriots 427–267 in total yards, New England was able to build a 17–3 third-quarter lead off of three Rams turnovers. After a holding penalty in the fourth quarter negated a Patriots fumble return for a touchdown, the Rams scored off twice to tie the game, 17–17, with a little more than a minute left to go.

Without any timeouts, Brady marched the offense down the field to set up Adam Vinatieri for the 48-yard game-winning field goal at the buzzer to win the franchises' first Super Bowl title and was the beginning of a legendary career of the league's greatest quarterbacks.

John Elway played in three Super Bowls prior to his fourth appearance at the ripe age of 37, having suffered through three straight losses in the big game and hadn’t made it back in eight seasons. The Packers were just coming off a Super Bowl victory against the Patriots and were looking to defend their crown against Denver. The game was close throughout its entirety, with Denver having converted on two turnovers to take a 17–7 lead in the second quarter before the Packers were cut the score to 17–14 at halftime. Green Bay kept pace with Denver in the second half, before tying the game with 13:31 remaining. The game-changer however would be Terrell Davis who would score the go-ahead touchdown with 1:45 left to give Elway his first Super Bowl ring after three unsuccessful tries.

Davis was named Super Bowl MVP, rushing for 157 yards and three touchdowns.

The Giants date with the undefeated 2007 Patriots team is the clear choice for the biggest upset in Super Bowl history. Although the spread is not as wide as some of the other games we've talked about, the 13-6 Giants had to find some way to limit New England’s historic offense, something that no team could find an answer for. The Giants did just that. New England's offense never got going, only managing a narrow 7-3 lead entering the fourth quarter. Both teams ended up trading scores, with Brady's TD to Randy Moss giving New England a 14–10 lead with 2:42 left in the game. On the Giants' next possession, two of the greatest moments in Super Bowl history would happen on the same drive. First came David Tyree's incredible helmet catch over multiple-time Pro Bowler Rodney Harrison. Then Manning connected with Plaxico Burress for a game-winning touchdown which capped off a 12-play, 83-yard drive to put New York ahead 17-14 with 35 seconds left.

34 seconds is a lot of time for Brady, but he couldn't muster up any last-second magic, having their perfect season spoiled by a Giants squad very few thought would make it that far in the first place.