Unless you’re a Patriots fan, chances are you were underwhelmed by Super Bowl LIII. The lowest-scoring Super Bowl of all-time, it took over three quarters for a touchdown to be scored, and the Rams failed to crack 300 yards of total offense. The lone bright spot was the game’s MVP, as Julian Edelman caught 10 passes on 12 targets for 141 yards.
He became the seventh wideout to take home MVP honors, but does his performance crack the list of best ever by a receiver in a Super Bowl? No, no he does not.
6) Max McGee, Super Bowl I:
The very first World Championship Game (as it was then called) saw an unlikely hero in Green Bay’s 35-10 win over Kansas City. During the regular season McGee, in the twilight of his career, caught all of 10 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown. But with Boyd Dowler hurt, McGee stepped in and shined at the LA Coliseum. He caught seven passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, opening the scoring with a 37-yard touchdown reception and adding a 13-yarder in the third quarter.
5) Dan Ross, Super Bowl XVI:
Arguably the best-ever Super Bowl performance in a loss, Ross set a then-record by catching 11 passes in a 26-21 loss to the 49ers. He really shined in the fourth quarter, when, down 20-7, he caught six passes, including a pair of touchdowns to give the Bengals a glimmer of hope. Overall he finished with 104 yards, one of his five career 100-yard receiving days.
4) Jerry Rice, Super Bowl XXIV:
Get used to seeing this name on the list, as Rice played in three Super Bowls with San Francisco and was phenomenal in all three. In 1990, Rice abused the Denver secondary as the Niners throttled the Broncos 55-10. In that game Rice caught seven balls for 148 yards and three touchdowns, of 20, 38 and 28 yards. He, however, wasn’t the MVP of the game. Joe Montana (297 yards and five touchdowns) instead received the honor.
3) Ricky Sanders, Super Bowl XXII:
Sanders had a nice NFL career, one that spanned a decade, saw him win a pair of Super Bowls and have a pair of 1,000-yard seasons, in 1988 and 1989. Sanders hinted at a breakout in the final game of the 1987 season, when Washington hammered Denver 42-10. After going without a reception in the NFC Championship Game, Sanders exploded for nine catches, 193 yards and two touchdowns in the Super Bowl, with his scores going for 80 and 50 yards. Again, his quarterback won MVP honors (Doug Williams), but Sanders did set the Big Game’s record for most receiving yards. Of course, it lasted all of one year, thanks to you-know-who…
2) Jerry Rice, Super Bowl XXIII:
Setting up a legendary Super Bowl career, Rice’s debut was spectacular. He caught 11 passes for 215 yards, and his lone touchdown tied the game early in the fourth quarter in what became a 20-16 San Francisco win over Cincinnati. Those 215 yards are still a Super Bowl record as he was named MVP.
1) Jerry Rice, Super Bowl XXIX:
In case you didn’t know, Jerry Rice was pretty good at the whole football thing. Picking his best Super Bowl is like picking the best Beatles album – take your pick. We’ll go with 1995, when he caught 10 passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns in the 49ers’ 49-26 rout of the Chargers. The wild part? He didn’t even win MVP honors, as those went to his quarterback, Steve Young.
In his Hall of Fame career Rice caught 33 passes over four appearances in the Super Bowl for 589 yards and eight touchdowns.
