Luke Lindholm
Super Bowl LIX has arrived, as the Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, Louisiana. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid aim to be the first-ever team to win three Super Bowls in a row, and while they may be the favorite, oddsmakers have this game as a pick ‘em. Some fans may view the Eagles as underdogs, but the world wouldn’t be shocked if Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley took down KC, as both teams were favorites to win their divisions.
Every Super Bowl starts with a National Anthem and Coin Toss and ends in a Gatorade Shower, but some mean more than others based on the team’s expectations entering the season. Everyone loves an underdog, so we identified the biggest underdog Super Bowl winners in NFL history based on preseason expectations.
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5. New York Giants – 2007-08 (+3000 to win Super Bowl XLII)
We’ll start our list with the New York Giants, as Tom Coughlin’s squad also pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. Eli Manning and company didn’t seem to have anything special about them entering the season, and that was further believed after they started the season 0-2. However, they went on to secure a wild-card spot and win on the road against the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers before their biggest test in Super Bowl XLII.
The New England Patriots were 18-0 heading into this one, as they were one game away from perfection in addition to securing their 4th Super Bowl in 7 seasons. Tom Brady and company had just faced off against Tom Coughlin’s New York Giants in Week 17 of the regular season, as the Pats squeaked away with a 38-35 victory at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.
New England had won their 18 games by 18.6 points per game, but that didn’t stop Giants QB Eli Manning from pulling off one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. There were three lead changes in the 4th quarter, but the Pats pulled ahead 14-10 with less than 3 minutes to go, as Hall of Fame WR Randy Moss hauled in a 6-yard TD from Brady.
However, Pats fans will never forget the infamous David Tyree catch that followed, as the Giants wideout pinned a 32-yard bomb to his helmet on 3rd and 5 with just 1:15 left to go. Plaxico Burress would pull in a 13-yard pass from Manning with 35 seconds remaining, securing one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.
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4. Philadelphia Eagles – 2017-18 (+4000 to win Super Bowl LII)
Another upset at the hands of New England came 10 years later, as the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LII as 40-1 underdogs. The Eagles were originally led by QB Carson Wentz, who led Philly to a 7-9 record the season prior as a rookie. However, he played like the MVP during his sophomore season, throwing for 3,296 yards, 33 TDs and 7 INTs before suffering an ACL injury in Week 13 against the Rams. Backup QB Nick Foles would take over a Philly team that already locked up the #1 seed in the NFC, and they would take down the Falcons and Vikings. Everything seemed to go their way, and the country was behind the Eagles underdog story as they went up against Tom Brady and company.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, as neither defense could get its footing. The Eagles pulled off the Philly Special right before halftime, as Foles hauled in a 1-yard touchdown from TE Trey Burton. However, they continued to score and took a 38-33 lead with 2:21 left in the contest. On the final drive, Brady was strip-sacked on 2nd and 3, which secured the victory for the Eagles, cementing themselves as the 4th-longest upset based on preseason odds.
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3. San Francisco 49ers – 1981-82 (+5000 to win Super Bowl XVI)
The San Francisco 49ers entered the 1981-82 season on a run of 8 straight seasons without a playoff appearance, as they had just one winning season during that stretch. However, this year marked the true start of their dynasty, as Joe Montana was the full-time starter for the first time, leading the 49ers to victory in 15 of their final 16 games. It wasn’t an easy path for the Niners, even though they had home-field advantage, as they just squeaked out a 28-27 victory in the NFC Championship.
Once they were in the Big Game, the Cincinnati Bengals never had a chance. San Francisco jumped out to a 20-0 first-half lead and never looked back. Cincinnati made it a one-possession game with 20 seconds to go, but it was too little too late, as Montana led the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory even though they were 50-1 underdogs entering the year.
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2. New England Patriots – 2001-02 (+6000 to win Super Bowl XXXVI)
Like the 49ers in 1981, the 2001-02 New England Patriots season marks the beginning of their dynasty under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The Pats were 60-1 underdogs to hoist the Lombardi entering the year, as this season marked the second with Belichick in charge. They finished last in the AFC East in his first year, and things didn’t seem to be trending in the right direction when star QB Drew Bledsoe was injured in the second game of the year. However, sixth-round pick Tom Brady would step in and lead the Pats to an 11-3 record during his 14 starts.
New England entered Super Bowl XXXVI as 14-point underdogs, as they were going up against Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf in the St. Louis Rams. They had just won Super Bowl XXXIV two years prior and led the NFL in scoring (31.4 ppg). An offense featuring RB Marshall Faulk, WRs Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt and Warner was nearly impossible to stop, but the Pats managed to do just that.
Although the Rams jumped out to a 3-0 1st-quarter lead, Patriots CB Ty Law’s pick-6 with 8:58 left to go in the 2nd changed the game’s momentum. New England built on their 7-3 lead and went up 17-3 as they entered the 4th quarter. However, the Rams clawed it back, tying the game at 17-17 with 1:37 left to go. This is where the origin of Tom Brady was truly born, as the first-year starter went 5-8 for 53 yards on the final drive to set up a 48-yard field-goal attempt for Adam Vinatieri.
Of course, Vinatieri would nail the field goal, securing the second-biggest upset in Super Bowl history and the second-biggest underdog to win the Super Bowl entering the year.
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1. St. Louis Rams – 1999-2000 (+15000 to win Super Bowl XXXIV)
The biggest underdog to ever win a Super Bowl was the same team that fell to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI. The LA Rams almost had a dynasty of their own, but they entered the 1999-2000 with their last playoff appearance coming in 1989. It was all about QB Kurt Warner, as he recorded 4,353 passing yards, 41 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Like Brady, Warner wasn’t the team’s planned starter entering the year, but QB Trent Green suffered a torn ACL in the preseason.
As we discussed above, this Rams offense would turn out to be one of the best in NFL history, as they scored 500+ points for three straight seasons from 1999-2002. The Rams had a Week 2 bye, but they went 13-3 during the regular season before dismantling the Minnesota Vikings 49-37 and Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11-6 in the NFC. The Tennessee Titans couldn’t stop The Greatest Show on Turf either, as Warner and company secured a 23-16 victory and cemented themselves as the biggest preseason underdogs to win a Super Bowl.
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