#the weirdest thing i have ever felt patriotic about

[fantasybjs]

like honey

title: like honey

pairing: darryl wilson/henry oak

words: 828

warnings: none

authors note: this is short and shitty and not beta read and i wrote it in like 5 minutes but i wrote it specifically bc @mcelboycontent has placed me on this train of goodness w/dndads and i will write like the wind for the captain of the ss oakson (title from like honey by kilo kish) also fuck mobiles formatting

The weirdest part of Faerûn is absolutely not the magical creatures and spells and medieval fantasy. No, to Darryl the weirdest part of Faerûn is the things it’s making him realize. Sure, he may have found out his wife was cheating on him here, but everything else was just little things he experienced that made him question small parts of himself. Things he questioned that had him clutching his rosary in one fist and his steering wheel in the other with a white knuckled grip. It was strange what he began to realize about himself when he was given the option to look past the one and only person he’d ever been with. He realized that when Henry kissed him it made his stomach jump a little, and never out of surprise. He realized that even though he didn’t even understand what Henry talked about a lot of the times, he always wanted to listen. He realized that when Henry smiled or laughed or made a joke, he wanted to live in that moment for as long as he could.

He realized he was falling for Henry Oak.

And that terrified him.

So he hid behind a mask, made excuses, gave the man the runaround over and over again until it felt like his chest was going to explode.

And then, Henry kissed him. Not the kinds of kisses they’d shared before, fumbly and awkward and random, no, this one was different.

They lay side by side in the folded down back seat of Odyssey—Ron somehow curled up in an actual ball at Henry’s back—facing each other. They left the trunk open to get some of the cool night air into the space and the slight breeze ruffled Henry’s blond hair. The dying embers of the firelight just outside their sleeping quarters lit everything in a soft orange glow and the flickers danced across Henry’s blue, blue eyes. The silence that enveloped them as they lay was louder than anything Darryl had ever heard, the emotional string that seemed to connect Darryl and Henry stretching to snap. All Darryl could do was breathe, too afraid to shut his eyes but also too afraid to move.

Then Henry smiled, this tiny thing that didn’t make sense, and then he was muffling laughter like a school girl at a sleepover. He looked at Darryl once more and muffled himself further, shoulders quaking with the effort of it until eventually he quieted down to interspersed chuckles as he wiped at the corners of his eyes. Then he was smiling full force as he looked at Darryl in the stupid back seat of the Odyssey and Darryl couldn’t help but smile back.

“What’re we smiling about buddy?” Darryl asked quietly.

“Oh, nothing in particular, just... Oh gosh, this is gonna sound real dumb of me, ain’t it?” Henry questioned and Darryl reached out a hand to place on the shoulder that currently wasn’t pressed into the gray fuzz that made up the back portion of his backseat.

“Not at all. You’re my bud, we can tell each other anything,” Darryl replied and Henry looked conflicted for a small second and then his eyes fluttered slightly, shifting through a bevy of emotions Darryl had no name for.

Then, ever so slowly, Henry began to shift, sliding their faces closer and closer until Henry’s lips were a barely there whisper on his. His eyes slid closed almost involuntarily and the breath he pulled was shaky. See, this kiss felt like sun on cold skin, like the scent of honeysuckle on a summer breeze, like... like all the stupid corny shit Carol would watch in those movies. But no... Those metaphors, those descriptions, they weren’t right. More importantly, they weren’t his, they were Carol’s. So when Henry’s lips pressed and slotted into his more tenderly than they had any right to? Fit so well against his own that his heart leapt and sang? He knew exactly what it felt like.

It felt like Kawhi Leonard’s buzzer beater in Game 7 of the Playoffs, it felt like the winning Miami Dolphin’s miracle play against the Patriots with 16 seconds left on the clock, like Ivanovic’s head butt goal to win the finals for Chelsea against Benfica... It felt like everything Darryl cared about rolled into a singular point.

So when Henry pulled away, Darryl couldn’t help but follow his lips, body not caught up with his mind.

“I-I’m sorry I just—“ Henry began and Darryl did what he knew, what he knew best when it came to Henry.

He silenced him with a sweet kiss, the dam breaking on the feelings he fought so hard to collect and control, pouring out into this one point of unbreakable contact. Then he pulled away, pupils blown wide, heart racing, feeling things he hadn’t felt in years racing through his chest. His smile went dopey and lopsided.

“Don’t be. Just promise me you’ll do it again.”

[watchingthesuperbowl]

Grading Super Bowl LII

What was the final score?

Philadelphia 41, New England 33

How much of the game was close? What was the “edge of your seat factor” like? (20 points)

The vast majority of the game was close. Even when the Eagles had a double-digit lead, the game never felt out of reach for New England. The Patriots came back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit in the AFC Championship game and had famously come back from a 25-point second half deficit in Super Bowl LI. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are like the villains in slasher movies - try as you might, you can’t finish them off. And just when you think you’re safe, that’s when they get up and ambush you.

Philadelphia jumped out to a 15-3 lead in the second quarter, the largest lead either team would have in this game. New England responded by doing what they seemingly always do: They scored on their next two possessions and completely changed the complexion of the game. Instead of a two-touchdown deficit, the Patriots were within a field goal of tying the Super Bowl as halftime approached. It was a “here we go again” moment, where things looked eerily similar to the previous year’s game. The Eagles weren’t having any of it, though. Instead of playing conservatively and being satisfied to go into halftime with a slim lead, head coach Doug Pederson went all Leeroy Jenkins and decided to attack. It paid off with one of the most memorable touchdown plays in Super Bowl history and a 22-12 halftime lead. (More on this touchdown later.)

Eagles players and coaches discuss their final drive of the first half.

In the third quarter, the two teams traded touchdown drives. The Patriots took the opening kickoff of the second half and went 75 yards in eight plays to cut the lead to 22-19. Philadelphia replied with an 11-play, 85-yard touchdown drive of their own to regain a ten-point lead. New England shrugged it off and responded with another touchdown. The score was 29-26 Eagles after three quarters and neither defense had shown any capacity to stop their opponents.

So it was in that context that it felt like a huge win for the Patriots when Philadelphia’s next drive “only” ended with a field goal. That made the score 32-26 Eagles and provided an opening for Tom Brady to drive the Patriots downfield for a touchdown to take the lead in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. It felt as if we’d seen this all before when Brady did just that. The Patriots capped off another 75-yard touchdown drive with a short Brady-to-Gronkowski pass, giving New England a 33-32 lead.

Once again, the only people who didn’t have a feeling of resignation about another Patriot comeback were the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles got the ball with 9:22 left in the fourth quarter and burned more than seven minutes off the clock before regaining the lead. The drive that would turn out to be the game-winner ended with a short catch, run, and dive by Zach Ertz into the end zone. Somewhere, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth is still wondering aloud whether Ertz caught the ball. (Spoiler: He did. And then he took three steps. And then he intentionally dove for the goal line. And then he got over the goal line. And then, after it didn’t matter anymore, the ball popped loose.) Over Collinsworth’s objections, the Eagles had a 38-33 lead late in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. They went for two and failed.

When New England got the ball back with 2:21 left in the game, it seemed obvious what we were about to see. Of course they were going to take the ball downfield and score a championship-winning touchdown with no time remaining. It’s who they are. It’s what they do.

But that’s not what happened. On the second play of the Patriots’ drive, defensive end Brandon Graham knocked the ball out of Brady’s hand as the quarterback prepared to throw. Graham’s Eagles teammate Derek Barnett fell on the ball at the New England 28 yard line. That set up a 46-yard field goal by Eagles rookie Jake Elliott to give Philadelphia a 41-33 lead with 1:05 left.

After a frantic desperation drive got the Patriots to midfield with less than 15 seconds left, Brady fired a Hail Mary pass into the end zone as time expired. Gronkowski couldn’t get to the ball and Philadelphia had hung on for a thrilling 41-33 win. (Score: 18 out of 20.)

Was there any kind of comeback? Was there ever any indication that the team which was trailing had a chance to come from behind and win? (15 points)

Both teams came back. New England rallied from a 12-point deficit to lead 33-32 in the fourth quarter. The Eagles regained the lead late in the fourth on a touchdown of their own. The Patriots had a couple of chances to come back in the final minutes of the game, but fell short. (Score: 13 out of 15)

Did the great players come through with great performances? (15 points)

Brady had perhaps the greatest performance of any quarterback in any Super Bowl. The future Hall of Famer completed 28 of his 48 passing attempts for an eye-popping 505 yards and three touchdowns. He was absolutely unstoppable for much of the night.

Speaking of unstoppable, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was utterly dominant in the second half. After a first half in which Gronk only had one catch, the big fella finished with 9 grabs for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Philadelphia had absolutely no answer for Gronkowski, who’s one of the toughest matchups I’ve ever seen. You can’t cover him with most defensive backs because they’re too short. You can’t cover him with most linebackers because he’s too quick and athletic. Essentially, you can’t cover him.

LeGarrette Blount was a beast for the Eagles’ offense. Blount might not be considered an elite running back by most people, but he ran for 1161 yards and a league-leading 18 touchdowns for the 2016 Patriots. When New England asked him to take a pay cut to stay in Foxboro for 2017 and beyond, Blount took his talents to Broad Street. They should have kept him. Blount blasted his way through the Patriot defense for 90 yards, a touchdown, and another Super Bowl ring.

Speaking of unconventional stars, Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was incredible. The MVP of Super Bowl LII, Foles threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns to go along with the touchdown he scored himself. Again, more on that later.

A digression: Foles has had one of the weirdest careers of anybody in recent professional sports history. A third-round draft pick in 2012, Foles was pressed into service in 2013 when Philadelphia’s starting quarterback Michael Vick went down with an injury. Completely out of nowhere, Foles completed 64% of his passes in 2013 to go along with an insanely great 27/2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He looked like a future superstar, but it didn’t work out that way. After falling out of favor with coach Chip Kelly in 2014, Foles was traded to St. Louis after the season in a deal for Rams quarterback Sam Bradford. Foles had a terrible year with St. Louis in 2015, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns and completing just 56% of his passes. The Rams released him after the season and Foles strongly considered retirement at age 26. Foles decided the only coach he wanted to play for was Chiefs coach Andy Reid, and moved to the other side of Missouri to serve as a backup for Kansas City in 2016. After a year in KC, Foles headed back to Philadelphia to be a backup quarterback for Reid’s protege, Eagles coach Doug Pederson. Of course he wasn’t going to see the field for the Eagles; that offense was built around the team’s young star quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz shredded his knee late in the 2017 season, and suddenly Eagles backup quarterback Nick Foles was the starter again. Foles apparently does his best work when he starts a season as the clear #2 on the depth chart in Philadelphia.

Back to the issue at hand: Generally speaking, the way to figure out whether someone had a good game in Super Bowl LII is to ask what position they play. If they’re on offense, they probably performed well. If they’re on defense, they probably didn’t. (Score: 13 out of 15. This would be about a 20 out of 15 if I were just rating offensive players, but I’m not so it isn’t.)

Were the teams historically great? (10 points)

As I write this on the Friday after Super Bowl LII, the jury is still out on the Eagles. They were the best team in the NFL in 2017, but an awful lot can change from year to year. This Philadelphia team has the capacity to contend for multiple Super Bowl championships, but they haven’t done so yet. I can’t call them historically great after one excellent season.

The Patriots, though. Holy moly. This is the greatest team in modern NFL history. (Score: 9 out of 10)

Were there memorable moments that will be talked about for decades? (10 points)

A lot of people made a lot of predictions about the keys to winning Super Bowl LII. Could the Eagles run the ball on a relatively porous Patriots front seven? Could the Eagles’ defensive front get pressure on Tom Brady without sending blitzes and weakening their downfield pass defense? Was Rob Gronkowski ready to play after suffering a concussion in the AFC championship game? Is Tom Brady ever going to age, or will he be shredding defenses into his 50s and 60s?

Absolutely nobody guessed that the game would turn on the ability of quarterbacks Tom Brady and Nick Foles to catch passes.

Late in the second quarter, with the Eagles facing a fourth and goal from the New England 1, running back Corey Clement took a direct snap from center and pitched it to tight end Trey Burton. Burton, who was a highly-recruited quarterback coming out of high school, threw the ball to a wide-open Foles in the end zone. It was an unbelievably gutsy call in a situation where most coaches would have settled for a field goal and a six-point lead.

That play, the “Philly Special”, has already been immortalized in a number of Eagles fans’ tattoos. When people are getting tattoos of a diagrammed football play, you know it’s kind of a big deal.

Earlier in the second quarter, with the Eagles leading 9-3 and New England driving into Philadelphia territory, the Patriots ran a trick play of their own. Brady took a shotgun snap on third down and handed the ball to running back James White. White ran to his left and pitched the ball to wide receiver Danny Amendola, coming from left to right across the field. Amendola threw a nearly perfect pass - as good a downfield pass as you could reasonably expect from a non-QB - and the ball hit Tom Brady in the hands before falling incomplete. Brady may not have scored a touchdown if he had caught the ball, but he easily would have had 15 or 20 yards and kept the drive alive. Instead, the Patriots faced a fourth and 5 from the Philadelphia 25, went for it, and failed.

The other memorable play was Graham’s strip sack of Brady late in the fourth quarter. That stopped the Patriots’ momentum in its tracks.

But the big one is the Philly Special. Decades from now, when people talk about old Super Bowls, this game is going to be remembered for that play. “Philly Special” has entered Super Bowl lore alongside things like “Montana-to-Taylor”, “The Helmet Catch”, and “Why In The Hell Didn’t You Hand The Ball To Marshawn Lynch?”. (Score: 10 out of 10)

How was the quality of play? Were there a lot of penalties, punts, and turnovers? (15 points)

It’s tough to know whether both teams’ offensive dominance came as a result of great offense or awful defense.

Yeah, “both” seems about right.

If we’re judging based on punts, penalties, and turnovers, this was as good a Super Bowl as you’re likely to see. There was a total of one punt, 40 penalty yards, and two turnovers in Super Bowl LII.  There were two missed extra points and a missed field goal. That’s all I can come up with in terms of negatives. (Score: 11 out of 15)

Are there any other factors that add to the greatness the game? This covers things like weather, story line, rivalry matchup, legacy franchises, unexpected results, etc. (15 points)

At this point, every time the Patriots make the Super Bowl, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are the biggest story. No head coach-quarterback combination has won more NFL championships than Belichick and Brady. (Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr won 5 together and are tied with Belichick-Brady.)

That’s not to say that the Eagles weren’t a great story. They went 13-3 and were the top seed in the NFC playoffs, but lost Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Wentz in December when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament. Without Wentz, the Eagles were the underdogs in all of their postseason games but won it all. The performance of Nick Foles in place of the injured Wentz was a big story. Foles had dominated the NFC championship game, completing 26 of his 33 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a big Super Bowl, of course.

This was a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX, played 13 years earlier. The only player on either team that remained on his team’s roster for both games was, of course, Tom Brady. Two of the Eagles’ key players, LeGarrette Blount and Chris Long, had won Super Bowl LI a year ago with the Patriots.

Coming into Super Bowl LII, the Eagles hadn’t won an NFL championship since Dwight Eisenhower was president. Human spaceflight hadn’t happened yet when the 1960 Eagles won the NFL title. The Berlin Wall wasn’t a thing but the Brooklyn Dodgers were. The Rolling Stones didn’t exist and there was no such thing as a James Bond film. So it had been a while. It was a team that hadn’t won a title in nearly 60 years facing a team that seemingly wins everything all the time. (Score: 12 out of 15)

How does the game grade overall? (sum of all previous categories, 100 points)

87 out of 100. This was an extremely fun game to watch. Watching it, I felt like it was terrific but not quite as good as the very best Super Bowls ever played. I’m pleased to see the rating system matches that impression.

Ratings and rankings of Super Bowls I-LII:

T1. Super Bowl LI - New England 34, Atlanta 28 (OT) - 91 points T1. Super Bowl XLII - New York Giants 17, New England 14 - 91 points 3. Super Bowl XLIX - New England 28, Seattle 24 - 90 points T4. Super Bowl XIII - Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31 - 87 points T4. Super Bowl XXXVIII - New England 32, Carolina 29 - 87 points T4. Super Bowl LII - Philadelphia 41, New England 33 - 87 points 7. Super Bowl XXXVI - New England 20, St. Louis 17 - 86 points 8. Super Bowl XXIII - San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16 - 85 points T9. Super Bowl XXV - New York Giants 20, Buffalo 19 - 84 points T9. Super Bowl XXXIV - St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16 - 84 points T11. Super Bowl X - Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17 - 80 points T11. Super Bowl XLIX - New Orleans 31, Indianapolis 17 - 80 points 13. Super Bowl XLVI - New York Giants 21, New England 17 - 78 points 14. Super Bowl XXXII - Denver 31, Green Bay 24 - 77 points 15. Super Bowl XLVII - Baltimore 34, San Francisco 31 - 76 points 16. Super Bowl VII - Miami 14, Washington 7 - 74 points 17. Super Bowl XLIII - Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23 - 71 points 18. Super Bowl XXX - Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17 - 69 points T19. Super Bowl IX - Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6 - 68 points T19. Super Bowl XXXI - Green Bay 35, New England 21 - 68 points T19. Super Bowl XLV - Green Bay 31, Pittsburgh 25 - 68 points T22. Super Bowl XVII - Washington 27, Miami 17 - 67 points T22. Super Bowl XXVIII - Dallas 30, Buffalo 13 - 67 points 24. Super Bowl XXXIX - New England 24, Philadelphia 21 - 66 points 25. Super Bowl XIV - Pittsburgh 31, Los Angeles 19 - 65 points 26. Super Bowl XVI - San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21 - 62 points T27. Super Bowl XL - Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 10 - 61 points T27. Super Bowl XIX - San Francisco 38, Miami 16 - 61 points T29. Super Bowl III - New York Jets 16, Baltimore 7 - 58 points T29. Super Bowl XXII - Washington 42, Denver 10 - 58 points 31. Super Bowl XXI - New York Giants 39, Denver 20 - 57 points 32. Super Bowl XXVII - Dallas 52, Buffalo 17 - 55 points 33. Super Bowl XXXIII - Denver 34, Atlanta 19 - 53 points 34. Super Bowl VI - Dallas 24, Miami 3 - 52 points 35. Super Bowl XX - Chicago 46, New England 10 - 51 points T36. Super Bowl I - Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10 - 50 points T36. Super Bowl XXXVII - Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21 - 50 points T36. Super Bowl XLI - Indianapolis 29, Chicago 17 - 50 points T39. Super Bowl XVIII - Los Angeles Raiders 38, Washington 9 - 49 points T39. Super Bowl XXIV - San Francisco 55, Denver 10 - 49 points T41. Super Bowl XXVI - Washington 37, Buffalo 24 - 48 points T41. Super Bowl 50 - Denver 24, Carolina 10 - 48 points 43. Super Bowl VIII - Miami 24, Minnesota 7 - 47 points 44. Super Bowl XV - Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10 - 44 points 45. Super Bowl IV - Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7 - 43 points 46. Super Bowl XXXV - Baltimore 34, New York Giants 7 - 42 points T47. Super Bowl II - Green Bay 33, Oakland 14 - 40 points T47. Super Bowl V - Baltimore 16, Dallas 13 - 40 points 49. Super Bowl XXIX - San Francisco 49, San Diego 26 - 39 points 50. Super Bowl XII - Dallas 27, Denver 10 - 38 points 51. Super Bowl XI - Oakland 32, Minnesota 14 - 35 points 52. Super Bowl XLVIII - Seattle 43, Denver 8 - 34 points

[junker-town]

Super Bowl history: Ranking every game in 21st century from worst to best

With the Falcons and Patriots gearing up for Super Bowl 51, let’s take a look back at the best and worst games to be played this century.

The 2016 NFL playoffs have largely been a disappointment, with dull blowout games littering the schedule. Thankfully, we seem to have a great matchup on our hands for Super Bowl 51, with the Falcons taking on the Patriots. Given the recent history of classic Super Bowl matchups, they’ll have a high standard to clear.

The Super Bowl is the biggest game in American professional sports, but it hasn’t always lived up to its reputation. A long string of blowouts in the 80s, combined with the NFC’s domination in the 90s, has led to the derisive nickname of “the Super Bore” and casual viewers claiming they only watch for the commercials. Thankfully, the new century has brought with it significantly improved play and more even matchups, leading to some awe-inspiring games and moments that will live on history.

So as everyone gears up for the party in Houston, let’s take a look back at every game played in the 21st century, ranking them from worst to best.

17. 2001, Super Bowl 35 (Baltimore Ravens 34, New York Giants 7)

This Super Bowl will always have the uncomfortable aura of Ray Lewis winning Super Bowl MVP one year after being involved in a murder investigation. He didn’t even get the traditional “I’m going to Disneyland!” spot reserved for the MVP, which went to Trent Dilfer instead. But it doesn’t help that the game itself was a giant pile of nothing.

I like good defenses, and the 2000 Ravens defense is one of the best of all time, but that doesn’t always make for great TV. The Giants’ only score came on a kickoff return, and they were otherwise completely impotent. Kerry Collins threw four interceptions and completed just 15 of 39 passes. Credit to Baltimore’s defense for shutting down the Giants, but this game is not something you should go out of your way to see.

The worst part about this Super Bowl is that it gave Dilfer a ring, and thus a platform to keep vomiting words on ESPN 16 years later.

16. 2003, Super Bowl 37 (Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Oakland Raiders 21)

This entire thing was an absurd spectacle off the field. Let’s just count the ways:

Jon Gruden got to face the team that traded him to the Bucs in the offseason.

New Raiders coach Bill Callahan didn’t change the playbook Gruden used, which meant the Bucs’ defense knew exactly what was coming.

On the day before the game, Raiders starting center Barret Robbins went missing. He ended up hospitalized and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder, revealing that he partied in Tijuana having thought the Raiders already won the game. Needless to say, the backup center didn’t do so well against a fierce Bucs defensive line.

Nearly 10 years after the fact, Tim Brown and Jerry Rice accused Callahan of sabotaging the game by changing the game plan on the fly. We don’t know how much truth there is to this — it’s possible Callahan simply panicked after Robbins’ disappearance threw the offensive line into chaos — but it’s a strange story nonetheless.

All of that is way more interesting than the actual game, with the Bucs’ defense having its way and Rich Gannon throwing five picks. Unless you’re a Bucs fan, there’s not much worth revisiting here.

15. 2006, Super Bowl 40 (Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Seattle Seahawks 10)

I should be upfront with you, since the team makes several appearances on this list: I’m a born-and-bred Seahawks fan, and my personal biases may show here, so fair warning. There are many reasons why this game leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but here’s by far the biggest one — Jerramy Stevens was an absolutely horrible football player, and a terrible human being to boot, and he’s my least favorite player who’s ever donned a Seahawks uniform. He helped lose this game by himself. I hate him and will curse his name until my dying days.

Oh, and I guess there was something about the refs. I dunno.

14. 2016, Super Bowl 50 (Denver Broncos 24, Carolina Panthers 10)

I have a feeling history will be kinder to this game, once more people start to truly appreciate how brilliant the Broncos’ defense was that year. But with the memory still fresh just one year later? Yeah, it’s kind of underwhelming. Cam Newton had no answers for the defensive onslaught, Peyton Manning and his dead arm barely did anything, and the whole outcome felt academic from the start. Pretty telling that the most memorable moment of this game happened after the game was over.

13. 2014, Super Bowl 48 (Seattle Seahawks 43, Denver Broncos 8)

For most of the country, it was a standard blowout snoozer, and Broncos fans would prefer to ignore it entirely. But like I said, I’m a Seahawks fan, and seeing your favorite team win the title for the first time is always an incredible memory, especially in such dominant fashion.

The Legion of Boom came into this game with the swagger of pro wrestling heels, and backed up their trash talk in defiant fashion. For three hours, we watched Peyton Manning and the league’s best offense get smashed in the teeth, and it was glorious ... if you’re a Seahawks fan, that is. I can understand why other people don’t dig this game as much.

12. 2007, Super Bowl 41 (Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17)

There are exactly two awesome moments here: Devin Hester’s opening kickoff touchdown, and Prince killing the halftime show in a torrential downpour. Other than that, does anyone actually remember anything about this game? It’s kinda strange that Peyton Manning’s two Super Bowl titles happen to be two of his least-remembered playoff performances.

Also, Rex Grossman started a Super Bowl game. That’s a real thing that happened.

11. 2011, Super Bowl 45 (Green Bay Packers 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 25)

I don’t remember this game being bad, but it’s just — kind of there. The Steelers did make an impressive comeback from a 21-3 deficit, but for the most part Aaron Rodgers had the game well in hand, and the outcome was rarely in doubt. In an alternate timeline this might’ve ranked higher, but we’ve got a long parade of barn burners coming up, so Rodgers’ first (and to date, only) title win gets snubbed from the top 10. Sorry, Aaron.

10. 2005, Super Bowl 39 (New England Patriots 24, Philadelphia Eagles 21)

Yeah, you’re going to see a lot of Patriots games in the top 10, so strap yourselves in. The big story going into this one was the health of Terrell Owens, who broke his leg in the regular season on a horse-collar tackle that ultimately led to the NFL banning the move.

TO miraculously came back for this game and had a performance for the ages, racking up nine catches for 122 yards. Unfortunately, that mostly got overshadowed in the loss. This featured the typical hallmarks of an Andy Reid game, with questionable clock management, abandoning the run too early, and Reid generally looking confused on the sidelines. There was also some weird drama about whether Donovan McNabb really puked in the huddle on the Eagles’ final drive (which ended in an interception, because the Eagles can’t have nice things).

Good game, but probably the least memorable of the Pats’ Super Bowl wins.

9. 2012, Super Bowl 46 (New York Giants 21, New England Patriots 17)

Playoff Eli Manning makes his first appearance on this list, in his second time slaying the Patriots. The 2011 Giants are one of the weirdest Super Bowl champions ever — they won a bad NFC East division at 9-7, before going on to beat the 15-1 Packers and 13-3 49ers to get to the Super Bowl. Tom Coughlin made the playoffs five times in his 12-year career. Three of those appearances were one-and-done, while the other two ended with Super Bowl parades. I don’t get it.

Anyway, the Giants and Patriots go back and forth here in a game that’s tense and exciting, if lacking the historical value of the Giants’ last Super Bowl victory (more on that later). Mario Manningham was the unlikely hero this time, making an incredible toe-tapping catch that kept the Giants’ final drive alive down two points. Ahmad Bradshaw eventually finished the job, and for once, Brady couldn’t engineer a game-winning score. The sequel didn’t quite live up to the original Pats/Giants game, but this is still really good.

8. 2010, Super Bowl 44 (New Orleans Saints 31, Indianapolis Colts 17)

Remember when the Saints had a good defense? I’m already nostalgic for those days. The final score doesn’t really reflect it, but this was a tensely fought battle for most of the day. The Saints’ offense sputtered in the first half and needed a spark down 10-6 at halftime, so Sean Payton made one of the great cojones decisions by starting the second half with an onside kick. New Orleans recovered and Drew Brees led a touchdown drive, turning the game around. Tracy Porter sealed the deal with a 74-yard pick-six that became a perfectly iconic moment in Saints history.

Well-played football, an outcome that was regularly in doubt, memorable images, and a downtrodden franchise finally climbing the mountain. It was also a therapeutic moment for the city of New Orleans, which just four years prior was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Seeing the citizens rally around their team as they rebuilt the city was truly something to behold.

In other words, 2010 was the best Mardi Gras party of all time.

7. 2004, Super Bowl 38 (New England Patriots 32, Carolina Panthers 29)

Teams making their first Super Bowl appearance can go one of several ways. They could shrivel and die under the spotlight (like the Falcons did in their first trip in 1999). They could straight-up whoop an overmatched team (Ravens in 2001, Bucs in 2003). Or they could do what the Panthers did, which is go toe-to-toe with a better opponent, nearly pull off the win, but ultimately come up just short.

The Panthers entered the fourth quarter down, 21-10, but made a spirited comeback down the stretch. Muhsin Muhammad delivered one of the best moments in franchise history with an 85-yard touchdown pass, giving Carolina a one-point lead. They tied the game at 29-29 later on, but suffered a fatally unlucky bounce when John Kasay shanked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, setting up Tom Brady at his 40-yard line. Brady had little trouble setting up Adam Vinatieri for the game-winning field goal, but the Panthers had a performance to be proud of.

This is also the Super Bowl where Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake did a thing at the halftime show. You might have heard about that.

6. 2000, Super Bowl 34 (St. Louis Rams 23, Tennessee Titans 16)

“One Yard Short” is one of the most famous plays in football history, so of course this was always going to rank high. It actually had a legitimate claim to being the best Super Bowl ever, until teams decided to have instant classics year after year as the 2000s went on. Still, it’s a great game that deserves to be remembered as such, cementing the Greatest Show on Turf as a staple in NFL lore.

Who would’ve guessed that this would be the peak of both the Rams franchise and Jeff Fisher’s career?

5. 2013, Super Bowl 47 (Baltimore Ravens 34, San Francisco 49ers 31)

For two quarters, this game was a laugher. The Ravens raced out to a 21-6 halftime lead, and when Jacoby Jones took the opening second-half kickoff to the house everybody and their mother was ready to write this off as another Super Bore. Then the Superdome lost power, and all hell broke loose.

After more than 30 minutes of the CBS broadcast running around with its hair on fire, the game finally resumed and the 49ers remembered they had a Super Bowl to play. San Francisco ripped off 17 unanswered points to make this game interesting again. Colin Kaepernick brought his team to within two points with a rushing touchdown, but that’s the closest the 49ers got, as the Ravens made a game-clinching goal-line stand in the final minutes.

Between the power outage, the unexpected comeback, and Beyonce doing Beyonce things at halftime, this was a wildly entertaining spectacle that won’t soon be forgotten.

4. 2002, Super Bowl 36 (New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17)

The game that launched a dynasty. With the Kurt Warner-led Rams offense still in top form, the Patriots were massive 14-point underdogs. This is the first time, but far from the last, that people counted out Touchdown Tom and ate their words. Bill Belichick dialed up a perfect game plan, playing to his team’s strengths while exploiting his opponent’s weaknesses.

The Pats’ defense bottled up the Rams for most of the game, but Warner wouldn’t be denied for long. He hit Ricky Proehl in the end zone to tie the game up with 1:30 to go, and the excitement reached a fevered pitch. Would this be the first Super Bowl ever to go into overtime? Of course, this is the moment that Brady became a made man in the NFL. He drove the Pats down the field with ease, eventually settling on the Rams’ 30-yard line and setting up Vinatieri for the game-winning field goal. The Pats finished off a huge upset, and the NFL would never be the same again.

3. 2009, Super Bowl 43 (Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23)

Kurt Warner’s late-career revival with the Cardinals is one of the better feel-good stories of this century, and it all culminated with the franchise’s first-ever trip to a Super Bowl. They came up short in a heartbreaking loss, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

This game has some truly incredible moments that quickly became mainstays in Super Bowl highlight reels. There’s the ageless James Harrison making a 100-yard pick-six. There is Warner rallying the Cardinals from a 20-7 fourth-quarter deficit. There is Larry Fitzgerald giving his team the lead with just 2:37 left, on a 64-yard touchdown. And, of course, there is Ben Roethlisberger driving his team down the field on a perfect two-minute drill, ending with a spectacular touchdown catch by Santonio Holmes where he barely dragged his toes in-bounds.

This had pretty much everything you could want out of a Super Bowl — competitive throughout, constant swing of emotions, and star players making star plays. Even the halftime show was decent — the NFL was still in the post-Nipplegate era of trotting out inoffensive dad bands, but Bruce Springsteen is always a good time. The only reason I can’t rank this higher is because it spawned the awful “SIXBURGH” catchphrase.

2. 2008, Super Bowl 42 (New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14)

And here’s the game that put “18-1” in the national lexicon. With Tom Brady gladly feeding Randy Moss, the Patriots’ offense was an unstoppable juggernaut, the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long time. How could the Giants possibly hope to keep up with them?

Well, we got our answer pretty quickly — New York’s defensive line wasn’t going to give Brady any room to breathe. Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, and Justin Tuck joined forces to rain down hellfire upon Brady. The Giants sacked him five times and pressured him countless others, never allowing the Pats’ offense to find its groove. The defense did all it could, but it finally cracked near the end — Brady hit Moss for a touchdown to give the Patriots a 14-10 lead with 2:42 left. The Giants would need a lucky break or two if they wanted to pull the upset.

Oh, what a lucky break they got.

You already know the play. You can picture it in your head even without seeing a GIF — Eli Manning taking the snap, getting wrapped up by Richard Seymour, and somehow not going down. He slips the easy sack and unleashes a prayer of a deep ball. That prayer got answered in the form of David Tyree and his helmet. First down at the Patriots’ 24-yard line.

A few plays later, Manning found Plaxico Burress in the end zone, giving the Giants the lead back with 29 seconds left. Did they leave too much time for Brady? It didn’t matter — a sack and three incomplete passes later, the Giants denied the Pats history.

And that’s how Eli Manning has more Super Bowl MVPs than his older brother.

1. 2015, Super Bowl 49 (New England Patriots 28, Seattle Seahawks 24)

It hurts putting this at No. 1. Most Seahawks fans are loath to ever mention it. But after looking over the list and doing some soul-searching, I don’t think there’s much of a contest.

Let’s go over the teams first. The Pats are once again in the Super Bowl, but the rumors that eventually became known as DeflateGate were already swirling. The Seahawks, fresh off smacking down the Broncos a year ago, were looking to win their second straight Super Bowl and establish themselves as the team of the 2010s. Vegas could barely decide on the winner, with this game being a pick’em. Both teams had big talent and even bigger personalities, leading to a heated atmosphere on the field. The stage was set for a classic long before the opening kickoff.

The game itself was tightly contested throughout. Brady and the Pats would pull away, only for Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch to bring the Seahawks back. New England seemingly had the halftime lead secure when Rob Gronkowski scored with 31 seconds left in the second quarter, but Wilson quickly marched down the field and hit Chris Matthews (CHRIS MATTHEWS!) in the final seconds. The teams went into the locker room tied at 14-14, and you could already tell this had the makings of something special.

Katy Perry did the halftime show. She rode a giant mechanized dinosaur to the stage, and Left Shark became a cultural icon. That alone could’ve put this at No. 1, but the fireworks were just getting started.

A field goal and Doug Baldwin touchdown gave Seattle a 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but deep down, we all knew that Brady could not be counted out. Sure enough, he hit Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman for touchdowns on consecutive drives to give the Pats the lead again.

With just two minutes left, the Seahawks had to pull something out of the hat once again. They seemingly had that thrilling, franchise-defining moment when Jermaine Kearse made a ridiculous juggling catch down near the end zone. One play later, the Seahawks were just two yards away from repeating as champions and reaching NFL immortality.

Then the play happened. That play. The play that made Malcolm Butler a household name, that made both fans and pundits curse Seattle for not running the ball, that made Richard Sherman really sad. When the dust settled, Brady got his fourth ring and third Super Bowl MVP, while the Seahawks never quite seemed to recover from that heartbreak.

Everything that perfectly encapsulates the Super Bowl can be found in this one game. Brilliant football from both teams, unexpected players stepping up in huge moments, elation and anguish in equal measure, a halftime show that was both absurd and entertaining. It’s the platonic ideal of America’s biggest game, and we probably won’t see another like it for a long time.

This is the best Super Bowl of the 21st century. I never want to watch it again.