The Highest Scoring Super Bowl and 5 Runner-Ups

The Highest Scoring Super Bowl

1. San Francisco vs. San Diego Chargers (Super Bowl XXIX)

First place goes to Super Bowl XXIX between the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers. The 49ers won with a final score of 49-26 for 75 combined points. The Chargers defense couldn’t slow down quarterback Steve Young and the 49ers offense.

On the first drive, Young found Jerry Rice for a 44-yard touchdown, which set the tone for the rest of the game. The second 49ers drive ended with a 51-yard touchdown from Ricky Watters. Young would finish the first half with two more touchdown passes and a 28-10 lead. 

Young finished the game with 325 passing yards and six touchdown passes, breaking Joe Montana’s previous record of five touchdown passes in a Super Bowl. He earned the Super Bowl MVP trophy for his performance. 

Even though the 49ers clearly showed up on the points front, the losing team does need to put up points to earn the highest-scoring Super Bowl title. 

(Case in point: The highest-scoring Super Bowl could have been Super Bowl XXIV in 1990 if the losing team had put up more of a fight. San Francisco scored 55 points, which is still the highest single-game point total in a Super Bowl. However, the Denver Broncos only managed to muster 10 points.)

The Chargers scored 26 points, with quarterback Stan Humphries finishing with 275 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. 

San Francisco’s victory was the 11th consecutive Super Bowl win for the NFC. The conference would win the two following Super Bowls as well. 

Highest Scoring Super Bowl Runner-Ups

2. Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots (Super Bowl LII)

Finishing with just a one-point difference between the winner and loser, Super Bowl LII saw the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots battle it out in 2018. The game didn’t start with explosive offensive plays, as both teams settled for field goals on their opening drives. 

Once the second quarter started, the Patriots offense got comfortable. Quarterback Tom Brady finished with 505 passing yards, the most in any Super Bowl to date. However, the Patriot’s 33 points weren’t enough to win the game. 

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns. Foles also caught a touchdown from Trey Burton, known now as the Philly Special. Five different Eagles finished with at least 49 yards receiving. 

The Eagles won 41-33 for a combined total of 74 points. It was the Eagle’s first Super Bowl win, although they were NFL champions in 1948, 1949, and 1960.

3. Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Super Bowl LVII)

2022’s Super Bowl landed in third place with a combined 73 points. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles came into the game as number-one seeds with solid offenses. It ended up being a thrilling back-and-forth game. 

Both teams scored touchdowns on their opening drives. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts finished with 304 passing yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, playing on an injured ankle, finished with 183 passing yards and three touchdowns. 

The Eagles put together a solid first half and went into halftime up 10 points. They would have had a 17-point lead if Nick Bolton didn’t return a Hurts fumble for a touchdown early in the second quarter. 

Despite the injury, Mahomes managed to scramble for 26 yards on their last drive of the game. The drive ended with a Harrison Butker 27-yard field goal to give the Chiefs the 38-35 victory. The Eagles scored the most points by a losing team in a Super Bowl. 

This game was also the first time brothers played against each other in the Super Bowl, with All-Pro center Jason Kelce on the Eagles and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce on the offense for the Chiefs. The win gave Kansas City their second Super Bowl title in four years, and Mahomes earned his second Super Bowl MVP award. 

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Oakland Raiders (Super Bowl XXXVII)

Super Bowl XXXVII between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders is tied for fourth place. This 2003 matchup got off to a slow start, with only six total points scored in the first quarter. 

Tampa Bay’s offense took over the game in the second quarter, going into halftime up 20-3. However, the Bucs’ defense was the story, featuring players like Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch, and Dexter Jackson. Their defense returned a record five interceptions for three touchdowns. Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon was also sacked five times during the game.

On the offensive side, both teams’ quarterbacks combined for only 487 passing yards, which is 18 less than Brady did by himself in the Patriot’s loss against the Eagles. Bucs running back Michael Pittman did have a good game, rushing for 124 yards on 29 carries. Still, fullback Mike Alstott got the only rushing score with a two-yard run in the second quarter. 

Tampa Bay’s Dexter Jackson became the second safety in NFL history to be named the Super Bowl MVP. He caught two of the five interceptions and returned them for 34 yards. 

The Bucs earned the franchise’s first Super Bowl title with a 48-21 win. They came a long way from being the worst team in the NFL between 1983 and 1996. They didn’t have a single winning season in that time period, losing at least ten games in 13 of those 14 years. 

4. Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills (Super Bowl XXVII)

Super Bowl XXVII is the other game tied for fourth between the Dallas Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills. This game features one of the biggest blowouts in Super Bowl history. 

The Bills got on the board first after blocking a punt on the Cowboy’s first possession. However, they couldn’t slow down the Cowboys offense. Quarterback Troy Aikman hit Jay Novacek for a 23-yard touchdown for the 14-7 lead later in the first quarter. Dallas would never trail again. 

The Bills did get close in the second quarter, pulling within four points after a field goal, but Aikman would find Michael Irvin for two touchdowns before halftime.  

In the fourth quarter, the Cowboys dominated, scoring a total of 21 points. Scoring included a 45-yard reception from Alvin Harper and a nine-yard fumble return for a touchdown from Ken Norton. 

The Cowboys won 52-17 for a combined 69 points. These two teams would face off again in the following Super Bowl. The Cowboys won 30-13, handing the Bills their fourth straight Super Bowl loss. 

6. Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII come in sixth place for highest scoring Super Bowl. The Steelers were a dominant team in the 1970s. The matchup pitted two top quarterbacks against each other, and they both came out swinging. 

Future hall-of-fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw hit John Stallworth for a 28-yard touchdown to open the scoring. Cowboys QB Roger Staubach responded with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Tony Hill. Bradshaw would not be outdone, throwing for two more touchdowns in the first half. 

The Steelers didn’t give up the lead, but both teams scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. At the end of the game, the Steelers recovered the Cowboy’s final onside kick attempt to win 35-31. At the time, the Cowboys set the record for most points scored in a Super Bowl loss that the Eagles now hold. 

Bradshaw earned the Super Bowl MVP award for completing 17 of 30 passes for 318 yards and four touchdowns. He wasn’t the only future Hall of Famer in this matchup. In fact, 26 players would earn gold jackets, 15 from the Steelers and 11 from the Cowboys. 

This game was the second time the Steelers beat the Cowboys in a Super Bowl after winning Super Bowl X. Both teams were also vying to become the first NFL team to earn three Super Bowl titles. The Steelers would go on to win a fourth Super Bowl the following season. 

Making Super Bowl History 

Records are meant to be broken, and it’s only a matter of time before there’s a Super Bowl with more than 75 combined points. For now, Super Bowl XXIX holds the top spot. 

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