The Super Bowl isn't just a football game. Honestly, it’s a cultural monster that swallows an entire Sunday in February and leaves us with enough memes, heartbreaks, and betting-slip regrets to last a lifetime. If you look at the super bowl games last 10 years, you aren't just looking at scores. You’re looking at the death and rebirth of dynasties.
We’ve seen the "old guard" finally hand over the keys to the kingdom. Or, well, maybe they were pried out of their cold, championship-ring-covered hands. From the Denver Broncos winning with a quarterback who could barely throw a 10-yard out, to the absolute clinical destruction of the "three-peat" dream in 2025, the last decade has been a fever dream for NFL fans.
The Dynasty Pivot: From Brady to Mahomes
For a long time, the script felt repetitive. You’ve probably heard people joke that the Super Bowl was just an annual invitation for Tom Brady to collect more jewelry. Between 2015 and 2021, the man was inescapable.
He didn't just win; he broke spirits.
Take Super Bowl LI in 2017. The Atlanta Falcons were up 28-3. The game was over. People were literally turning off their TVs and heading to bed. Then, the New England Patriots happened. It was the first overtime in Super Bowl history, and it remains the largest comeback ever. That game changed how we view "insurmountable" leads. Atlanta hasn't really been the same since, which is kinda tragic if you think about it.
But then, the shift happened.
While Brady was busy winning a "mercenary" title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021—proving he could do it without Bill Belichick—a kid from East Texas was already redesigning the position. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have defined the latter half of the super bowl games last 10 years.
The Chiefs' Era and the 2025 Reality Check
Kansas City made it look easy for a while. They won in 2020, 2023, and 2024. They were the "Main Characters" of the NFL. Going into February 2025, the narrative was set: the first-ever three-peat. The "Tom and Jerry" play that won them the 2024 game against San Francisco in overtime felt like it had given them a permanent aura of invincibility.
Then they ran into the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.
New Orleans played host to what most experts thought would be a coronation for Mahomes. Instead, it was a massacre. The Eagles didn't just win 40-22; they bullied the Chiefs. Jalen Hurts accounted for three touchdowns, and the Philly defense sacked Mahomes six times. It was a loud, violent reminder that in the NFL, dynasties don't usually end with a whimper—they end with a 38-yard pick-six by a rookie like Cooper DeJean.
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Forgotten Classics and Defensive Masterclasses
Everyone remembers the high-scoring shootouts, but some of the best super bowl games last 10 years were absolute grinds.
- Super Bowl 50 (2016): This was Peyton Manning’s farewell, but he was barely a factor. Von Miller turned into a human wrecking ball, strip-sacking Cam Newton twice. It was the last time we saw a pure, defensive-led "old school" championship.
- Super Bowl LIII (2019): Patriots 13, Rams 3. People hated this game. It was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever. But if you like coaching chess matches, watching Belichick dismantle Sean McVay’s high-powered offense was actually fascinating. Boring? Maybe. Masterful? Definitely.
- Super Bowl LVI (2022): The "All-In" Rams. They traded away their entire future for a one-year window with Matthew Stafford. It worked. They beat the Bengals in their own stadium, proving that sometimes, you can actually buy a championship if your checkbook is big enough.
What Most People Miss About the Stats
We obsess over the quarterbacks. It's easy to do. But look at the rosters of these winners. The trend lately isn't just "have a great QB." It’s "have a great QB on a rookie contract" or "have a QB so good he masks a mediocre offensive line."
Wait, that second one isn't true anymore.
The 2021 Chiefs learned that the hard way when Tampa Bay’s front four chased Mahomes around like he owed them money. He was running for his life. Literally. He ran 497 yards before throwing passes or being sacked in that game. That's nearly five football fields of just... sprinting away from disaster.
If you're looking at the super bowl games last 10 years to find a pattern, look at the trenches. The teams that can generate pressure without blitzing—like the 2025 Eagles or the 2016 Broncos—are the ones that ruin legacies.
A Quick Cheat Sheet of the Last Decade
| Year | Super Bowl | Winner | Loser | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 50 | Denver Broncos | Carolina Panthers | 24-10 |
| 2017 | LI | New England Patriots | Atlanta Falcons | 34-28 (OT) |
| 2018 | LII | Philadelphia Eagles | New England Patriots | 41-33 |
| 2019 | LIII | New England Patriots | L.A. Rams | 13-3 |
| 2020 | LIV | Kansas City Chiefs | S.F. 49ers | 31-20 |
| 2021 | LV | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Kansas City Chiefs | 31-9 |
| 2022 | LVI | L.A. Rams | Cincinnati Bengals | 23-20 |
| 2023 | LVII | Kansas City Chiefs | Philadelphia Eagles | 38-35 |
| 2024 | LVIII | Kansas City Chiefs | S.F. 49ers | 25-22 (OT) |
| 2025 | LIX | Philadelphia Eagles | Kansas City Chiefs | 40-22 |
The "Philly Special" and the Power of Risk
Nick Foles. The name still probably triggers New England fans. In 2018, the Eagles did something most teams are too terrified to try. They ran a trick play on 4th-and-goal where the quarterback caught a touchdown pass.
That single play—the "Philly Special"—symbolizes the modern era of the Super Bowl.
Calculated aggression.
You can't play it safe against the greats. If the 49ers had been more aggressive in 2024, or if the Falcons hadn't tried to keep passing while up by 25 in 2017, the history books would look different. The last 10 years have punished teams that coached "scared."
Why This History Actually Matters for Future Bets
If you're trying to figure out who wins next, stop looking at who has the most "stars." Look at who is peaking in December. The Bucs in 2020 were a wild card team. The 2024 Chiefs were "struggling" for half the season.
Success in the super bowl games last 10 years has been about three things:
- Health (obviously).
- A defensive line that can win with four players.
- A play-caller who doesn't panic when the lights get bright.
The era of the "unbeatable" dynasty is basically dead. Even Mahomes found his ceiling against a hungry Eagles squad in New Orleans. The parity in the league is higher than it’s ever been, even if the names at the top stay the same for a few years at a time.
To really understand the super bowl games last 10 years, you have to look past the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Look at the play-calling on third downs in the fourth quarter. Look at the role of "positionless" players like Christian McCaffrey or Deebo Samuel who almost dragged the Niners to a title. The game is faster, the hits are more scrutinized, and the margin for error is now zero.
If you want to stay ahead of the curve for the 2026 season, start tracking the "pressure rate" of defensive interiors. That’s been the secret sauce for nearly every winner on this list. Forget the flashy 50-yard bombs. Championships are won by the guys who make the star quarterback look human for sixty minutes.
To dive deeper into the specific stats that defined these matchups, your next step is to analyze the Expected Points Added (EPA) of the winning quarterbacks versus their season averages. This reveals which players actually "leveled up" under pressure and which ones were just along for the ride. You should also compare the turnover margins of these ten games; you'll find that in 80% of these matchups, the team that won the takeaway battle took home the ring. Focus your research on defensive success rates in the red zone, as that has become the primary predictor of Super Bowl upsets over the last five seasons.