You think you remember how it all went down. We all do. We remember the big catches, the confetti, and maybe that one snack that gave us heartburn in 2019. But when you actually sit down and look at the super bowl matchups last 10 years, the reality is a lot messier than the highlight reels suggest. It’s not just a list of scores. It is a decade of absolute chaos, where dynasties were born, "impossible" comebacks became regular Sunday occurrences, and a guy named Nick Foles became a literal statue in Philadelphia.
Ten years is a lifetime in the NFL. In 2016, Peyton Manning was hobbling toward a sunset finish. By 2025, we were watching the Philadelphia Eagles dismantle a Kansas City squad that everyone thought was invincible.
The Mahomes-Brady Era and the Shift in Power
For a huge chunk of this decade, the Super Bowl felt like a private party for two guys. If your name wasn't Tom or Patrick, you were basically just a supporting character.
Let's look at the actual games. In 2017, we saw the New England Patriots pull off that absurd 28-3 comeback against the Atlanta Falcons. Honestly, if you turned that game off in the third quarter, nobody would have blamed you. It was over. Except it wasn't. That 34-28 overtime win basically cemented the Brady-Belichick legend for eternity.
But then, the cracks started to show.
The very next year, the Philadelphia Eagles walked into Super Bowl LII as massive underdogs against those same Patriots. They didn't just win; they played a game that felt like a track meet. 41-33. Nick Foles catching a touchdown on the "Philly Special" is still the kind of play that makes New England fans twitch. It was the first sign that the old guard could be caught if you were aggressive enough.
Then came the 2020s.
When the Chiefs Decided to Own February
The Kansas City Chiefs didn't just appear; they erupted. Starting with Super Bowl LIV in 2020, where they beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20, Patrick Mahomes turned the fourth quarter into his personal playground.
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The matchups started to look like a recurring dream:
- 2020: Chiefs over 49ers (31-20)
- 2021: Buccaneers over Chiefs (31-9) — The "Old Man Brady" revenge game.
- 2023: Chiefs over Eagles (38-35) — A total offensive masterclass.
- 2024: Chiefs over 49ers (25-22) — The longest Super Bowl ever at that point.
People call it a dynasty, and yeah, it is. But look at that 2021 game. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers basically gave the blueprint on how to beat Mahomes: hit him. A lot. They didn't let him breathe, and Tom Brady walked away with his seventh ring. It was a weird, lopsided 31-9 drubbing that felt like a glitch in the Matrix.
The Cincinnati Surprise and the LA Dream
We can't talk about the last decade without mentioning the 2022 matchup. The Cincinnati Bengals coming out of nowhere to face the Los Angeles Rams. Nobody had Joe Burrow on their bingo card that year. It was a gritty, defensive struggle that the Rams eventually won 23-20 because Aaron Donald decided he wasn't going to lose in his own stadium.
It was a "win now" gamble for LA that actually paid off. They traded everything for Matt Stafford and a ring. Most teams try that and fail miserably. They actually did it.
The 2025 Reset: Philadelphia’s Revenge
The most recent chapter in the super bowl matchups last 10 years happened just last year in New Orleans. Super Bowl LIX.
The Philadelphia Eagles faced the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of their 2023 thriller. Everyone expected a tight game. Everyone thought the Chiefs were going to pull off the first-ever "three-peat" in the Super Bowl era.
Instead, Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley turned the Caesars Superdome into a nightmare for KC.
The Eagles won 40-22. It wasn't even as close as the score looked. Barkley, who had been the talk of the league all season after leaving New York, was unstoppable. This game mattered because it broke the Chiefs' aura. It proved that even the best modern dynasty has a ceiling.
What Really Matters in These Matchups
If you’re looking for a pattern, stop. There isn’t one.
We’ve had defensive grinds like the Patriots-Rams 13-3 snoozefest in 2019, which—kinda controversial opinion here—was actually a fascinating coaching battle if you like punting. Then you have the 2023 shootout where the Eagles and Chiefs combined for 73 points.
The NFL parity is mostly a myth when you look at who actually makes the game. The Chiefs, Patriots, and 49ers have dominated the "guest list" for the last ten years. But the way the games are won? That’s where the chaos lives.
Key Stats From the Last Decade
| Game | Season | Winner | Loser | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Bowl LIX | 2024 | Philadelphia Eagles | Kansas City Chiefs | 40-22 |
| Super Bowl LVIII | 2023 | Kansas City Chiefs | San Francisco 49ers | 25-22 (OT) |
| Super Bowl LVII | 2022 | Kansas City Chiefs | Philadelphia Eagles | 38-35 |
| Super Bowl LVI | 2021 | Los Angeles Rams | Cincinnati Bengals | 23-20 |
| Super Bowl LV | 2020 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Kansas City Chiefs | 31-9 |
| Super Bowl LIV | 2019 | Kansas City Chiefs | San Francisco 49ers | 31-20 |
| Super Bowl LIII | 2018 | New England Patriots | Los Angeles Rams | 13-3 |
| Super Bowl LII | 2017 | Philadelphia Eagles | New England Patriots | 41-33 |
| Super Bowl LI | 2016 | New England Patriots | Atlanta Falcons | 34-28 (OT) |
| Super Bowl 50 | 2015 | Denver Broncos | Carolina Panthers | 24-10 |
Why the Underdog Narrative is Mostly Dead
People love an underdog, but the super bowl matchups last 10 years show that the "Cinderella story" usually ends at the conference championship.
Aside from the 2017 Eagles and maybe the 2021 Bengals, the teams getting to the big game are usually the ones everyone expected to be there. The "surprise" is rarely who plays, but how they perform once the lights are brightest.
Look at the Carolina Panthers in 2016. They were 15-1. Cam Newton was the MVP. They looked like a freight train. Then they ran into Von Miller and a Denver Broncos defense that treated them like a JV squad. Denver won 24-10 in a game that was basically a 60-minute highlight reel for defensive ends.
Actionable Insights for Football Fans
If you're trying to make sense of where the league is heading based on these matchups, keep these three things in mind.
- The "Three-Peat" is still the North Star. No team has ever won three in a row. The Chiefs came the closest in 2025, but the weight of that history—and a very hungry Eagles team—stopped them.
- Quarterback stability is everything, until it isn't. You need a Mahomes or a Brady to get there consistently, but as the Rams and Eagles showed, a dominant defensive front or a generational running back (like Saquon Barkley in LIX) can still tilt the scales.
- The Overtime Factor. We've had two overtime Super Bowls in the last decade (LI and LVIII). The new playoff overtime rules, which ensure both teams get the ball, have fundamentally changed how coaches like Kyle Shanahan and Andy Reid approach the end of the game.
To stay ahead of the curve, watch the trench battles. We obsess over the QBs, but in the last 10 years, the winner was almost always the team that won the line of scrimmage, not necessarily the team with the better passer rating. Check the "pressure rate" stats of winning teams; it's a better predictor of a Super Bowl ring than passing yards ever will be.