You think you know the Super Bowl. We all sit there, wings in hand, watching the commercials and the halftime spectacle. But honestly, if you look back at the Super Bowls last 10 years, the actual football has been weird. Like, truly chaotic. We’ve seen the greatest comeback in sports history, a backup quarterback out-dueling the GOAT, and a defensive masterclass that felt like it belonged in the 1970s.
Football changed. The "dynasty" shifted from a cold, calculated machine in New England to a backyard-football magic act in Kansas City. Then, just when we thought Patrick Mahomes was invincible, the 2024 season ended with a total blowout in New Orleans that nobody saw coming.
Let's get into the weeds of what actually happened.
The Era of the Impossible Comeback
If you want to talk about the last decade, you have to start with February 5, 2017. Super Bowl LI. The Atlanta Falcons were up 28-3.
Most people turned the TV off. Honestly, I almost did.
The New England Patriots were dead. But Tom Brady and James White decided they weren't. They scored 31 unanswered points. It was the first Super Bowl to ever go into overtime. The final score, 34-28, didn't just give Brady another ring; it broke the Falcons franchise for a generation. People still make "28-3" jokes today because it was such a monumental collapse.
Then came the "Philly Special."
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The very next year, a backup named Nick Foles walked into Minneapolis and beat Brady in a shootout. 41-33. The Eagles called a trick play on fourth down where the quarterback caught a touchdown pass. It was gutsy. It was insane. It gave Philadelphia its first-ever Lombardi Trophy and proved that sometimes, the underdog doesn't just bark—he bites.
The Low-Scoring Slump and the Chiefs’ Arrival
People forget how boring Super Bowl LIII was. The Patriots beat the Rams 13-3 in 2019. It was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever. One touchdown. That’s it.
But it marked the end of the New England era and the beginning of the Kansas City Chiefs' dominance.
In 2020, Mahomes was down 20-10 against the 49ers with seven minutes left. He looked rattled. Then, "Jet Chip Wasp" happened. A 44-yard bomb to Tyreek Hill on 3rd & 15 changed everything. The Chiefs scored 21 points in about five minutes.
They won 31-20. The drought was over. Andy Reid finally got his ring.
The Recent Dominance and the 2025 Shock
The last five years have basically been a Mahomes-fest, with one notable exception.
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In 2021, Tom Brady—now in a Buccaneers jersey—reminded everyone he was still the king. He beat the Chiefs 31-9 in Tampa. It was a defensive clinic. The Bucs' front four lived in Mahomes’ face all night.
But look at the run the Chiefs went on after that:
- Super Bowl LVII (2023): Chiefs 38, Eagles 35. A high-scoring thriller decided by a late field goal.
- Super Bowl LVIII (2024): Chiefs 25, 49ers 22. A gritty overtime win in Las Vegas.
Most experts heading into the 2024-2025 season assumed the Chiefs would "three-peat." No team had ever won three Super Bowls in a row. They made it back to the big game in February 2025, but the Philadelphia Eagles were waiting.
Jalen Hurts was nearly perfect.
The Eagles didn't just win Super Bowl LIX; they dismantled the Chiefs 40-22. Saquon Barkley, the massive free-agent signing for Philly, was a force, but it was the defense that really showed up. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Eagles were up 40-6. The Chiefs scored a couple of late touchdowns against the backups, but the game was over. Philly's second title in eight years felt like a changing of the guard, again.
Why the "Host City" Rule is Weird
For decades, no team played the Super Bowl in their own stadium. Then it happened twice in a row.
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The Bucs did it in 2021 (Super Bowl LV).
The Rams did it in 2022 (Super Bowl LVI).
The Rams' victory over the Cincinnati Bengals was particularly stressful. Cooper Kupp, who had one of the greatest receiving seasons ever, caught the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes left. It was a $5 billion stadium project that actually paid off with a trophy on the first try.
What Most People Get Wrong About Super Bowl Stats
You hear a lot of "defense wins championships," but the Super Bowls last 10 years have been a bit more nuanced.
Actually, the team wearing white jerseys has won 16 of the last 20 games. It's a weird, meaningless superstition that just keeps coming true. In Super Bowl LIX, the Eagles wore their home green, but they bucked the trend by dominating a Chiefs team that usually finds a way to win the close ones.
Another thing? The MVP isn't always the quarterback.
Sure, Mahomes and Brady take most of them. But we've seen Von Miller (Broncos, SB 50), Julian Edelman (Patriots, SB LIII), and Cooper Kupp (Rams, SB LVI) take the trophy. It shows that while the QB gets the money, a single defender or a reliable possession receiver is often the one who actually swings the game.
Actionable Insights for the Next Season
If you’re looking at these trends to understand where the NFL is heading, keep these points in mind:
- The Three-Peat is a Myth: No team has ever done it in the Super Bowl era. The pressure of that third year seems to eventually break even the best rosters, as we saw with the Chiefs' collapse in early 2025.
- Value the "Bridge" Players: Teams like the Rams and Bucs won by bringing in veteran "mercenaries" (Stafford, Brady). The Eagles just did it again by signing Saquon Barkley. Building through the draft is great, but the last decade shows that one big veteran swing often results in a ring.
- Watch the Lines: In almost every blowout (Broncos vs. Panthers, Bucs vs. Chiefs, Eagles vs. Chiefs), the winner won because their defensive line made the opposing quarterback's life miserable.
The next few years look like a dogfight between the established Chiefs dynasty and the surging Eagles and Lions in the NFC. If the last 10 years taught us anything, it's that the "guaranteed" winner rarely cruises to the finish line.