Partially due to the masterful marketing job done by the NFL, the Super Bowl has surpassed all sporting events, including the Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby, the World Series and any heavyweight championship fight, in terms of anticipation and electricity. While the games have not necessarily all been exciting, there have nonetheless been plenty of dramatic moments produced. Here are some of them:

The five most dramatic Super Bowl moments
(1) A YARD SHORT - In a fitting close to what was the greatest Super Bowl to that time, the Tennessee Titans, who had come back from a 16-0 deficit, were on the march behind Steve McNair, and had one play left with six seconds on the clock. McNair hit Kevin Dyson on a slant, but on his way to the end zone, Dyson was tackled by St. Louis Rams linebacker Mike Jones, just a yard away from paydirt, precluding what could have been the first overtime in a Super Bowl. Final score: Rams 23, Titans 16.

(2) WIDE RIGHT -- The New York Giants, an underdog in Super Bowl XXV at Tampa, led the game 20-19 with 2:16 remaining, but Buffalo's Jim Kelly drove the Bills all the way to the Giants' 29, leaving the game in the hands of kicker Scott Norwood with eight seconds remaining. What should have been a make-able attempt sailed just wide to the right, establishing it as possibly the most infamous field goal miss ever and Norwood as the biggest Super Bowl goat ever. It was the first of Buffalo's four Super Bowl defeats.

(3) MONTANA'S LONG DRIVE AND FINISH -- After getting ball on his own eight-yard line with 3;10 left and behind 16-13, Joe Montana led his 49ers all the way down the field, and the clinching play was a ten-yard touchdown pass, not to Jerry Rice, who was named the Super Bowl XXIII MVP, but to John Taylor, and it came with 39 seconds left in the game.

(4) DAN BUNZ AND THE GOAL LINE STAND -- In Super Bowl XVI, the Bengals were behind 20-7 in the third quarter and had first and goal at the San Francisco three-yard line. After two plays got it to the one, Dan Bunz, a fairly unremarkable Niner linebacker, stopped Charles Alexander, who caught a swing pas and was apparently headed to the end zone, just short of the goal line. Bunz and other 49er defenders stopped a fourth-down play, taking away a golden scoring opportunity for the Cincinnati in a game the Niners won by five (26-21) and their first Super Bowl along with it.

(5-Tie) ELEMENTARY, HOLMES -- Pittsburgh's Santonio Holmes does some toe-taping as he catches the winning touchdown pass in Super Bowl XXII, beating the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 with just 35 seconds left, culminating one of the dramatic TD drives ever.

(5-Tie) VINTATIERI - THE FIRST TIME -- With the New England Patriots tied 17-17 with the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, coach Bill Belichick decides to let Tom Brady try to win the game rather than be conservative and take it into overtime. With no timeouts and 90 seconds, Brady took the team to the St. Louis 30, where kicker Adam Vinatieri drilled it from 48 yards on the final play of the game.

(5-Tie) JIM O'BRIEN'S FIELD GOAL -- Super Bowl V was the first one played after full execution of the merger, and it was played between two teams from the NFL. One of them, the Dallas Cowboys, still hadn't "won the big one," and following this game at the Orange Bowl, they still hadn't. After an interception of Craig Morton by Mike Curtis, Baltimore's Jim O'Brien's stepped up and drilled a 32-yard field goal with five seconds left to give the Colts a 16-13 win. It was, in truth, the first game-deciding play in a Super Bowl, as the other had all been decided by nine points or more.

This information is provided in partnership with BetUs Sportsbook

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