The best Super Bowl moments

With Super Bowl LII coming up next week, the SB Nation NFL team sites will be doing some theme posts related to the big game. Today’s theme is: The best Super Bowl moments.

To be honest, this wasn’t an easy activity for me. There haven’t been a lot of “best moments” for Eagles fans since I can remember watching my first Super Bowl back in 2002: Patriots vs. Rams in XXXVI.

The Eagles obviously lost their only Super Bowl appearance in my lifetime. In that same span, I’ve seen the Giants luck their way into two titles. Between the David Tyree and Mario Manningham catches, they definitely had some incredible moments in those games. Hard to classify them as “best moments” when you were rooting against them, though. Unless you just hated the Patriots more in those games.

The “best moment” I’m choosing to highlight today isn’t a single play but rather an overall performance: Terrell Owens versus the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX. This is probably one of the most underrated Super Bowl performances ever.

A mere seven weeks after breaking his leg and tearing a ligament in his ankle, T.O. went on to have nine receptions for 122 yards against New England. He missed ten offensive snaps. That’s it. One can only imagine what he might’ve done if he was fully healthy.

As a kid, I remember watching that game feeling like Owens was one of the few players doing anything good. I had the same feeling re-watching the game years later.

T.O. was a big reason why I got super invested in the Eagles, as I’ve previously explained. I still can’t help but sometimes think how his time in Philly could’ve gone differently.

Owens’ off-field antics and controversial exit certainly muddled his Eagles legacy, but there’s no doubt he was a great talent on the field for Philly. If the Eagles win that game (and Owens still posts the same stat-line), I think we all look upon T.O. a lot more favorably today. His performance would’ve gone down as one of the top “best moments” in NFL history.

But alas, the past can’t be changed. Here’s to the Eagles making some new “best moments” in this year’s Super Bowl.

Now it’s your turn: What are the best Super Bowl moments in your mind?

If I’m going non-Eagles, I think I’d take James Harrison’s pick six. That play was such a huge swing.