Ranking the Top 10 Super Bowl MVPs of Past 25 Years

As we move closer to the Seahawks and Patriots squaring off in Super Bowl LX on Sunday, it’s a chance to look back on the last 25 Super Bowls and the best of the best performances. We’ve ranked the top 10 Super Bowl MVPs of the past quarter-century, and such a process makes for difficult decisions. It’s easy to err on the side of late-game heroics. Does that penalize a player whose dominance puts the game out of reach in the fourth quarter? Perhaps, but those remarkable finishes are what we remember most, and probably what we want the most in a Super Bowl. Tom Brady, for instance, has five of these 25 MVP performances, which reduces nicely to two out of our 10 choices. There’s a heavy offensive lean to these awards — only four defensive winners out of 25 — and a strong penchant for picking quarterbacks, with 16 of those compared to five receivers. What does a running back have to do to win one of these? The last one was Denver’s Terrell Davis in 1998. 10. Aaron Rodgers, Packers QB, Super Bowl XLV (2010) There wasn’t any last-minute touchdown, but Rodgers got Green Bay up 14-0 and 21-3 early, then held on as Pittsburgh and Ben Roethlisberger twice got within four points down the stretch. Up three with 7:34 to play, he converted a third-and-10 and grinded out five minutes with a field goal and the defense closes it out. Rodgers played such a clean game, throwing for 304 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Joe Flacco’s Super Bowl win two years later was much the same. 9. Malcolm Smith, Seahawks LB, Super Bowl XLVIII (2013) It’s hard to shoehorn defensive MVPs in here, but the Broncos and Peyton Manning were so prolific that year, and Seattle’s defense shut them down in the Super Bowl, never more so than on Smith’s 69-yard pick-six in the second quarter. Denver was driving to make it a one-score game before halftime, and instead, Smith found the end zone for a 22-0 lead on the way to a 43-8 drubbing. This was easily the biggest play on one of the best defensive team efforts in these last 25 Super Bowls. 8. Santonio Holmes, Steelers WR, Super Bowl XLIII (2008) Five receivers have gotten Super Bowl MVPs in the last 25 years, two of them without even scoring a touchdown. But Holmes most definitely did — we can say he had nine catches for 131 yards for the Steelers against the Cardinals in Tampa. Holmes is on the list for one catch: a 6-yard touchdown catch on a hard throw from Ben Roethlisberger over three defenders for the lead with 35 seconds left, a leaping grab in the back right corner of the end zone with the toe tap of all toe taps to make sure it’s a catch. It’s hard to imagine a tougher catch with more on the line. 7. Tom Brady, Patriots QB, Super Bowl XLIX (2014) We’re almost ranking this lower than it deserves, just so there isn’t too much Brady at the top. Everyone remembers Russell Wilson’s goal-line interception in the final minute, but don’t forget what Brady did first: down 10 in the fourth quarter, he rallied the Patriots and threw two touchdowns in the final eight minutes. The first was to Danny Amendola and the second went to Julian Edelman to regain the lead. Brady finished 37-of-50 for 328 yards with four touchdowns against two picks, and he completed all nine of his pass attempts for 71 yards on the drive that gave the Patriots the lead for good. 6. Eli Manning, Giants QB, Super Bowl XLVI (2011) Manning beat Brady twice in Super Bowls, but we’ll go with his second one – by – no David Tyree helmet-catch miracle, just Manning down eight in the second half, grinding out two drives for field goals, then one big drive in the fourth quarter. Manning threw five times to Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks for 74 yards, setting up Ahmad Bradshaw’s touchdown with 57 seconds left. He finished 30-of-40 for 296 yards and a touchdown, but again, he beat Brady in a Super Bowl for the second time. 5. Jalen Hurts, Eagles QB, Super Bowl LIX (2024) Hurts played so well in the first meeting with the Chiefs but lost, and he got his revenge two years later. In a surprising rout of the Chiefs in New Orleans, Hurts was a lean 17-of-22 for 221 and two scores, also rushing for 72 yards and a score. It’s a 34-6 game entering the fourth quarter, a thorough domination of a two-time defending champ. Some of the best on this list that aren’t Brady and Mahomes are opponents finding ways to beat Brady and Mahomes. 4. Von Miller, Broncos OLB, Super Bowl 50 (2015) Trying to break up a run of quarterbacks at the top here, and Miller’s play in leading the Broncos in 2015 is the gold standard. This was not the 55-touchdown Peyton Manning, but rather the nine-touchdown Peyton Manning, leaning hard on his defense. Miller had 2.5 sacks in the Super Bowl, forcing two fumbles, one of which was recovered for a touchdown. Miller would later have two sacks in another Super Bowl win with the Rams. 3. Nick Foles, Eagles QB, Super Bowl LII (2017) Maybe the most improbable on the list. Foles only had three regular-season starts in 2017, but took over when Carson Wentz got injured and went 3-0 in the playoffs. What he did to outduel Brady is incredible — 28-of-43 yards, 373 yards and three touchdowns, and the chef’s kiss is the “Philly Special.” On that famous play, Foles lined up at quarterback, casually walking to the line and then a direct snap to running back Corey Clement, who handed off to tight end Trey Burton, who threw to a wide-open Foles for a receiving touchdown in the Super Bowl. 2. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs QB, Super Bowl LVIII (2023) Mahomes has three Super Bowl MVPs, and his second, beating the Eagles, might be his best statistically — three touchdowns, no picks. Instead, though, I’ll go with the Chiefs’ overtime win over the 49ers a year later. Down 10-0 early, rallied for the lead, lost it again in the fourth quarter, twice tied it, only to have San Francisco retake the lead on a field goal, then won it on a touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman with three seconds left in overtime. He finishes 34-for-46, 333 yards, two touchdowns and a pick for the first Super Bowl repeat in 19 years. 1. Tom Brady, Patriots QB, Super Bowl LI (2016) This choice was easy. The Patriots trailed the Falcons 28-3 late in the third quarter and rallied back for the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history — five touchdown drives, including a 91-yarder to tie the game and a 75-yarder to win in overtime. Brady finished 43-of-62 for 466 yards with two touchdowns. The length of those five drives? 75, 72, 25, 91, 75 yards — 338 yards of offense in less than one half of football. That he didn’t score the final two touchdowns himself doesn’t take away from all he did to get them down the field.