Where does Super Bowl 50 rank among the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history?

Super Bowl 50 will go down as one of the bigger upsets in Super Bowl history, but it’s clearly not one of the biggest ever. Even given the recency of the game, it still falls far behind Super Bowl III (Jets/Colts), Super Bowl IV (Chiefs/Vikings), Super Bowl XXXII (Broncos/Packers), Super Bowl XXXVI (Patriots/Rams), or Super Bowl XLII (Giants/Patriots, 2007). All five of those games had double-digit point spreads, but went to the underdogs.

Super Bowl XXV (Giants/Bills) featured a 6.5-point spread and was one of the more memorable upsets. And two recent underdogs won with 4.5-point spreads — Ravens over 49ers, Saints over Colts. From a purely point spread look, Super Bowl 50 would slot in right there, at tied for #7, as the line closed at 4.5 points. From a purely subjective standpoint, I’d probably put this game in the middle of those two: the Saints game looked like a big upset, but the stats guys were on New Orleans, and the line may have only been in the Colts favor because of the team’s experience edge. I picked the 49ers to win by six points, which is what I had Carolina winning by yesterday, too. But with Denver a 12-4 team and the #1 seed, I think this game feels like less of an upset than Ravens/49ers.

But it doesn’t matter that this game isn’t one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. That’s because it has another honor to take home: being one of the best defensive Super Bowls ever. The teams combined for just 509 yards, the 6th fewest in any Super Bowl. On a per-play basis, that ranks 4th, passing the ’72 and ’73 Dolphins Super Bowls.

And after adjusting for era, it looks even better. Here’s how to read the table below. This season, teams averaged 488 combined passing yards per game and 218 combined rushing yards. In the Super Bowl, the two teams combined for just 301 passing yards and 208 rushing yards. That’s 187 fewer passing yards than average, and 10 fewer rushing yards than the average NFL game. Combined, the teams produced just 509 yards, which is 196 fewer yards than the average game during the 2015 regular season.

Year Tm Opp Lg Avg Pass Lg Avg Rush Pass Yd Rush Yd Pass Dif Rush Dif Tot ▾ Total Diff 2000 BAL NYG 414 225 219 177 -195 -48 396 -243 2015 DEN CAR 488 218 301 208 -187 -10 509 -196 1985 CHI NWE 409 250 357 174 -52 -76 531 -128 1974 PIT MIN 306 267 186 266 -120 -1 452 -121 1972 MIA WAS 304 279 156 325 -148 46 481 -102 1995 DAL PIT 442 216 405 159 -37 -57 564 -94 1977 DAL DEN 284 288 217 264 -67 -24 481 -91 1969 KAN MIN 357 244 294 218 -63 -26 512 -89 1973 MIA MIN 282 289 229 268 -53 -21 497 -74 1982 WAS MIA 399 236 204 372 -195 136 576 -58 1996 GNB NWE 415 218 422 158 7 -60 580 -53 2013 SEA DEN 471 226 485 162 14 -64 647 -50 2007 NYG NWE 429 222 476 136 47 -86 612 -38 1981 SFO CIN 409 260 432 199 23 -61 631 -38 1971 DAL MIA 311 260 205 332 -106 72 537 -35 1989 SFO DEN 422 231 420 208 -2 -23 628 -24 2002 TAM OAK 424 232 465 169 41 -63 634 -23 1970 BAL DAL 323 241 373 173 50 -68 546 -18 1966 GNB KAN 371 238 395 202 24 -36 597 -12 1975 PIT DAL 326 291 352 257 26 -34 609 -8 1983 RAI WAS 409 259 347 321 -62 62 668 -1 1967 GNB OAK 362 237 348 267 -14 30 615 16 1997 DEN GNB 404 226 378 274 -26 48 652 22 1993 DAL BUF 401 220 431 224 30 4 655 34 1988 SFO CIN 401 243 464 217 63 -26 681 37 2008 PIT ARI 423 232 608 91 185 -141 699 45 2004 NWE PHI 421 233 543 157 122 -76 700 46 2006 IND CHI 410 235 393 302 -17 67 695 51 2011 NYG NWE 459 234 548 197 89 -37 745 51 2010 GNB PIT 443 229 549 176 106 -53 725 53 2001 NWE STL 412 224 471 223 59 -1 694 59 1979 PIT RAM 361 271 503 191 142 -80 694 62 1968 NYJ BAL 344 253 376 285 32 32 661 64 1978 PIT DAL 318 284 467 220 149 -64 687 86 1991 WAS BUF 398 215 532 168 134 -47 700 86 1980 OAK PHI 392 255 551 186 159 -69 737 90 2005 PIT SEA 407 225 417 318 10 93 735 103 1990 NYG BUF 390 228 419 338 29 110 757 140 2009 NOR IND 437 233 614 150 177 -83 764 94 1992 DAL BUF 375 221 525 245 150 24 770 174 1986 NYG DEN 411 237 583 188 172 -49 771 123 2014 NWE SEA 474 223 554 219 80 -4 773 77 1976 OAK MIN 304 301 445 337 141 36 782 177 1998 DEN ATL 410 225 542 252 132 27 794 159 1999 STL TEN 425 213 615 188 190 -25 803 165 1994 SFO SDG 427 209 603 206 176 -3 809 173 2012 BAL SFO 463 232 560 275 97 43 835 141 1984 SFO MIA 412 248 615 236 203 -12 851 191 2003 NWE CAR 401 236 649 219 248 -17 868 231 1987 WAS DEN 408 248 552 377 144 129 929 273

The Broncos defense was incredible, allowing just 3 net points (the defense scored one touchdown and allowed another) against a team that had scored 480 points in its first 18 games. Denver also tied a Super Bowl record with 7 sacks. But the Carolina defense was also outstanding, and held Denver to a Super Bowl low (among winning teams) 194 yards.

Given the presence of the NFL MVP in Cam Newton and the league’s highest scoring team, one could make the case that this was more impressive than the Ravens/Giants game (or Bears/Patriots game at #3) that had mediocre — or downright poor — quarterbacks by Super Bowl standards. Von Miller was a worthy Super Bowl MVP, and this game will be remembered as one of the great team defensive performances in Super Bowl history. But it should also be remembered as perhaps the greatest combined team defensive performance in Super Bowl history.