Tuesday Top Ten: Best and Worst Overall Super Bowl Scoring Margins

With this Sunday's Super Bowl between the Eagles and Patriots fast approaching, I think it's safe to say we all know what's going to happen.  The Eagles will outplay the Patriots, but the Patriots will get some lucky bounces and end up winning by 3 points, Brady will get another Super Bowl MVP, and we'll all have to listen to how he's the greatest of all-time.

Daughter has a kid in her class who is apparently a Patriots fan, and a loudmouth at that, despite the fact that he is not from New England.  Last Friday -- the 32nd anniversary of the Bears' 46-10 triumph over the Patriots in Super Bowl XX -- I told Daughter to tell that little fairweather piece of shit that, even in their combined five Super Bowl wins, the Patriots have still only outscored their opponents by 17 points less than what the Bears beat them by on January 26, 1986.  It's a pyrrhic victory, but that didn't seem to matter to Daughter.

After that, I got to thinking that Brady could just as easily be 0-7 in Super Bowls as 5-2.  The Patsies' largest margin of victory in a Super Bowl was 6, in last year's OT win over the Falcons.  Of course, one might argue that he could just as easily be 7-0, given the Giants' two come-from-behind wins in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, but one might also be an asshole.

Anywho, I also got to thinking about which teams have the best and worst overall scoring margins in Super Bowl history.  So, I decided to take a look, and here's what I found out.  I'll list the ten best and ten worst teams.  Following each team, I'll list the scoring margin and the teams record in Super Bowls (not including the one that's about to be played, of course).

Best Overall Scoring Margin
1.  San Francisco 49ers: +96 (5-1)
2.  Dallas Cowboys:  +72 (5-3)
3.  Green Bay Packers:  +57 (4-1)
4.  Baltimore Ravens:  +30 (2-0)
5.  Pittsburgh Steelers:  +29 (6-2)
6.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  +27 (1-0)
7.  Chicago Bears:  +24 (1-1)
8.  Washington Redskins:  +23 (3-2)
9.  Seattle Seahawks:  +20 (1-2)
10.  Oakland/LA Raiders:  +18 (3-2)

Worst Overall Scoring Margin

1.  Denver Broncos:  -112 (3-5)

2.  Buffalo Bills:  -66 (0-4)

3.  Minnesota Vikings:  -61 (0-4)

4.  New England Patriots:  -38 (5-4)

5.  Miami Dolphins:  -32 (2-3)

6.  San Diego/LA Chargers:  -23 (0-1)

7.  Atlanta Falcons:  -21 (0-2)

8.  Philadelphia Eagles:  -20 (0-2)

9.  Carolina Panthers:  -17 (0-2)

10 (tie).  Cincinnati Bengals:  -9 (0-2)
10 (tie).  Kansas City Chiefs:  -9 (1-1)

So there you have it.  The Patriots currently have the fourth worst overall scoring margin in Super Bowl history.  However, with a win of 39 points or more this Sunday, they can get into the black.  On the other hand, if the Eagles win by 38 points or more, they will go from the bottom ten to the top ten in scoring margin.  Fly Eagles Fly!