an in CHAPTER ONE STUNNING OFFENSIVE PLAYS Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes came into super Bowl LVII February 2023 nursing ankle injury He hurt it again midway through the game after a hard tackle Yet late in the fourth quarter the Chiefs were tied 35-35 with the Philadelphia Eagles Kansas City needed a big play On first-and-10 from the Eagles 43-yard line Mahomes was flushed from the pocket by the Eagles pass rush He broke free and managed to hobble 26 yards before he was caught Mahomes's tough run set up the game-winning field goal It was just the latest in a long line of great offensive plays Four decades earlier another tough quarterback led the Pittsburgh Steelers At the time the National Football League NFL Patrick Mahomes grimaces as he hobbles off the field after reinjuring his ankle in the first half of Super Bowl LVII in February 2023 5
12 7 5 12 6 12 BRAD Terry Bradshaw 12 stood up against a fierce pass rush for the entire game in Super Bowl X after the 1975 season didn't have many rules to protect quarterbacks They had to make plays while fierce linemen did whatever they could to pummel them Terry Bradshaw excelled in these conditions at Super Bowl X after the 1975 season With just under four minutes left in the game the Steelers held a 15-10 lead over the Dallas Cowboys From his own 36-yard line Bradshaw dropped back to pass He escaped the Dallas
rush and heaved a long bomb downfield It dropped into the waiting arms of receiver Lynn Swann who raced for a touchdown The pass traveled 60 yards in the air And while Bradshaw saw it go up he missed the ball coming down Just after he released the pass Dallas lineman Larry Cole's helmet slammed into Bradshaw's chin The Steelers quarterback was knocked from the game But it was not before he had delivered what NFL Films later called the greatest throw in league history Two decades after Bradshaw withstood the punishment coming his way Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway leaned into it Elway entered Super Bowl XXXII in January 1998 as a three-time loser in the game At 37 years old he was running out of chances But with under two minutes left in the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers Elway showed the world just how badly he wanted to win a title The teams were tied 17-17 On third down from the Green Bay 12-yard line Elway scrambled to his right With his receivers covered his only choice was to run The veteran quarterback took off and was met by three defenders at the 5-yard line Instead of sliding down to avoid contact Elway leaped headlong into all three players who spun him around in the air Elway landed with a thud but he had picked up the first down Elway popped up and threw a celebratory fist in the air His helicopter play set up a Denver touchdown The Broncos went on to win the first of back-to-back titles 31-24 7
