The folks here at Snapurly HQ are stoked that Superbowl week is here (even if our team is not playing in the big game). To celebrate the culmination of this exciting NFL season, we have decided to dedicate our posts this week to Superbowl-related topics. Today’s discussion comes thanks to the guys on The Border Patrol. There have been several great catches witnessed during the previous 45 championships ranging from some lesser-remembered grabs that went for a few yards to the game-winning touchdown snag, but which catch is the best ever? Two receptions in recent years lead the list of the finalists in a lot of people’s minds: David Tyree’s helmet catch in Superbowl XLII and Santonio Holmes’ toeing the line catch in Superbowl XLIII. These catches top the list not only for the incredible captures themselves, but what they meant to the respective games. Here is the 411 on each finalist:
David Tyree
It was improbable that the Giants even reached the Superbowl (winning three straight playoff games on the road to get to Houston); it was even more improbable that they held the lead late in game over the heavily favored and undefeated Patriots. But then Tom Brady did what he does best- lead his team down the field and scored a go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes left in the game. Down 14-10, Eli Manning led his troops back on the field for a counter-offensive. After picking up a couple of first downs, the Giants faced a third down at their own 44. A pass play was called and Manning faced heavy pressure from the Patriots’ front-line. He managed to escape the grasp of the defenders and heave a pass downfield towards Tyree. Tyree came back towards the pass and was well defended by Rodney Harrison as both jumped up for the ball. Somehow, Tyree brought the ball down on his helmet and managed to keep it lodged there as he was going down and Harrison was swiping at it. All of a sudden, a broken play became a 32-yard gain and a first down. A few plays later, Eli Manning threw a touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress and the Giants went on to win the game.
Santonio Holmes
In an eerily similar scene to the Giants-Patriots game the year before, Arizona marched down the field and took the lead on a Kurt Warner 64-yard bomb to Larry Fitzgerald. It was an impressive comeback for the Cardinals who at one point trailed the Steelers 20-7. With two and a half minutes left and down by 3, Ben Roethlisberger and the offense had a lot of ground to cover to get in field goad range and tie the game. Big Ben turned to Holmes and he delivered, catching four passes on the drive including a 40 yard catch and run that got the Steelers down to the Cardinals’ 6 yard line. Two plays later, Big Ben found Holmes running towards the right end zone boundary and threw as strike. Holmes reached out, got both hands on the ball, and incredibly managed to get the tiptoes of both feet down in play before falling out of bounds to put the Steelers up by 4. Arizona attempted a valiant rally but fell short and the Steelers won their record 6th championship.
Both catches were amazing. Both were integral in Tyree’s Giants and Holmes’ Steelers realizing victory. But in the end, I believe that Holmes’ catch has the slight edge for two reasons. First, Holmes’ snag was for the game-winning score; Tyree’s was only for a first down that put the Giants closer to their destination of scoring. Not a lot of people remember that it was actually Burress’s TD that put the Giants in front for good. Second, Holmes’ was the more difficult grab. Barely. Tyree had to win a jump ball and then maintain possession of the ball as he came down, but Holmes had to reach up for the ball, bring it down, and get both feet down while running sideways in stride. For that, he gets my vote.
What do you think? Do you agree that Santonio Holmes’ catch was the best ever, or do you feel that David Tyree’s catch was better?
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