Where Does Kurt Warner's Super Bowl Performance Rank All-Time?
LAS VEGAS -- Another Super Bowl is set to commence in roughly 24 hours as the Kansas City Chiefs battle the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII here in Sin City.
Respective quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy will try their best to will their team to victory, and a legendary performance would likely see their name engraved in a Super Bowl ring in just a few months time.
Before we approach kickoff, Sports Illustrated recently revealed the Top 25 quarterback performances in Super Bowl history, and Kurt Warner's performance with the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII against the Pittsburgh Steelers came in at No. 18.
"While Roethlisberger was facing a mediocre Arizona defense, the 37-year-old Warner was going up against a Pittsburgh unit that led the NFL in fewest points and yards allowed. Nevertheless, Warner completed 31-of-43 for 377 yards and three touchdowns. It could have been four touchdowns—Warner drove the Cardinals to the Pittsburgh 1-yard line with 18 seconds left in the first half, but his pass to Anquan Boldin was intercepted by James Harrison. Not scoring there was tough, but it wouldn’t have been so devastating except for the fact that Harrison remarkably rumbled his way 100 yards for the most improbable pick-six in NFL history," said Craig Ellenport.
"Considering Warner’s dominance in the second half of that game, it’s safe to say that had Harrison not scored on that play, Warner and the Cardinals would have been champions."
The Cardinals nearly won their first Super Bowl that night, though the Steelers drove down the field and ultimately scored the game-winning touchdown.
That wasn't the only Super Bowl performance of Warner's to land on the list - as his "Greatest Show on Turf" ring with the Rams finished at No. 6 in the rankings:
"Now that he’s in the Hall of Fame, it’s easy to forget that Warner entered the 1999 NFL season as a little-known backup—an undrafted quarterback from Northern Iowa who only got the job because free-agent acquisition Trent Green went down with a preseason knee injury and the Rams didn’t have an experienced No. 2," wrote Ellenport.
"All Warner did was lead the “Greatest Show on Turf” offense, earning league MVP honors and then backing it up with a record-breaking Super Bowl. Not only did Warner set a new Super Bowl record with 414 passing yards, his second TD pass of the game was a 73-yard bomb to Isaac Bruce that broke a 16–16 tie with less than two minutes left to play."
Steve Young's dominant play for the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX ranked as No. 1.
