More recently, however, the game has lived up to its billing. Last year’s New York Giants-New England matchup didn’t look like much on paper, but a real game broke out before the Giants came away with a shocking upset of the previously unbeaten Patriots. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ come-from behind win over Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII belongs in the discussion as well.

Which was the Super Bowl ever? Here’s our list. Let the arguments begin.

III –New York Jets 16, Baltimore 7: The game itself wasn’t all that great, but this was the Super Bowl that legitimized the Super Bowl. After two beatings at the hands of the Lombardi Packers, the American Football League was looking like it really didn’t belong with the big boys. Joe Namath and the Jets changed all that with an upset made all the more satisfying in the wake of Namath’s famous guarantee that New York would prevail.

XLII — New York Giants 17, New England 14: Given little or no chance against the unbeaten Pats, the Giants shook off losing a fourth quarter lead and promptly drove to the winning score. Eli Manning’s escape from pressure and David Tyree’s circus catch will be toasted in the Big Apple for years to come. A great finish to a very good game.

XLIII — Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23: Santonio Holmes caught a six-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds remaining to give the Steelers a record-setting sixth Super Bowl win. Arizona, which trailed 20-7 at one point, had gone ahead 23-20 with just 2:37 to play before Pittsburgh rallied in the final minute.

XXIII — San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16: The upstart Bengals had a 16-13 lead in the fourth quarter before Joe Montana took the Niners on a long scoring drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to John Taylor. San Francisco beat Cincinnati in a five-point game seven years earlier.

XXXIV — St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16: The Greatest Show on Turf barely escaped when Tennessee receiver Kevin Dyson came up a yard short of the goal line on the game’s final play.

XXXVIII — New England 32, Carolina 29: Jake Delhomme appeared to be sending the game to overtime with a touchdown pass with just over a minute to play, but Adam Vinatieri won it for the Pats with a field goal with four seconds left.

XXXVI — New England 20, St. Louis 17: While John Madden was questioning the Patriots decision to run a two-minute drill at the end of the game, Tom Brady was marching his team into position for Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning kick.

XXV — New York Giants 20, Buffalo 19: Who knows what might have happened to the Bills of the 1990s if Scott Norwood’s 47-yard field goal had found the mark in the game’s final seconds? Instead, it was the start of four straight Super Bowl losses for Buffalo.

XIII — Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31: The heavily favored Steelers built a big early lead, then held off a furious Cowboy comeback. The Dallas cause wasn’t helped when normally sure-handed tight end Jackie Smith dropped a touchdown pass with Pittsburgh up, 21-14.

XXXII — Denver 31, Green Bay 24: The Packers were going for a repeat, but John Elway’s time finally came. Green Bay’s strategy to let the Broncos score a touchdown (rather than milk clock and kick a field goal) late in the game was a bit of a head-scratcher.

XXXIX — New England 24, Philadelphia 21: Terrell Owens performed courageously, coming back early from a fractured leg, but the Pats’ Deion Branch was the game’s MVP. Owens’ suggestion that quarterback Donovan McNabb “choked” was the beginning of the end of their relationship.

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Fear not, fans of the staid old National Football League. No fewer than six of your favorites made the cut, compared to just one entry from Major League Baseball. (We’ll give you one guess who that might be…)

Here’s the rundown, with current estimated worth:

1. Manchester United (soccer): $1.8 billion

2. Dallas Cowboys (American football): $1.6 billion

3. Washington Redskins (American football): $1.5 billion

4. New England Patriots (American football): $1.32 billion

5. New York Yankees (Major League Baseball): $1.3 billion

6. Real Madrid (soccer):$1.29 billion

7. Arsenal (soccer):$1.2 billion

8. New York Giants (American football): $1.18 billion

9. New York Jets (American football): $1.17 billion

10. Houston Texans (American football): $1.17 billion

To read more about what makes these clubs so valuable, and to see a slideshow, visit Forbes.

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A few have legitimate excuses. The Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, for instance, simply haven’t been around all that long.

But what about some other clubs with longer bloodlines? A few of these guys have some explaining to do, and and answers probably aren’t going to be all that good. Consider, for instance, that the Cardinals franchise started in Chicago, had a long layover in St. Louis, and has been in Arizona for two decades..with little to show for any of it, at least until this year.

Here’s a list of the NFL teams with the fewest playoff victories:

1. New Orleans Saints: 2

2. Arizona Cardinals: 4

3. Jacksonville Jaguars: 5

4. Atlanta Falcons: 6

T4. Carolina Panthers: 6

T4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6

7. Baltimore Ravens: 7

T7. Detroit Lions: 7

T7. Seattle Seahawks: 7

10. New York Jets: 8

Source: 2008 NFL Record & Fact Book

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Nice gig if you can get it, and most of the league’s 32 franchises have done just that.

When Forbes put together its most recent list of the league’s most valuable teams, those with new stadiums (or new ones coming online within the next year) crowded the top. In all, a whopping 19 franchises were valued at more than $1 billion, compared with five last year and none five years ago.

Leading the list: None other than America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, at $1.6 billion. With a new stadium opening for 2009, Forbes estimates that the club will bring in an additional $100 million each season.

Here are the Top 10, with current valuation:

Dallas Cowboys: $1.6 billion
Washington Redskins: $1.5 billion
New England Patriots: $1.3 billion
New York Giants: $1.2 billion
New York Jets: $1.2 billion
Houston Texans: $1.1 billion
Philadelphia Eagles: $1.1 billion
Indianapolis Colts: $1.1 billion
Chicago Bears: $1.1 billion
Baltimore Ravens: $1.1 billion

To read more about these billionaire franchises, and to check out the rest of the list, visit Forbes.

Related lists:

• 2008 Dallas Cowboys game highlights

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Here are this year’s top of the draft crop:

1. LaDainian Tomlinson (San Diego) – An obvious choice to be the top overall pick once again. The stats say all it all: league leading 1,474 rushing yards and 15 rushing TDs. L.T. was runner-up in total yards from scrimmage with over 1,900 yards and total touchdowns with 18 TDs. There’s no reason to think 2008 will be any different, as San Diego will be a top team in the AFC and will probably have LT. ice away a lot of 4th quarter leads.

2. Adrian Peterson (Minnesota) – Rookie in 2007 who exploded for an NFL record 296 rushing yards in a single game versus San Diego. His final numbers from last year of 1,341 rushing yards and 12 TDs were outstanding, even more so when taking into consideration that he missed two games. The sky’s the limit for this young superstar.

3. Brian Westbrook (Philadelphia) – Just call him Mr. Do-It-All. Skeptics have always questioned his ability to be an every down back, but he showed great durability in 2007. He only missed a single game and led the league in total yards from scrimmage with 2,104 yards (1,333 rushing, 771 receiving). Westbrook should also benefit from having a healthy Donavan McNabb to keep defenses from stacking up to stop the run.

4. Steven Jackson (St. Louis) – Jackson should be healthy and happy in ‘08. While the health is not guaranteed, the happy should be, given the new $44 million contract he just signed. When he’s on the field, Jackson is without question an elite running back, averaging over 115 yards from scrimmage per game for his entire four-year career

5. Joseph Addai (Indianapolis) – Addai has been productive since joining the Colts in ‘06. He’s topped 1,000 yards rushing and 300 yards receiving in both his NFL seasons. There shouldn’t be any dropoff this year, as the Colts will once again have a top-5 offense.

6. Marion Barber III (Dallas) – Fantasy GMs who have owned Barber the last couple of years have been rewarded with first string results out of a backup. The starting job is all his this year, which should increase his rushing numbers. His TD numbers may not improve as much as one would expect, given that he was Dallas’ goal line back last year.

7. Clinton Portis (Washington) – Portis is a model of consistency over his six years in the league and a solid fantasy pick. During his six-year career he has averaged over 1,200 rushing yards and 10.5 rushing TDs. Count on him to have a couple more solid years before the inevitable decline for running backs hits.

8. Frank Gore (San Francisco) – No question Gore is an explosive back who can catch the ball out of the backfield as well as eat up yardage on the ground. He had over 1,500 total yards from scrimmage in ‘07. The only thing that may hold him back is the 49ers lack of a top line QB to make defenses respect the pass, but that’s no different from last year.

9. Jamal Lewis (Cleveland Browns) – Workhorse runner who raised his productivity last year to levels he had not seen since ‘04. It has been a multi-year process to show skeptics that he was not washed up after that injury-filled year. With the Browns’ passing game showing continued improvement, he should be able to match last year’s 1,500+ combined yards and 11 TDs.

10. Larry Johnson (Kansas City Chiefs) – A bit under the radar given his injury-filled ‘07, but Johnson should be back on track to put up solid fantasy numbers. The Chiefs want to run a ball control offense which means lots of carries for Johnson. They won’t work him as hard as they did in ‘06, when he set a single season record for attempts, but his carry total should allow for some good yardage numbers.

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Here is the top of the draft crop for this year:

1. Randy Moss (New England Patriots) – It’s not hard to understand why Moss has regained the top spot on the draft list given his record setting 2007. In addition to his 23 TD receptions, he tallied 1,493 receiving yards. Expect Tom Brady to continue his mastery of the ultra-efficient Patriot offense which should keep all Moss owners smiling.

2. Terrell Owens (Dallas Cowboys) – Like fine wine, Owens continues to get better with age. Not many receivers entering their 13th year in the league are coming off of a 15 TD / 1,355 yards receiving year but he is. The Cowboys return all of their offensive weapons from last year, which will help keep Owens at the top of his game.

3. Braylon Edwards (Cleveland Browns) – Edwards took some huge strides last year with over 1,200 receiving yards and 16 TDs. That TD total was almost double his 9 career TDs from his first two years. He should continue to improve, as the Browns are putting talented players at all the key offensive skill positions.

4. Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts) – 2007 was somewhat of a breakout year for Wayne with a career high 1,510 receiving yards to go along with 10 TD receptions. He’s been a bit under the radar playing opposite Marvin Harrison, but the truth of the matter is that he had 3 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons prior to last year and had averaged just under 9 TDs per year.

5. Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals) – Great productivity since his first year as a pro. Fitzgerald has averaged over 1,100 yards and almost 9 TDs per year over his first four years. At 24 years of age, his best days are still ahead of him, which gives many a defensive coordinator sleepless nights.

6. Andre Johnson (Houston Texans) – Typically, there would be a bit of worry with a receiver coming off an injury-plagued year, but Johnson is simply too talented to pass over. Projecting his stats from the 9 games he did play last year over the entire year and he was headed for a 1,500 yard / 14 TD season.

7. T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Cincinnati Bengals) – While his teammate Chad Johnson continues to gather the media attention, T.J. has steadily been putting up elite-level numbers. Over the past four years he has averaged just over 1,000 yards and 8 TD receptions per year. Not too shabby for the perceived #2 receiver for the Bengals.

8. Marques Colston (New Orleans Saints) – No one thought much when the Saints spent their 7th round draft choice of 2006 on a wideout from tiny Hofstra. Colston was a rookie surprise and definitely did not suffer any sophomore slump. His two year totals of 2,240 yards and 19 TDs will make any fantasy GM smile.

9. Plaxico Burress (New York Giants) – Burress fought through a painful ankle in 2007 to put up the fourth 1,000-yard receiving season of his career and haul in a career high 12 TD passes. The Giants and QB Eli Manning are riding a wave of confidence as Super Bowl Champions and that should translate into another successful year for Eli’s favorite wideout.

10. Steve Smith (Carolina Panthers) – The little man with the big heart continues to put up great numbers. Despite just average QB play and constant double teams, Smith has had over 1,000 receiving yards and at least 7 TDs in four of the last five years. (He played in only 1 game in 2004 before going on injured reserve.)

The rest of the Top 25 wide receiver draft picks.

11. Chad Johnson (Cincinnati Bengals)

12. Anquan Boldin (Arizona Cardinals)

13. Brandon Marshall (Denver Broncos)

14. Torry Holt (St. Louis Rams)

15. Wes Welker (New England Patriots)

16. Roy Williams (Detroit Lions)

17. Joey Galloway (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

18. Greg Jennings (Green Bay Packers)

19. Jerricho Cotchery (New York Jets)

20. Santonio Holmes (Pittsburgh Steelers)

21. Roddy White (Atlanta Falcons)

22. Kevin Curtis (Philadelphia Eagles)

23. Dwayne Bowe (Kansas City Chiefs)

24. Lee Evans (Buffalo Bills)

25. Hines Ward (Pittsburgh Steelers)

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This year’s list of top rookies is running back heavy as expected given the position’s usually steep learning curve. The wide receiver and quarterback positions typically take a few years to adjust to the sophisticated pro passing game.

Here are the top ten rookie draft choices:

1. Darren McFadden (RB, Oakland Raiders) – The 4th pick in the 2008 draft is extremely explosive and a threat to score any time he touches the ball. The big question is how many touches will McFadden get per game? The Raiders have struggled over the past couple of years and should be going with their youth movement but who knows what is going through Al Davis’ mind?

2. Kevin Smith (RB, Detroit Lions) – Led the NCAA in rushing in ‘07 while at Central Florida. Smith landed in a great situation with the Lions, who cleaned house of all of the backs from last year. He does have competition from Tatum Bell but could very well be starting by Opening Day.

3. Matt Forte (RB, Chicago Bears) – Another back who joins a franchise with no incumbent running back to beat out. He will have camp competition from the injury plagued Kevin Jones, but basically the starting job is his to lose. Extremely productive back in college who ran for over 2,000 yards during his senior year.

4. Jonathan Stewart (RB, Carolina Panthers) – Stewart showed great all-around ability during his career at Oregon, adding kickoff return duty to his work load. He joins a Panthers team that wants to be a power running team but has had recent problems keeping their backs healthy. Stewart can be the perfect match to solve their problems if he can stay out of the trainers’ room.

5. Felix Jones (RB, Dallas Cowboys) – Jones is joining a loaded Dallas team, which would normally knock him down a few spots on fantasy draft boards, but his explosiveness will force Dallas to put him on the field. He won’t get as many touches as some of the backs listed above, but expect his productivity to be on par with them.

6. Chris Johnson (RB, Tennessee Titans) – The Titans already have their starter in LenDale White but they do plan on getting Johnson playing time as a change of pace back. He has great speed to complement the bruising style of White.

7. Devin Thomas (WR, Washington Redskins) – Redskins new coach Jim Zorn is an old quarterback who plans to upgrade the passing game quite a bit this year. This bodes well for Thomas, as well as the fact that Jason Campbell showed some nice development at QB last year and should be able to get the ball to him often.

8. Rashard Mendenhall (RB, Pittsburgh Steelers) – Yet another running back who will have to sit behind a proven starter but will get multiple carries a game. He was a true work horse while at Illinois and should provide the tough running on short yardage situations near the goal line.

9. DeSean Jackson (WR, Philadelphia Eagles) – Jackson is joining an Eagles team that really needed an upgrade at the wide receiver position. He’ll be given every opportunity to make plays, which shouldn’t be a problem based on his college career. In addition to receiving, he’s very dangerous as a punt returner.

10. Matt Ryan (QB, Atlanta Falcons) – The top quarterback taken in the draft looks to be the opening day starter for the Falcons, who were lost at the position last year. He’ll take his lumps like any rookie QB but has the potential to put up some nice fantasy points with good decision making and his cannon arm.

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Source: NFL.com

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Source: NFL.com

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Here are all the 1,000 yard receivers from 2007.

Source: NFL.com

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