While XLIII didn’t quite make it to the top of the list of most-watched Super Bowls, it came close. According to figures released on Monday, Pittsburgh’s 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals is No. 2 all-time, trailing only the previous year’s meeting between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants.

How many folks actually tuned in to the game? Here are the numbers for the past five years, courtesy of The Nielsen Company:

2009: Pittsburgh vs. Arizona – 95.4 million (NBC)

2008: New England vs. New York Giants – 97.5 million (FOX)

2007: Indianapolis vs. Chicago — 93.1 million (CBS)

2006: Pittsburgh vs. Seattle – 90.7 million (ABC)

2005: New England vs. Philadelphia – 86.1 million (FOX)

Source: The Nielsen Company

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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Here’s the list:

7 — Pittsburgh

6 — Buffalo, Denver, New England

5 — Miami, Oakland

3 — Kansas City, Tennessee

2 — Cincinnati, Indianapolis, San Diego

1 — Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets

0 — Cleveland, Jacksonville, Seattle

Source: 2008 NFL Record & Fact Book

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Who else is in the running?

Here’s the list:

10 — Green Bay

8 — Chicago, Dallas

7 — New York Giants, Washington

5 — Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Louis Rams*

4 — Cleveland Browns, Detroit, Minnesota

3 — Baltimore Colts

2 — Arizona**

1 – Atlanta, Carolina, Seattle, Tampa Bay

0 — New Orleans

* Rams franchise previously played in Cleveland and Los Angeles

** Cardinals franchise played in Chicago when the team won its only other championship in 1947

Source: 2008 NFL Record & Fact Book
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Here’s a short list of offbeat records that participants probably don’t care to remember:

Most Punts — 21: New York Giants (11), Baltimore (10), Super Bowl XXXV.

Most Penalties — 20: Dallas (12) vs. Denver (8), Super Bowl XII; Carolina (12) vs. New England (8), Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Most Yards Penalized, One Team — 133: Dallas vs. Baltimore, Super Bowl V

Fewest Yards Gained, One Team — 119: Minnesota vs. Pittsburgh, Super Bowl IX.

Most Fumbles — 12: Buffalo (8) vs. Dallas (4), Super Bowl XXVII

Most Turnovers, One Team — 9: Buffalo vs. Dallas, Super Bowl XXVII

Most Times Sacked, One Team — 7: Dallas vs. Pittsburgh, Super Bowl X; New England vs. Chicago, Super Bowl XX.

Source: 2008 NFL Record & Fact Book

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But who has actually won the most National Football League championships? None of the above.

Here’s the list of teams with the most to brag about:

– Green Bay Packers (12): 1929-31, 1936, 1939, 1944, 1961-62, 1965-67, 1996.

– Chicago Bears (9): 1921, 1932-33, 1940-41, 1943, 1946, 1963, 1985.

– New York Giants (7): 1927, 1934, 1938, 1956, 1986, 1990, 2007.

Source: 2008 NFL Record and Fact Book

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In recent years, even the action between the lines seems to be getting into the spirit of things. Of the past seven games, four have been decided by just three points. The New York Giants’ 17-14 victory over New England in Super Bowl XLII was even more memorable since it denied the Patriots a chance at an unbeaten season, a feat accomplished only once previously (Miami, 1972).

Here’s the list of Super Bowl winners, complete with date and score of the game:

Source: NFL.com

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A linebacker (Dallas’ Chuck Howley) came away with the honor in Super Bowl V, the only time the award went to a member of the losing team. A pair of defensive linemen (Randy White and Harvey Martin, also from the Cowboys) were inseparable after a winning effort in Super Bowl XII.

Seven running backs have taken home the trophy, with five wide receivers managing to hog the spotlight.

But quarterback is usually a pretty good bet. Of the 42 (or XLII, if you prefer) MVPs to date, 22 came from behind center. QBs also dominate the list of players who have won the award more than once.

It’s a short one, but a good one:

– Joe Montana, San Francisco (XVI, XIX, XXIV)

– Bart Starr, Green Bay (I and II)

– Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh (XIII and XIV)

To find a complete list of the 42 winners, visit NFL.com.

All that went out the window when Manning took the New York Giants down the field to score in the final minutes of the Super Bowl. Suddenly, Eli was the toast of Manhattan. Doubts? Who doubted?

Touchdown passes and regular season wins are nice, but reputations are made and broken in the playoffs. You won’t find Troy Aikman’s name on too many all-time passing lists, but three Super Bowl wins made a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection pretty much of a no-brainer for the Cowboy great-turned-broadcaster.

True, the Super Bowl has produced an unlikely winner or two — Jeff Hostetler, Brad Johnson, and Trent Dilfer, just to name a few. Winning more than one is another matter, though, and that second trophy goes a long way toward separating the great from the pretty good.

Here, then, is the list of multiple Super Bowl winning quarterbacks:

– Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh: 4

– Joe Montana, San Francisco: 4

– Troy Aikman, Dallas: 3

– Tom Brady, New England: 3

– Roger Staubach, Dallas: 2

– Bart Starr, Green Bay: 2

– Bob Griese, Miami: 2

– Jim Plunkett, Oakland: 2

– John Elway, Denver: 2

Source: NFL.com