Human beings like points. It doesn't really matter the sport — a game with more scoring can frequently be viewed as more entertaining. Who cares that "defense wins championships," because points attract viewership.
The NFL is likely happy overall, then, with scoring trends in the Super Bowl. Over time, scoring has trended upward in the big game. That hasn't stopped there from being some mightily low-scoring outcomes in the final game of the NFL season.
While most of the lowest-scoring Super Bowls took place in the early days of the event, the lowest-scoring of them all was much more recent. Below, we've got more details about that game and all the combined point totals from the Super Bowl.
MOST SUPER BOWL WINS: By team | By player | MVPs
What is the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in NFL history?
We're only a couple years removed from the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in NFL history. That would be Super Bowl 53 (LIII), played on Feb. 3, 2019 between the Patriots and Rams. New England won that night, 13-3, a combined total of 16 points easily taking the record for Super Bowl scoring futility.
That night's scoring was made up of three field goals and one Sony Michel rushing touchdown. Tom Brady claimed his sixth ring but didn't do much to earn it, throwing for 262 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Jared Goff was even worse, throwing for 229 yards with a pick.
Emphasizing just how poor the offense was in Super Bowl 53 are the names below it in the ranking below. The next six lowest-scoring Super Bowls all came within the first nine iterations of the big game, before the NFL had changed many of its rules to benefit offenses. Maybe that means we can call the Patriots' 2019 win over the Rams old-school? It's a more flattering, but maybe less accurate, term than boring.
MORE: Four memories from the Patriots' historically boring win over Rams
Lowest-scoring Super Bowls in NFL history
These are all 56 Super Bowls prior to the 2023 game, ranked in reverse order of combined points scored.
| Super Bowl (Year) | Winner (Score) | Loser (Score) | Combined points | Game MVP |
| 53 (2019) | New England Patriots (13) | Los Angeles Rams | 16 | Julian Edelman |
| 7 (1973) | Miami Dolphins (14) | Washington (7) | 21 | Jake Scott |
| 9 (1975) | Pittsburgh Steelers (16) | Minnesota Vikings (6) | 22 | Franco Harris |
| 3 (1969) | New York Jets (16) | Baltimore Colts (7) | 23 | Joe Namath |
| 6 (1972) | Dallas Cowboys (24) | Miami Dolphins (3) | 27 | Roger Staubach |
| 5 (1971) | Baltimore Colts (16) | Dallas Cowboys (13) | 29 | Chuck Howley |
| 4 (1970) | Kansas City Chiefs (23) | Minnesota Vikings (7) | 30 | Len Dawson |
| 42 (2008) | New York Giants (17) | New England Patriots (14) | 31 | Eli Manning |
| 40 (2006) | Pittsburgh Steelers (21) | Seattle Seahawks (10) | 31 | Hines Ward |
| 8 (1974) | Miami Dolphins (24) | Minnesota Vikings (7) | 31 | Larry Csonka |
| 50 (2016) | Denver Broncos (24) | Carolina Panthers (10) | 34 | Von Miller |
| 23 (1989) | San Francisco 49ers (20) | Cincinnati Bengals (16) | 36 | Jerry Rice |
| 36 (2002) | New England Patriots (20) | St. Louis Rams (17) | 37 | Tom Brady |
| 15 (1981) | Oakland Raiders (27) | Philadelphia Eagles (10) | 37 | Jim Plunkett |
| 12 (1978) | Dallas Cowboys (27) | Denver Broncos (10) | 37 | Harvy Martin and Randy White |
| 46 (2012) | New York Giants (21) | New England Patriots (17) | 38 | Eli Manning |
| 10 (1976) | Pittsburgh Steelers (21) | Dallas Cowboys (17) | 38 | Lynn Swann |
| 34 (2000) | St. Louis Rams (23) | Tennessee Titans (16) | 39 | Kurt Warner |
| 55 (2021) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (31) | Kansas City Chiefs (9) | 40 | Tom Brady |
| 35 (2001) | Baltimore Ravens (34) | New York Giants (7) | 41 | Ray Lewis |
| 35 (2001) | Baltimore Ravens (34) | New York Giants (7) | 41 | Ray Lewis |
| 56 (2022) | Los Angeles Rams (23) | Cincinnati Bengals (20) | 43 | Cooper Kupp |
| 28 (1994) | Dallas Cowboys (30) | Buffalo Bills (13) | 43 | Emmitt Smith |
| 30 (1996) | Dallas Cowboys (27) | Pittsburgh Steelers (17) | 44 | Larry Brown |
| 17 (1983) | Washington (27) | Miami Dolphins (17) | 44 | John Riggins |
| 39 (2005) | New England Patriots (24) | Philadelphia Eagles (21) | 45 | Deion Branch |
| 1 (1967) | Green Bay Packers (35) | Kansas City Chiefs (10) | 45 | Bart Starr |
| 41 (2007) | Indianapolis Colts (29) | Chicago Bears (17) | 46 | Peyton Manning |
| 11 (1977) | Oakland Raiders (32) | Minnesota Vikings (14) | 46 | Fred Biletnikoff |
| 18 (1984) | Los Angeles Raiders (38) | Washington (9) | 47 | Marcus Allen |
| 16 (1982) | San Francisco 49ers (26) | Cincinnati Bengals (21) | 47 | Joe Montana |
| 2 (1968) | Green Bay Packers (33) | Oakland Raiders (14) | 47 | Bart Starr |
| 44 (2010) | New Orleans Saints (31) | Indianapolis Colts (17) | 48 | Drew Brees |
| 43 (2009) | Pittsburgh Steelers (27) | Arizona Cardinals (23) | 50 | Santonio Holmes |
| 14 (1980) | Pittsburgh Steelers (31) | Los Angeles Rams (19) | 50 | Terry Bradshaw |
| 54 (2020) | Kansas City Chiefs (31) | San Francisco 49ers (20) | 51 | Patrick Mahomes |
| 48 (2014) | Seattle Seahawks (43) | Denver Broncos (8) | 51 | Malcolm Smith |
| 49 (2015) | New England Patriots (28) | Seattle Seahawks (24) | 52 | Tom Brady |
| 22 (1988) | Washington (42) | Denver Broncos (10) | 52 | Doug Williams |
| 33 (1999) | Denver Broncos (34) | Atlanta Falcons (19) | 53 | John Elway |
| 19 (1985) | San Francisco 49ers (38) | Miami Dolphins (16) | 54 | Joe Montana |
| 32 (1998) | Denver Broncos (31) | Green Bay Packers (24) | 55 | Terrell Davis |
| 45 (2011) | Green Bay Packers (31) | Pittsburgh Steelers (25) | 56 | Aaron Rodgers |
| 31 (1997) | Green Bay Packers (35) | New England Patriots (21) | 56 | Desmond Howard |
| 20 (1986) | Chicago Bears (46) | New England Patriots (10) | 56 | Richard Dent |
| 21 (1987) | New York Giants (39) | Denver Broncos (20) | 59 | Phil Simms |
| 38 (2004) | New England Patriots (32) | Carolina Panthers (29) | 61 | Tom Brady |
| 26 (1992) | Washington (37) | Buffalo Bills (24) | 61 | Mark Rypien |
| 51 (2017) | New England Patriots (34) | Atlanta Falcons (28) | 62 | Tom Brady |
| 47 (2013) | Baltimore Ravens (34) | San Francisco 49ers (31) | 65 | Joe Flacco |
| 24 (1990) | San Francisco 49ers (55) | Denver Broncos (10) | 65 | Joe Montana |
| 13 (1979) | Pittsburgh Steelers (35) | Dallas Cowboys (31) | 66 | Terry Bradshaw |
| 37 (2003) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (48) | Oakland Raiders (21) | 69 | Dexter Jackson |
| 27 (1993) | Dallas Cowboys (52) | Buffalo Bills (17) | 69 | Troy Aikman |
| 52 (2018) | Philadelphia Eagles (41) | New England Patriots (33) | 74 | Nick Foles |
| 29 (1995) | San Francisco 49ers (49) | San Diego Chargers (26) | 75 | Steve Young |