Super Bowl LII
Philadelphia Eagles: 41
New England Patriots: 33
FanSided
Sometimes you get ranked high on a list for your play because you made a key play in the game, not because you were great throughout the game. Such is the case with Derek Barnett in last year’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.
Barnett always delivered in the biggest moments for Tennessee football. Almost all of his sacks in college came in SEC games or against ranked teams. Don’t forget that he had the strip-sack touchdown to give the Vols their lead over the Georgia Bulldogs that became the Dobbs-Nail boot game. Now, as a rookie on the biggest stage, he was set to show the world how he could deliver in such moments. And he did just that.
For the game, Barnett had no tackles, and Tom Brady consistently got rid of the ball before any of the Eagles’ defensive linemen could touch him. But late in the game, with the Eagles up 38-33, Barnett finally made a big play…with some help.
Brandon Graham got to Brady for the team’s only sack of the game. It just so happened to be a strip-sack, and Barnett was right there to recover the ball. Anybody that knew him knew that was the time he typically always came through.
He essentially made the game-winning fumble recovery, and that was enough to vault him all the way up to No. 3 on this list. Otherwise, he may not have even made it. This may be the biggest play any former Vol has made in the Super Bowl, and Barnett deserves a ton of credit for it.