Houston ? It started as a game nobody wanted to watch.

It ended as a game nobody will forget, arguably the greatest Super Bowl among the 38 that have been played.

Adam Vinatieri’s 41-yard field goal with four seconds left Sunday gave the New England Patriots a 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

It set off a wild celebration that included quarterback Tom Brady dancing, New Englanders with red-and-blue-painted faces reveling and Vinatieri getting mobbed in a human mound of joy on the Reliant Stadium field.

The game-winning kick also set off a debate: Was this the greatest Super Bowl ever?

That seemed like a ridiculous question Sunday when nobody had scored until 3 minutes, 5 seconds remained in the second quarter, the longest scoreless drought to open any Super Bowl. But the first touchdown foreshadowed more drama. The final three minutes of the first half and the entire second half more than made up for a game that at first required strong caffeine at Super Bowl parties.

Carolina never quit. The Patriots persevered. It was the rare situation when the game created more history than hype.

Fans and journalists will exhaust superlatives describing this Super Bowl. If it doesn’t rank as the best ever, it certainly belongs in the top five alongside these other Super Bowls that lived up to their billing.

Here they are, in chronological order:

Super Bowl III

Jets 16, Colts 7

Jan. 12, 1969, in Miami

This wasn’t the most dramatic game and certainly not the closest, but the reason the Patriots’ victory meant so much to so many people can be traced to the Jets’ surprise victory over the Colts. Quarterback Joe Namath’s guarantee of a Jets win changed the Super Bowl forever and gave legitimacy to the NFL’s championship game that it previously lacked. For that reason, any discussion of significant and great Super Bowl games must start with this one.

Super Bowl V

Colts 16, Cowboys 13

Jan. 17, 1971, in Miami

With five seconds left in regulation, Jim O’Brien kicked a 32-yard field goal to give Baltimore a thrilling win in the first Super Bowl played on artificial turf. The Cowboys entered the fourth quarter with a 13-6 lead, but two Colts interceptions set up O’Brien’s game-winning kick.

Super Bowl XXV

Giants 20, Bills 19

Jan. 27, 1991, in Tampa

Forever known as the Wide Right game, New York held its collective breath when Bills kicker Scott Norwood lined up with mere seconds remaining to kick a 47-yard field goal that would have made the Bills world champions. But Norwood pushed the kick right. The Giants had taken the lead for good in this seesaw affair with a Matt Bahr 21-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Super Bowl XXXIV

Rams 23, Titans 16

Jan. 30, 2000, in Atlanta

Panthers receiver Kevin Dyson now has the ignominious distinction of being on two different teams that lost the Super Bowl on the final play of the game. Dyson, then playing for Tennessee, was stopped less than a yard from the end zone as time expired when Rams linebacker Mike Jones made the biggest tackle in franchise history.

The Rams had blown a 16-0 lead, and the Titans had tied it with an Al Del Greco 43-yard field goal with 2 minutes 12 seconds left before Kurt Warner found Isaac Bruce for a 73-yard TD strike on the next play from scrimmage.

That play held up–barely, thanks to Jones–in a game that still might safely be considered the best Super Bowl in which Vinatieri never played.

Super Bowl XXXVI

Patriots 20, Rams 17

Feb. 3, 2002, New Orleans

The first time Vinatieri rescued Boston from an emotional recession, he nailed a 48-yarder as time expired. So, based on distance, that victory might have been seven yards more special than his 41-yarder against the Panthers. Unlike this year, the Patriots came into that game against the Rams heavy underdogs and were outgained 427-267. The Rams staged a 14-point fourth-quarter rally to tie the game. That set up Vinatieri’s heroics to give New England the first Super Bowl win decided on the final play and make the moment the most dramatic in Super Bowl history.

Until Sunday, that is.