8) Ravens - 2009 Wild Card Round, January 10, 2010 - Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots
Ravens RB Ray Rice explodes for an 83 yard touchdown run on the opening play en route to a 24-0 first quarter lead for the Ravens. Baltimore would hand New England its first home playoff loss since 1978. The ACME gadget company pitches a new proposal to Bill Belichick for improved, undetectable mini spy cameras.
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| Ray Rice's opening run was only the beginning. 1 |
7) Seahawks - 2010 Wild Card Round, January 8, 2011 - New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks became the first losers, ever, to reach the NFL playoffs in a full season, with a 7-9 record. The defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints had an 11-5 record, but had to go on the road because they were in the same division as the NFC's top seeded Atlanta Falcons. Should be a cakewalk, right? THAT'S WHY THEY PLAY THE GAMES. Final score: Seahawks 41 Saints 36. I guess Coach Payton forgot to bring his Juicy Fruit.
6) Bears - 1988 Divisional Round, December 31, 1988 - Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears, The Fog Bowl
A dense fog rolled over Chicago on New Years Eve, 1988. Eagles coach Buddy Ryan, father of current New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, faced his old team, the Bears, in a showdown for the right to play in the NFC Championship Game the following week. Visibility was extremely limited, to the degree that first down markers were difficult to see from field level camera views. In spite of the conditions, Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham was able to throw for over 400 yards. But it was to no avail as the Eagles had too much trouble getting into the end zone. The Bears won, 20-12. I wonder if Buddy Ryan enjoyed a "Goddamn snack" with his kids to celebrate the victory.
This is probably the most unusual NFL broadcast I have ever watched. I remember that CBS was showing its live action shot from field level because there was too much fog for a press box view. I also recall commenting to my father that they should have a robotic camera moving over the players' heads as the plays developed and my dad saying it would not work because the camera could not move quickly enough. I guess the crystal ball of a 13 year old was better than his.
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5) Falcons - 1998 NFC Championship Game, January 17, 1999 - Atlanta Falcons at Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings were heavy favorites, having set an NFL record for points scored in a season, in large part, from the resurgence of Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham and rookie sensation wide receiver Randy Moss. Vikings kicker Gary Anderson did not miss a single kick during the entire 1998 season. Leading by seven with just over two minutes remaining, Anderson attempted a 38 yard field goal that would have effectively sent the Vikings to the Super Bowl; he missed. The Falcons rallied to drive down the field, score a game tying touchdown, and send the game into overtime. Falcons kicker Morten Andersen would kick the game winning field goal and send the Dirty Birds to their first Super Bowl.
Poor old (Falcons coach) Dan Reeves. He would coach in his fourth Super Bowl, this one against his former team, the Denver Broncos. The result would be the same, to the joy of Broncos fans.
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| Falcons running back Jamal Anderson (left) doing the Dirty Bird after the win. Falcons coach Dan Reeves...trying so hard to do the Dirty Bird. Leave the dancing to the brothers, eh Dan? 3 |
4) Jets - Super Bowl III, January 12, 1969 - New York Jets vs Baltimore Colts
The New York Jets are one of those franchises, over the years, that have been very relevant or very irrelevant. With all due respect to the excitement that Rex Ryan (and HBO's Hard Knocks) has brought to the Jets during the past two seasons, Joe Willie Namath's guarantee of a victory by the AFL Champion Jets over the NFL Champion Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, over 40 years later, is still the most sensational moment in the history of this sensational franchise.
"We're gonna win the game. I guarantee it."
Those could have been famous last words, but Namath and his Jets honored the guarantee with a 16-7 win. Interestingly, the Jets were a high flying offense in 1968, but won the Super Bowl largely due to defense and special teams. Colts Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, who came off of the bench in relief of Earl Morrall (Unitas had a sore elbow and did not start), provided a late spark and made the final score appear more favorable to the Colts than the actual momentum of the game.
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| I'll bet Broadway Joe asked Farrah Fawcett for a little more than a "Goddamn snack" 4 |
Tom Landry vs Vince Lombardi.... Fourteen future Hall of Famers involved in the game.... A trip to Super Bowl II on the line.... Fifteen degrees below zero at kickoff... The ICE BOWL...! The dramatic one yard touchdown by Bart Starr in the final seconds, shown repeatedly in highlight films over the years, with no timeouts remaining, resulting in an unprecedented (and unsucceeded) third consecutive NFL Championship for coach Vince Lombardi's Packers....
I often say, "You couldn't pay me enough," to endure the brutality that NFL players deal with every week. In 1967, they were NOT paid enough. The game was played on December 31; my retirement from football would have been on December 30!
Pretty cool YouTube video by owenmotion
2) Patriots - 2001 Divisional Playoffs, January 19, 2002 - Oakland Raiders at New England Patriots, The Tuck Rule Game
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| Does this LOOK like an incomplete pass??? 5 |
The Raiders led by three points in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. Brady was hit by the Raiders' Charles Woodson, dropped the ball, Greg Bickert of the Raiders covered the ball and the original ruling on the field was a fumble, recovered by Oakland. Had the Raiders assumed possession, the Patriots likely would not have had another possession. Instead, the call of a fumble was overturned and ruled an incomplete pass under the Tuck Rule, stating that any forward motion by Brady constituted a forward pass and that the passing motion was not complete until after the ball was completely tucked back toward his body.
The rest is history. Patriots kicker Adam Vinitieri was able to kick a game tying field goal and then kicked a game winning field goal in overtime, launching the rise of the Bill Belichick era Patriots and Tom Brady's Hall of Fame career.
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| Some guys have all the luck. One tuck in the snow, nine years ago, and Tom Brady gets to tuck this lovely creature in every night. Life's not fair, is it fellas? 6 |
Last name "ever"...first name "greatest"...in my opinion, the single greatest highlight in NFL history. The Raiders, a power since its days in the American Football League, traveled to Three Rivers Stadium to face the Steelers, in the playoffs for the first time in 25 years and attempting to win its first ever playoff game. Trailing 7-6 on 4th and 10, with 22 seconds remaining and no Pittsburgh timeouts left, the Steelers attempted to convert for a first down to keep their season alive. The result was the most amazing and improbable touchdown pass, from Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris, I think the world will ever see. Why tell you, when I can show you?
Video from NBC Sports via YouTube
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1) Image from espn.com
2) Image from fs64sports.blogspot.com
3) Image from ajc.com
4) Image from pedrambook.ir
5) Image from bostonherald.com
6) Image from itsafamilything.co.uk
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