Saturday, January 19, 2013

NFL's Greatest Wild Card Playoff Games

Honorable Mentions

2008- Jacksonville Jaguars over Pittsburgh Steelers 31-29
1999- Miami Dolphins over Buffalo Bills 24-17
1997- Jacksonville Jaguars over Buffalo Bills 30-27
1998- Minnesota Vikings over New York Giants 23-22
2004- Green Bay Packers over Seattle Seahawks 33-27 OT 

10 1993- Kansas City 27 Pittsburgh 24 OT
 
Lowry's Redemption
     Chiefs kicker Neil Lowry redeemed himself after missing a 43 yarder at the end of regulation by hitting a 32 yarder in overtime. Joe Montana lead the Chiefs back from a 10 point deficit, tying the game on a fourth down touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter.

9 2006- Seattle 21 Dallas 20
 
Romo's Blunder
     The Cowboys were in position to win a tight game, a short field goal away from moving on to the Divisional Playoffs. But Tony Romo couldn't execute the hold, one of the more difficult plays that look easy in all of sports. This was the beginning of Romo and the Cowboys playoff disappointment year in and year out.

8 2010- Seattle 41 New Orleans 36
 
Emerald City Upset
     No one gave the Seahawks a chance. Yet somehow, Matt Hasselbeck in his waning days with the Seahawks had one last hurrah to out duel Drew Brees. The game was capped off by Marshawn Lynch going into beast mode, running through the city of New Orleans to seal the upset.

7 1993- Green Bay 28 Detroit 24
 
Favre to Sharpe 
     In a back and fourth battle between Barry Sanders and Brett Favre, Favre found Sterling Sharpe with 55 seconds left to give the Packers the win.

6 2009- Arizona 51 Green Bay 45 OT
 
Desert Shootout
     Was it a face-mask? Yeah, it was. Nonetheless though, how ironic that a 51-45 shootout where Kurt Warner had his greatest performance in his last win against Aaron Rodgers in his first playoff start ends on a defensive touchdown in overtime.

5 2011- Denver 29 Pittsburgh 23 OT
 
Tebow Time
     The hobbled Steelers were still picked to easily handle the Broncos. After all, the Broncos were 8-8, coming off three straight bad losses and Tim Tebow looked worse than ever. Yet somehow and someway, Tim Tebow found a way to slice up the vaunted Steelers defense for an early lead that stood through the fourth quarter. But Ben Roethlisberger, with his injured ankle, led the Steelers back to tie the game with under four minutes to play. On the first play of overtime, Tebow launched a pass over the middle to Demaryious Thomas who went the rest of the way for one of the more shocking upsets and endings in NFL history.

4 1992- Buffalo 41 Houston 38 OT
 
The Comeback
     Most people know the story. The Oilers are up 35-3 and the game is all over. Not so fast; the Bills led by Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly come roaring back, winning in overtime on a game winning field goal by Steve Christie.

3 2002- San Francisco 39 New York 38
 
Chaos at Candlestick 
     Down 38-14, Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens engineer a big time second half comeback to put the 49ers in front with a minute to go, 39-38. But Kerry Collins and the Giants weren't done. The Giants had 6 seconds left with the ball on the 23 yard line for a 40 yard game winning field goal. In one of the wildest endings ever, long snapper Trey Junkin botched the snap, resulting in a desperate pass attempt down field to lineman Rich Seubert which fell in complete. It was ruled that Seubert was an ineligible receiver, meaning the game was called over. Only Seubert checked in as eligible, not to mention the fact that there should've been a pass interference called. On top of that, another Giant was ineligible downfield, but wasn't called. If the two offsetting penalties were called correctly, the Giants would've had the ball back at the 23, but instead we are only left to wonder what could've happened.

2 1998- San Francisco 30 Green Bay 27
 
The Catch II
     In a shootout at Candlestick Park, Steve Young connected with Terrell Owens with eight seconds to play between two Packers defenders to give the 49ers the win.

1 1999- Tennessee 22 Buffalo 16
 
The Music City Miracle 
     Everyone remembers this competitive game that end with one of the most remarkable finishes in sports history Frank Wycheck threw a forward pass, I mean, lateraled the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson who took care of the rest.

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