September 1989 Buffalo Bills vs Houston Oilers

NFL Classics - 1989 Buffalo Bills at Houston Oilers 

NFL Top Ten Divisional Playoffs

In the history of the NFL all playoff rounds have produced memorable moments.  The divisional round is often cited as the most exciting period of the season, so presented are ten of the most memorable moments in the history of the NFL's divisional round playoffs -


#10 - The Oakland Raiders vs. Everyone

The Ben Dreith Game 

It is impossible to limit divisional playoffs involving the Oakland Raiders to just one game, so this has to be a matched entry -

1972 - The Immaculate Reception

After Kenny Stabler roared to a go-ahead touchdown in the 1972 Divisional Playoffs, Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris pulled off the most preposterous passing play ever seen.

1974 - The Sea Of Hands

Two years later against the Miami Dolphins Kenny Stabler pulled off a winning touchdown the likes of which hasn't really been seen since. 


Two years after that came the Ben Dreith game with the New England Patriots, a game whose repercussions would be fully felt twenty-five years later.

1977 - Ghost To The Post 

The next year, 1977, the Raiders and Colts faced off in a shootout won in overtime thanks in large part to Dave "Ghost" Casper.    

2001 - The Tuck Rule Game

Twenty-five seasons after the Ben Dreith game another controversial call became the indelible image of a stunning playoff outcome.



#9 - 1971 Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs - The Cold Turkey Game

On Christmas Day 1971 the Dolphins and Chiefs needed 82 game minutes before the Dolphins shot down the Chiefs 27-24.   It became known as The Cold Turkey Game because it went on so long viewers' holiday turkeys got cold. 



#8 - 1975 Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings - Staubach's Hail Mary

In 1975 Captain America pulled off perhaps his ultimate play in beating the Vikings 17-14 


#7 - 1986 NY Jets at Browns - Gastineau's Gaffe

Mark Gastineau's roughing the passer penalty against Bernie Kosar saved the Browns en route to one of the longest games in history.


#6 - 1993 Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Oilers - Montana Magic Sinks The Oilers
 

Joe Montana pulled off what would be his last playoff win and the last for the Chiefs until 2015 - ironically at Houston - in a game that set off an earthquake that destroyed the Oilers organization; they would leave Houston for Tennessee and Houston would go 1997-2001 until a new Houston NFL team debuted.  In the kind of irony only sports can produce, the Oilers franchise - now the Tennessee Titans - finally defeated the Chiefs in a playoff game in 2017 with one of the largest comeback wins in NFL playoff history.

#5 - 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans - The Music City Mulligan

The 2002 season marked the first season of the NFL's four-division alignment, thus putting the Tennessee Titans out of the former AFC Central.   They faced the Steelers and won earlier in the season in a game where Tommy Maddox, a former washout with Dan Reeves who'd been resurrected by success in the short-lived Extreme Football League, was knocked out and lost for several games.   He recovered and led a huge comeback playoff win over the Cleveland Browns, and at Tennessee Maddox and McNair combined for over 600 passing yards, four touchdowns, three picks, and the game lead tying or changing six times.   Joe Nedney missed the winning field goal at the end of regulation, but was tripped up on an attempt in overtime, so on the rekick he nailed it (34-31 final), to the anger of the Steelers.



Best of the rest - 

The Patriots and Titans had exploded in 2003 to a 38-30 thriller in Week Five.  They combined to win 26 games in the 2003 regular season and then squared off in a bitterly cold division round grinder won by the Patriots 17-14 on a dropped Drew Bennett attempt.   Earlier that day.......
 

#4 - 2003 Carolina Panthers at St. Louis Rams - Delhomme finishes the St. Louis Rams

What turned out to be the last ever playoff game at St. Louis and the final playoff home game for the Rams until their 2017 Los Angeles season went to two overtimes as Jake Delhomme established that he could not just handle playoff football but thrive in it.


Best of the rest  -

 
In 2011 the 49ers won the NFC West, their first playoff season since 2002, and in the divisional round - 30 years after Joe Montana's touchdown to Dwight Clark that sank the Cowboys and started the 1981-98 dynasty - they faced the New Orleans Saints in a stunning shootout and Vernon Davis made his own Niners history.   The two teams combined for 68 points.   The next year two other teams would break 70 combined points........


#3 - 2012 Ravens at Broncos - The Ravens finally defeat Peyton Manning

The Baltimore Ravens had lost nine straight games to Peyton Manning and had been again smacked around earlier in 2012 to Manning's Broncos, but in the divisional playoffs Joe Flacco stunned the Broncos defense and then Peyton Manning did what defined his career - failed in a playoff game.



#2 - 2014 Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots - the Patriots "trick" the Ravens

John Harbaugh was livid when the Patriots ran unconventional line combos on offense and thus were able to erase 14-point gaps twice before stunning the Ravens 35-31.




The Number One Divisional Round Playoff Game Of All Time -

1981 San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins 

Even today the circumstances - brutal heat, enormity of scoring, the heroics of Kellen Winslow - make this 41-38 thriller unforgettable.


BONUS:  Division Round Sunday 2017:

The Jacksonville Jaguars had faltered after defeating the Steelers in the 2007 playoffs; for 2017 Tom Coughlin, their founding coach, was brought back as GM and the Jaguars won the AFC South, defeated the Buffalo Bills (in their first playoff game since 1999) and at Pittsburgh exploded to a 45-42 win despite blowing a 28-7 lead.   The Steelers had talked openly of meeting the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game and reports claimed growing friction between Ben Roethislberger and offensive coordinator Todd Haley; it typified the full-of-themselves culture of the Steelers

And yet this game was topped by the Minnesota Vikings despite only half the scoring.   The game lead changed four times in the fourth quarter as the Saints - winners of 2009's epic NFC Championship Game vs the Vikings, booted a go-ahead field goal with 25 seconds to go; Case Keenum then rifled a 25-yard first down pass to Stefon Diggs, and with no one in the middle of the field Diggs ran in the winning touchdown.


The second round of NFL playoffs thus elevates the heat even when it's cold.

NFL Top 10: Wildcard Games

Since the advent of the wildcard round in the NFL in 1978, the opening round of the playoffs has seen some of the most memorable games in league history.   Presented are ten of the best from the wildcard round -


*****


TEN: Buffalo Bills at the New York Jets, 1981 - The Bills were entering their second straight playoff run and only their third since 1966, while the Jets had made the playoffs for the first time since the 1969 season and had done so after losing their first three games and with questions burgeoning about coach Walt Michaels, who'd acted in threatening manner to reporters following a Week Three loss to the Bengals.   The two AFC East foes had split their regular-season matches, and the Jets were sporting a defensive line in Mark Gastineau, Marty Lyons, Joe Klecko, and Larry Faulk aka Abdul Salaam, a unit quickly named The New York Sack Exchange.

The game quickly became a Bills rout, beginning with a fumble of the opening kick by the Jets run back for a touchdown by Charles Romes of the Bills.  Two Joe Fergunson touchdowns to Frank Lewis and a field goal put the Bills up 24-0 in the second quarter, but the Jets behind Richard Todd refused to quit in a turnover-plagued contest (the two teams combined for eight interceptions and the opening kick fumble).

Todd threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Jets from the 24-0 gap and a fourth-quarter gap of 31-13 to within 31-27; getting the ball back in the final minute, Todd raced the Jets to the doorstep of the win only to be intercepted in the endzone with almost no time left.

Despite the loss, the Jets had made a point, in that they were determined not to be defined by Joe Namath's long-ago triumph.


*****

NINE: The Catch II - Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers, 1998
- For only the fourth time in sixteen seasons the 49ers did not win the NFC West, while the Packers likewise failed to win their division, the NFC Central.  The two teams entered Candlestick Park a combined 23-9, but the Packers had gone to the previous two Superbowls and had beaten the Niners five straight times.   Brett Favre's matchups against the Niners were for the most part uncompetitive, while Steve Young faced the specter of a lifetime record of 0-8 against the Packers.

This game became different right away, as the lead tied or changed six times in the first three quarters.  An exchange of field goals put the Niners up 23-20 in the fourth, but Favre stormed the Packers to the go-ahead touchdown at the 2-minute warning.   As Young began clawing the Niners forward, the biggest question mark was third-year receiver Terrell Owens, who'd had two catches but also several drops amid glare made brutal by The Stick's angles.   Also struggling was Jerry Rice, taken out of the game by the Packers defense until a six-yard catch with 52 seconds to go; controversy then ensued when the ball fell out; it was  ruled an incompletion but replay indicated a potential fumble.   With eleven seconds to go Young was nearly picked off, but the ball hit the ground.   With eight seconds to go Young was on the Packers 25; he dropped back, momentarily stumbled, then rifled the ball to Owens between two defenders into the endzone, the biggest and most clutch playoff touchdown for the Niners since Dwight Clark's winning score in 1981.    And yet the game almost ended in a Packers win anyway on the final kick return, run into Niners territory before being stopped.

The 30-27 win, coming amid burgeoning scandal within the Niners' ownership circle, was the club's last playoff win for four years.


*****

EIGHT: The Music City Miracle - Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans, 1999 - The 1990s decade had been a traumatic one for the team formed by Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, as the Houston Oilers collapsed from a playoff team to a vagabond in Tennessee until in 1999 a brand new stadium was completed.   The Oilers name was retired by Adams and the name Titans - personifying Tennessee as The Athens Of The South - was returned to pro football after the collapse of the New York Titans before the 1963 season.

The new Tennessee Titans surged in 1999, beginning with a 36-35 slugfest over the Cincinnati Bengals.   The Titans finished 13-3, losing the AFC Central to the 14-2 Jacksonville Jaguars; Jacksonville's only two losses all season had been to the Titans.  Entering this wildcard game the 11-5 Buffalo Bills had been led by Doug Flutie, but late in the season Rob Johnson, the man he'd replaced, started against the 13-win Indianapolis Colts and erupted to a 31-6 win; the win (over a Colts team with nothing to play for having secured the second AFC bye) sparked controversy as Johnson was named starter for the playoffs, this due to a 73% completion rate to Flutie's 55% rate with nineteen touchdowns and sixteen interceptions and possibly also memory of Flutie's futile performance in a 24-17 playoff loss the previous season at the Dolphins (Dan Marino's only playoff win in four tries against Buffalo).

Neither offense generated much all game, as McNair was held to 76 passing yards and a pick while running in one touchdown amid teammate Eddie George's 106-yard rushing performance.   The two teams swapped medium-range field goals with the Bills now leading 16-15 with only time for the kickoff return.

It was here that all hell broke loose as Lorenzo Neal took the kick at his own 25, handed off to Frank Wycheck, and then Wycheck threw it parallel to the line marker to Kevin Dyson; Dyson  raced past the Bills along the left sideline to the complete disbelief of everyone into the winning touchdown.   The play went to review, and ABC replays showed the lateral was indeed - albeit by inches - an actual lateral, and the touchdown stood.

The play - Home Run Throwback as it was known in Titans circles - was repeated in spectacular form in 2012's 44-41 overtime win by the Titans over the Detroit Lions.


*****

SEVEN: Wildcard Sunday, 2002 - The whole of Wildcard weekend in 2002 qualified as among the most memorable, first when the Atlanta Falcons crushed the Packers and ended Green Bay's career playoff winning streak at Lambeau Field, then when Peyton Manning's Colts faced the club's second ever playoff meeting with the New York Jets and were annihilated 41-0.   But it was Wildcard Sunday that reached into the football stratosphere of amazement.

First the Cleveland Browns were in their first playoff run since 1994, and facing the hated Pittsburgh Steelers in Heinz Field; Pittsburgh had beaten Cleveland in both games that year as former Dan Reeves quarterback project Tommy Maddox took over for Kordell Stewart and stormed the Steelers to a 10-5-1 record; the tie (34-34) came ironically against Reeves and his Atlanta Falcons squad.

Kelly Holcolm had taken over as Browns quarterback, and the Browns surged to the playoffs on a 9-7 record and after a bizarre confluence of Week 17 wins and losses league-wide amid a game-winning goalline stand against the Falcons by the Browns for the 24-16 playoff-clinching win.  Holcolm stormed the Browns to three touchdown drives and a field goal, interrupted by Antwaan Randle-El's 66-yard punt return score.  

The Browns led 24-7 in the third, but the Steelers behind Maddox kept clawing, and trailed 27-14 entering the fourth.   Maddox and Holcolm traded touchdowns, then after two Holcolm incompletions the Steelers got the ball back with 2:35 to go.   Maddox whipped four passes to the Browns 3-yard line and the go-ahead Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala touchdown run.  Holcolm, with just 50 seconds to work with, reached the Steelers 45 but made no attempt at the endzone, instead throwing short and thus blowing any chance at salvaging the win.   The 36-33 Steelers win completed the three-game season sweep of the pesky Browns.


Yet this game would be topped big-time immediately following, for the New York Giants were at The Stick against the 49ers.   Jeff Garcia, ex-CFL quarterback, had replaced Steve Young during 1999 and had Terrell Owens and other receivers to go with Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow at running back, while ex-Panther Kerry Collins was wielding an offense with Jeremy Shockey, Amani Toomer, and running back Atiim Kiambu Hakeem-Ah "Tiki" Barber.   The game opened with two touchdown exchanges highlighted by Terrell Owens shaking off two defenders for a 76-yard catch-and-run.   The Giants behind Collins then raced to a 35-14 lead in the third; a dropped Shockey endzone catch led to a Matt Bryant field goal and a 38-14 lead.

The missed touchdown became a source of bitterness later, because Garcia went to a no-huddle offense and exploded to a TO touchdown catch, a 14-yard run by himself, and two two-point conversion throws to Owens.   A Niners field goal made it 38-33 before the Giants clawed to the Niners 24 in the final four minutes; a bad snap by Trey Junkin, signed only the week before after missing the entire regular season, was followed by a shanked Matt Bryant kick.

Now the game saw hell break loose.   First Garcia whipped the Niners to the go-ahead touchdown with one minute remaining; Terrell Owens and Giants safety Shaun Williams nearly came to blows on the play, then on the two-point try Garcia was intercepted and a brawl erupted that led to Williams' ejection.   On the Giants possession Collins was nearly intercepted at the Niners 28 but the play was ruled incomplete.   The Giants reached the Niners 23, but on the last-second field goal Junkin's snap was low; holder Matt Allen dropped the ball, picked it up and ran, then heaved to the endzone for Tam Hopkins; still more controversy ensued when the Giants were flagged for an ineligible man downfield (Rich Seubert) while media contended the Niners were guilty of pass interference and that one untimed down should have been added.   A letter of apology to the Giants followed from the league office, and Junkin, almost in tears, announced he was finished in football.

Coach Jim Fassel summed up the entire weekend in his bitter postgame press conference - "I'm not getting over this one."


*****

SIX: Matt Hasselback's Botched Prediction - Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers, 2003 - The Packers had stormed to their ninth playoff run in eleven seasons and were now facing their former coach, Mike Holmgren, now with a Seattle Seahawks team in its first playoff game since 1999 - and unknowable to anyone beginning a spectacular run of playoff appearances over the ensuing seasons ending in 2013's Superbowl runaway.

The 2003 meeting in steady snow began as a 13-6 Packers halftime lead, but Hasselback, a former Brett Favre backup, started storming the Seahawks forward, this following a season where the Seahawks lost six of eight road games, notably a brutal 44-41 overtime loss at Baltimore.   Hasselback whipped the Seahawks to three drives ending in Shaun Alexander touchdowns; the game lead tied or changed five times in the second half as two Ahman Green scores helped lead to overtime.

On the coin toss the Seahawks won, and Hasselback declared aloud, "We want the ball and we're gonna score!"   The Seahawks' first possession lasted three plays and a punt, then Green Bay punted after just three plays.   Hasselback completed two passes to his own 45, but on his fifth throw of the drive he was picked off by Al Harris and Harris raced 52-yards and the winning touchdown (33-27).   The Hasselback boast defined Seattle's rivalry with the Packers until the ultimate controversy erupted in 2012.


*****

FIVE: Shootout At The Glendale Corral - Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals, 2009
- After flaming out in 2002-3 with the Rams, Kurt Warner went to a one-year-and-done career with the Giants before winding up with a Cardinals franchise subject to universal ridicule as the team where careers went to die.   After getting a new stadium, University Of Phoenix Stadium, that reputation began to change as Warner replaced inept draft pick Matt Leinart and installed a level of professionalism almost never to be found in Cardinals history.   2008 saw the Cardinals shock the league with three playoff wins and a Superbowl berth, a berth nearly ending in a stunning victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Now in 2009 the Cards were a solid 10-6 and division champions, hosting the wildcard Packers.   The game began as a Kurt Warner runaway as the Cardinals stormed to a 17-0 lead in the first; Warner kept attacking and stormed the Cardinals to a 31-10 lead, but second-year Packers starter Aaron Rodgers began clawing the Pack back; two Rodgers touchdowns and a Warner score left Arizona up 38-24 in the fourth, and Rodgers kept roaring and two more touchdowns tied the game.   Warner put the Cards back up 45-38 with five to go; Rodgers tied it at the two-minute warning.   Warner completed five passes for 73 yards in the final two minutes - and had more touchdowns (five) than incompletions total (four) - but Neil Rackers' kick shanked badly and the game went into overtime.   After a holding penalty the Packers were on their 17 when Rodgers bobbled the ball, shanked it into the hands of Karlos Dansby, and Dansby roared to the winning touchdown, a 51-45 Cardinals win and one of the defining games of Warner's career - it was also a defining game for Rodgers, who erased a 21-point gap yet still botched the game and has gone on to win just two games in which he has trailed by two or more scores.


*****

FOUR: Marshawn's Earthquake - New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks, 2010 - The once-woebegone Saints weathered the worst storm of their existence in 2005, then helped rally their city with a 2006 playoff surge under Sean Payton and Drew Brees; in 2009 it paid off in the biggest playoff win in the club's history and then the Superbowl.   They were wildcards in 2010 and traveled to the Seahawks, under former Jets and Patriots coach Pete Carroll following his lengthy sabbatical with USC.   The Seahawks had struggled to 7-9 and it was enough to win the NFC West, the first case of a team with a losing record winning a division.

The widely expected Saints win, however, was not to be.   Matt Hasselback exploded to three touchdowns and a 24-20 Seahawks lead at halftime.   Drew Brees kept fighting back, but Hasselback matched him drive for drive.  In the final four minutes the Saints had clawed to within 34-30; it was then the Seahawks finished off New Orleans as Marshawn Lynch - a former Buffalo Bill acquired by Seattle in an October trade that went largely unnoticed in football circles due to New England's Randy Moss trade that same week - exploded.   He stormed through the line, broke nine tackles, and threw down corner Tracy Porter (the hero of the Saints' NFC Title win over the Vikings and the Superbowl win over the Colts) while scoring from 67 yards out; fan cheering was so powerful the stadium registered as a medium-strength earthquake on a seismograph less than a mile from Qwest Field.

A late Brees touchdown could do nothing but cut the final score to 41-36 Seahawks.   For a team ridiculed for failing to post a winning record, the 2010 Seahawks wound up sending a decisive message to the league - be very afraid.


*****

THREE: The 3:16 Game - Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos, 2011 - There may never be another phenomenon like Tim Tebow.   Building a powerful following in his college career, Tebow became a source of discussion before the 2010 NFL Draft and his selection by the Broncos and short-lived head coach Josh McDaniel caused a stir in league circles.   Tebow's ebullient expression of his religious faith won him fans, and as 2011 began his unconventional playing style began to foment disagreement in football analyses.   He became starter under new Broncos coach John Fox and despite dismal throwing efforts he was able to lead comeback wins over Miami and others; the comeback wins kept up, and when Tebow ran in the winning touchdown vs, the New York Jets he had become a full-fledged international sensation, a sensation that kept surging through six straight wins and did not abate even with crushing losses to New England and Buffalo.

The Broncos won the AFC West in a three-way tie with San Diego and Oakland and hosted the 12-4 Steelers on Wildcard Sunday; it was the seventh career playoff meeting between Pittsburgh and Denver and media speculation stipulated that the Broncos, under GM and former quarterback John Elway, livid at Tebow's poor throwing efforts, might bench Tebow for so important a game.

It all began turning upside down as Tebow rallied the Broncos after two Steeler field goals; he threw one touchdown and ran in another, while a Ben Roethlisberger interception was sandwiched between two Matt Prater field goals and a shocking 20-6 Broncos lead.   The Steelers clawed back in the second half as they outscored Denver 17-3 aided by a Willis McGahee fumble.   A late sack of Roethlisberger snuffed out any chance at a winning field goal and the game went to overtime at 23-23.

On the opening play of overtime the Steelers laid out a Cover Zero defense, basically daring Tebow to throw with almost no one protecting the back side of the defensive line; it was exactly what the Patriots a month earlier had shown the rest of the league to not do - instead of play passively the Patriots had attacked Tebow directly and thus threw him completely out of his game.

Given this defensive look, Tebow unloaded a pass caught high by DeMaryius Thomas and Thomas took advantage when the Steelers bit on the play fake; he raced almost unmolested to the winning touchdown (29-23 final).   It was Denver's first playoff win since 2005 and caused still more reaction when the box score showed Tebow had thrown for 316 yards with a 31.6 yard per catch average.   Multiple stats aligned with the Bible verse John 3:16 and the correlation became the most celebrated confluence of faith and football ever seen.

Adding to the bizarre quality of the game is that the Steelers' 2014 playoff loss to the Ravens means Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since the 3:16 game.


*****

TWO:  The Comeback II: Kansas City Chiefs at Indianapolis Colts, 2013 - The Broncos gave up on Tebow when Peyton Manning, out a year after several neck surgeries, was released by the Colts.  Manning signed with Elway's Broncos - the irony of Peyton's rookie year being Elway's final playing year was curiously overlooked - and stormed the Broncos to a 13-3 2012 season ending in a rip-roaring Divisional Round loss to the Ravens.   The Colts meanwhile drafted sure-shot quarterback prospect Andrew Luck and exploded to 22-10 in his first two seasons.

The Chiefs meanwhile signed ex-Eagles coach Andy Reed after seven mediocre or worse seasons and acquired former 49ers starter Alex Smith, given up for dead by the Niners for Colin Kaepernick.   The Chiefs stormed to win their first nine games before collapsing to finish 11-5, including an embarrassing home loss to Luck's Colts.

For Wildcard Sunday in 2013 the Chiefs came to Lucas Oil Stadium and exploded, storming to 38-10 in the third quarter, pouncing on a Trent Richardson fumble and two Luck INTs.   But Luck began storming the Colts back as the Colts defense forced a fumble.  By the fourth quarter and despite a third Luck pick the Colts had raced to a 41-31 gap, then Luck scored himself on a botched Donald Brown run.   After a Chiefs field goal Luck whipped a 64-yard touchdown to T.Y. Hilton and the Colts suddenly led 45-44.   The Chiefs final drive died out at the Colts 43 and Indianapolis had its first playoff win since 2009 and had erased a 28-point gap.

Only one other game had ever seen a bigger comeback.


*****

THE NUMBER ONE WILDCARD GAME OF ALL TIME - The Houston Oilers at The Buffalo Bills, 1992 - Even if the NFL sees a game where a team erases a five-touchdown gap The Comeback can never be forgotten.   New England's 25-point comeback to beat the Falcons in Superbowl LI is arguably a more important comeback win given it decided the championship.   Yet to erase a 32-point gap to win a playoff game was simply unprecedented.

From the injury at Houston that knocked out Jim Kelly to the stunning effort of backup Frank Reich, the Bills showed a level of heart impossible to forget.   The Oilers came in with every reason to feel confident in a win.   Warren Moon exploded the Oilers with four touchdowns in the first half, and a Reich pick-six put Houston up 35-3, a gap impossible to erase.

Yet Frank Reich did just that, having beaten Jimmy Johnson's Miami Hurricanes team in 1984 by wiping out a 31-0 gap to win 43-40.   Reich exploded the Bills to five straight touchdowns, four of them throws by him sandwiched around a Moon fumble, a blown field goal try, and an interception; a second Moon pick was wiped out on a roughing the passer penalty.   By halfway through the fourth the Bills improbably led 38-35.  Moon finally got the shellshocked Oilers to the tying field goal, but early in overtime a pass sailed over a blanketed Ernest Givens and was intercepted.   Steve Christie's field goal ended the biggest Bills win (41-38) in their history and the largest comeback win in NFL history.


*****

BONUS: Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs, 2017 -   The Tennessee Titans had not won a playoff game since beating the Ravens in 2003, but in 2017 they stormed back from down 21-3 to stun the favored Chiefs 22-21, a game highlighted by the funniest play in years as Marcus Mariota completed a touchdown.....to himself, as his pass was deflected backwards by Darrelle Revis into Mariota's hands.   The game was a breakthrough game for running back Derrick Henry as he rushed for 156 yards and a score and caught two passes for 35 yards; the Titans also overcame two turnovers (one a Mariota INT) and also eight penalties (having averaged just five to six per game) for the franchise's first career playoff win over the Chiefs, having lost the 1962 AFL Championship Game to the then-Dallas Texans and the 1993 AFC Divisional Playoff to Joe Montana, both as the Houston Oilers.


It all adds up to that the "Wild" in Wildcard fits better than perhaps anyone could expect.

NFL Top 10: Brady-Manning Games

The 2015 AFC playoffs are almost here and we may yet again see Tom Brady and Peyton Manning square off.   Given how much energy this rivalry has generated it ranks as something the league really has never seen before - a rivalry driven exclusively by the showdown of the two quarterbacks.   Team rivalries and coaching rivalries have been many a chapter in NFL history but this rivalry may top them all.   

In the format of NFL NETWORK'S series NFL Top 10, we look back at the top ten games of the Brady-Manning rivalry -


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#10: THE 2001 DEBUT - Tom Brady had been a low-round draft pick who'd risen up the New England Patriots depth chart almost entirely unnoticed; in Week 3 of 2001 he took over as starter after the near-fatal chest injury absorbed by Drew Bledsoe.   The Indianapolis Colts were division rivals of the Patriots and Peyton Manning was in his fourth season; he had already won 28 games and made two ill-fated playoff trips; Manning's Colts had already crushed the New York Jets and Buffalo by a combined score of 87-50 entering this game.

It didn't matter.   Bryan Cox's savage hit on receiver Jerome Pathon surged throughout the Colts lineup and suddenly they were playing scared.   Otis Smith and Ty Law ran back Manning interceptions for touchdowns; trailing 23-7 the floor collapsed on the Colts in the fourth quarter as the Patriots nailed down 21 points for the ultimate 44-13 win.  Brady put up 168 passing yards in a modest start while five Patriots players combined for 177 rushing yards. 

A month later at the RCA Dome Brady unleashed a more aggressive quarterbacking attack; he threw three touchdowns while receiver David Patten threw a 60-yard bomb, caught a 91-score, and ran in a touchdown as the Patriots absorbed nearly 500 Indianapolis yards to win 38-17.   Peyton Manning managed only one touchdown as Colts GM Bill Polian was overheard in the press box demanding his players break bones of Patriots players.

It was just the beginning.


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#9: THE GOALLINE STAND, 2003 -  Entering Week 13 of the 2003 season the Colts had become a superpower in the race for the playoffs after exploding to a history-making comeback win over the Tampa Bay Bucs in Week 5; the Patriots were also in the race after a slugfest of a win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 5 (the Titans for their part were neck-and-neck with both at 9-2) and at the RCA Dome at the end of November the Patriots and Colts met for the first time since divisional realignment put the Colts into the now-second-year AFC South.  

It began as another Patriots rout; Tom Brady led three drives putting up 17 points.   The Colts scored 10 points before Bethel Johnson ran back a 92-yard kick at the end of the first half.   The game then changed after Brady led another touchdown drive for a 31-10 lead; two interceptions and three Manning touchdowns put the game 31-31; another monster Johnson kick return led to a Brady touchdown to Deion Branch; a Kevin Faulk fumble led to a Colts field goal, then in the final minutes a bad shank of a punt by Ken Walter put the ball around the 50 and Manning whipped the Colts to the Patriots 2, but there two runs and a forlorn toss led to a 4th and 1 run by Edgerrin James blown up for a loss of two yards and a 38-34 Patriots win.   Willie McGinest played a key role; "I saw (Manning) tap his butt" thus signalling a run play he helped blow up.  

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#8: VANDERJAGT'S GAFFE, 2004
- The NFL inaugurated Thursday Night Football in 2004 by scheduling the Colts at Foxboro in Week 1.   Manning led the Colts to a 17-13 halftime lead, but then Brady erupted to put the Patriots up 27-17; a late Colts touchdown was followed by a final drive, but on 3rd down McGinest sacked Manning, setting up a 48-yard field goal try by Mike Vanderjagt, who hadn't missed in over 40 consecutive tries and taunted the Patriots sideline by rubbing his fingers in a "money" gesture - except he wasn't money, shanking the kick for the 27-24 Patriots win.


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#7: THE PLAYOFFS, 2003 AND 2004 - The Colts won the AFC South title in 2003 and 2004 and faced the Patriots in snowy Foxboro both times.   In 2003 the Patriots edged the Titans 17-14 as Steve McNair, co-MVP with Manning that year, lived up to being MVP in a taut game where he barely came short on a pass to Drew Bennett.   Manning meanwhile had exploded to his first two playoff wins, but in the AFC Championship Game he was not in McNair's playoff class as he was intercepted four times.   The Patriots for their part didn't play particularly well, forced into five Adam Vinatieri field goals and eventually grinding out a 24-14 win and path to Superbowl XXXVIII against the upstart Carolina Panthers.

In 2004 Manning was back, but this time the Patriots unleashed a powerful run game led by Corey Dillon, the former Bengal.   Dillon and Kevin Faulk combined for 200 rushing yards and ate up so much clock it gave Manning indigestion; his endzone interception on the final play capped off a hideous playoff failure, 20-3, as Brady was on his way to another Superbowl.  



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#6: PEYTON'S BREAKTHROUGH, 2005 - 2005 was mainly a forgettable season for the Patriots as they limped into November 7's Monday Night Football match at 4-3 with the Colts at 7-0.   Brady managed three touchdowns but Manning was unstoppable rolling to 40 points and his first win over the Patriots since 2000, and first ever win at Foxboro.   This win signalled a permanent change in the rivalry, as Manning would never again be New England's patsy.


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#5: THE BATTLE OF UNBEATENS, 2007
-  Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker, and Adalius Thomas were the key free agent pickups as the Patriots made the most determined run to a Superbowl ever seen, exploding to put up over 34 points per game.  The Patriots were 8-0 and the Colts 7-0 as they entered November at the RCA Dome.   The game became one of the highest-rated broadcasts in CBS history as Randy Moss caught a short touchdown but the Colts clawed to a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter.   Down by two scores, Brady finally got his offense going on a 60-yard bomb to Moss to the Colts 3, and a third-down touchdown to Welker.   After forcing a Colts punt the Patriots raced to the go-ahead touchdown, on a pass to Moss, a 40-yard strike to Stallworth, and the touchdown to Kevin Faulk.   Manning was then strip-sacked by former RCA Dome popcorn vendor Roosevelt Colvin, a longtime nemesis of Manning from his Chicago Bears days.   Brady converted the needed first down and the Patriots had broken the Colts' unbeaten streak, 24-20.


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#4: FOURTH AND TWO, 2009
- The Colts were unbeaten on November 15, 2009 when they hosted the Patriots, and the game started as a Patriots runaway as Brady and Manning combined for four touchdowns and a 24-14 Patriots lead; a goalline fumble by embattled running back Laurence Maroney wiped out a third-quarter Patriots touchdown, and Moss' catch put the Pats up 31-14 entering the fourth quarter.   But Manning connected with Pierre Garcon and in the final three minutes the Patriots led 34-28 but were pinned at their own 28 needing two more yards; Bill Belichick went for the fourth down conversion and a pass to Kevin Faulk appeared to break the first down plane but was ruled short by referee Scott Green.   When Manning tossed the winning touchdown in the final seconds the media storm against Belichick was enormous like the league hadn't seen since 1995's fourth down failure by the Cowboys against the Eagles.  


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#3: MANNING'S INDIANAPOLIS SWAN SONG, 2010
- In 2010 the Colts traveled to Foxboro for the first time since 2006 and were 6-3 with the Patriots 7-2.   The Patriots had changed their offense with Randy Moss traded after Week 4 and Deion Branch returned after four seasons in Seattle; they had also drafted two boffo tight ends in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.   The game on November 21 began with the pattern that had developed from 2003 - once again the Patriots raced to a big lead, taking a 31-14 lead in the fourth quarter.   And once again Manning roared back, this time with two touchdowns to Blair White in the fourth.   Once again the Patriots couldn't put Manning away and Peyton had the ball in the final minutes driving remorselessly.

But this time a pass to the Patriots 6-yard line was intercepted by James Sanders, and the Patriots won 31-28.   The game began a three-game losing streak for the Colts, and amid a 38-35 overtime loss to the Cowboys radioman Bob Lamey was heard to blast Peyton's declining play.   Following a wildcard round bow-out to the NY Jets, neck surgery for Manning wound up ending his career at the Colts.  


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BEST OF THE REST: - After Manning left the Colts, Tom Brady faced heralded youngster Andrew Luck in 2012 and again in the 2013 playoffs; the results were disturbingly reminiscent of days of yore for the Colts; in 2012 two interceptions were turned into Patriots touchdowns and New England won 59-24.   In the 2013 playoffs LeGarrette Blount led an unprecedented Patriots rushing attack while Luck was intercepted four times in a 43-22 Patriots win.

Before Manning faced Brady, he squared off against Drew Bledsoe for three seasons.   In September 1999 at Foxboro Manning exploded to three touchdowns and an Edgerrin James rushing score, but Bledsoe erased Manning's 28-7 lead on three unanswered touchdowns (including the final two career scoring catches for tight end Ben Coates).   James' late fumble set up the winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri and the 31-28 Patriots win.  

Blowing a 21-point lead in Foxboro was a harbinger of another Manning disaster fourteen years later.......

#2: BRADY'S HISTORY-MAKING COMEBACK, 2013
- Manning was signed by the Denver Broncos in 2012 and led Denver to a 13-3 season.   In 2013 on Sunday Night Football the Patriots hosted the Broncos a year after defeating Manning 31-21 and now fresh off a controversial loss to the Carolina Panthers.   The first half was a disaster for the Patriots, as three fumbles and a failed fourth-down attempt led to a Von Miller touchdown, a Manning score, and a 24-0 Broncos lead.  

But facing cold winds Tom Brady put on a history-making performance, exploding to three touchdowns, a fourth touchdown drive, and a Stephen Gostkowski field goal, all aided as the Patriots defense bullied the Broncos into three fumbles and a Manning interception.   The Patriots led 31-24 before a late Manning touchdown tied the game.  In overtime (a first for the rivalry) the Patriots elected to defend the endzone where the winds were blowing toward the Broncos instead of take the initial possession, a decision that puzzled observors, but after an exchange of three punts the Patriots at the very least didn't look foolish; instead on their second punt former Patriot Wes Welker hesitated on the kick and the ball bounced off a teammate and was grabbed by the Patriots at the Broncos 12-yard line.   The Broncos called two timeouts and the two-minute warning for overtime passed before Gostkowski drilled the winning field goal, 34-31.   It was the largest comeback win in Patriots history, surpassing 1984's comeback win over the Seahawks down 23-0 to win 38-23.   It also cemented Brady's repuation as a superior cold-weather quarterback.  


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BEST OF THE REST: In 2014 Manning and Brady met for the sixteenth time and the Patriots authored their most lopsided win over Manning (43-21) since 2001. Brady threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns while Manning was intercepted twice and stopped on fourth down four times, three of them in the fourth quarter. 


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The Number One Brady-Manning Game Of All - THE 2006 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - It will almost certainly be cited as the greatest by all retrospectives on their careers.   The showdown for Superbowl XLI was a shocker that still permeates both New England and Indianapolis.   The Colts had shot down the Chiefs and Ravens while the Patriots upended the Jets and Chargers for this meeting at the RCA Dome, and the Patriots once again raced to a big lead; when Asante Samuel intercepted Manning and scored, the Patriots led 21-3, but Manning exploded the Colts to tie the game.   After swapping touchdowns and field goals the Patriots led 34-31 but needing a goalline stand in the final minute, they didn't get it; after Joseph Addai's touchdown Brady was intercepted and the Colts had won 38-34, on their way to only the second Superbowl win in their history and first as an Indianapolis team.  


2013's AFC Championship Game turned out to be another Manning triumph, his eighth in 22 career games against the Patriots, and fifth in fifteen meetings with Tom Brady.   It was anything but an end; Brady and the Patriots authored their worst rout of Manning since 2001 in 2014's 43-21 slaughter at Foxboro; the win was another on Brady's path to his history-making Superbowl XLIX triumph.   The rivalry thus awaits the 2015 season at Mile High.

NFL Top 10 Games Of 2013

As we count down to the Superbowl, we look back on the ten best games of 2013 -


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#10 - Chargers at Titans: Locker's Hail Mary
- Entering Week 3 San Diego had pulled off a dramatic back-and-forth win at Philadelphia while Tennessee was reeling from a bitter overtime loss at Houston.   Titans quarterback Jake Locker, in his second season as a starter, had struggled in 2012 but was showing some improvement as 2013 was progressing.   He also faced the daunting reality that the Titans franchise hadn't beaten San Diego since their infamous 1992 season as the Houston Oilers.  It started slowly as the Chargers clawed to a 10-3 lead but in the second quarter Locker ran in a touchdown and a late Chargers field goal attempt was blocked.   San Diego clawed to a 17-13 lead by the fourth quarter, but with 21 seconds to go Locker unloaded a 34-yard touchdown bomb caught by rookie Justin Hunter.   A pathetic avalanche of Chargers laterals recalling the infamous Stanford Band play ended in failure (natch) and the Titans were 20-17 winners, showcasing that Locker could play, and pull off clutch efforts.


#9 - Packers at Bengals: The Packers Comeback That Wasn't
- We stay with Week 3 here.  In the Aaron Rodgers era the Green Bay Packers had established a reputation as frontrunners, a team that would fail if a comeback attempt was needed.   Taking on the competitive-but-erratic Bengals at Cincinnati the Packers wound up proving this in uproarious fashion.    The Bengals raced to a 14-0 lead, then saw the Packers explode to 30 straight points.   The Bengals looked like the Bungles down 30-14 in the third, but Andy Dalton and company went to work; first Dalton unloaded a touchdown strike to rising receiver superstar A.J. Green; a Rodgers INT was wasted as the Bengals missed a FGA, then Rodgers got picked off again, leading to a Dalton score to Marvin Jones, marred by a missed PAT.  In the final four minutes on 4th and 1 a run by Jonathan Franklin was fumbled and the Bengals, despite fumbling the ball themselves, scored anyway.  Rodgers' final gasp effort flamed out and the Bengals were 34-30 winners; combined with the Titans win and wins by the Browns and Ravens, it was a good day for the former AFC Central.


#8 - Vikings at Ravens: 4th Quarter Scoring Blizzard
- The first three quarters saw a building snowstorm and a measely 7-6 Ravens lead, but in the fourth quarter the snow got worse and the offenses started heating up, first as Matt Cassel and Joe Flacco exchanged touchdown throws around a 4th down Vikings stop and an exchange of punts; it was in the final 130 seconds that all hell broke loose - Toby Gerhart scored for the Vikings, then on the ensuing kickoff Jacoby Jones ran back a 77-yard score; Cassel then unloaded a 79-yard touchdown to Cordarelle Patterson, then Flacco saw an interception wiped out on a Chad Greenway penalty; he got to the final nine seconds and whipped the winning touchdown to Marlon Brown and a wild 29-26 Ravens win in a game that set an NFL record for six lead changes in the fourth quarter and five touchdowns in the final two-plus minutes.


#7 - Cowboys at Lions: Stafford's Last-Minute Comeback #2
- In his career to date Matthew Stafford's signature game has been his 38-37 comeback win over the Cleveland Browns in 2009 despite incurring a season-ending shoulder injury on a last-second touchdown attempt; the game was extended by one down thanks to a pass interference penalty by the Browns and despite his injury Stafford threw the game-winning touchdown.   Four years later Stafford authored another amazing victory.   He opened the scoring on a short touchdown to Calvin "Megatron" Johnson, but the Cowboys clawed into the lead.   The Lions, despite two Stafford INTs, would not go away, in the final seven minutes down 27-17 Stafford led a touchdown drive ending in Reggie Bush's score; a Cowboys field goal before the final minute put them up 30-24, but Stafford, out of timeouts, raced the Lions downfield, completing four passes for 79 yards to the Cowboys 1-yard line with fourteen seconds remaining - he then faked the ball spike and shot the ball over the goalline for the winning touchdown.    The 31-30 Lions win was almost a 500-yard passing game for Stafford - he came up short with 488 passing yards, and lost in all of it was the Lions still rushed for 143 yards. 



#6 - Packers at Cowboys: Matt Flynn In Like Flint
- With injury sidelining Aaron Rodgers the Packers had re-signed former backup Matt Flynn.   At Dallas the Packers didn't look like much as the Cowboys stormed to a 26-3 halftime lead.   But Flynn had authored an amazing 45-41 win over the Lions in 2011 and now was letting the Packers know he could play; Flynn exploded to four touchdowns and the Packers trailed 36-31 in the final four minutes.   Tony Romo then did his thing - picked off with three minutes to go; after Flynn's drive ended in Eddie Lacy's rushing score and failed two-point try, Romo did his thing - and was intercepted again.   The 37-36 Packers win proved vital to making the playoffs.



Best Of The Rest
- There were other memorable games in 2013 that didn't quite make the cut.

When the Saints came to Foxboro in Week 6 they clawed to a 27-23 lead before Tom Brady found Kenbrell Thompkins with five seconds to go; the 30-27 win set off the now-famous "Unicorns and Show Ponies" exclamation from Patriots radiocaster Scott Zolak.

The week before on Monday Night Football the slumping Falcons erased a 27-14 gap to the New York Jets, but in the final two minutes the Jets stormed downfield and booted the winning field goal, for the 30-28 Jets win.

In Week 17 the Packers twice blew touchdown leads and trailed 28-20 in the fourth quarter before Aaron Rodgers, returning from injury, unloaded a late 48-yard score to Randall Cobb; the 33-28 win put the Packers in the playoffs as NFC North champions.

In October the Patriots rallied from down 17-3 to the Dolphins to the 27-17 win, then in December the Patriots erased a 17-7 halftime gap to beat the Houston Texans 34-31, then a week later the Browns stormed to a 26-14 lead with 2:43 to go, but the Patriots scored two touchdowns in a span of two minutes, then the Browns missed a last-second field goal for the shocking 27-26 Patriots win.

In Week 2 the Cardinals hosted the Lions and erased a 21-13 Lions lead to win 25-21, a win that put them in playoff contention, while the next game on our list was even more clutch...........



#5 - Cardinals at Titans: Fitzpatrick's Fit Of Frustration
- With Jake Locker lost for the season with injury, the Titans had to rely on former Bill Ryan Fitzpatrick, but a playoff bid steadily slid out of reach.   Entering Week 15 the surging Cardinals came to Nashville and a close first half was a 20-17 Cardinals lead that swelled into a 34-17 lead after Antoine Cason picked off Fitzpatrick and scored with just over six minutes to go.   Fitzpatrick then erupted; with a defensive stop and a successful onside kick recovery, the Titans stormed to 17 unanswered points led by two Michael Preston touchdown catches.   But Fitzpatrick, having gone from goat to hero, was picked off three plays into overtime by Cason and the Cardinals' field goal ended a 37-34 affair.  


#4 - Chargers at Chiefs: Introducing Seyi Ajirotutu
- The West became the deepest division in both conferences and in Week 12 the AFC West proved the focal point; the Titans rallied to a last-second win at Oakland while the Broncos would play the Sunday Night game at New England.   At Arrowhead Stadium the Chiefs, having seen their unbeaten streak ended the week before, hosted the 4-6 Chargers and the ensuing game became the highest-scoring match between the two clubs since 1986.   Philip Rivers and Alex Smith erupted as the game lead changed eight times; the Chargers came back from down 14-3 early but trailed 31-27 with less than ten minutes remaining.   Rivers and Smith traded touchdowns and in the final 88 seconds Rivers raced the Chargers downfield and with 31 seconds to go found perhaps the ultimate dark horse - Oluseyi Adekunleolum "Seyi" Ajirotutu, an undrafted receiver who'd caught two touchdowns for the Chargers in 2010, was let go for the Panthers in 2011, re-signed to San Diego in 2012, and caught his first touchdown since that 2010 season.   The 41-38 Chargers win was vital to San Diego's playoff run.



#3 - Broncos at Patriots: Brady's Historic Comeback
- Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning had been the rivalry of the 2001 period onward, and its fourteenth renewal came on a brutally cold late November in Foxboro.  It began in hideous fashion for the Patriots - Stevan Ridley's first quarter fumble became a Broncos touchdown and the embattled running back fell into Bill Belichick's doghouse on the sidelines (exacerbated by Belichick's subtle slam at Ridley's coachability on WEEI radio the next day).  It got worse; Brady was strip-sacked near his own red zone and the Broncos scored two plays later; a LeGarrette Blount fumble led to a 35-yard drive and another Broncos touchdown; the Patriots drove to the Broncos 30 but were stopped on fourth down. 

The Broncos led 24-0 at halftime but then the Patriots erupted; Brady erupted to four touchdown drives as the Broncos were bullied into two fumbles and a Manning INT; the Patriots led 31-24 before Manning tied it in the final three minutes.   Final drives by both clubs went nowhere and the game went into overtime (a first in the Brady-Manning rivalry), where the Patriots chose to defend the open-air north endzone, where the winds were strongest.  Both teams punted twice; on the Patriots second punt Wes Welker hesitated on calling whether to catch it or not; Tony Carter thus botched the catch and the Patriots fell on the ball at Denver's 13-yard line; two Broncos timeouts and the two-minute warning of overtime kept delaying the inevitable - the winning 31-yard field goal and New England's 34-31 win, the biggest comeback win in team history, surpassing the comeback from down 23 points to the Seahawks in 1984.



#2 - Broncos at Cowboys: All Guns Blazing
- Peyton Manning had long struggled against the Cowboys, having lost his previous two matchups against Dallas; his 2010 loss was a wild 38-35 overtime choke job.   Against the always-erratic Tony Romo, the scoring was expected to be plentiful.   No one had any idea; after the Cowboys jumped to a 14-0 lead Manning threw three touchdowns and ran in another, then after connecting with Wes Welker in the third, the Broncos led 35-20; Romo then exploded, outscoring the Broncos 21-6 with a Manning INT thrown in for extra measure; the two clubs traded touchdowns and by 2:44 the game was tied 48-48.   Presented with the golden opportunity to knock Manning down a peg, Tony Romo then did his thing - he threw a pick at his own 24 and the Broncos ran out clock and kicked the winning field goal.   The 51-48 Broncos win was a bloodbath of offense - 1,039 combined yards, nine touchdowns, two INTs; Romo broke 500 passing yards but the INT when his team needed him the most cemented his reputation for clutch failure.



The #1 Game Of 2013 - Chiefs at Colts: Andrew Luck's Ultimate Comeback
- The opening game of Wildcard weekend was the fourth playoff match between the Chiefs and Colts; the Chiefs had lost all three previous playoff games and had beaten the Colts only twice since 1990.   Yet the first two-thirds of this game belonged to the Chiefs as Alex Smith erupted to four touchdowns and a 38-10 Chiefs lead.   But Andrew Luck, despite three interceptions, started clawing the Colts back and the runaway became an instant classic.   By the final five minutes of the game the Colts only trailed 44-38, and Luck's 64-yard floater to T.Y. Hilton was the go-ahead touchdown, followed by an ugly flameout of a final drive by Alex Smith.   The 45-44 Colts win was the first playoff win for Indianapolis since 2009, and the collapse meant the Chiefs had now lost eight straight playoff games since beating the Oilers in 1993.