Ah, Saturdays. The day for sleeping in, or getting those yard chores done, working yourself into a college football coma or taking the kids to the little league games of their choice and enjoying the sun (hopefully). But at the best time of every year — that’s NFL playoff season, of course — Saturday is also full of professional football during the wild-card and divisional rounds. These nine games are especially classic in the NFL pantheon.
Jan. 2, 1982: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38, OT
The Kellen Winslow game. Winslow played through heat-related cramps and put up a heroic effort, catching 13 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown as the Chargers edged the Dolphins 41-38 in overtime. The Chargers lost the AFC championship game to the Bengals the next week in the second-coldest games in NFL history, and the Bengals went on to lose Super Bowl XLI to Bill Walsh’s 49ers. But oh, to imagine a Super Bowl with Don Coryell’s Chargers against Walsh’s teams …
Jan. 19, 2002: New England Patriots 16, Oakland Raiders 13, OT
The Tuck Rule game. Did Tom Brady fumble or didn’t he? The world may never know, but Walt Coleman’s call that he didn’t allowed the Patriots to eke out a win as Adam Vinatieri made one of the most clutch overtime field goals in NFL history, in abominable weather. Two weeks later, the Pats upset the “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, starting a dynasty that is somehow still hanging around.
Dec. 24, 1971: Miami Dolphins 27, Kansas City Chiefs 24, 2OT
It was the longest non-delayed game in NFL history at 82 minutes and 40 seconds, it was the last Chiefs game at Municipal Stadium before their tenure at Arrowhead Stadium began, and it was the start of Don Shula’s dynasty with the Dolphins. Despite an amazing performance from Chiefs running back Ed Podolak, who ran 17 times for 85 yards and caught eight passes for 110 yards, scoring two total touchdowns, it was Shula’s team that outlasted Hank Stram’s as Garo Yepremian kicked a 37-yard field goal in the second overtime of this divisional-round matchup. Miami lost Super Bowl VI to the Cowboys but came back in 1972 with the NFL’s only perfect season, and won Super Bowl VIII for good measure in 1973.
Dec. 23, 1972: Pittsburgh Steelers 13, Oakland Raiders 7
The Immaculate Reception. Late in the game, Oakland had a 7-6 lead after quarterback Ken Stabler scampered 30 yards for a touchdown, and the Steelers were out of chances. Terry Bradshaw had fourth-and-10 on his own 40-yard line, and he was supposed to throw to wide receiver Barry Pearson on a play called “66 Circle Option.” But under pressure from the Raiders’ defensive line, Bradshaw threw up a prayer of a ball to halfback John “Frenchy” Fuqua with 22 seconds left in the game. Hard-hitting Oakland safety Jack Tatum hit Fuqua just as the ball arrived, the ball went back in the air, and fullback Franco Harris caught the ball just before it hit the ground, running it in for the deciding touchdown. Debates rage on as to whether the ball touched Fuqua without touching Tatum (in which case the play was illegal) or whether the ball touched Tatum alone, or both players (in which case, the play would stand).
In the end, it didn’t matter. Pittsburgh lost the AFC championship game to the perfect 1972 Dolphins, and the NFL got itself an all-time controversy that will never be solved.
Jan. 8, 2011: Seattle Seahawks 41, New Orleans Saints 36
Beast Quake. Happily, I was on the field for this one, as was my Seahawks Wire colleague Liz Mathews, because of the NFL’s policy at the time allowing writers on the field for the last few minutes of every game so that we could hit the locker room a bit quicker. With 3:22 left in the game and Seattle holding 34-30 lead, Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch broke tackle attempts from seemingly every Saints defender on the way to a thrilling 67-yard touchdown run that registered on a seismograph in the Emerald City as a result of Seahawks fans going absolutely wild in response. The defending Super Bowl champion Saints were out of the picture, and the Seahawks lost in the divisional round to the Bears, but that run was the start of something for the Seahawks.
Dec. 24, 1977: Oakland Raiders 37, Baltimore Colts 31, 2OT
The “Ghost to the Post.” With just over two minutes left in regulation of this divisional-round thriller, the defending Super Bowl champion Raiders were in trouble. The Colts had a 31-28 lead, and it was up to Ken Stabler to get his team downfield for at least a game-tying field goal. Offensive coordinator Tom Flores told Stabler to watch for tight end Dave Casper downfield, as the Colts were playing their safeties tighter to the formation. Stabler hit Casper on a 42-yard deep post in which Casper showed remarkable agility. Oakland tied the game with a field goal by Errol Mann, and Stabler hit Casper again for a 10-yard touchdown in the second overtime. The Raiders were eventually foiled in their quest for a return to the Super Bowl in a tight, controversial loss to the Broncos in the 1977 AFC championship game.
Jan. 15, 2011: Pittsburgh Steelers 31, Baltimore Ravens 24
The Steelers and Ravens have played several thrilling games over the last decade in the regular season and postseason, but this one is tough to top. Baltimore built a 21-7 lead in the second quarter, but Ben Roethlisberger hit Hines Ward and Heath Miller for third-quarter touchdowns to even things up, and after a fourth-quarter exchange of field goals, Steelers running back Rashad Mendenhall pushed the ball over from two yards out inside the two-minute warning for the comeback win. Three weeks after this divisional thriller, Pittsburgh lost Super Bowl XLV to the Packers.
Jan. 4, 1997: Jacksonville Jaguars 30, Denver Broncos 27
The Broncos were supposed to win this divisional-round game, they believed. They had run a wide swath through the AFC with a 13-3 record, and the 9-7 Jaguars were in their second year of existence. Denver got out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter, seemingly to prove the theory that the game was nothing but a formality … and then, weird things started to happen. The Jags, who made it all the way to the AFC championship game under Tom Coughlin, started playing like the veteran team, and not the upstarts they were supposed to be. Mark Brunell outdueled John Elway, Natrone Means rushed for 140 yards and Jacksonville’s defense held firm when it had to. The 30-27 final was, for every Broncos player on the field that day, the most disappointing loss in his career. Denver would win the next two Super Bowls, which provided quite a balm, but this one stung like few others.
Jan. 8, 1994: Green Bay Packers 28, Detroit Lions 24
Favre to Sharpe. With just over a minute left in this battle of then-NFC Central combatants, Brett Favre notched his first playoff win by rolling to his left away from pressure and heaving the ball across his body as only he could to a wide-open Sterling Sharpe in the end zone for a 40-yard game-winning touchdown. The Packers lost in the divisional round to the eventual Super Bowl champion Cowboys, but the Packers knew at this point that their young quarterback might have a decent future.
