Last season’s NFC Championship game between the Saints and Rams at the Superdome went down to the wire, but it will unfortunately be remembered for an officiating mistake. The favored Saints, led by the 40-year-old Drew Brees, went up 13-0 after a quarter, and led 20-10 midway through the third. With five minutes left in the game, the Rams tied it on a Greg Zuerlein field goal. Brees led the Saints down the field into Rams territory and they seemed destined to reach the end zone. On a 3rd-and-10 at the Rams' 13, Brees threw a pass near the right sideline intended for Tommylee Lewis. But before the ball arrived, Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman hit Lewis hard and in plain sight – a clear case of pass interference – as the ball fell incomplete. Referees did not call a penalty, though, and the Saints instead had to settle for a 31-yard field goal and a 23-20 lead with 1:41 left. That enabled the Rams to quickly drive the ball downfield and tie it on a 48-yard Zuerlein field goal to force overtime. In the extra period, Zuerlein easily made another field goal – this time from 57 yards, the longest game-winning field goal in playoff history to win, 26-23, and send the Rams to Super Bowl 53. ― NFL 100

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Earlier this year, on a cold January evening at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the Chiefs fought valiantly to try and prevent the Patriots from reaching their third consecutive Super Bowl. And this AFC Championship slugfest wouldn’t be decided until overtime. The Patriots led 14-0 at halftime and 17-7 after three quarters, and then both offenses exploded: a pair of touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes to Damien Williams suddenly pulled the Chiefs ahead, 21-17. In the final few minutes, the teams traded leads three more times. Thanks, in part, to a Dee Ford neutral zone infraction that nullified a Kansas City interception that would have sealed the game, 41-year-old Tom Brady drove New England 65 yards in just over a minute, the final play a 4-yard TD run from Rex Burkhead with 39 seconds left. But the Chiefs showed no quit: Mahomes completed two passes totaling 48 yards to set up a Harrison Butker field goal to force OT. In overtime, Brady drove the Patriots 75 yards on the opening possession – a drive that included three successful conversions on 3rd and 10 – that concluded with a Burkhead touchdown run and a 37-31 New England win. The Patriots then beat the Rams in the Super Bowl, the sixth title of the Brady-Belichick era. ― NFL 100

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On a Monday evening last November, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a pair of 9-1 teams faced off in what became an instant classic – the first game in NFL history that both teams scored over 50 points. The contest, between the Rams and Chiefs, had initially been scheduled for Mexico City, but the poor condition of the Azteca Stadium surface led to a last-minute venue change. Whether those circumstances factored into what transpired is uncertain, but the offensive barrage was staggering: 14 combined touchdowns, 105 total points, and four lead changes in the fourth quarter alone. The score was 23-23 at halftime, and 40-30, Rams, after three quarters. The game’s wackiness could be summed up in the performance of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who threw for 478 yards and six touchdowns – but whose two interceptions in the final two minutes were costly. Rams QB Jared Goff, who threw for 413 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, tossed the game-winner with 1:49 left, a 40-yard pass to Gerald Everett, to produce the eye-popping final score: 54-51, Los Angeles. ― NFL 100

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An unusual defensive mishap at the conclusion of this NFC Divisional playoff game on January 14, 2018 led to what one broadcaster would term, the “Minneapolis Miracle.” The Vikings were hosting the Saints and both fan bases were starving for a win. The Saints had gone 7-9 in each of the previous three seasons, while the Vikings hadn’t been to a Super Bowl in over four decades. Minnesota got off to a hot start, taking a 17-0 lead into halftime. A pair of touchdown throws by Drew Brees cut that lead to 3 early in the fourth quarter. The drama heightened as the teams began exchanging leads, and when the Saints pulled ahead, 24-23, on a field goal with 25 seconds left, the home Viking crowd was stunned. With 10 seconds left, Minnesota snapped the ball from their own 39, and quarterback Case Keenum threw a pass to a leaping Stefon Diggs. As Diggs caught the ball, safety Marcus Williams ducked low and completely missed the tackle, enabling Diggs to run untouched for a game-winning 61-yard touchdown. The Vikings lost, 38-7 to the Eagles, however, in the NFC Championship. ― NFL 100

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The Divisional playoff game between the Packers and Cardinals on January 16, 2016 was nail-bitingly close the entire way and featured a spectacular ending – in both regulation and overtime. Playing at home, Arizona was favored by seven points, and went ahead, 7-0, on a first quarter touchdown pass by Carson Palmer. The Packers came back, taking a 13-7 lead in the third on an Aaron Rodgers TD throw. But in the fourth, after a Palmer touchdown pass and a field goal, the Cardinals held a 20-13 edge. With under a minute left, facing a fourth down and 20 from their own 4, Rodgers completed a 60-yard pass to receiver Jeff Janis. Three plays later and with five seconds left, Rodgers spun away from pressure and threw up a Hail Mary which was caught by a leaping Janis for a touchdown to force overtime. On the first play of OT, Palmer himself spun away from a tackler and threw a pass to Larry Fitzgerald, who ran for a 75-yard gain. Two plays later, Palmer flipped the ball to Fitzgerald, who ran the ball in from five yards for the game-winning TD. Any momentum for the Cardinals failed to carry over to the NFC title game the next week, as they got trounced by Carolina, 49-15. ― NFL 100

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In their quest for a second straight NFC title, the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks were in trouble. Playing against the Packers at home in the NFC Championship game on January 18, 2015, they were down, 16-0 at halftime and 19-7 with just a few minutes remaining in the game. Then with 2:09 left, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson – capping a 69-yard drive that took under two minutes – scored a touchdown on a short run, making it 19-14. The Seahawks recovered an onside kick at midfield, scored on a 24-yard Marshawn Lynch touchdown run about 30 seconds later, and were successful on the 2-point conversion, taking an improbable 22-19 lead. Now, facing a hostile crowd and seemingly insurmountable momentum, Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay from its own 22 into Seattle territory, where Mason Crosby nailed a 48-yard field goal to force overtime. The Seahawks got the ball to start overtime on their own 13, and Wilson drove them to the Packers 35. That’s when, with 11:41 left, Wilson hit receiver Jermaine Kearse deep down the middle for a 35-yard touchdown to win it for Seattle, 28-22. ― NFL 100

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The Seahawks’ first Super Bowl championship was made possible by a nail-biting comeback victory in the NFC Championship game in January 2014. Playing at home, Seattle went down 10-0 to the 49ers and trailed, 17-10, in the third quarter. In the fourth, down 17-13, big plays from Seattle’s top-ranked defense and its quarterback, Russell Wilson, made the difference: Wilson threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse for a 20-17 lead. The Seahawks forced a fumble and an interception, kicked a field goal, and led 23-17. But with just a few minutes left, quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who rushed for 130 yards and threw for another 153, led the 49ers on a long drive and had a chance to win the game. With 30 seconds left at the Seattle 18, Kaepernick threw a pass intended for Michael Crabtree in the end zone. But Richard Sherman tipped the ball with his left hand, linebacker Malcolm Smith intercepted it, and the Seahawks clinched the game and went on to blow out Denver in Super Bowl 50. ― NFL 100

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A massive statistical output by quarterback Andrew Luck made possible one of the largest and wildest comebacks in NFL history. It occurred in an AFC Wild Card game in early January 2014 at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium. The visiting Chiefs led 24-7 midway through the second quarter, then 38-10 in the third. The Colts, who had been booed by a frustrated crowd at halftime, came suddenly to life in the third quarter: they scored three touchdowns to pull within 41-31. In the fourth, Luck – who had already thrown three interceptions in an up-and-down performance – scooped up his own fumble before running into end zone for a touchdown, and with 4:21 left he threw a 64-yard TD pass to T.Y. Hilton as the Colts won 45-44. In the end, Luck threw for 443 yards and four touchdowns; Indianapolis’ magic, though, ran out the following weekend, as the Colts lost to the Patriots, 43-22. ― NFL 100

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The Baltimore Ravens’ 2012 Super Bowl-winning season was made possible by a double-overtime, four-hour-plus Divisional playoff thriller. The Ravens were nine-point underdogs on the road against the 13-3 Broncos on January 12, 2013. After Denver returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown just a few minutes into the game, the outlook wasn’t good. But Baltimore quickly answered on a 59-yard TD pass by Joe Flacco, and when, less than a minute later, the Ravens scored on a 39-yard interception return, things started getting serious. Peyton Manning threw a pair of first half TDs, but Flacco answered with his own as the game was tied 21-21 at halftime. And on it went like that, with Denver scoring and Baltimore responding: The Broncos’ Trindon Holliday returned the second half kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown; the Ravens tied it at 28 after three quarters. Manning threw a TD pass midway through the fourth; with under a minute left, Flacco threw a desperation pass down the sideline that was miraculously caught by Jacoby Jones for a game-tying touchdown. It was that play that – after Baltimore won the game 38-35 in the second overtime on a 47-yard field goal by Justin Tucker – would inspire the title, “Mile High Miracle.” The Ravens won the conference title the following week against the Patriots, and then beat the 49ers, 34-31, in the Super Bowl. ― NFL 100

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Thirty years after “The Catch,” the iconic pass connection between Joe Montana and Dwight Clark, San Francisco won another playoff thriller as a result of a clutch throw and catch in the final seconds. This game, also played at Candlestick Park, was a Divisional playoff matchup against the Saints on January 14, 2012. In the first half, the 49ers went up 17-0 on a pair of Alex Smith touchdown throws and a field goal, but New Orleans fought back to trail, 23-17, with under five minutes left in the game. Then, in a back-and-forth ending, the quarterbacks alternated heroics: Brees threw a 44-yard TD pass with 4:11 left; Smith ran for a 28-yard touchdown with 2:18 left; and with 1:48 remaining, Brees, who finished the contest with 462 yards passing, tossed a 66-yard touchdown to make it 32-29, Saints. Smith then drove the 49ers 85 yards on seven plays, the last one being a 14-yard TD throw to Vernon Davis with 14 seconds left that became known as “The Catch III.” The 49ers won, 36-32, but fell to the Giants in the NFC title game. ― NFL 100

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With three games left in the 2010 regular season, the Eagles and Giants were both 9-4 and faced each other at New Meadowlands Stadium, with first place in the NFC East at stake. The Sunday afternoon game, on December 19, would be memorable for a fourth quarter comeback – and the last-second play that ended it. The Giants dominated most of the way: they led 24-3 at halftime and then 31-10 midway through the fourth quarter. Then everything fell apart for the Giants, and Eagles’ quarterback Michael Vick sprung to life. Vick threw a 65-yard touchdown pass; two minutes later, he ran for a touchdown. With just over a minute left, Vick found Jeremy Maclin on a 13-yard pass play, to tie the game at 31. The Eagles forced a punt with 14 seconds left. The Eagles’ DeSean Jackson fumbled the kick, recovered it himself, and then ran 65 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Never before in the NFL had a walk-off punt return decided a game. ― NFL 100

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