Top 10 Playoff Finishes

[Music] the playoffs are more important than uh i think children uh being born i think uh certainly more important than marriage uh it's more important than i think water and oxygen and uh your overall health means nothing compared to uh you know the nfl playoffs this is as good a list as you're going to get number nine how is that possible that has to be better than you said this would be great you're wrong five yards will you win the game he's got the best number four rings there's nothing like the nfl playoffs baby baby and there's nothing better than a big finish in one of the craziest games ever when you think back to the greatest playoff games ever you think to those moments when a game was decided in this episode of top 10 we're counting down the best ever finishes in the nfl playoffs oh my goodness all right guys let's play the game but we're not including the super bowl oh no that's a different show it's gonna be fun fun fun fun we've got a lot of football to cover so let's get started [Music] tebow tebow in the playoffs right love tim tebow he's the awesome nice guy that everybody wants to root for i mean he's good why would you not love him anyone who can hold out from sex for that long with that many girls coming after him has to be a god amongst men like remember when tim tebow was a thing you know we look back at tebow mania and it's something like did we really do that it's like a pet rock what the heck is going on tebow effect let's be honest tim tebow was not exactly known for his passing prowess i mean the big problem with tim tebow as a quarterback is he wasn't very good at throwing a football which is one of the real requirements but when the broncos started 1-4 in 2011 they desperately switched quarterbacks and went with tim tebow fueled by tevo mania denver finished with an 8-8 record the broncos have won six consecutive games tevo was terrible in the first quarter of every game but managed to somehow finish all these games the broncos snuck into a playoff matchup with pittsburgh and the number 10 playoff finish of all time the shock obviously was the end headed into overtime tied at 23. i had to like look at one of the worst two minutes of my life that would be it different football first snap of overtime here that moment something happened it was like everybody wanted tebow to do so well i think everybody willed it to happen 10 play fakes in the pocket sets throws pass damaris thomas when he caught it i'm like okay it's going to be a 20-yard game whatever it is and then thomas just keeps going i don't know the 45 midfield here we go 40 35 foot race 20 15 10. touchdown denver is over it's over in denver you've got to be kidding me everybody was so shocked i'm still in shock just looking back on it stunning is this really happening has the world really changed and i'm like that that really happened he was open at the 40. tebow hit him in stride and there was a stiff arm by thomas delivered at midfield that basically ended the gate back in the day i was out there on a bully pulpit saying look this is not sustainable this is a maniac when i saw that pass i was like maybe i was wrong maybe i've been wrong all along it was one of the greatest accidents in the history of football and it happens to my team the steelers i wanted to kill myself that he beat me on a slant pass that my grandmother could have thrown the important thing to remember about that win though pittsburgh was so banged up in that game they were the equivalent of a 6-10 team but that was the problem because it wasn't tim tebow it was just the defense it may not come as any surprise to you i haven't revisited that game very often it certainly wasn't one of my better games it's not my favorite topic of conversation he's not an nfl quarterback and that fact has been beared out by the amount of games he's played at quarterback since that time zero tebow started zero games at quarterback after that postseason the pass against pittsburgh remains the high water mark for his nfl career i'm happy it's on the list because it brings steelers fans back to a bad moment and i've hated tebow ever since and he's not going to be the next president of the united states peyton manning is still to come which playoff victory helps solidify a hall of fame legacy it wasn't just getting the monkey of his back i think he was getting the two-ton gorilla off his back [Music] the wild card playoffs are fertile ground for fantastic finishes in 1998 hall of famers brett favre and steve young went toe to toe but it was tara owens who stole the show he dropped multiple passes early in the game before grabbing the game winner and the spotlight catapulting him into stardom young almost falls down throws to the end zone but that couldn't top the packers wild card hard that lands at number nine yeah that was a that was a hell of a game in all time that was the the shootout with kurt warner and uh yeah they kept going up and down and up and down and he couldn't stop him and they couldn't stop then throws over the middle gets caught by new set of the ten spins out of attackers you know aaron rodgers he and warren are just in an awesome duel that was pretty much as good as it gets 96 points were scored between the two teams making it the highest scoring game in playoff history to the sideline jordy nelson for the touchdowns but of course this show is all about the finish and this 2009 classic closed out in thrilling fashion we went to overtime and the last team with the ball was green bay come on third and five at the 25-yard line of green bay a minute gone by in overtime so this is great well it wasn't great it was kind of strange because defense had nothing to do with that game whatsoever until the final outcome come on man rogers dropping back in trouble rogers hit ball came out you're like no way this is gonna come on man and the game is over ball triggered loose what a way for it to end it when aaron rodgers kicks the ball up into the air it gets intercepted and returned and it was such a heartbreak for the packers after coming back to bring it to overtime and then they lose it there yes that's lovingly referred to as the mike mccarthy falls through his knees game is a great shot from behind mccarthy where he's standing in his play sheet watching the play unfold aaron's back to pass balls fumble blah blah blah they run back to the touchdown game over and he literally falls to his knees mike mccarthy kind of slumping to the ground that just summed up that entire game to me is one of the best shots in nfl films history the idea that everything you've put into this endeavor of getting to the playoffs it's over time the game is on the line and then watch it all go like that out the door it was perfectly captured watching mccarthy just absolute sudden defeat setting aside some of the super bowls the patriots were involved in for me that game was the most dramatic playoff game that the patriots have ever been engaged in we really understate how cuckoo bananas the entire thing was this is a game in which you can't explain what happened by saying well this quarterback is better than that quarterback by the 2006 playoffs the peyton manning tom brady rivalry was at full tilt but brady had won six of the first eight meetings including both postseason matchups [Applause] that's right let's do it today it's the typical well the colts and it's manning gonna ever beat brady and the patriots manning crows a pick six to asante samuel down 18 you're like okay good night that's that things are not going to colt's way early 21-3 you got tom brady even on the road you consider the record you consider the history between the two teams you're a patriots fan you feel pretty good about booking your flight to super bowl 41. [Applause] how can you possibly think at that point that they're going to win that game you just can't the colts just aren't here it's half time and i am at my computer writing the article and i remember thinking same old story brady and belichick owen manning what's new there's 30 minutes of football to be played a couple of touchdowns and you can get right back in this game and then crazy things happen in the second half the colts closed the gap with the help of two bizarre touchdowns he will fake the ball to a die looks for dan klecko he's [Applause] [Applause] with 217 left the colts trailed by three manning had 80 yards to transform his legacy peyton manning who at the time was known as this all-time loser playing like the all-time winner holy mackerel what a throw by kate manning the narrative all season for this team was they can't run the ball they can't run the ball it's all about peyton and what do they do give it to joseph and the colts take the lead for the first time in the game but i mean right then i was looking at the clock and i said they still got two timeouts and they got over a minute to go and they got tom brady at quarterback when you consider the history i can understand why peyton manning was sitting on the sidelines but please let this be our year let this be our year it was out of his hands it wasn't just peyton getting the monkey off his back i think he was getting the the two-ton gorilla off his back didn't play that great to start the game come back 18 game-winning 80-yard drive uh it just took everything and threw it off the shoulder and then it was like okay cool did that you could not have written a script better than this up next which jam-packed play-off finish lands at number seven i kept thinking i can't believe that this game is filled with so many different story lines [Music] we couldn't fit every great playoff finish into our top 10. you say you want to be champion don't prove it one that just missed our list is from 2012 with less than a minute remaining baltimore's jacoby jones blew past denver's secondary for a 70-yard score to send the game into double overtime a manning interception helped put baltimore in position to kick a game-winning field goal and propel the ravens to the super bowl title but we made room for an even better extra innings classic at number seven that series of plays to get to overtime alone was one of the most insane things i have ever seen in any game with 55 seconds remaining arizona had a seven point lead marine bay had the ball and aaron rodgers but face the fourth down and 20 from their own four yard line roger's under pressure immediately he's running to his left not his right to his left and throws a dime to jeff janus on the run 60 yards down the field of fourth and 20. oh my god 60 yard pass play to jeff janice who the heck is jeff janice you got one more snap they know this is it game on the line five seconds remaining 41 yard line of arizona season on the line so they come after him they force him again to his left he's falling away and he tosses up the huge hail mary can you believe it and when jeff jazz caught the ball i think everybody was completely shocked and aaron rodgers miracle to jeff janice did the packers have anybody else playing in the game besides jeff janice we are going to overtime in miracle fashion it was followed up by a weird coin toss tails is the fall the coin didn't flip right because you need a weird coin toss to make these games go to that next level this is the twilight zone i can't believe that this game is filled with so many different story lines after a mulligan coin flip our number seven playoff finish shifted into overdrive on the first play of overtime play action pass palmer setting up he's in trouble he's hit gets out of there rolls right throws back to the left whenever you see a qb roll in there and then throw it all the way across the field you know it's either going to be a brilliant offensive play or a complete disaster fitz is wide open caught in the 35. here comes larry fitzgerald to make a play to demonstrate once again what a great player he was turns up field at the 45. there was no way he was going to let the cardinals lose thirty five step five twenty five twenty fifths to the near side ten to the five and tackle there the two plays that you run on thanksgiving when it's turkey bowl is everybody go long and get open and throw it to the fast kick and you had both of these back to back one right after the other [Music] cardinals win with a touchdown let's not forget now the packers have them in first and goal and they still have a chance to stop them but bruce arians calls a play that he had not called all year and they go with the shovel pass snap to palmer rolls out and it's a pitch defense running straight ahead into the end zone the shovel to the nfc championship game on a shovel pass of all things in one of the craziest games ever and vince does it again in the playoffs of course they're going to give it to larry fitzgerald because this was his game simply an astounding game an instant classic we knew at the moment that we saw it all anybody remembers from that game is richard sherman completely melting down and losing his mind that was the moment that uh richard sherman stopped michael crabtree and then turned into a wwe superstar right on the spot take me through it well i'm the best corner of the game when you try me with a sorry receive it like that's the result you're gonna get it was like he channeled batman and hulk hogan and the ultimate warrior all in this one incredible moment don't you ever talk about me everybody was like what is he talking about what happened who was talking about you crabtree don't you open your mouth about the best whole crabtree thing afterwards was what it was but you know i thought the game was so much more to that too that is the very best seahawks game i've ever seen fun fun fun fun it was just great stuff great theater the niners led the seahawks for most of the first three quarters but seattle took a six-point lead with three and a half minutes remaining then san fran had the ball and a chance to win the touchdown drive then the 49ers marched down the field seattle rushes four kaepernick throws middle caught by vernon davis he's inside the 20. and then it came down to one play challenging richard sherman they're about to try me hey i'm [Music] [Applause] fires nearside going for the end zone to the end and that tip they stayed away from richard sherman all day long they went over to him at the wrong possible time and richard sherman made him pay i collapsed like a sack of potatoes onto the floor i fell to my knees and wept with joy and the man who is the nfl's best quarter is going to send seattle to the super bowl it was just an incredible performance an incredible ending it was what makes star players i'm the best it altered the course of the 49ers i think franchise for a long time that was it that killed the niners being good that was the last time we were good that play that was the seahawks team that went on to destroy the broncos in super bowl 48 but for me that game was the real super bowl up next two of the most significant playoff finishes of all time i think it's the single greatest play in nfl history finish finish finish finish finish finish hold your horses before we continue galloping through our countdown of the top 10 playoff finishes of all time excluding super bowls let's recap the list so far [Music] and i was like maybe i've been wrong all along arizona sitting on the sidelines going please let this be our year number seven larry fitzgerald [Music] [Applause] don't you ever talk about me [Music] number five [Music] might be the greatest play in nfl history i think it's the single greatest play in nfl history it's pretty hard to put it at five no we still have no idea what happened there and the way that thing ended that's got to be number one in the 1972 afc division of playoffs one play was all it took to start a dynasty it's either the greatest play in the history of football or it's the crime of the century if you're a raider fan pittsburgh 40 yard line 22 seconds left everything had to happen in a certain sequence in a certain way to make the immaculate reception immaculate and it did this ball floats up into the air and it lands in another person's chest and all of history [Music] heading up changes italian army and galloping off into the sunset this is really a play that dropped from the heavens i mean this is just there's no logical way of explaining it it's just one of those plays that happened one of the ones you'll never forget tell a steelers fan that it touched the ground just do it it's fun do we know if he caught it or not did he catch it did he hit the ground did he really catch it did the tip of the ball hit the ground are we sure the immaculate reception really happened did he catch that are we sure to me part of the beauty and wonder of that play is that you don't see it the first time the ball comes into the shot and then goes out of the shot and kind of write your own story to it it's a play that you can view through many different prisms until you watch the other angles and it kind of comes together [Music] [Applause] this is one of the most mysterious things that happened tell dave damashek that the football touched the ground and watch him protect that play as if it were his child that's up for you to decide what do you know if it touched the ground i you weren't out there i wasn't out there the controversy is always good it adds to the element of the whole thrilling aspect of it do we really know we don't know do we are you sure you want to know the truth i don't want to be nicholson to your cruise fella the ball definitely touched the ground and all of steelers fans memories are a lie all the things that turn on that bounce of the ball the franchise that could never win never get over the hump sos same old steelers we think of it as a great play we think of it as a signature moment in nfl history may have changed their whole franchise direction the ball bounces one way something weird happens and an entire history changes they had a handful of plays like this in addition to all of their excellence that put them in a position to be that team that won four super bowls yeah that game's probably that's about right i guess what what it was just like one of the greatest moments in nfl history the catch not being number one is crazy talk crazy talk in the 1981 nfc championship something legendary began in san francisco i mean you couldn't ask for a better narrative it's out of it's out of fiction the empirical dynasty america's team arrives to take on this young upstart it truly was darth vader and luke skywalker you know this was the evil empire against the the force the greatest quarterback of all time in his signature moment on an incredibly dramatic play and they're leading 27-21 don landry is six yards away from his sixth super bowl for the upstart 49ers they're six yards away from pontiac montana looking looking rolling right rolling right rolling right and just the drag and the weight and the holding on to the ball all the way to the last second throwing in the end zone it was so joe montana i don't know how montana could have possibly seen where he was throwing the ball the little pump fake to get head to toe jones just to jump a little bit throwing off the back leg throwing it into the deepest part of the end zone such a sweet touch pass there's been millions of passes but that's the one they keep showing and the game's not even over at that point what people forget about the catch all the time as the cowboys almost won that game drew pearson he catches an end about 30 yards down field and he gets tackled by a fingernail and it's a horse collar today it would be 15 yards it would have put the cowboys in field goal range and then denny white fumbles on the next play the tuck rule will it come into play too if that had been in place danny white doesn't fumble the very good chance they get a field goal there at the end that's how close the catch was to being a footnote in history but that was the start of the whole dynasty it started the sort of 49ers greatness the dallas cowboy dynasty goes into a decade of winter the 49er dynasty is born and goes for the next 15 16 years they'll show it forever i mean we're still watching it all these years later the massive historical repercussions of the catch demand to be placed number one up next another controversial playoff finish that's still up for debate that happened too is that was that legal too i don't know [Music] how do we leave off the hail mary the hail mary was one of the greatest plays of all time we risked damnation leaving the iconic original hail mary on the sideline down the last few seconds and you think the cowboys are going to lose that game well the cowboys nate america here comes captain america captain comeback to lead that victory over the vikings roger takes the snap pumps and watch he's going long down the near sideline for drew pearson pierson makes the catch at the five and after the game they just said to me roger what were you thinking about when you threw the ball i i just said well i closed my eyes and said hail mary you realize that before that they didn't have a name for it hence starback coined the phrase hail mary oh man that's a nice throw right there and it's still used over 40 years later for every last ditch deep pass in football thank evans for roger starback he was a little old-time religion and gave us a play that we still remember it might be a sin that starbuck's holy heave didn't make our list of top 10 playoff finishes but a different divine miracle lands at number three [Music] that will never be replicated again because it was just so unexpected i mean just who who who would have thought of that the music city miracles a miracle that game was only a miracle if you were a titans fan because all the bills fans i know call it it was a damn forward pass [Music] in the 1999 wild card playoffs buffalo took a one-point lead over tennessee late in the fourth quarter setting the stage for our number three playoff finish of all time they kicked a field goal on third down with 20 seconds left the game is on the line four waiting for the snap the put down the kick on the way long enough and it is good they're feeling hey we just won this game we're gonna go home we're on to the next round this is our house you're terrible you got to win on the road baby you got to win on the road kicking the field on third down was a big mistake do the titans have a miracle left in them if they do they need it now one of the greatest play calls of all time we installed in training camp and we refer to it as home run throwback that's a drawn up in the ground play that is school yard fun frank wycheck throws it back the other way to kevin dyson the moment that white check released the pass was like oh boy he throws it across the field to dice it he's got something oh he he's gotta go this is crazy this is nuts oh oh my god oh my god oh my god he's got something he's got it he's got it and i thought the whole time yeah it was exciting it was fun but it's going to be a has flag a miracle [Applause] i have a friend named damon he's a bills fan and he said that's when he stopped believing in jesus you thought you had it you thought you were going on you thought you maybe had a super bowl shot and then this freak play happens and there's not even a chance to do anything about it it's over 16 years that was buffalo's last playoff moment the music city miracle look at it this way buffalo you would have lost the super bowl anyway a minute was that legal or not not people still argue they'd go just down the line to go a little bit behind the line did it go forward i don't know that looked a little forward i still know this day i'm not sure it wasn't a forward pass i don't know i thought my place how not fun are you if you're like well it wasn't a lateral that's the most fun play i can remember for weeks afterwards you guys editing it using early 3d rendering software which probably cost a million dollars and you can now do for 75 cents showing that no it was indeed a backwards pass but again another one of those plays was controversy and it adds to the whole mystique of the play and it's great it's great it could easily be number one and i don't have a problem with it being number two which game just missed the top spot on our list of best playoff finishes of all time probably go two to twos on the shores of lake erie fantastic finishes can be summed up by a single word suffering and time ran out suffering has taken many forms from the infamous red right 88 to the [Music] fumble rumble the ball and denver has recovered oh my if you're in cleveland and you say the fumble it makes the fans want to throw up but nothing drives the sickness home for brown's fans like our number two finish [Music] of all time [Music] and the broncos are 98 yards away from where they need to go for me the drive could easily be number one here's the key thing that has to be recognized it was a drive it wasn't just one play a 15-play 98-yard drive in five minutes and two seconds the look the throw touchdown that drive made john elway 98 and a half yard drive i was in cleveland that day it was 31 degrees it was flurries it was a sea of dog pound people and it's time for the crowd to take over the wall of lords that's just crashing down it was just amazing with just over five minutes left in our number two game cleveland claimed a seven-point lead they thought they had won i mean there was no reason to think that they had one there was celebrating going on in the stands open celebration that was their use the moment well the fat lady hasn't sung yet but you can believe she's in the wings warming up the pipes and elway just i think i remember about him was he was just so cool he just felt he seems like he's in control of the situation and he completes a pass then he completes another pass and you can almost feel the people say this is getting away from us you know what i remember from the drive third and 18. a trip to pasadena could boil down to this place remember he got sacked elway under pressure and down he goes cleveland crowley's going nuts they thought they were going to the super bowl they thought it was done finally there the entire season now hangs in the balance in the shotgun fellows pass is caught first down at the 27. the browns were known for man coverage with minifield and hanford dixon and they went to a zone on that defense and he fired a shot right in the middle of the floor bad move come on johnny [Applause] he went six of nine for 78 yards and he ran twice for 20 yards 78 plus 20 is the 98. the browns had no answers 42 seconds to go broncos at the cleveland five the snap to elway the look there was just a gasp 98 and a half yard drive it was like the city it had its heart ripped down what i think a lot of people forget about the drive is that it did not win the game it's all going to rest on the foot of carlos and what happened in overtime was to win it in overtime ball is down carlos's kick is on the way rich carles missed the field goal it went over the upright i i was apoplectic of course history remembers a different ending carlos is kicked it is good the denver broncos have come from behind to win it in overtime the broncos are going to the super bowl because they earned the trip i remember after the game was over just watching those people file out of the stadium it was heartbreaking for them tearing the heart out of cleveland but it was really the statement of what a great player elway was coming up this game was so insane it was such an entertaining game game is over game is over which playoff finish is the most fantastic of them all i remember watching in total disbelief are you kidding me the season can't end like that [Music] our journey through the top 10 playoff finishes of all time excluding super bowls is almost complete but before we reveal number one wait wait wait let's recap the list so far he's not an nfl quarterback and that fact has been beared out by the amount of games he's played a quarterback since that and time like no way this is gonna come on man [Music] i think he was getting the two-ton grow off his back [Music] don't you open your mouth about the best [Music] here's a fun game with the immaculate reception tell a steelers fan that it touched the ground number four the 49ers cash history they'll never forget that play as long as anyone's alive on the face of this earth number three the titans make miraculous music tennessee has pulled a miracle number two l.a drives cleveland crazy [Music] i'm not sure it really belongs at number one i'll tell you what is number one in my heart now while the last seven minutes of the game and overtime were complete bedlam the game is over i can't it can't be the number one game it can't be it can't be walk us through the dramatic moments of that one you guys have beer here anything um wow i uh i aged a couple years that day what you start with is wilson having played so poorly they're in seattle they have home field advantage again and russell wilson cannot play for his life let's go russ come on now russell wilson never makes mistakes ever throws four picks and you're like what's happening here everybody's seeing they're going okay the shine and the glimmer has finally come off of russell wilson hey we can still win this game stay in it man stay in it we can go win this game let's go when russell wilson threw an interception with about five and a half minutes left the win expectancy for the packers was at about 98 and a half percent the odds that they would lose that game were so my new yes yes in the press box i saw people booking flights to arizona i was on my computer making reservations for the super bowl and what happens after that everything falls apart [Music] [Applause] our number one playoff finish began in earnest with just over two minutes remaining seattle trailed 19-7 when russell wilson scored closing the gap to five here and then everybody remembers the onside kick and poor brandon bostic there it is bounces high seattle has a chance it's bouncing around brandon bostic in the moment goes for the ball when he was supposed to block on that onsite kick jordy nelson's standing there waiting to catch the football and this guy decides he's going to do that it's important for everybody to do their job and unfortunately that wasn't the case you get the football there and we're having a different press conference [Music] seattle cashed in the onside kick for six points but needed a two-point conversion to give them a field goal lead a collapse here in the final three minutes of this game [Applause] trying to make this a three-point difference that two-point conversion got blown up and they basically end up throwing a hail mary on a two-point conversion man in his face still put him throw it up in the back of the end zone he looks for help there's luke he makes it again the smarts to do that to have the mind to know hey nothing bad can happen here so what the hell i'll just throw it up and give him a chance the two-point conversion was enormous on the ensuing drive green bay kicked the field goal that would have given them the win had seattle not converted the two-pointer instead it sent the game into overtime the packers have tied the game we'll get it done i'm gonna get it done the effect of russell wilson and his weird belief in himself and the team was all that it took once they got to overtime russell takes the snap drops back he's going to throw down the middle come on what a devastating loss for the green bay packers who led this game most of the way if you really want to talk about all-time choke jobs in playoff history that's wonderful this one's going to hurt for a while because of the close proximity to that feeling when the clock hits zero in your head and gave it away no matter what happens in my future it's always going to be wow i can't believe we lost to seattle that night and seattle seahawks are going to the super bowl they are going nuts at century league the seahawks are going back to the super bowl [Music] to go to the super bowl in overtime on a 35 yard could not throw it any better tight coverage and curse boom boom stadium erupt i mean that's the sickest scene in the world i guess come to think of it that was pretty good i guess it was pretty good tucked yourself right into that i talked myself into it i was like yeah that's not everyone i was like you know what that is pretty great all good things come to an end like this episode of top 10. it is over but don't worry it's okay it's okay the nfl playoffs are always on the horizon and they're guaranteed to deliver memorable finishes [Music] you

Channel: Isaac Green

Views: 115,074

Keywords:

Id: XpYHfueFQdc

Length: 44min 31sec (2671 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 11 2020