Your favorite NFL games

[Batman]

Started thinking about this on the way home tonight. The Ravens-Titans game wasn't a classic in most ways, but it was a hell of a game and it's got to make a top-whatever list of somebody in Baltimore.
So what are your top five classic NFL games? Can be the best, the most memorable for you, whatever. And forgive me if this has been done before. I'll get it started:

5) 1995 AFC championship, Colts vs. Steelers -- One of the great forgotten games of the last 20 years. You had the underdog Colts (barely squeaked into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed) pushing the heavily-favored Steelers, Captain Comeback playing out of his mind, and a last-gasp Hail Mary that would've been one of the greatest plays in NFL history if only Aaron Bailey had hung onto the damn ball. I didn't care about the Colts one way or the other, but this playoff run made me take a liking to them and adopt them as my "second team".
4) Super Bowl XLII, Giants vs. Patriots -- Don't really care for either team, but it was a classic game. I loathe the Giants and kind of wanted to see the Pats finish undefeated, so this was a bummer on many fronts.
3) 1981 AFC divisional playoff, Chargers vs. Dolphins -- As a kid, I vaguely remember the hook-and-lateral play with Tony Nathan. Saw it on the "NFL's Greatest Games" series and ... damn. Just phenomenal. It always struck me as weird, too, that the Chargers went from the extreme heat of Miami to the freezer in Cincinnati in the span of a week.
2) 2002 AFC Divisional playoff, Raiders vs. Patriots -- Was being screwed over by an old girlfriend and sat home to watch this one. I was miserable because of my personal situation and couldn't truly enjoy the game. One last insult from a total she-beast of a woman.
1) 2006 AFC championship, Patriots vs. Colts -- Odd that the Pats were the underdog in this one, but the way Peyton Manning had to face his demons to finally got the monkey off his back was incredible. Everything was going wrong for the Colts, it was going to be another humiliating end, and somehow they found a way to suck it up and get it done. One of the great performances of all-time, and the best game I've seen in my lifetime.

 

[Trey Beamon]

Started thinking about this on the way home tonight. The Ravens-Titans game wasn't a classic in most ways, but it was a hell of a game and it's got to make a top-whatever list of somebody in Baltimore.
So what are your top five classic NFL games? Can be the best, the most memorable for you, whatever. And forgive me if this has been done before. I'll get it started:

5) 1995 AFC championship, Colts vs. Steelers -- One of the great forgotten games of the last 20 years. You had the underdog Colts (barely squeaked into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed) pushing the heavily-favored Steelers, Captain Comeback playing out of his mind, and a last-gasp Hail Mary that would've been one of the greatest plays in NFL history if only Aaron Bailey had hung onto the damn ball. I didn't care about the Colts one way or the other, but this playoff run made me take a liking to them and adopt them as my "second team".

This is my favorite game of all time.

 

[BYH]

Started thinking about this on the way home tonight. The Ravens-Titans game wasn't a classic in most ways, but it was a hell of a game and it's got to make a top-whatever list of somebody in Baltimore.
So what are your top five classic NFL games? Can be the best, the most memorable for you, whatever. And forgive me if this has been done before. I'll get it started:

5) 1995 AFC championship, Colts vs. Steelers -- One of the great forgotten games of the last 20 years. You had the underdog Colts (barely squeaked into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed) pushing the heavily-favored Steelers, Captain Comeback playing out of his mind, and a last-gasp Hail Mary that would've been one of the greatest plays in NFL history if only Aaron Bailey had hung onto the damn ball. I didn't care about the Colts one way or the other, but this playoff run made me take a liking to them and adopt them as my "second team".

This is my favorite game of all time.

Aaron Bailey gets his hands on that ball a split-second earlier and you're singing a different tune, fanboi.

 

[DanOregon]

The Catch - great ending to a great game marking the end of one dynasty and the birth of a new one.
Ghost to the Post - Christmas Eve, 1977, Mom's upstairs wrapping presents, me and dad are watching the game downstairs. Mom is having her annual Christmas meltdown trying to get everything done, but making sure her loud requests for us to do stuff only come during the commercials. My folks had Raider season tickets and with the Raiders on the road in Baltimore going against Bert Jones, Lydell Mitchell and "The Sack Pack." The game went to a second overtime, so when the Raiders finally scored after Stabler hooked up with Dave Casper down the middle, it took me a second or two to register that the Raiders had actually won the game. Of course, the Raiders got screwed the next week on Rob Lytle's fumble (Brady's wasn't the first) getting blown dead, but I'll never forget the Ghost.
It's one of the reasons I have a hard time rooting against the people of Baltimore.

 

[buckweaver]

(I'm serious. One of my favorite games ever -- I'm pretty sure I cried that day. First, the Monday night game against the Raiders came earlier that month, then that miracle to get into the playoffs, then the gift INT against the Seahawks in OT ... and a fourth-and-****-you away from my Cheeseheads going to the NFC championship against the Panthers and I would have bought tickets and driven up to Charlotte. One of the most memorable football months of my life.)

 

[Trey Beamon]

(I'm serious. )

NOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[imjustagirl]

The ones where the Steelers lose.

 

[RossLT]

Any Seahawks playoff game from their Super Bowl run, except the Super Bowl. ******* Jerramy Stevens.

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

The 2004 NFC Championship Game. It's the one that sticks out most in my mind since I was there. Otherwise, I'll have to think about the ones I watched on TV.

 

[outofplace]

The ones where the Steelers lose.

Spoken like a true Browns fan.

That reminds me. Super Bowl XL would be at the top of my list for pure fanboy reasons. Badly played, badly officiated, but the Steelers won and I was old enough to truly appreciate it.

But No. 2 might be the Steelers 36-33 playoff game victory over the Browns at Heinz Field, Cleveland's only playoff since the arrival of the expansion team. The Browns had the Steelers beat so many times that day, but they kept finding ways to **** it up. The Steelers were down 24-7 in the third quarter and won. Definitely my favorite memory of a football game I was in the stands for.

 

[JakeandElwood]

2007 NFC Championship Game. It put the Bears in the Super Bowl. Also, the Cardinals game that year was fun.

 

[BYH]

(I'm serious. One of my favorite games ever -- I'm pretty sure I cried that day. First, the Monday night game against the Raiders came earlier that month, then that miracle to get into the playoffs, then the gift INT against the Seahawks in OT ... and a fourth-and-****-you away from my Cheeseheads going to the NFC championship against the Panthers and I would have bought tickets and driven up to Charlotte. One of the most memorable football months of my life.)

Excuse me, sir? I found this manhood on the side of the street. Is it yours?

 

[JakeandElwood]

I cried the first time Michael Jordan retired. I was seven though.

 

[Angola!]

oop - at least you admitted it was poorly officiated.

 

[Cadet]

I'm not much of an NFL fan, but the Monday Night Football game after Favre's dad died was incredible. Just so inspired.

 

[Colton]

The ones where the Steelers lose.

What she said...

 

[DanOregon]

It's funny, but it seems for every "miracle" play that helps a team, they also end up on the receiving end at least once. Raiders (Holy Roller, Sea of Hands and Immaculate Reception, Brady's Fumble) Vikings (Rashad's catch from Kramer to make the playoffs and the Hail Mary and the Cardinal's knocking them out a couple years ago). The Cowboys (Hail Mary and The Catch, the Ice Bowl); The Oilers/Titans (The Bills comeback and the Music City Miracle)
And then there are the Browns (Rashad's catch, the Mike Davis pick of Sipe in 1980, the Drive, the Fumble, and nothing to balance that out. They are cursed).

 

[buckweaver]

I'm not much of an NFL fan, but the Monday Night Football game after Favre's dad died was incredible. Just so inspired.

Winner. :-*

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

If we're counting ones I was at, the Cinci-SF Super Bowl is at the top of the list.

 

[slappy4428]

Music City Miracle... I was watching it in London... barhopping at several Pubs before getting home in time for the end...