Ranked 12 Best NFL Playoffs of All Time: Chiefs Epic OT Victory at Bills Among Best of All Time

The road to the Super Bowl still runs through Kansas City, but overtaking Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs ’attacks from the Bills required Sunday’s AFC division playoffs. The Chiefs ’overtime win of 42-36 ended a memorable weekend during which all four matches were born. The first three games of the weekend were settled with last-second field goals, while the Chiefs needed Harrison Butker’s 49-yard goal at the end of the rule before winning overtime.

Anyone who watched Bills-Chiefs quickly noticed that they were witnessing an instant classic that opens in real time. The hectic and furious action of the final stages of the game deserves its place in the list of the best playoffs in NFL history. Here’s the game’s official position compared to other NFL playoff games of all time.

The following criteria were used to compile the list:

• How competitive the game was from start to finish
• Big games on both sides of the ball
• Excitement / entertainment value
• A unique factor; which made the game stand out from other great playoff games

Top 12 NFL Playoffs

12. 1971 Division Round: Dolphins 27, Chiefs 24 (OT)

This game, played on Christmas Day 1971, is still the longest game in NFL history with 82 minutes and 40 seconds. Miami defeated Chiefs runner Ed Podolak despite an all-time performance. He collected a total of 350 yards and two touchdowns. Dolphins won the game in the second extra time with Garo Yepremian’s 37-yard field goal, which Larry Csonka ran through 29 yards through the exhausted Chiefs ’defense.

“I lost about 18 pounds that day,” Csonka said years later. “I lost weight so much that my pants were loose.”

11. 1974 Division Round: Raiders 28, Dolphins 26

Sports Illustrated billed it by name Super Bowl VIII 1/2, and the game really didn’t disappoint. The match began with Dolphins rookie Nat Moore’s 89-yard kickoff return. 19-14, Cliff Branch’s 72-yard touchdown catch brought Oakland a thin fourth-quarter lead. Double defending champion Dolphins answered rookie Benny Malonen with a 23-yard result with just over two minutes left. When time ran out, Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler moved his team to the Dolphins ’8-yard line before throwing heavy traffic runner Clarence Davis, who managed to pull Stabler’s feed in the middle of the“ seas of hands ”of Dolphins defenders. The victory was one of John Madden’s greatest Raiders coaching, as it ended Miami’s rule as king of the NFL.

10. Super Bowl XXV: Giants 20, Bills 19

The closest Super Bowl match of all time began with Whitney Houston’s emotional performance of the national anthem and ended with Scott Norwood failing in a winning goal attempt. With a 12-3 loss in the first half, the Giants returned to the game with a Super Bowl record of 40 minutes and 19 seconds. Despite barely a ball, Bills was in position to win the game with eight seconds left. Thurman Thomas ran over the Giants with a 190-yard loss. The Giants received a rough effort from Deputy Defender Jeff Hostetler, who made a series of critical third-throw-outs to help the Giants win their second Super Bowl under Bill Parcells.

9. Super Bowl LI: Patriots 34, Falcons 28 (OT)

Losing 28-3, New England scored 25 response points in the last 17 minutes before winning the first overtime in Super Bowl history. The Patriots ’unprecedented return spurred Dont’a Hightower’s critical forced rumble by Matt Ryan, Julian Edelman’s fingertip capture, and Danny Amendola’s 2-point transformation forces overtime. James White’s 2-yard touchdown overtime ended the biggest return in Super Bowl history.

8. 1958 NFL Championship: Colts 23, Giants 17 (OT)

The first-ever overtime game in the NFL, the Colts rode the dominant pitcher, quarterback Johnny Unitas and receiver Raymond Berry, to a historic victory at Yankee Stadium. Unitas hit Berry 12 times against 178 yards and a touchdown, defeating an extremely talented Giants team led by Frank Gifford and Sam Huff. The game played an important role in the NFL, which eventually overtook baseball as America’s leading sport.

7. Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers 27, Cardinals 23

There were boring moments in this game, but it makes the list an exciting end to it. 20-7 The Cardinals took the lead late when Kurt Warner hit Larry Fitzgerald with a 64-yard touchdown 2:37 left. With his own 12, Ben Roethlisberger secured one of the biggest game winners in NFL history, ending his significant touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes, who grabbed the ball before scratching both legs to the back. zone. The game also included the return of James Harrison’s eye-catching, 100-yard cut to the touchdown just before Half Time.

6. 1967 NFL Championship: Packers 21, Cowboys 17

In -13 degree weather, both teams sacrificed elements and played in Super Bowl II. The Cowboys took their first lead when runner Dan Reeves hit Lance Rentzel with a 50-yard bomb in the fourth quarter. With the second consecutive NFL championship at stake, Packers quarterback Bart Starr systematically drove Green Bay to the Cowboys 1-yard line with less than 20 seconds of playing time left. With no overtime left, Vince Lombardi decided to win instead of a draw. Instead of giving the ball to his defender, Starr held the ball and followed Jerry Kramer over the finish line to get one of the most dramatic results in the league’s history.

5. 1981 Division of the AFC: Chargers 41, Dolphins 38 (OT)

Dan Fouts and the “Charger Power” attack got the 24-0 lead before Miami led the 38-31 lead in a series of crazy games that included a hook and side points just before Half Time. Late after the rule, the Chargers leveled the score when a pass from Fouts to a tight spot Kellen Winslow instead caught runner James Brooks in the end zone. Winslow, who was to be taken off the field at the end of the game, forced an overtime when he blocked Dolphins ’game winning goal at the end of the company’s rule. Rolf Benirschken scored from the penalty spot.

4. Super Bowl XLI: Giants 17, Patriots 14

The biggest shocked win since the Jets ’victory over the Colts in Super Bowl III. The Giants ruined the Patriots ’dreams of a 19-0 season when Eli Manning hit the Plaxico Burress winning streak with 35 seconds left in the game. The score was set by Manning’s senseless finish to David Tire, who is known to grab the ball using a helmet. The Giants ’defense constantly weighed on Tom Brady, who threw just one touchdown after throwing in 50 regular season.

3. 2022 AFC Division Round: Chiefs 42, Bills 36 (OT)

In this game, there were three changes of leadership in the last two minutes of the rule before Butker forced extra time after Mahomes moved the 44 yards into the Chiefs attack. 10 seconds. Kansas City won the game when Mahomes hit Travis Kelce with an 8-yard result in a four-minute overtime. The Chiefs survived a brave attempt by Bills quarterback Josh Allen to throw four touchdowns to Gabriel Davis with 13 seconds left. In addition to the combined seven touchdown throws, Allen and Mahomes were also their team’s leading runners at 68 and 69 yards.

2. Super Bowl XLIX: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24

Will Brinson, a senior writer at CBS Sports, ranked him the best Super Bowl of all time. The Patriots won the 10-point deficit with two passes from Tom Brady. Seattle appeared to be on their way to the second consecutive championship when Russell Wilson hit Jermaine Kears at an incredible 33 yards. One yard from the game’s winning point, Seattle tries to pass instead of giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch. The decision was retaliated as Wilson’s feed was picked up by Malcolm Butler, an untransferred newcomer who had been at the receiving end of Kearsen’s crazy catch two games earlier.

1. 1981 NFC title game: 49ers 28, Cowboys 27

Down 27-21, Joe Montana led the 49ers in an 89-yard run that was passed to his game-winning touchdown pass by Dwight Clark. Touchdown, who lives in the NFL legacy as “The Catch,” sealed San Francisco’s first Super Bowl berth, but later ruled Tom Landry and Cowboys as the NFL’s powerhouse.

With the win in their hands, Montana was approached by Cowboys Pro Bowl pitcher Ed “Too Tall” Jones, one of the defenders who had put pressure on Montana during his game-winning touchdown pass.

“You just won the America’s Team,” Jones told Montana.

“Well,” Joe Cool replied. “You can sit in your ass with the rest of America and watch the Super Bowl.”