I love the NFL -- warts and all

[GeneralHankerchief]

I just wanna go on record here as saying that the Baltimore vs. Denver game was perhaps the best playoff game of my lifetime. Seattle vs. Atlanta was awesome too, despite the loss. :(

This post got me thinking. I'm not disputing your claim since it was indeed a very good game, but here are some (recent) great ones that I remember that could match up.

1999 NFC Championship: Falcons 30, Vikings 27
Nobody was expecting Atlanta to win this. Nobody. Minnesota had a record-breaking offense that year: Cunningham, Cris Carter, Robert Smith, and Randy Moss as a rookie. Plus, they had a kicker in Gary Anderson who had been perfect the entire year. So what happened? Atlanta under the mighty Chris Chandler went toe-to-toe with Minnesota, tied it up late, watched Anderson miss his first kick of the year late in the 4th, and then had their own kicker Morten Andersen bang it through in overtime.

2002 AFC Divisional: Patriots 16, Raiders 13
Tuck Rule game. This was also before I (and the rest of the NFL) hated the Patriots. All the controversy in the world, Vinatieri's blood runs as cold as the snow inside Foxboro that day.

2003 NFC Wild Card: 49ers 39, Giants 38
San Fran was down at home 38-14, come all the way back to take the lead. The Giants actually had a chance to come back and win but then everything in the universe went wrong with the field goal try. There was the botched snap, an ineligible man downfield, defensive pass interference, the whole shebang. The Giants ended up losing after everything got sorted out, but not without controversy. God, that final play was a nightmare. Great comeback though.

2004 NFC Wild Card: Packers 33, Seahawks 27
Overtime in Green Bay after four excellent quarters. Seahawks win the coin toss, Hasselbeck says "we want the ball, and we're going to score." He then throws a pick-six. Many laughs were had. Bonus points for the Packers losing in spectacular fashion a week later to the Eagles thanks to 4th and 26 (and then the Eagles completely choking in the NFC title game, shocker).

2007 AFC Championship: Colts 38, Patriots 34
Peyton's finest hour. The RCA Dome crowd goes completely quiet after the Colts go down 21-3. But then the second half begins and they start driving. They tie it up at 21, trade touchdowns, trade field goals, watch as the Patriots kick to get the lead. They can't score but New England only runs off a minute of the clock. Colts get the ball back, Manning runs off another spectacular drive, Colts take the lead, and Brady gets picked off after threatening to score on the last desperation drive.

Super Bowl XLII: Giants 17, Patriots 14
We all know about this one, don't really need to repeat it. This is my personal choice for "best recent playoff game ever." Also of note was the NFC title game where the Giants took down the Packers in below-zero temperatures in overtime at Lambeau.

2010 NFC Wild Card: Cardinals 51, Packers 45
So much offense, a real back and forth affair. Set all kinds of playoff records. Ironically, the game ended on a defensive touchdown after Rodgers was strip-sacked. Bonus points for this being Kurt Warner's last stand before the Saints obliterated Arizona the following week. The NFC title game this year (Saints 31, Vikings 28) was also very, very good.

2012 NFC Divisional: 49ers 36, Saints 32
They scored 34 points in the 4th quarter! How do you even do that? Alex Smith somehow out-offensed Drew Brees and led his team on two separate go-ahead drives with under 5 minutes to go in the game (and the Saints had one too, for good measure). Wow-ee.

2012 AFC Championship: Patriots 23, Ravens 20
My roommate at the time was a die-hard Ravens fan. I felt so sorry for him after this. Joe Flacco totally outplayed Tom Brady after the Ravens held the mighty Pats offense under 20 points, but New England got a late score and it was up to Flacco to lead his team downfield one more time. Against the odds, he did, but first Lee Evans dropped a touchdown and then Billy Cundiff blew the field goal. The NFC Championship right after this (Giants over 49ers) was similarly excellent.