10 Greatest Games for Each Season of the Super Bowl Era

[Todd Pence]

1971

9/19 - Saints 24, Rams 20
Archie Manning scores game-winner on final play in rookie debut.

9/26 - Bears 20, Vikings 17
Backup Kent Nix rallies Bears with 17 points in last nine minutes in upset of mighty Vikings.

10/17 - Browns 27, Bengals 24
Bo Scott tallies twice late for for Brown rally.

10/24 - Chiefs 27, Redskins 20
Otis Taylor's one-handed game winner hands 'Skins first loss.

11/7 - Lions 24, Broncos 20
Nearly 800 total yards in Lion comeback win

11/14- Bears 16, Redskins 15
Dick Butkus catches extra point pass after botched snap for game-winner.

11/14 - Dolphins 24, Steelers 21
Dolphins' three touchdown comeback includes bombs of 60 and 86 to Warfield

12/19 - 49ers 31, Lions 27
Niners win west title on Brodie scramble in back-and-forth contest

12/19 - Patriots 21, Colts 17
Jim Plunkett wins it with 88-yard bomb to Randy Vataha.

12/25 - Dolphins 27, Chiefs 24
Miami and KC give nation Christmas present with double-OT playoff classic.

[BD Sullivan]

Other 1971 considerations:
9/19: Giants 42, Packers 40: The score shows what a wild game that also included Dan Devine's broken leg--in his first game as GB's HC. Packers started the scoring with a 100-yard FG return, followed by four Giants' touchdowns, including two back-to-back scores on fumble recoveries in the end zone--courtesy of Dave Hampton.

10/3: Lions 41, Falcons 38: Atlanta quickly falls behind 14-0 (set up by fumbles), but takes a 24-21 lead that should have been the halftime score. However, Larry Walton catches a 56-yard Hail Mary pass on the last play of the half, making it 28-24. Lions add 10 more points before a Falcon score makes it 38-31. Errol Mann kicks a 13-yard FG to to make it 41-31 with 4:35 left. However, with 32 seconds left, the Falcons return a blocked punt for a scre but then fail to get the onside kick.

11/21: Raiders 34, Chargers 33: In Oakland, San Diego takes a 17-3 second quarter lead and leads 24-10 at the half. The Raiders score 24 unanswered points before San Diego cuts the lead to three at 34-31 with 3:09 left. They then got the onside kick and had first down at the Raider 31. A holding penalty pushed them back, but two passes got them down to the Oakland four with 1:45 left. On second down, Hadl forced a pass into the end zone that was picked off and returned to the Raider 11. Three plays ate up all but eight seconds, with Oakland's punter (in the end zone) running around in the end zone for a safety to end the game.

I've always been suspicious of the Colts last game, i.e. the 12/19 contest. A win would have sent THEM to Kansas City on Christmas Day, while a loss took them to Cleveland, which had stumbled for most of the second half of the season. Predictably, they dominated the Browns, 20-3.

Two non-game memories from this year: the Lions' Chuck Hughes dies after collapsing in the 10/24 Bears game and the 12/11 Colts-Miami game, where Mike Curtis gives a forearm shiver to a fan trying to steal the ball.

[Rupert Patrick]

For 1971 I have in order, The Dolphins Chiefs Xmas day game of course, followed by the Giants vs. Green Bay 9/19, Washington vs. LA 12/13 and KC vs. Oakland 12/12. The Giants Green Bay game was of course the fluky 42-40 game which featured Dave Hampton fumbling twice and having them recovered in the end zone for TD's on consecutive plays (except for the extra point) and Dan Devine in his NFL head coaching debut getting knocked down on the sideline and breaking his leg and leaving the game. As bizarro games go, the only one since the merger which compares is the 1984 Rams Giants game. The Washington LA game was a week 13 game which had massive playoff implications; a Washington win puts them in the playoffs and an LA win would give the Rams a tiebreaker advantage over Washington although a loss would not eliminate either team from the playoffs as both would still be in the race for the division crown. It also featured George Allen's first trip to LA since he was canned by the Rams, and he was leading the Redskins to their most successful season in a generation. The KC Oakland game was huge in that a Chiefs win would give them the division and would eliminate the Raiders, but a Raiders win would put the Silver and Black in the lead in the AFC West with a game to play.

[BD Sullivan]

The Washington LA game was a week 13 game which had massive playoff implications; a Washington win puts them in the playoffs and an LA win would give the Rams a tiebreaker advantage over Washington although a loss would not eliminate either team from the playoffs as both would still be in the race for the division crown. It also featured George Allen's first trip to LA since he was canned by the Rams, and he was leading the Redskins to their most successful season in a generation.

This also featured Andy Reid in the halftime PP&K competition, where he literally appears to be twice the size of his fellow competitors :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4gNFL2upZE

[JohnH19]

1969 Week 7: New Orleans 51-42 over St. Louis. Billy Kilmer and Charley Johnson each throw 6 TD passes. Johnson's last three came in garbage time after the Saints had taken a 51-21 lead.

1971 Week 11: San Francisco 24-21 over the Jets. Joe Namath comes off the bench, when starter Bob Davis is injured in the second quarter, to lead a valiant comeback effort against the 49ers which falls just short It's Namath's first appearance in 20 games, dating back to Week 5 of the 1970 season, and the Shea Stadium crowd was in a state of absolute delirium watching their hero perform his magic after his prolonged absence.

[Todd Pence]

1972

9/18 - Redskins 24, Vikings 21
Season's first MNF game is a dandy. Tarkenton shines in returns to Vikes, but can't overcome special team errors.

9/24 - Jets 44, Colts 34
The showdown between Namath and Unitas we didn't get in SB III. Joe Willie hits TDs of 79 and 80 late in final frame to nail it down.

10/1 - Dolphins 16, Vikings 14
Hard-luck Minnesota almost ends Dolphins' unbeaten run early before succumbing to last-minute TD drive.

10/1 - Patriots 24, Redskins 23
Bizarre finish sees George Allen take potential winning points off the board, only to see Curt Knight subsequently miss two FGs.

10/22 - Jets 24, Colts 20
Why not Namath-Unitas again? Joe does his megabomb heroics late again, hitting Eddie Bell with 83-yard game winner.

11/19 - Vikings 45, Rams 41
Fearsome Foursome and Purple People Eaters must have taken the day off.

12/16 - Niners 20, Vikings 17
Vike fans must think I'm picking on them with this list. Brodie's late heroics get Niners into playoffs for third straight year.

12/23 - Cowboys 30, 49ers 28
And for third straight year, they get eliminated by Dallas. This game saw the birth of Roger Staubach's reputation as "Captain Comeback".

12/23 - Steelers 13, Raiders 7
If Jack Fleming's Immaculate Reception call isn't the greatest radio call in NFL history, I'd like to know what is.

12/24 - Dolphins 20, Browns 14
If only Miami hadn't pulled off 4th-quarter comeback, the name of Fair Hooker might be immortalized today. Browns must have regretted Warfield-Phipps trade after this one.

[Rupert Patrick]

1969 Week 7: New Orleans 51-42 over St. Louis. Billy Kilmer and Charley Johnson each throw 6 TD passes. Johnson's last three came in garbage time after the Saints had taken a 51-21 lead.

Until the Giants and Saints combined for 13 TD passes in a game last year, that held the record for most TD passes in a game.

[Rupert Patrick]

1972

For 1972 I chose in order the Colts Jets shootout from 9/24, the Dallas San Francisco Divisional playoff game, the Miami Pittsburgh AFC Championship and Jets Dolphins from November 19th. The final game was a tossup between Jets-Dolphins and Dolphins-Vikings and I went with Jets vs Dolphins.

[BD Sullivan]

I pointed out elsewhere that without the Immaculate Reception, that Steelers-Raiders game was on the verge of being relegated to obscurity. At the two-minute warning, the only scoring was two Steeler FG's. Stabler's 30-yard TD run should have been the headline, but even then, you had a 7-6 game. In short, it was virtually the equivalent of the 5-0 Cowboys-Lions snoozer from two years earlier.

[Todd Pence]

1973

9/23 - Cardinals 34, Redskins 27
Wild fourth quarter features two consecutive 97-yard kickoff returns by each team.

9/23 - 49ers 36, Broncos 34
After Niners run off 30 unanswered points, two-TD Bronco rally in fourth is spoiled by Bruce Gossett last minute FG.

10/7 - Bills 27, Eagles 26
Teams combine for 504 rushing yards in thriller secured with Leypoldt's 47-yard game-winner and Tom Dempsey's shanked 26-yarder at gun.

10/8 - Cowboys 14, Redskins 7
Classic defensive struggle, one of greatest games on rivalry. Ken Houston nails Walit Garrison at the one on game's final play.

10/14 - Eagles 27, Cardinals 24
Roman Gabriel's season-high 379 yards help spark 4th-qtr comeback from 11 down.

10/22 - Broncos 23, Raiders 23
Broncs get ball with just 36 seconds, drive to Jim Turner FG. Tie feels like win for Denver.

11/4 - Oilers 31, Colts 27
Houston breaks 18-game losing streak with last minute TD pass after Colts had rallied from 18 down.

12/2 - Redskins 27, Giants 24
G-men give 'Skins scare by taking 18-point lead, but Washington rallies with two late Larry Brown TDs.

12/3 - Dolphins 30, Steelers 26
'Fins Dick Anderson has four first-half picks, two for TDs, but Bradshaw nearly rallies Pitt from 27 down in second half.

12/22 - Vikings 27, Redskins 20
Only reasonably competitive game of a thuddingly dull postseason.