Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Doing a breakdown of the 70 games by decade, it shows that a grand total of 16 percent (11 of 70) of pre-merger games made the list:

20s: 1
30s: 3
40s: 2
50s: 2
60s: 3
70s: 6
80s: 15
90s: 10
00s: 18
10s: 10

Like most of their lists, it seems based on the question: Can we get a celebrity (a stretch in some cases) to serve as a talking head?

BD Sullivan wrote:Doing a breakdown of the 70 games by decade, it shows that a grand total of 16 percent (11 of 70) of pre-merger games made the list:

20s: 1
30s: 3
40s: 2
50s: 2
60s: 3
70s: 6
80s: 15
90s: 10
00s: 18
10s: 10

Like most of their lists, it seems based on the question: Can we get a celebrity (a stretch in some cases) to serve as a talking head?

Thanks BD for the breakdown, I was wondering about that. Not much love for the AFL, except for the Heidi Game and SB III. I find the talking head celebrity thing annoying to say the least.

Watched the series and thought it was a pretty good effort in terms of the rankings. Some surprises, some omissions. Not to be obstinate, but there seems to be only a handful of truly 'great games'. Some games are ho-hum, but have historic significance (SB III). Some games have a big moment but are otherwise forgettable (Immaculate Reception, Holy Roller). I like the Ice Bowl because of the matchup and the uniqueness of the weather, but was it really a 'great' game?

A couple games that were excluded from the top100 were the 79 Cowboys-Skins and SB XIV between the Steelers-Rams. Two of my favorite games that tend to get overlooked but were included were the 1990 NFC Championship of Giants-Niners, and the 1986 divisional playoff between Browns-Jets.

I think in terms of aesthetics, cast of characters involved (players/teams), and the drama of the game itself, these would be my top 3 games....

1) 1981 Chargers-Dolphins
2) 1950 Browns-Rams
3) 1977 Raiders-Colts

BD Sullivan wrote:Doing a breakdown of the 70 games by decade, it shows that a grand total of 16 percent (11 of 70) of pre-merger games made the list:

20s: 1
30s: 3
40s: 2
50s: 2
60s: 3
70s: 6
80s: 15
90s: 10
00s: 18
10s: 10

Like most of their lists, it seems based on the question: Can we get a celebrity (a stretch in some cases) to serve as a talking head?

Yea. A celebrity mentioned the game. Wow look at how embedded in pop culture we are. This makes the game more important

I have no clue why the NFL feels anybody would care about that.

The Patriots/Giants first Super Bowl was not a great game either, but the thrilling finish and historical significance means it has to be there. But for 3 quarters it was not an entertaining game

Glad 1958 is #1. That was the launching point for pro football as we know it. It was a very good game, a Championship game, it involved many of the sports icons from Unitas to Berry...Lenny Moore, Gifford, Art Donovan, Jim Parker, Summerall...heck even Don Maynard got into the game. Ewbank, Landry, Lombardi, Robustelli, Tunnell, Sam Huff, Ameche. That's just insane star power. Plus you had the sidebar story of a heroic Marchetti refusing to leave the sidelines. It was played in a legendary venue

BD Sullivan wrote:

Retro Rider wrote:

Rupert Patrick wrote: A few that I wasn't expecting:
1994 Dolphins @ Jets
2006 Falcons @ Saints
2003 Packers @ Raiders MNF

1994: The Marino fake spike, which they could gush about.
2006: They get to throw in Katrina footage and talk about how the NFL prouudly returned to N.O.
2003: The death of Brett Favre's father as a backdrop made for great drama, but the game itself was a bore. This should have on a 100 Most Memorable Monents.

We were on the receiving end of it but the Marino fake spike was an embarrassing footnote, not really a great game. Miami followed up that game with a loss

I'm not sure the actual faking of the spike really had any impact on the outcome of the play either. Aaron Glenn, who would later become a really good corner, played hard the whole down but was burned. It happens.

Just another way to dump on the Jets I guess

sheajets wrote: We were on the receiving end of it but the Marino fake spike was an embarrassing footnote, not really a great game. Miami followed up that game with a loss

I'm not sure the actual faking of the spike really had any impact on the outcome of the play either. Aaron Glenn, who would later become a really good corner, played hard the whole down but was burned. It happens.

Just another way to dump on the Jets I guess

In the Coslet and Carroll era, the Jets blew a lot of leads. That game was one of them. It was not a bad game but the fake spike play has been tremendously overblown. To say the fake spike worked is to say Glenn was confused as that pass was thrown so quickly as to make most of the players on the field irrelevant. The footage does not make it look like Glenn was confused or hesitant. It just looks like he was beat.

JWL wrote:

sheajets wrote: We were on the receiving end of it but the Marino fake spike was an embarrassing footnote, not really a great game. Miami followed up that game with a loss

I'm not sure the actual faking of the spike really had any impact on the outcome of the play either. Aaron Glenn, who would later become a really good corner, played hard the whole down but was burned. It happens.

Just another way to dump on the Jets I guess

In the Coslet and Carroll era, the Jets blew a lot of leads. That game was one of them. It was not a bad game but the fake spike play has been tremendously overblown. To say the fake spike worked is to say Glenn was confused as that pass was thrown so quickly as to make most of the players on the field irrelevant. The footage does not make it look like Glenn was confused or hesitant. It just looks like he was beat.

The previous year I still haven't gotten over the Eric Allen game. 21-0 over Philly. Cunningham breaks his leg. How the hell do you let Bubby Brister and Rich Kotite turn into Brady/Belichick and have a 21 point comeback win.

What game from the 20s made the list?

The final breakdown, which is just as absurd as the first:

20s: 1
30s: 3
40s: 2
50s: 3
60s: 5
70s: 11
80s: 21
90s: 16
00s: 23
10s: 15

So there were only 14 great games in the first 50 years, but 38 in the last 20.