Strangely 'close' playoff games

[Bryan]

Inspired by SB VI highlights, where Duane Thomas and Walt Garrison seemingly rush for 200 yards in the first half but then Garo Yepremian makes a FG and the Dolphins only trail 10-3...here are some postseason games that I thought to be strangely close for at least part of the game.

Steelers-Colts, 1975 AFC divisional playoff - At home against an overmatched Colts team, the Steelers outgain Baltimore nearly 2-to-1, in part due to Bert Jones getting injured early in the game. Yet in the 2nd half the Colts were up 10-7, and in the 4th quarter the Colts were only down 14-10. I think Mel Blount intercepted Marty Domres in Pittsburgh territory, which led to a clinching Terry Bradshaw TD. Domres was so terrible (2-11, 9 yards, 1 TD 2 INT) that Marchibroda put Jones back in the game despite Jones' right arm being numb, which led to Andy Russell's long TD return of a Jones' fumble. Surprised that the Steelers had such hard time putting away a young Colts team that had Marty Domres at QB. Honorable mention goes to other AFC divisional game, where the Raiders nearly blew a 31-14 4th quarter lead to the Bengals.

Cowboys-Broncos, SB XII- Denver's offense was terrible, yet Denver was still in the game in the 4th period, down only 20-10 with Norris Weese able to (somewhat) move the Bronco offense. Strange that a Butch Johnson fumble and recovery of a punt in the 2nd half could have changed the game had Denver recovered, considering how dominant the Cowboys were.

Eagles-Vikings, 1980 NFC divisional playoff - The Eagles were the class of the NFL that year, and the Vikings were lucky to even be in the postseason. The Vikings running game did nothing (13 carries, 36 yards) and Tommy Kramer threw 5 INTs against Marion Campbell's defense, the Eagles claimed 8 turnovers in all...yet the Vikings were up 16-14 in the 3rd period. Philly eventually put the game away in the 4th and won 31-16.

49ers-Giants 1981 & 49ers-Lions 1983 - The Niners gained 423 yards against the Giants, Joe Montana threw for 300+ yards , they would eventually win the Super Bowl due in part to their dynamic secondary...but the incredibly average Scott Brunner could not be stopped on this day. Brunner threw for 290 yards and 3 TDs and had the Giants down only a TD (17-24) in the 4th period. Another Bill Walsh era close call was the 1983 playoff against the Lions. The 9-7 Lions weren't all that good of a team, but they really should have won this game instead of losing 24-23. Eddie Murray missed a very makeable FG at the end of regulation. The Lions were even winning 23-17 in the 4th and outgained SF by 100+ yards. Gary Danielson threw 5 INTs vs. 0 TDs for Detroit.

[7DnBrnc53]

Cowboys-Broncos, SB XII- Denver's offense was terrible, yet Denver was still in the game in the 4th period, down only 20-10 with Norris Weese able to (somewhat) move the Bronco offense. Strange that a Butch Johnson fumble and recovery of a punt in the 2nd half could have changed the game had Denver recovered, considering how dominant the Cowboys were.

Funny you should mention that game, because Norris Weese almost hit Jack Dolbin with a first down on the sideline around the Dallas 35 with about 8 or 9 minutes left in the game, but Jack was just out of bounds. If they make that play, and get a FG, they are only down seven, and they seemed to own the fourth quarter that year.

[BD Sullivan]

Eagles-Vikings, 1980 NFC divisional playoff - The Eagles were the class of the NFL that year, and the Vikings were lucky to even be in the postseason. The Vikings running game did nothing (13 carries, 36 yards) and Tommy Kramer threw 5 INTs against Marion Campbell's defense, the Eagles claimed 8 turnovers in all...yet the Vikings were up 16-14 in the 3rd period. Philly eventually put the game away in the 4th and won 31-16.

The Vikings had a 14-0 lead in the second quarter and led 14-7 at the half. One key injury came in the first half when RB Ted Brown sprained his knee and didn't return.

[MatthewToy]

2004. The 15-1 Steelers need a metric ton of missed field goals to beat the 10-6 wild card Jets at Heinz Field.

[BD Sullivan]

2004. The 15-1 Steelers need a metric ton of missed field goals to beat the 10-6 wild card Jets at Heinz Field.

1986, the 12-4 Browns desperately need a Gastineau late hit to spark them to score 10 points in the final four minutes just to get to OT before they beat the Jets 23-20 in OT.

1978, the 12-4 Cowboys are favored by 15 over the 9-7 Falcons, yet trail 20-13 at halftime. Jimmy the Greek looked unusually nervous during the halftime, but the Cowboys end up winning 27-20.

1976, the 13-1 Raiders are supposed to unleash revenge on the Patriots for giving them their only regular season loss, but Oakland needs a convenient roughing the passer call late in the game to win it, 24-21.

[Rupert Patrick]

1978, the 12-4 Cowboys are favored by 15 over the 9-7 Falcons, yet trail 20-13 at halftime. Jimmy the Greek looked unusually nervous during the halftime, but the Cowboys end up winning 27-20.

Not to mention Staubach got knocked out of the game before halftime and was replaced by Danny White.

[Shipley]

Who could forget one of the most dreadful playoff games ever, the Cowboys' 5-0 win over the Lions in the 1970 playoffs. Nice to hear the classic NFL theme song at the beginning of this youtube clip of that game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym3ZcpVHaZ4

[74_75_78_79_]

Bills/Cincy '81? Raiders/Bills '93?

[Rupert Patrick]

Bills/Cincy '81? Raiders/Bills '93?

The Raiders Bills game Divisional game in early 1994 was one of the coldest games in NFL history, and I think the coldest game ever played in Buffalo. They met six weeks earlier in Buffalo, I was in attendance, and it was quite cold that day (temps around freezing but 20-30 mph gusting winds pushing the wind chills below zero) but nowhere near as cold as it was for the playoff game, but the Raiders beat the Bills 25-24. Following the 1990 51-3 AFC Championship Game debacle, the Raiders played the Bills four times from 1991-93, with the teams splitting the four games, but the two games the Bills won were by a total of ten points. I think you could say they just matched up well, or perhaps the Raiders had Buffalo's number, when there weren't many teams in the AFC that could handle the Bills.

[74_75_78_79_]

How about Seattle/Cincy '88 and GB/Chi '10 NFCCG? You can call them 'twins'?

And who can forget the Coz's 8-8 Jets losing by only a TD at a pretty great Houston squad in '91?