Most are looking forward to Super Bowl XLIX as the Seattle Seahawks look to become the first team to repeat as world champions in a decade. They’ll be facing the last team to do it in the New England Patriots, who are led by quarterback Tom Brady. Brady is looking to become just the third quarterback to win a record four Super Bowls. While most are looking ahead to Super Sunday and at “Deflate Gate”, we take a trip back to Sunday’s NFC Championship in which the Green Bay Packers let a 12-point lead with under two and a half minutes left slip away and where it ranks among the most heartbreaking conference championship losses of all-time.
10. 1967 NFL Championship
Dallas Cowboys 17, Green Bay Packers 21
December 31st, 1967
Though there technically weren’t yet conferences, this 1967 contest at Lambeau Field remains one of the most memorable in NFL history. In a game that later became known as the “Ice Bowl”, the Dallas Cowboys overcame a 14-0 deficit to take the lead over Green Bay with just seconds to play. On a day where the weather was 2 degrees below zero, Bart Starr broke the Cowboys’ heart by scoring from a yard out with just 16 seconds remaining.
9. 2012 NFC Championship
San Francisco 49ers 28, Atlanta Falcons 24
January 20th, 2013
The Atlanta Falcons appeared on their way to a first Super Bowl appearance in 14 years after jumping out to a 17-0 lead, but San Francisco fought back to take a 4-point lead with over eight minutes to play. Atlanta mounted a drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock and reached the 10-yard-line of the 49ers, but needing four yards on third and fourth down, Falcons’ quarterback Matt Ryan threw back-to-back incomplete passes, sending San Francisco to New Orleans.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JANUARY 22: Lawrence Tynes #9 of the New York Giants kicks a 31-yard game-winning field goal in overtime against the San Francisco 49ers during the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park on January 22, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
8. 2011 NFC Championship
New York Giants 20, San Francisco 49ers 17 (Overtime)
January 22nd, 2012
After regulation ended in a 17-17 tie, the San Francisco 49ers held tough defensively and forced a Steve Weatherford punt near midfield. Weatherford’s kick however, was muffed by San Francisco’s Kyle Williams, giving the Giants the ball inside the 49ers’ 30. The muff ultimately led to Lawrence Tynes’ game-winning field goal. The victory was the second conference championship victory for New York in overtime in five years and two weeks later, the Giants would down the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl for a second time in five years.
7. 1994 AFC Championship
San Diego Chargers 17, Pittsburgh Steelers 13
January 15th, 1995
Pittsburgh dominated San Diego statistically throughout the day, outgaining the Chargers by nearly 200 yards. With San Diego trailing 13-3, Stan Humphries threw a pair of 43-yard touchdown passes in the second half to give the Chargers the lead. With seconds remaining, Pittsburgh took the ball to the San Diego 3-yard-line, but were turned away on the next three plays as the Chargers appeared in their first and only Super Bowl.
6. 1998 NFC Championship
Atlanta Falcons 30, Minnesota Vikings 27 (Overtime)
January 17th, 1999
After a 15-1 season, the Minnesota Vikings were on the verge of wrapping up a trip to the Super Bowl. Kicker Gary Anderson had been a perfect 35-for-35 and lined up for a 38-yard field goal that would have given Minnesota a 10-point lead with just over two minutes to play. Anderson’s kick was no good and the Falcons responded by going 72 yards to tie the game on a touchdown pass from Chris Chandler to Terance Mathis. In overtime, the Falcons took the ball first and won the game as Morten Andersen made good from the same spot on the field where Gary Anderson had missed.
5. 1987 AFC Championship
Cleveland Browns 33, Denver Broncos 38
January 17th, 1988
After losing to Denver in the previous year’s conference championship, Cleveland was close to getting sweet revenge. The Browns trailed 21-3 at halftime, but rallied to tie the game at 31. Cleveland fell back behind, but was two yards away from taking its first lead of the game with just over a minute to play. On a run play to Ernest Byner up the middle, the Cleveland running back fumbled, giving the Broncos the ball and a second straight trip to the Super Bowl. The play and game came to be known as “The Fumble”.
NEW ORLEANS – JANUARY 24: Kicker Garrett Hartley #5 of the New Orleans Saints kicks a game winning field goal in overtime against the Minnesota Vikings to win the NFC Championship Game at the Louisiana Superdome on January 24, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
4. 2009 NFC Championship
Minnesota Vikings 28, New Orleans Saints 31 (Overtime)
January 24th, 2010
In a game where teams traded touchdowns, it appeared that Brett Favre was going to quarterback the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl for the first time in over 30 years in his first season with the team. With Minnesota inside the New Orleans 40-yard-line and driving to win the game, Favre was picked off by New Orleans’ Tracy Porter. The game went to overtime and the Saints marched down the field and clinched a trip to the Super Bowl on Garrett Hartley’s 40-yard field goal. Minnesota had nearly double New Orleans’ offensive output, but turned the ball over five times. For Favre, it marked the second time in three seasons that his final pass was an interception in a tie game in the NFC Championship.
3. 2014 NFC Championship
Green Bay Packers 22, Seattle Seahawks 28 (Overtime)
January 18th, 2014
The defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks had been dethroned or so it appeared. With just over two minutes to play, Green Bay led 19-7. After drawing to within five with 2:09 to play, Seattle’s onside kick went off the hands of a Green Bay tight end. The Seahawks recovered and took their first lead on a 24-yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch and extended the lead to three on a miraculous 2-point conversion. The Packers trailed 22-19, but evened the game and forced overtime on a long field goal by Mason Crosby. After intercepting quarterback Russell Wilson four times in regulation, the Packers had no answer for him in the extra period as Wilson completed consecutive 35-yard passes including the game-winner to Jermaine Kearse.
2. 1981 NFC Championship
Dallas Cowboys 27, San Francisco 49ers 28
January 10th, 1982
In a game that went back and forth, the Dallas Cowboys were one stop away from reaching the Super Bowl. Facing a 3rd-and-3 from the Dallas 6-yard-line, San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana was forced to his right and fired off his back foot to the corner of the end zone. The throw looked to be high and into the stands, but Dwight Clark came from nowhere to make a leaping catch for the score with 51 seconds remaining. San Francisco would go on to win its first of five Super Bowls in a 14-year span. The play will forever be dubbed, “The Catch”.
1. 1986 AFC Championship
Denver Broncos 23, Cleveland Browns 20 (Overtime)
January 11th, 1987
The Cleveland Browns were on the verge of their first Super Bowl appearance after a 48-yard touchdown pass from Bernie Kosar to Brian Brennan gave them a 20-13 lead with under six minutes to play. Matters got even better for the Browns after Denver muffed the ensuing kickoff and started the drive at their own 2-yard-line. “The Drive” was just beginning. Behind quarterback John Elway, the Broncos ripped out the heart of the Cleveland faithful one play at a time. Facing a 3rd-and-18 from the Cleveland 48, Elway found Mark Jackson for 20 yards. Five plays later, Elways capped the 98-yard march with a 5-yard scoring strike to Jackson with 39 seconds left to force overtime. In the extra period, kicker Rich Karlis completed the comeback with a 32-yard field goal that sneaked inside the left upright. Cleveland would lose to Denver the following season in heartbreaking fashion in the AFC Championship. The Browns have still yet to play in the Super Bowl.