We'll quickly go through the three games that just missed the cut:
13.) Colts 15 Ravens 6, 2006 AFC Divisional
12.) Patriots 24 Steelers 17, 2001 AFC Championship
11.) Giants 23 Packers 20, 2007 NFC Championship
Now, onto the list:
10.) Rams 24 Seahawks 20 & Vikings 31 Packers 17, 2004 NFC Wild Card
For the first time in the 2000s, there were 8-8 teams in the playoffs. The NFC was so bad that the 8-8 Rams and Vikings were actually Wild Card teams. This was the same year that all 6 AFC teams in the playoffs were at least 10-6, and the four division winners were 12-4 or better. That said, no one really thought the Rams or Packers would actually win, given their pathetic record. Both teams won, and really showed up. The Rams, who were outscored by a ridiculous 75 points, were leading throughout, but hung on to win by about five yards. The Vikings, on the other hand, brought the wood to the Packers. Brett Favre was picked off four times. Culpepper had three touchdowns, and Randy Moss gave the full moon. On back to back days, two teams that were derided by the media for being 8-8 went on the road and won. Of course, they would both be roundly throttled the following week, but they still got their "No One Believed In Us" win out of the way first.
9.) Saints 31 Rams 28, 2000 NFC Wild Card
The Saints are the only home team on the list, and they were favored in the game (by just a point). The reason why they are on the list was because despite those two facts, still it is shocking that they won the game. The Rams were the defending champs, and though their defense was horrible, their offense was even better than the year before and Kurt Warner was finally healthy again. The Saints, on the other hand, were not that great of a team, and had never won a single playoff game in their history. It didn't matter. The Saints came out red hot behind Aaron Brooks (can't believe I just wrote that sentence), and then withstood a furious Rams' rally in the 4th quarter to hold onto the win. The Superdome was rocking. It is hard to imagine the Saints being good pre-Brees, but there they were in 2000, slaying the defending champs and winning the first playoff game in franchise history. Saints fans' would have to wait until the end of the decade to finish the job though.8.) Jets 17 Chargers 14, 2009 AFC Divisional
Before they scored their dramatic upset this year, a worse Jets team beat a hotter team coming off the bye last year. The Chargers entered the game on an 11 game winning streak. Phil Rivers was playing football better than any other QB, and the Chargers were ripe to go to their first Super Bowl (all that stood in their way was the Colts; a team they historically have played very well). Of course, the Jets were in their way as well. The Jets needed the Colts and Bengals to both rest their starters just to make the playoffs, and unimpressively beat the Bengals the previous week. The Jets entered the game as 9 point underdogs, and played like it, doing absolutely nothing for the entirety of the first half on offense. That said, they were only down 7-0 as Nate Kaeding missed two field goals. In the second half, the Jets offense finally clicked. Spurred by an amazing interception of Phil Rivers, followed by a bonehead interception of Phil Rivers, the Jets took the lead early in the fourth quarter 10-7. After yet another missed field goal by Kaeding, the Jets put the hammer down with a dramatic touchdown run by Shonn Greene. The Jets played it perfectly, capitalizing on the Chargers mistakes to win a game that they did little in. Therein lies the reason why the game is not higher: the Jets didn't play all that well. The Chargers just collapsed, which has been done before at home after the bye.7.) Giants 21 Cowboys 17, 2007 NFC Divisional
76 points. That is what the Giants had given up to Romo and the Cowboys in two regular season games. The Giants had success scoring, putting up 55 points, but never really threatened the Cowboys. Dallas was finally supposed to end their long streak of not winning playoff games, as their 13-3 season had given them the #1 seed. The Giants struck first, but the Cowboys dominated much of the first half, calmly scoring two TDs on back-to-back 90+ yard drives. From that point on, it was all Giants. They put together a scoring drive in under a minute right before the half. Capitalized on a nice punt return to get another TD to take a 21-17 lead, and then the floodgates known as Dallas' o-line just opened. The Giants d-line started their epic postseason with two sacks and countless hurries of Romo, forcing the Cowboys into failed possessions. The Giants finished the game by picking off Romo in their end zone, escaping Dallas, a place no one thought the one time 0-2 Giants could win in. Little did they know what was up next.6.) Seahawks 41 Saints 36, 2010 NFC Wild Card
Let's go into the way back machine.... all the way to this January. There was probably no more hated division winner than the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks. The points are valid. The Seahawks were outscored by -97 points. That was the most a playoff team has ever been outscored by. They had the 28th ranked offense by yards, and 27th ranked defense by yards. Their QBs combined for a 72.1 rating. They were just not a good team. However, they have that field, that amazing, raucous gem of a stadium. Qwest Field is the great equalizer, and that, and the fact everyone spent the week deriding the Seahawks, and complaining that they were in the playoffs in the first place, made the Seahawks in a no-lose situation. Of course, the game played out early like everyone thought, with the Saints jumping out to a 10-0 and 17-7 lead. Of course, the Seahawks decided to score 27 of the next 30 points, and build a lead they would never relinquish. It was all capped by Marshawn Lynch's amazing "Beast Mode" run, where he singlehandidly broke six tackles and stiff armed last year's Super Bowl hero Tracy Porter into 2012. When it was all said it done, the Seahawks were partying like it was 2005, with Hasselbeck threw 4 tds and the 'Hawks were unbeatable in Qwest again.5.) Buccaneers 27 Eagles 10, 2002 NFC Championship
The Bucs had never won a game where the temperature at kickoff was less than freezing until Week 17 in the 2002 season, when the Bucs beat up Chicago in Chicago. The Bears were 4-12. The Eagles, on the other hand, were 12-4, and had beaten Tampa to a pulp earlier that year, beaten the Bucs in the previous to postseasons without giving up a TD, and had outscored their opponents 415-241 in the regular season. The Bucs had a historically good pass defense (so good that Rich Gannon's 2 td 5 int performance in the postseason was actually average, not terrible), but they could not beat the Eagles, and they could not win in the cold. It started out perfectly, as the Eagles returner ran the opening kickoff back 70 yards, and Duce Staley took the next handoff for a TD. The Bucs were shocked, but they regrouped, and the Eagles never scored a TD the rest of the game. The Bucs suffocated Donovan McNabb, and finished it off with intercepting a pass, and returning it 90 yards for a TD to make it 27-10, and forever silence Veterans Stadium, in its final game ever. The Eagles were ready for a celebration. The Eagles hired one hundred cops to prepare for a mob after the game. Not sure if the mob happened, but if it did, the fans were rioting in anger, not jubilation.
