Lounging Pass: A Decade of NFL Playoffs: Ranking the Conference Title Games

I'm continuing my look at the last ten years of football, the ten years of my life as a die-hard fan, by looking back at football at its best. The games. The Playoffs. This will be the first part of two lists ranking the Conference Title Games of the past 10 years on NFL Football. First, we look back at the games ranging from aggresively boring to just good. The real treats are yet to come.

Tier 1 – You’re telling me this is the best the conference has to offer?

20.) 2003 NFC Championship – (N3) Panthers 14 @ (N1) Eagles 3

Review: The Eagles played in some really boring Championship Games from 2002-2004, but the 2003 one was the worst. Muhsin Muhammad caught a TD on a pass where the Eagles DB fell down early in the 2^nd quarter, and that was basically a wrap. Donovan McNabb and Koy Detmer combined for four interceptions, three of which were thrown to Ricky Manning, Jr. The only lasting memory of this game, other than the fact that 70,000 people wanted to burn that place down, was DeShaun Foster’s great 1-yard touchdown run where he broke two tackles. Other than that, just a waste of a game on an awful day of football.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: How bad were the Eagles? Their three points equals the lowest point total ever for the home team in a Championship Game since the modern playoff format began in 1978 (before this, the 'home team' could be the team with the worse record). The 2000 Raiders also scored just three points in a loss to the Ravens. Of course, those Ravens were one of the best defenses ever.

19.) 2004 NFC Championship – (N2) Falcons 10 @ (N1) Eagles 27

Review: I told you these were bad games. This was the only Eagles’ NFC Championship win during the Reid-McNabb era, and it was a pretty boring dominant effort by the Eagles. Vick was held to 26 yard rushing and 11-24 passing by a masterful gameplan by the late, great Jim Johnson, while the Eagles received stellar play from Donovan McNabb (17-26 for 180 and 2 tds) and Westbrook (6.0 yards per carry). As you can see, it was the type of game where you know the whole story just looking by the statistics. It was a dominant effort on a cold afternoon at the Linc.

Interesting/Memorable Play: Chad Lewis caught two touchdowns in the game, and on his second TD catch to ice the game, he broke his foot. Lewis was replaced for the Super Bowl by veteran Jeff Thomasen, who was orking as a construction foreman at contracting firm Toll Brothers when he received the call.

18.) 2005 AFC Championship – (A6) Steelers 34 @ (A2) Broncos 17

Review: In what may be the best playoff game ever played by Ben Roethlisberger, he went 21-29 for 275 yards and two tds against the league’s 3^rd rated defense. The game wasn’t close to interesting as Jake Plummer was stripped and threw a pick in the 1^st half and the Steelers turned both into TDs. Hines Ward’s TD catch late in the 1^st half made it 24-3 at intermission and basically ended all hope in the game. The Broncos did cut it to 27-17, off of long touchdown toss to Ashley Lelie and a Mike Anderson run, but were never seriously in the game, turning the ball over four times while never getting a turnover. It was the most dominant road performance in a Champioship Game in this stretch, which made it extra boring since the once fired-up Mile High crowd was stunned into silence.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This is the most recent AFC Championship Game (and along with 2002 the only AFC Championship Games in this stretch) to not be played in New England, Pittsburgh or Indianapolis. The last six have been played exclusively in these places, as the Colts, Patriots and Steelers have all hosted a pair. In this span, the NFC Title Game has been played in five different cities, with San Francisco, Arizona, New Orleans and Green Bay all hosting once, and Chicago the only city to host two.

Interesting/Memorable Fact 2: In what is heavily correlated with the last fact and odd considering the rash of upsets in recent years that have defined the playoffs, this is the last time a road team won an AFC Championship Game. Since then, the AFC Champion much like the home team, has been rotated between Indy (2), Pittsburgh (2), and New England (2). In that span (’06-’11) a road team has won the NFC Title Game three times (’07, ’10 and ’11).

17.) 2002 NFC Championship – (N2) Buccaneers 27 @ (N1) Eagles 10

Review: In what would be the last game ever played in Veteran’s Stadium, the Buccaneers avenged three straight losses (two in the ’00 and ’01 postseason) to the Eagles by hammering them 27-10. The Eagles started out the game fabulously, as Brian Mitchell returned the opening kick 75 yards, and Duce Staley scored on the very first play, but that was the last touchdown the Eagles would get. The game turned on a 47 yard catch by Joe Jurevicius. The Buccaneers scored on a short toss to Keyshawn, and added another TD on an Alstott run to make it 17-7 at the break. The game was then sealed by a dramatic 90-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ronde Barber. The Philly policed station 100 officers to control possible riots in what they assumed would be an Eagles win. They were never used, and I’m guessing the Philly police let them leave the Vet in the 3^rd quarter.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was just the 2^nd game the Buccaneers won in their franchise’s history when the temperature at the opening kickoff was under 40 degrees. The 1^st such game came just four weeks earlier, as the Buccaneers went into Chicago and won 16-0.

Tier 2 – The Best team Flexes Their Muscles, and I’m oddly Intrigued.

16.) 2003 AFC Championship – (A3) Colts 14 @ (A1) Patriots 24

Review: In weather that could only be described as a wintry mix so awful that it would have exceeded Bill Belichick’s most hopeful expectations (Colts' columnist Bob Kravitz called it Belichick's vision of Hell for Manning), the Patriots stopped a Colts offense that hadn’t punted in their first two playoff games. Peyton Manning had the worst day of his career. It actually didn’t start out too bad, as on their initial possession, the Colts drove the length of the field, but Manning threw an interception into the end zone. It was all downhill from there. In the 1^st half, Manning threw another pick, Marvin Harrison fumbled inside the Patriots 20, and on their 1^st punt of the playoffs, the snap flew over punter Hunter Smith’s head for a safety. Due to Brady (interception into the Colts end zone) and the Patriots’ inability to cash in these short fields for TDs, the Colts were only down 21-14 with 1:50 left when they started a drive. Four incompletions (including two obvious un-called defensive holding penalties) later it was all over, and the Patriots accomplished their finest defensive performance. Of course, like many things the Patriots have done since, there was a little wee controversy about what really was a decisive win.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: The fallout from the game tends to be spinned that Jim Irsay, Bill Polian and the Colts whined and got new rules added. That is mostly hogwash. Yes, Bill Polian (and only Bill Polian) complained, but there was no new rule. The NFL just told the officials to start enforcing the illegal contact rules that had been on the books since 1978. Also, the NFL admitted that they missed six illegal contact and defensive holding calls against the Patriots, including the 3^rd and 4^th down passes on that last failed drive when the Colts were down 21-14.

Interesting/Memorable Fact 2: This is the last AFC Championship Game to really feature adverse weather. There were a few flurries in the 2008 AFC Title Game in Pittsburgh, but there was no rain or snow in any of the games since. It really is amazing that in those days, when the Patriots needed bad weather, they always seemed to get snow or wintry mixes in the playoffs (Tuck Rule, ’03 & ’04 vs the Colts).

15.) 2005 NFC Championship – (N5) Panthers 14 @ (N1) Seahawks 34

Review: Qwest Field, had ever been so damn loud, and the Seahawks made sure that it stayed that way all game long. It really started when Seahawks backup-QB Seneca Wallace caught an over-the-shoulder sliding grab from Matthew, and then Jerramy Stevens scored the next play. Two picks of Delhomme later and the Seahawks were up 17-7 and it was all over. The Seahawks laid the biggest Conference Title Game smackdown in this 10-year period, outgaining the Panthers 393-212 (quite a bit of that 212 came when it was already 34-7). They ran 81 plays to the Panthers 49. Matthew played a quintessential Matthew game going 20-28 for 218 and two scores, while Shaun Alexander for once did something in the playoffs with 132 yards and two scores. The Seahawks defense pounded the Panthers. All you need to know is the Panthers two scores came on a punt return and a garbage time TD when it was 34-7, and Steve Smith, after 22 catches in the first two playoff games, had five, and just one in the 1^st half.

Interesting/Memorable Play: On a 1^st Quarter run, in one of the most brilliantly obvious displays of blocking, Walter Jones drove 300 pound Mike Rucker 25 yards downfield on one block, paving the way for a 20 yard run by Shaun Alexander.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: In Jake Delhomme’s previous six playoff games, he went 5-1 with a line of 98/157 for 1,446 yards (9.2 y/a) 10 TDs/2 INTs for an overall QB rating of 108.3. His individual game QB ratings in that stretch were 104.5, 96.6, 109.5, 113.6, 100.6 and 120.6. So his worst playoff game to that date was a 96.6 (the 2OT win over the Rams). In this game, he was 15-35 for 196 yards with 1 td and 3 picks for a QB rating of 34.9. How bad was he in this game: His next playoff game would have a higher QB rating, and that was his 5-pick disaster against Arizona.

14.) 2004 AFC Championship – (A2) Patriots 41 @ (A1) Steelers 27

Review: How do you turn a close game into a blowout? The Patriots were leading just 3-0 with the Steelers driving at the Pats 40 with a 4^th and 1. The Bus was stuffed, Brady hit Deion Branch for a 60 yard TD the next play, the Steelers answered with a field goal, to which the Pats replied with another TD drive and then Ben was pick-sixed. And Voila! 24-3 at the half. The Steelers did make a game of it, running for 163 yards and closing within 31-20, but never had a chance to get any closer. Brady was great going 14-21 for 201 yards and two TDs (with a 101 fever, reportedly), while Ben wasn’t, throwing three picks among his 24 throws. The Patriots, just one week after limiting the league’s best scoring offense to three points finished their two-part magnus opus in style by dropping 41 (34 on offense) points against the league’s top scoring defense, the last seven of which were on a classic, eff-you end-around TD run by Deion Branch. They only won the Super Bowl by 3 (suprise), but this two game stretch cemented the 2004 Patriots legacy as one of the greatest teams of All-Time.

Interesting/Memorable Play: The game could have become something, but Bill Cowher did what he does and went conservative. Facing 4^th and Goal from the 3 down 31-17, the Steelers could have gone for it, and had they gotten the TD they would have made it a one score game. Instead, Cowher elected to take the field goal to make it 31-20 (barely any better than 31-17 and Patriots ball at the 3). The Steelers never got the ball back any closer than 14.

Interesting/Memorable Play 2: The Patriots final score (to make it 41-20) came on a sweet end-around run by Deion Branch. The most ballsy part of the play was the Patriots ran that exact same play on their first offensive snap of the game. That time, it gained 22 yards. This time, it went for a score.

Tier III – The Good Games

13.) 2010 AFC Championship – (A6) Jets 19 @ (A2) Steelers 24

Review: I thought the Steelers would hammer the Jets in this game. I was absolutely, completely, totally right... for a half. On the first possession of the game, the Steelers drove down the field in a monster 15-play drive that featured eight Rashard Mendenhall runs. It took 8:32 off the clock. The Steelers would add 10 more points on offense with a field goal and a Ben bootleg TD run. Then, right after the 2:00 warning, the Steelers, in all their might, flexed their muscles with a Woodley sack, and then Ike Taylor sack fumble that was returned by Willie Gay for a TD to make it 24-0. I guess at this point the Steelers thought the game was over. The Jets deserve a ton of credit for making this a game, as Mark Sanchez had another good playoff game, going 20-33 for 233 yards and two tds to bring the Jets back to 24-19 with three minutes to go. Then, despite Roethlisberger to that point being 8-17 for 105 yards and two picks, Ben hit two big passes to close out the game. The MVP of the game was definitely Rashard Mendenhall, who had 121 yards on 27 carries, many of which came with a lot of yards after contact. For the 2nd straight year, the Jets couldn't beat one of the AFC's Glory Teams in the AFC Championship Game. They did get a little closer this time, though.

Interesting/Memorable Play: The game clinching pass from Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown was an eerily similar play (a roll out to the right and low throw to the crossing slot receiver) to Manning’s final pass in the Wild Card game to Blair White. Manning threw a little low, and was criticized because due to the incomplete Sanchez had time to come back. Roethlsberger had a far worse game, but because he did complete that one pass, he wasn’t criticized while Manning was.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: It is no secret that the AFC in the 2000s was dominated by the Pats, Colts, Steelers and Chargers. The Jets had the chance to do something truly special: beat all three teams consecutively. In fact, just beating two (the Colts and Pats) made them special. Only the 2004 Patriots managed to beat two of the big three in their Super Bowl run. The 2005 Broncos beat the Pats but couldn't beat the Steelers. The '06 Pats beat San Diego but lost to Indy. The '07 and '08 Chargers beat Indy but couldn't against New England or Pittsburgh. In '09, both the Ravens and Jets lost to Indy after beating the Pats and Chargers, respectively. The Jets could beat Manning and Brady, but Ben stood in their way.

12.) 2010 NFC Championship – (N6) Packers 21 @ (N2) Bears 14

Review: The Packers came in fresh off their 48-21 win in Atlanta, and drove down the field on their first position, with Rodgers going 4-4 for 76 yards and running for the touchdown. Rodgers completed his next pass as well, for ten more, but after that moment and it looked like the Packers would blow the door off the NFC's 2nd seed. However, with the Packers around midfield leading 7-0, the Packers fell, and it became a tight game. Rodgers went just 12-25 for 156 yards and two picks in the rest of the game. The Bears defense made this a game by playing inspired football, and good on them for doing it, as the offense sputtered for 3 quarters under Cutler and Todd Collins before a brief, '15 minutes of fame' type renaissance under Caleb Hanie. The most memorable part of the game is probably either BJ Raji’s crucial TD to put the Packers up 21-7 and clinch it, or the Jay Cutler injury situation, where after he seemed to get hurt, Cutler brooded on the sideline without displaying any notable affliction. The Bears all insisted he was hurt, but the Media didn’t have it, crucifying Cutler for having the gall to leave a game where, we would find out, he tore his PCL. In the end, Caleb Hanie brought the Bears to the Packers 27 yard line down 21-14, before Sam Shields ended it with a pick. Somehow, despite the fact that the Bears were on their 3^rd QB, they really almost could have sent this game to OT, and that is a truly special achievement by the Bears players and defense.

Interesting/Memorable Play: This game had the 2^nd most notable QB tackle of the decade, with Aaron Rodgers just clipping the feet of Brian Urlacher after Brian intercepted a Rodgers pass at the two yard line. Again, everyone seems to forget the red zone interception to credit Rodgers for the tackle, showing his clutch play. Maybe it would be more clutch to, you know, not throw a pick inside the 10 yard line?

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This game started a weird coincidence where three consecutive Title Game winning QBs (Rodgers, Roethlisberger later that night, Brady in the 2011 AFC game) won despite throwing no TDs and two INTs. The even stranger part is the losing QBs in those title games threw for five TDs and four INTs (and this game had only one of the TDs and three of the INTs).

11.) 2002 AFC Championship – (A2) Titans 24 @ (A1) Raiders 41

Review: In the last playoff home game the Raiders have played, Oakland won a mini-shootout over Tennessee in a game that was quite entertaining, despite the seemingly comfortable Raiders win by the score. Despite the Raiders playing well in the beginning with scores by Garner and Jerry Porter, the Titans led 17-14 nearing halftime after a 33-yard TD pass to Drew Bennett and a gutsy 9-yard TD run by McNair (one of two rushing scores for him). Then, with 1:38 left, Robert Holcombe of the Titans fumbled, at his own 16. The Raiders recovered, scored a TD two plays later, forced another fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and added another field goal to take a shock 24-17 lead into the half. The Titans hung around with some great play from McNair and trailed just 27-24 entering the final quarter, the Raiders hung back-to-back TDs on them with runs by Rich Gannon and TD-Vulture extraordinaire Zack Crockett. In the end, Rich Gannon was nearly flawless, going 29-41 for 286 yards and three TDs with no picks, and while McNair was solid passing and he and Eddie George combined for 120 yard rushing, they couldn’t match the NFL’s best offense in 2002 playing at its best.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: Not counting scrambles runs by Rich Gannon, the Raiders called ONE rushing play in the first three quarters. They were known as a truly pass-heavy team for much of the season, but this was the zenith of that particular strategy. Literally, just one rushing play. Of course, on their game-clinching drive that made it 34-24, they ran it five times in seven plays for 32 yards.

Interesting/Memorable Fact 2: This game marked a whole lot of lasts. It was the last time the AFC was won by a team other than the Patriots, Colts or Steelers, and the last game with Jim Nantz as the CBS NFL Today studio show host and Greg Gumbel as the lead play-by-play guy (they switched roles the following year), as well as the last game featuring the old NFL on CBS theme music. Other than the fact that Manning became PEYTON F. MANNING starting in 2003, I prefer the old days in every way (Nantz not WASP-ing it up with Nantz, the old theme music, the Raiders being good).

10.) 2006 NFC Championship – (N2) Saints 14 @ (N1) Bears 39

Review: Despite the 25 point margin, this was a close, fun game. The Bears did everything you would expect from the 2006 Bears other than Devin Hester returning one to the house. They got a little ‘Good Rex’ (4-4 for 68 yards on the key TD drive to make it 25-14) but mostly bad Rex (7-22 otherwise). They got great running (196 yards on 46 rushes, helped control the ball for 37 minutes) and great, fumble-causing defense (The Bears forced four turnovers, including three fumbles). The Bears used fumbles and great Tampa-2 coverage to go up 16-0, but then the Saints got extremely pass-happy, to admittedly mostly good results. They got a score right before the half, and added another on a sweet 88-yard swing pass TD to Reggie Bush. But, after a missed field goal to potentially take a 17-16 lead, and a Drew Brees intentional grounding in the end zone, the Bears, as the snow got harder, got better. They sacked Brees and picked him off, and turned both failed drives into TDs of their own with runs by Cedric Benson and that pass to Berrian. They ended the game with an emphatic last TD by Thomas Jones, who scored on a Bush-esque cutback. It was beautiful, ol’ school, Chicago football.

Interesting/Memorable Plays: On the Bears TD drive in the 2^nd quarter to make it 16-0, they ran eight plays. All of the plays were rums by Thomas Jones, The drive went: Jones for 14, Jones for 2, Jones for 33, Jones for 7, Jones for 2, Jones for 2, Jones for 7 and Jones for 2.

Interesting/Memorable Play 2: On the Saints attempted field goal to make it 17-16, they used Billy Cundiff as their kicker (of missed 32-yard field goal against New England fame). The weird part about that is the Saints carried two kickers, John Carney was the normal kicker, while Cundiff was the long-field-goal and kick-off specialist. Because it was a 45-yard try, they used Cundiff, who, of course, missed it short.

9.) 2007 AFC Championship – (A3) Chargers 12 @ (A1) Patriots 21

Review: In a frustrating game for Patriots haters (and Mercury Morris), the Chargers played exceedingly determined on both sides of the ball except when they got inside the 20 yard line of the Patriots. Playing with a torn ACL, Phil Rivers gimped his way around the field, but threw for 211 yards on 19-37 throwing, including fitting some tight passes to V-Jack and Chris Chambers. On the other side, Brady was human (after his 26-28 inhuman performance against the Jags) throwing three interceptions, including one into the end zone when it was a 14-12 game. But the key to the game was the Chargers four times having to kick field goals in the red zone (amazingly, Kaeding was 4-4 in the game), while the Patriots had three TDs in their four Red Zone trips (the other being the Cromartie interception). The Chargers really did everything they could, especially on defense, to keep their offense in the game, but that offense just could not bang one home, a fittingly ironic way for the Chargers to lose their best shot to get to a Super Bowl in the Norv/Rivers era.

Interesting/Memorable Play: The Patriots ended this game in style, After Norv Turner stupidly punted on 4^th and 10 at the Patriots 36 with 9:21 left, the Patriots ran the last 9:13 off the clock in an epic 15 play drive that featured four straight 3^rd down conversions, including a 3^rd and 11 to start the drive. As ridiculous as the punt was, it is more ridiculous to think that the Chargers never even got the ball back.

Interesting/Memorable Play 2: On 3^rd and 1 from the Patriots 7 down 14-9, the Chargers were their closest ever to scoring a TD and taking a lead, but on a hand-off to Michael Turner, the late, great Junior Seau shot the gap and stoned Turner for a two yard loss. The Chargers kicked their 4^th field goal and never scored (or came that close to scoring) again.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: The game is infamous for LaDainian Tomlinson sitting on the bench with his dark-visored helmet on for much of the game after he had to leave the game early. Despite being universally respected (unlike Cutler who is very much hated), Tomlinson was hammered for the decision to sport this look, as many, I would assume, felt he was brooding his life away under the helmet and cloak.

8.) 2009 NFC Championship – (A5) Jets 17 @ (A1) Colts 30

Review: In truth, this was Peyton Manning’s best game ever as a Colts QB. Against the league’s best pass-defense, a team that had shut down the Chargers, holding them to 14 points the previous week, and held the Saints to 10 offensive points in the Super Dome, and had been incredible all year, Manning went 26-39 for 377 yards and three TDs (on three straight drives). The big producers were Pierre Garcon (11 catches for 151 yards and a TD) and Austin Collie (7 catches for 123 yards and a score). This all happened despite the Jets starting out the game really well. The Jets answered the Colts first field goal with a 1-play 80-yard TD to Braylon Edwards, and answered the Colts next field goal with another TD set up with a WildCat throw by Brad Smith to Cotchery. After recovering a fumble, the whole stadium might have been nervous, but Manning and Co. had been in this spot before, trailing 21-3 to the Pats in 2006. The hidden secret behind the 17-6 deficit was the fact that the Jets hadn't really stopped the Colts, but the Colts were forced into two field goals. That stopped happening, and that lead quickly disappeared. Right before half, Manning turned the switch and hit Austin Collie with three straight passes for 80 yards, including an absolutely perfectly thrown 46 yard pass. In the 2^nd half, the big plays stopped coming for the Jets, and Manning just got hotter, repeatedly hitting tiny windows and running up and down against the Jets. In the end, the Colts scored 30 points on a team that averaged giving up 15, threw for 377 yards against a team that averaged giving up 154, and gained 461 yards against a team that averaged giving up 252. They dominated the best defense in the NFL in the last real vintage Manning Colts Offense performance.

Interesting/Memorable Play: After having their opponents miss five out of six field goal attempts in the 1^st two rounds of the playoffs (including four of those misses from under 45 yards and three from under 40), the Jets saw Jay Feely go 1-3, missing from 44 when the score was 0-0, and a crucial miss from 52 on their opening drive of the 2^nd half. Karma's a bitch.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: Coming into the game, the Jets touted their ground & pound gameplan, where the ground was in reference to their NFL-best running attack. The Colts came into the game with their NFL-worst running game. So of course, the Jets run for just 86 yards on 29 carries (2.9 ypc) while the Colts go for 101 on 24 carries (4.2 ypc).

Inteesting/Memorable Fact 2: From the 1:19 mark of the 1^st half of this game to the 1:23 mark of the 1^st half of the 2010 AFC Championship Game (so encompassing 59:56 of the 120 in the two games), the Colts and Steelers outscored the Jets 48-0 (24-0 for the Colts in the remaining 31:19, and 24-0 Steelers in the first 28:37). In the other 60:04 in those two games, the Jets outscored the Steelers and Colts 36-6.