Top 10 Greatest AFC/NFC Conference Championship Games
January 10, 2013 11:03 am
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10) AFC - December 31, 1972; Pittsburgh
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Miami Dolphins 21 - Pittsburgh Steelers 17
The Dolphins has swept through the season 14-0 and won their Divisional Round game.
The Steelers had beaten the Oakland Raiders the previous week in the “Immaculate Reception” game 13-7 for the first playoff victory in franchise history.
The Steelers scored first after lineman Gerry Mullins recovered a Terry Bradshaw fumble in the end zone. Bradshaw was injured on the play and Terry Hanratty took over at quarterback.
In the second quarter Dolphins punter Larry Seiple faked a punt and ran 37-yards for a first down setting up a nine-yard touchdown pass by Earl Morrall to Larry Csonka to tie the score at seven.
After a Pittsburgh field goal, Bob Griese replaced Morall at quarterbac,. It was Griese's first action since he broke his leg in Week Five.
Griese completed a 52-yard pass that set up a 2-yard Jim Kiick touchdown run then on the next possession Kiick followed with a 3-yard TD to put the Dolphins up 21-10
Bradshaw returned with about seven minutes left in the game and threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Al Young to close the score to 21-17 but the Steelers could get no closer.
Bradshaw threw interceptions to Nick Buoniconti and Mike Kolen on the Steelers’ final two possessions to end the game.
The Dolphins went on to Los Angeles for Super Bowl VII where they beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 to complete their perfect 17-0 season.
In 1966, after the NFL and AFL had begun an ever more expensive bidding war for talent, they came to an agreement to merge.
The two leagues agreed to:
- Keep separate schedules through the 1969 season.
- Run a unified draft of college players
- Play a world championship game beginning at the end of the 1966 season
- Make the merger official in 1970 with the leagues forming two conferences.
They also agreed to incorporate the history and records of both leagues into the new NFL but the AFL name and logo would be retired.
From that point, league championship games became conference championships to decide the Super Bowl participants. Even though the conference championships games are overshadowed by the Super Bowl and don’t hold the same prestige, there still have been a number of hard-fought games in the AFC and NFC.
Read more: Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New York Giants, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers
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Vernon Davis not Vernon Wells.
"This was the first playoff overtime under the new scoring rules..."
Steelers@Denver was. Remember the first play touchdown pass from Tebow?
Then there was also the 1994 NFC Championship game, which was full of anticipation. Two powerhouses, the Cowboys and the 49ers. The previous season, Jimmy Johnson guaranteed a victory right before the game, and the Cowboys won. 'This was the third straight season that the Cowboys and 49ers met in the NFC Championship Game, with Dallas winning the first two conference title games. San Francisco quarterback Steve Young still faced the pressure of "never being able to win the big ones", while Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman entered the game with a 7–0 win-loss record as a starter in the playoffs.'
I remember Eric Davis returning a pick-6 right away.
Sweet.
Thanks for the catch on both mistakes. I try to be very careful with names and I missed on that one. On the other, I didn't forget the Steelers@Denver game, I meant to say first championship game overtime. I'm getting both fixed but it's still embarrassing.
That 1994 game was on my list of finalists. Steve Young not only had to face the pressure of replacing a Hall of Fame quarterback, he had intense pressure to win a Super Bowl. Definitely one worth remembering.