Portal:American football/Selected game or play/1
Ghost to the Post is a significant play in NFL history. It refers specifically to a 42-yard pass from Ken Stabler to Dave Casper, nicknamed "The Ghost" after the cartoon character, that set up a game tying field goal in the final seconds of a double-overtime playoff game played between Casper's Oakland Raiders and the then-Baltimore Colts on December 24, 1977. Casper also caught the last pass of the game, a 10-yard touchdown pass. The game is currently the fourth-longest in NFL history, and has become synonymous with the play that made it famous.
Portal:American football/Selected game or play/2
The final play of Super Bowl XXXIV (also known as The Tackle and One Yard Short) relates to the memorable last play between the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans on January 30, 2000. It resulted in Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson being tackled by Rams linebacker Mike Jones at the one-yard line, preserving a 23–16 Rams victory. It remains one of the most memorable plays in NFL history.
Portal:American football/Selected game or play/3
Eli Manning's pass to David Tyree was an American football play involving the two aforementioned New York Giants players in the final two minutes of Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008. It was instrumental in the Giants' 17–14 upset victory over the New England Patriots. It featured Manning escaping from the grasp of three Patriots defensive players, followed by Tyree making a leaping catch by pressing the ball against his helmet. Steve Sabol of NFL Films called it "the greatest play the Super Bowl has ever produced."The play was also named by NFL Films "The Play of the Decade (2000s)". The official name of the play was "The Helmet Catch".
Portal:American football/Selected game or play/4
The 2012 Packers–Seahawks officiating controversy was the final play during an American football game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL) that occurred on September 24, 2012 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington. In a nationally-televised game on ESPN's Monday Night Football during the 2012 NFL referee lockout, the Seahawks defeated the Packers, 14–12, in controversial fashion.
On the final play of the game, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw a Hail Mary pass into the end zone intended for wide receiver Golden Tate. Both Tate and Packers defender M. D. Jennings got their hands on the ball while attempting to gain possession. The two officials near the play initially gave separate rulings of touchdown and touchback, before ruling the players had simultaneous possession, resulting in a Seahawks game-winning touchdown. Prior to the catch, Tate shoved Packers cornerback Sam Shields with both hands, which the NFL later acknowledged should have drawn an offensive pass interference penalty that would have negated the touchdown and resulted in a Packers victory.
The controversial ending followed weeks of criticism regarding the quality of officiating by replacement officials employed by the NFL during the lockout. Two days after the game, the NFL and the NFL Referees Association announced they had reached an agreement to end the lockout. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that the negative attention the game drew to the referee situation was an impetus for ending the labor dispute.
Portal:American football/Selected game or play/5
The Miracle at the New Meadowlands, also called "New Miracle at the New Meadowlands< and "Miracle at the Meadowlands III" is the term used by sportscasters and Philadelphia Eagles fans to refer to an improbable come-from-behind win by the Philadelphia Eagles over the New York Giants on December 19, 2010 at New Meadowlands Stadium. This game was in Week 15 of the 2010 NFL season. The Eagles had been manhandled by the Giants for the first three quarters and trailed by 21 points with under eight minutes to play in the 4th quarter. They went on to score four unanswered touchdowns in the final seven minutes and 28 seconds of play. The final score to win the game, 38–31, came off a punt returned for a touchdown by DeSean Jackson as time expired. The game ranked at #1 among the top 20 games of the 2010 NFL regular season.
Portal:American football/Selected game or play/6
The Heidi Game or Heidi Bowl was an American football game played on November 17, 1968. The home team, the Oakland Raiders, defeated the New York Jets, 43–32. The game is remembered for its exciting finish, as Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to overcome a 32–29 New York lead. The Heidi Game obtained its name because the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) controversially broke away from the game with the Jets still winning to air the television film Heidi at 7 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone.
In the late 1960s, few professional football games took longer than two and a half hours to play, and the Jets–Raiders three-hour time slot was thought to be adequate. A high-scoring contest, together with a number of injuries and penalties for the two bitter American Football League rivals, caused the game to run long. NBC executives had ordered that Heidi must begin on time, but given the exciting game, they decided to postpone the start of the film and continue football coverage. As 7 p.m. approached, many members of the public called NBC to inquire about the schedule, to complain or opine, jamming NBC's switchboards, and the change could not be communicated. Heidi began as scheduled, preempting the final moments of the game and the two Oakland touchdowns in the eastern half of the country, to the outrage of viewers.
The Heidi Game led to a change in the way professional football is shown on network television; games are shown to their conclusion before evening programming begins. To ensure that network personnel could communicate under similar circumstances, special telephones (dubbed "Heidi phones") were installed, with a connection to a different telephone exchange from other network phones. In 1997, the Heidi Game was voted the most memorable regular season game in pro football history.