A special time of year
The NFL playoffs are a time for Cinderella stories, high-stakes action, and the race between the best athletes in the world for one championship trophy. Over the course of the league’s history, there have also been many famous upsets that left favorites wondering what happened to their season.
With the playoffs set to get underway with the Wild Card round this coming weekend, we thought we’d take a trip back in time to revisit several of the largest upsets both recently and across the entirety of NFL postseason history.
Here are five of the most devastating and inspiring NFL playoff upsets.
NFL playoff upsets that can’t be forgotten
Mahomes Magic strikes in Houston
The Kansas City Chiefs were nine-point favorites against the Houston Texans in the 2020 AFC Divisional round but they found themselves in a 24-0 hole with 9:56 remaining in the second quarter.
The Chiefs’ receivers couldn’t catch passes and the special teams messed up two punts that led to touchdowns. After being -476 pre-game moneyline favorites, they were longer than +265 at the peak.
Undeterred, Mahomes and co. went on to win the rest of the game 51-7, walking out with a 51-31 victory.
The 24-point deficit they overcame was tied for the fourth-largest in NFL playoff history, and it was the only time a team came from 20+ down to win by 20+ points in the playoffs. Mahomes ended his day with five passing touchdowns, and Houston coach Bill O’Brien didn’t make it another year in Texas. While this was not an upset based on pre-game odds, it was too unlikely of a victory a few minutes into the second quarter to not include it.
Broadway Joe takes down Baltimore
The Baltimore Colts were 18-point favorites over the New York Jets in Super Bowl III, the NFL’s first championship match to bear the “Super Bowl” name.
The Colts went 13-1 in the regular season and shut out the Cleveland Browns 34-0 to book their ticket to the final game of the season. Nonetheless, Joe “Joe Cool” Namath appeared at the Miami Touchdown Club three days before the game to personally guarantee a victory.
Namath backed his bold assertion up and helped the Jets build a 16-0 lead in the fourth quarter, prompting the Colts to switch to backup QB Johnny Unitas. He led them to their only touchdown of the game, but the Jets secured a 16-7 win and became the first AFL team to win a Super Bowl championship.
The Greatest Show on Turf gets canceled
The Greatest Show on Turf was a nickname bestowed upon the high scoring offense of the St. Louis Rams during the 1999, 2000, and 2001 campaigns. They won the Super Bowl in 2000, but found themselves out of the playoffs in the Wild Card the next season after falling to the New Orleans Saints.
expected to dominate a team led by the coach-quarterback combination of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady
Ready for revenge, the Rams stormed back to the Super Bowl in 2002 and were installed as 14-point favorites over the New England Patriots. MVP Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and others were expected to dominate a team led by the coach-quarterback combination of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
Despite all odds, Belichick’s defense kept the Rams, who averaged more than 31 points per game, to just 17. Brady managed the offense well and helped them set up to kick what became a game-winning field goal with seven seconds left as they won Super Bowl XXXVI, 20-17.
No ACL, no problem
Phillip Rivers is well-known for many reasons, one of them being his toughness. He took that to another level during the 2008 playoffs when he led a massive upset over Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts despite tearing his ACL mid-game.
Although Manning had his way with the San Diego Chargers’ defense, racking up 402 yards, three TDs, and two INTs, Rivers responded with 264 yards, three TDs, and only one pick. He also led the game’s final scoring drive, a touchdown that put his team up by four decisive points.
The Chargers managed to overcome being 11-point underdogs and went on to face the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. They ultimately fell short, but Rivers played the entirety of that game as well and cemented his status as someone with enormous cajones (coincidentally, he also has ten children).
Electric Eli and the Helmet Catch
Eli Manning’s Hall of Fame case is one of the most divisive topics in sports. He didn’t produce dominant regular-season performances but led two unbelievable playoff runs resulting in two Super Bowl MVPs.
The first of Eli’s two championships came in Super Bowl XLII against the Patriots team that just defeated Rivers. New England was installed as a 12.5-point favorite following a combined 18-0 regular and postseason, while the Giants only got into the playoffs as a 10-6 Wild Card.
Neither team had much success running the ball, but the Giants found themselves with the ball in their hands as the clock wound down. On third and five from their own 43-yard line, Eli dropped back, evaded a couple of sacks, and fired a pass downfield that teammate David Tyree caught with the back of his helmet.
Less than a minute later, Eli connected with Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard touchdown and the Giants won the Super Bowl.