The top 10 Biggest Playoff Collapses in NFL History

What is a playoff collapse, you may be asking? In its simplest form, a playoff collapse happens when one team is either up or big. They should have won the game or been favored heavily, and that same team lost rather fast and unexpectedly. They not only shift the balance of power in a single game but can also have long-term effects on players, coaches, and even franchises. In this post, we'll examine the ten most disastrous playoff collapses ever to grace an NFL field, crucial plays from those games, statistics ensuring their infamy, and how each collapse has reverberated through history.

1. 2018 Divisional round, NFC Playoffs: Minneapolis Miracle

Game Details

• Date: January 14, 2018
• Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints
• Vikings 29, Saints 24 (final)

The Collapse

With future Hall of Fame QB Drew Brees leading the New Orleans Saints, a field goal with 25 seconds left put them ahead for good at 24-23. It also would set the stage for what was to come, an ending that will be one of those moments replayed forever in NFL lore.

The Vikings' final score was a 61-yard touchdown pass from Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs on the last play of the game. Williams failed to make the tackle for some reason, leaving everything open for Diggs, who ran free into the end zone as time expired.

Aftermath

The "Minneapolis Miracle" play immediately went down in NFL lore. The Saints' loss was heartbreaking, as it derailed their opportunity to reach a second Super Bowl. The blow of that loss really hurt teams' psyches in their following runs into the post-season.

2. Super Bowl LI, 2017: The 28-3 Game

Game Details

• Date: February 5, 2017
• Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots
• Game score: Patriots 34, Falcons 28 (OT)

The Collapse

The Atlanta Falcons had a massive 28-3 lead over the New England Patriots in the third quarter of what's now known as one of, or even the greatest, Super Bowl collapses ever. However, that is when Tom Brady and the Patriots launched one of their unprecedented comebacks.

Atlanta had elected not to run the ball and attempt a field goal with just over four minutes left in regulation.

Aftermath

The Falcons were haunted by this loss for years. To this day, it looms as one of the most famous collapses in sports history, resulting in many changes among its coaching staff and roster while forever ushering back into vogue "28-3". The Patriots run secured Tom Brady's place as the best quarterback in history.

3. 2000 AFC Wild Card: The Victim of the Music City Miracle

Game Details

• Date: January 8, 2000
• Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans
• Game score: Titans 22, Bills 16 

The Collapse

The Buffalo Bills believed their field goal had won the game, putting them up 16-15 with just 16 seconds remaining. But on the following kickoff, Tennessee executed a disputed lateral play that ended when Kevin Dyson ran 75 yards for a touchdown as time expired.

Aftermath

The play was dubbed "Music City Miracle," it helped send the Titans to that year's Super Bowl. It was also the start of a 17-year playoff drought (the longest active streak in the NFL at that point) for Buffalo.

4. The Comeback (1993 AFC Wild Card)

Game Details

• Date: January 3, 1993
• Houston Oilers vs. Buffalo Bills
• Bills 41, Oilers 38 OT

The Collapse

The Houston Oilers appeared to be in control with a 35-3 lead early into the third quarter. The conversation then turned to the Bills and a mention of their 1993 playoff loss at Houston, after which Reich, the team's backup quarterback that season, led his teammates in staging the largest comeback in an NFL postseason game.

Aftermath

In NFL circles, this game is called "The Comeback." It destroyed the spirit of a young and ascendant Oilers franchise that would move to Tennessee quickly. It was an otherwise shining moment during the Bills' run of four straight Super Bowl losses in the first half of that decade.

5. 1972 AFC Divisional Round: The Immaculate Reception

Game Details

• Date: December 23, 1972
• Los Angeles Raiders vs Pittsburgh Steelers
• Steelers 13, Raiders 7

The Collapse

The Raiders held a 7-6 lead with 22 seconds remaining when the Steelers faced fourth and ten at their 40-yard line. What followed would become one of the most contentious plays in NFL history.

Aftermath

It was called the "Immaculate Reception," and it signaled the start of the Steelers' dominance in the 1970s. It was a loss that only motivated the Raiders to despise the Steelers forever.

6. The Fumble, 1988 AFC Championship Game

The Collapse

With the Cleveland Browns down seven and driving for what looked like a game-tying touchdown as time wound off, running back Earnest Byner looked to be headed into the end zone when he fumbled at the 3-yard line in a play remembered as "The Fumble".

Aftermath

For years to come, it would be known as "The Fumble" and stand alongside all the other tragic moments in Cleveland sports lore. It cost the Browns a trip to their first Super Bowl and cemented its status as the home of all things miserable in sports. It would haunt Byner for the rest of his superb career, a choker on what had been an inspiring run.

7. Wide Right (Super Bowl XXV, 1991)

Game Details

• Date: January 27, 1991
• Buffalo Bills vs. New York Giants
• Final: Giants 20, Bills 19

The Collapse

This certainly was not a 'collapse' in the classic sense of things, but it makes this list due to how dramatic the ending was and what precedents marked that day moving forward through Bill's franchise history. The field went on the line as Bills kicker Scott Norwood attempted a 47-yarder with eight seconds remaining in Super Bowl XXV.

Aftermath

The term "Wide Right" entered Super Bowl lore. The game is often remembered as the Bills' first of four straight Super Bowl losses, which remains an NFL record.

8. The Monday Night Miracle (2000 AFC Wild Card)

Game Details

• Date: January 8, 2001
• Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars
• Final: Jaguars 62, Dolphins 7

Aftermath

The game was the end of Dan Marino's career and a sight nobody wanted anyone to remember Elway with perhaps the best team in his four trips, while Miami played like it belonged in one more pass league. It also set in motion the end of an era for Miami, as it would take nearly 20 years before the Dolphins truly did find their franchise quarterback again following Marino's retirement.

9. The Tuck Rule Game (2002 AFC Divisional Round)

Game Details

• Date: January 19, 2002
• Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots
• Final: Patriots 16, Raiders 13 (OT)

The Collapse

The Raiders seemed to have wrapped up the win over New England when CB Charles Woodson stripped sack Patriots QB Tom Brady (fumble recovered by Oak). But on replay, it was determined to be an incomplete pass because of the controversial "tuck rule."

Aftermath

Many people view this game as the start of the Patriots dynasty. It was a particularly bitter loss for the Raiders, who felt robbed of a win. The game also resulted in the elimination of the tuck rule in 2013.

10. The Fail Mary (2015 NFC Championship Game)

Game Details

• Date: January 18, 2015
• Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks
• Conclusion: Seahawks 28, Packers 22 (OT)

The Collapse

Green Bay led 19-7 with less than two minutes to play. What happened next was a string of improbable events culminating in the single most miraculous conference championship comeback ever.

Aftermath

For Green Bay, this was the defeat that needed to lose a locker room. They also brought up whether head coach Mike McCarthy handled crucial decision-making properly. And for the Seahawks, to their second straight Super Bowl berth, which would end as a similarly gut-wrenching defeat at the hands of New England.

These implosions are the stuff of NFL legend and often tend to draw focus away from what was a winning season or career.  For those of us who watch as fans, these moments remind us why we love sports: the unpredictability or drama and raw emotion. They build legends and goats, stoke rivalries, and bring us tales we will pass down for generations. That's what means the NFL playoffs are one of most enthralling events in sports, even if it angers some people with collapses like this.