Special Teams

1991 Lions & Browns. 1991 was simply the best year in the history of the Lions franchise, as they accomplished things they hadn't done before (or since). Overcoming injuries and tragedy, they finished one painful step short of the Super Bowl. Meanwhile for the Browns, it was the first year in the head coaching career of Bill Belichick. As you'll hear, he's very much the same head coach now he was back then - except his surprising decisions and bold moves didn't quite work out. Why? Find out in I Love the 90s: The 1991 Lions & Bill Belichick's Browns. 

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This may have been the best AFC Championship game of the past 30 years. In 1996, the solid-but-unspectacular Colts nearly upset the Steelers in a game that had it all: Controversial officiating, unlikely heroes (Willie Williams? Ernie Mills?), and a last-gasp play that stopped hearts across the NFL. We spotlight players like budding superstar Kordell Stewart and Captain Comeback Jim Harbaugh. Oh, and the drama for the Colts was just beginning after the loss.

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The Broncos were headed to the Super Bowl. The Jaguars were the fun new kid on the block. It wasn't supposed to be a fair fight. But after ending the Bills careers of Jim Kelly & Marv Levy, the Jaguars shocked the football world behind QB Mark Brunell as they derailed Denver's championship run. How did they do it - and why didn't the Jaguars turn into the expected dynasty fans thought they'd be? Meanwhile, Denver lost more than a game, as they whiffed on a chance to be immortal. It's the defeat John Elway called the most embarrassing of his career until that point.

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Two years after the Padres & Rockies extra-inning Game #163 thriller, the Tigers and Twins went at it in a tie-breaking game to decide the American League Central title. A tight-battle became a 12-inning roller-coaster in the blink of an eye. When is a hit-by-pitch that could’ve won the game not a hit-by-pitch despite evidence to the contrary? Just what was one manager thinking leaving his closer in as long as he did? And how did a pinch-runner, who cost his team the win earlier in the game with an unthinkable gaffe, turn into the unlikely hero? Plus, we take a deep dive into players like Joe Nathan, Fernando Rodney, the meat of the Tigers lineup and how the Twins have become the model for small-market success.

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In 2007 the Padres & Rockies engaged in a game for the ages, as after 162 games the two teams were tied for the National League Wild Card. A tie-breaking contest raged into 13 innings of punch-counter punch - and still, 13 years later, the winning run never touched home plate. How did that happen - and how did Jason turn into the person who broke that news to one of the teams? The second-best closer we’ve ever seen had the worst two-game run of his career at the worst possible time, and one of the teams overall strategies certainly was, well, let’s just say different. Plus, we go in-depth on players like Jake Peavy, Adrian Gonzalez, Khalil Greene, Matt Holliday and more.

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The last time the Browns were in the playoffs was so long ago, there had only been one Spider-Man movie. But oh what a game it was. The 2003 post-season thriller between the Steelers and Browns had it all: Backup QB’s ascending to glory and then quickly flaming back out, a potential hero who saw his fame turn on one dropped pass, and had the Browns had just one more second on the clock things could’ve been different. It’s Kordell Stewart, Tommy Maddox, Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb, the strange beginning of the Browns season and the even stranger ending of Butch Davis.

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Sometimes NFL games are so famous they get a name. Hence why the 2016 playoff classic between the Seahawks and the Vikings is known as the Blair Walsh Game. The stunning miss on the short field goal gave an unexpected win to Seattle, and began an epic odyssey for Minnesota. The game featured a boss move by an 88-year old former head coach, a broken nose, an Odell Beckham-like catch and one jaw-dropping sequence you could point to and say “That’s Russell Wilson’s career in one play.” As direct and indirect results of this game, the Seahawks changed the focus of their team, and the Vikings cleaned house. Oh, and Blair Walsh ended up kicking for the Seahawks after. It’s Special Teams: The Blair Walsh Game.

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Nearly a decade after instant icon Tim Tebow’s fifteen minutes of NFL fame, we look back at the playoff victory he piloted the Broncos to in one of the most memorable NFL games of the new millennium. Winning an overtime thriller against the Steelers could’ve been the springboard to NFL super-stardom - instead it was the last big moment of his career. How did Tebow do it against a great Steelers defense? Part of it had to do with the surprising circumstances of who was on the field for Pittsburgh on the fateful game-deciding play in OT - a play that had many NFL fans unsure if the game was even over after it occurred. We delve into a young - and very different - Antonio Brown, the beginning of Demaryius Thomas’ short run as the best WR in the NFL, and the coup-de-gras of how it all went south for Tebow right after.

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The Rams Greatest Show on Turf thrilled and excited football fans everywhere at the turn of the 21st century, as their offense was like nothing we had seen in the NFL in years. But like everything else in life, it had to come to an end. But, whew - how it did so is worthy of it’s own five-act play. A season of seismic change at QB for the Rams culminated with a head coaching decision in the showdown against the Panthers that is still baffling to this day. We spotlight the careers of Marc Bulger and Jake Delhomme, and break down X Clown - the play that ended the double-overtime thriller in lightning-quick fashion.

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Dan Marino and the Fake Spike Game. It sounds like a Harry Potter title, but it’s one of the most iconic moments in NFL history. This week we look at the Special Teams involved in the 1994 mid-season NFL classic. The Jets get more criticism than they deserve for this play, and the promising head coaching career of Pete Carroll took a huge detour due to the fallout from it. An even bigger debate: does Dan Marino’s career still have the same reputation without this highlight? Plus we spotlight two other players featured in the game and the winding paths the rest of their careers took.

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