Supplied – Keith Allison5. Roger Craig fumbles away the three-peat
The 1991 NFC championship game saw a matchup of powerhouses: pitting the 13-3 New York Giants against the 14-2 San Francisco 49ers. The game carried significance for the 49ers especially, as they were attempting to win a third straight title game, a feat that no other team had accomplished.
It was a defensive battle from the outset — with the 49ers taking a slim 13-9 lead into the fourth quarter. Although the Giants were able to pull within two with a field goal, it looked like their time was running out. The 49ers had the ball with less than three minutes left in the game, and all they had to do was run out the clock.
With 2:36 left in the game however, 49ers running back Roger Craig fumbled the ball on the team’s 40-yard line, allowing the Giants to drive the other way and ultimately scored the game-winning field goal. There still hasn’t been a team that has won three consecutive Super Bowls to this day.
4. Trey Junkin loses the handle
The football gods would even the score in the 49ers-Giants rivalry 13 years after Roger Craig’s fumble.
This time, it was the Giants coughing up a lead, and a much more substantial one at that. The Giants held a 38-22 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but allowed the 49ers to storm back and take a 39-38 lead.
The Giants were able to get into field goal range, but long snapper Trey Junkin, who had been signed out of retirement a week prior to the game, botched the snap, and the holder’s weak pass attempt fell incomplete.
Interestingly enough, NFL Vice President of Officiating Mike Pereira did admit after the game that a pass interference call against a 49ers player was missed, and that the down should have been replayed.
3. Tony Romo can’t hold the ball
Truly a play worthy of Tony Romo, the last second botched hold in the 2006 AFC Wildcard game against the Seattle Seahawks reminded many people of how much they love to hate the Dallas Cowboys.
Those same Cowboys hadn’t won a playoff game in nearly 11 years when they were faced with a 19-yard chip shot to almost assure them a spot in the NFC Championship.
What happened next was almost too implausible to believe.
Romo was tasked with holding the ball, but fumbled the snap. He attempted to run the ball to the end zone, but was tackled, ended the Cowboys’ season.
The Cowboys would have to wait until 2009 to win a playoff game, and haven’t made the Super Bowl since 1995.
2. Wide right
A 47-yard field goal is not an easy feat, but given the stage and expectations for the Buffalo Bills, it still qualifies as a huge blunder.
The Buffalo Bills rode an explosive offence to their first-ever Super Bowl appearance, and were met by a stingy New York Giants defence that had surrendered the fewest points in the league during the regular season.
It was a matchup worthy of a close game, and that’s exactly what the fans got, with the Giants leading 19-17 when the Bills attempted their last second field goal. Scott Norwood would go on to miss the kick, cementing his dubious place in history in the process. This is still the only Super Bowl that has ever been decided by a field goal with no time remaining.
1. Seahawks call the wrong play
Everyone and their grandmother expected the Seahawks to run the ball, but Pete Carroll showed us all why there are no guarantees in football.
After Jermaine Kearse’s amazing, juggling catch brought the Seahawks to the red zone, a touchdown seemed all but assured. After all, they had Marshawn Lynch, AKA “Beast Mode.” The odds of the Patriots stopping him from the one-yard line seemed slim.
But Lynch didn’t even get a chance. Carroll called a pass play, and rookie Malcolm Butler picked off Russell Wilson at the goal line, and one of the most unlikely Super Bowl victories of all-time came to be.
