100 Years: 3 of my favorite Games!
2 min read
There have been many memorable games that I’ve either watched on t.v. or have been to since 1976.
The first three games that popped into memory and not in a particular order are these:
1) The Catch.
2) The Comeback
3) Revenge
The Catch:
January 10, 1981, my Buccaneers lost to the Cowboys 38-0 and I was cheering on Joe Montana’s Forty-Niners in the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
It was third down and three yards to go, Montana rolled out of the pocket to his right and pumped the ball and at the last possible moment, he tosses the ball to Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown!
The touchdown came on a 14 play, 83-yard drive kicking Dallas out of the playoffs!
The final score was 28-27 San Francisco.
The Comeback:
On January 3, 1993, in Rich Stadium the playoff game between the Houston Oilers and the hometown Buffalo Bills were all but over with the Oilers up by 32 points, the score was 35-3 Oilers up.
Buffalo did the impossible by overcoming that deficit and taking the game into overtime and finally winning with a game-winning field goal by Steve Christie.
I watched in total disbelief as did the 75,141 people in attendance!
Revenge:
This game is now second in my all-time favorite games, Just behind the Eagles/Bucs NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME in 2003. (2002 season)
Coming off of the Bert Emmanuel catch in the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME in the previous season, Raymond James Stadium was a BUZZ on Monday Night Football.
The Bucs were oozing with REVENGE on their minds!
All of the “experts” were expecting a defensive struggle because the Bucs defense was very good, while the Rams defense was not good.
The Bucs offense was not high flying, but the Rams were known as, “The Greatest Show on Turf”.
With that said, it was opposite of expectations!
Both teams were in the hunt for the playoffs and hungry!
The stars of the game were Marshal Faulk and Warrick Dunn.
Faulk was 22/79 yards rushing, 3 TDs and 4/53 yards receiving and 1 TD.
Dunn was 22/145 yards rushing, 3 TDs and 5/53 yards receiving.
Dunn and Faulk were the stars for sure! Wowing fans of both teams throughout the night!
The week 16 match upended on a crazy drive that included a pitch back scramble play, including Dunn and Shawn King, plus a 15-yard penalty for a late hit out of bounds.
The Bucs converted a key fourth-down play from a King scramble and dive.
At the end of the 80-yard drive, Warrick Dunn jumped and dove into the end zone from the three-yard line to take the lead with 48 seconds left in the game.
The Rams last-ditch effort ended with a defensive interception by John Lynch sealing the victory and REVENGE with a 38-35 score!
These are just three of many, many memorable moments I remember from the NFL!
