Introduction The The National Football League NFL began play in 1920 Its teams have played thousands of games Hundreds of them have been played for championships Countless games have come down to the final seconds So what makes a game one of the best ever The greatest games usually have something big on the line They often feature legendary players remarkable plays or thrilling finishes And some games have a long lasting impact on the sport Read on to learn more about the best games in NFL history
10 Garo Yepremian far left was the hero of the day for Miami after making the game winning field goal Christmas Dinner Delayed On On Christmas Day in 1971 NFL fans got a gift of extra football from the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs Squaring off in the first round of the American Football Conference AFC playoffs the teams played the longest game in NFL history The Dolphins and Chiefs met on a muddy field in Kansas City's old Municipal Stadium They were evenly matched with identical 10 3 1 records Each team's offense ranked in the NFL's top 10 and both defenses were among the top five in the league So it was no surprise when they were tied 10 10 at halftime and 17 17 after three quarters Chiefs running back Ed Podolak had a memorable day He rushed for 85 yards caught 8 passes for 110 yards and had three long kickoff returns Podolak accounted for 350 total yards on the day which remained an NFL playoff record through 2016 He also scored two touchdowns Podolak's 3 yard run gave the Chiefs a 24 17 lead heading into the final minutes But Miami wouldn't go away With 1 minute 25 seconds to play Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese threw a 5 yard touchdown pass to tight end Marv Fleming That tied the game yet again But Podolak returned the Dolphins kickoff 78 yards to the Miami 22 yard line well within the range of Hall of Fame kicker Jan Stenerud
But it was not to be Stenerud's day He'd already missed a 30 yard field goal in the second quarter Then he missed again from 32 yards out with 35 seconds to play On the opening possession of overtime Dolphins star linebacker Nick Buoniconti blocked Stenerud's 42 yard attempt Miami kicker Garo Yepremian later came up short on a 52 yarder The struggle continued into the second overtime period Finally bruising Miami running back Larry Csonka ripped off a 29 yard run to set up Yepremian for a 37 yard field goal to win the game 27 24 The rivals had battled for 82 minutes and 40 seconds In the end the Dolphins survived and Christmas dinner could finally be served
