The return of the National Football League season is a cause for celebration in millions of households. The NFL season kicks off each September, and fans know there will be no shortage of memorable games as the season unfolds over 18 weeks of the regular season and the ensuing playoffs. As fans prepare for another exciting NFL season, they can look back on these memorable matchups from the last decade.
· Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs, January 23, 2022: This exciting matchup was entertaining throughout, but fans will likely point to the fourth quarter of the game as some of the most memorable football they’ve ever seen. Star quarterbacks Josh Allen of the Bills and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs put on a show, and the teams combined for 25 points over the final two minutes of regulation. Those final two minutes included a stunning drive orchestrated by Mahomes, who led the Chiefs on a 44-yard drive in just 13 seconds to score a game-tying field goal and force overtime. The Chiefs won the subsequent overtime coin toss and scored a touchdown on their first drive to pull off an improbable 42-36 win.
· Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns, December 14, 2020: This instant classic was witnessed in person by just under 12,000 fans, as restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic were in place. Those lucky fans got a night to remember, as the game proved to be the highest scoring battle between the two AFC North rivals. Lamar Jackson led a Ravens comeback after briefly exiting the game with cramps. The teams combined to score 35 points in the fourth quarter, including a 44-yard strike from Jackson to wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown on his first play after returning. The Ravens won the thriller 47-42.
· Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Rams, November 19, 2018: Though the 54-51 final score in the Rams’ favor suggests this game was all about offense, even the defenses got in on this high-scoring affair, combining to score 21 of the game’s 105 points. This matchup was so high-scoring that the Chiefs’ 51 points remain the most points ever scored by a team on the losing end in NFL history. Fourteen touchdowns and 56 first downs marked a game that was iced when Rams quarterback Jared Goff threw a go-ahead, 40-yard touchdown pass to Gerald Everett with less than two minutes to play.
· New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons, Super Bowl LI, February 5, 2017: Sometimes a season’s most memorable game unfolds on its biggest stage, and that was certainly the case with the 2016 NFL campaign. Super Bowl LI is sometimes referred to as “28-3,” a nickname that alludes to the Patriots’ stunning comeback against a Falcons team that looked all but certain to secure the first Super Bowl victory in franchise history. The Falcons dominated much of the game’s first three quarters, building a 28-3 lead midway through the third quarter. But Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and running back James White went to work in the third quarter and beyond, and the Patriots rallied to score 31 unanswered points en route to a 34-28 overtime victory.
The NFL promises to produce more excitement in the season ahead, and fans can’t wait to see which games from the coming campaign prove unforgettable.