NFL Quarter Century: Top 25 games, from Super Bowls and comebacks to iconic plays and even Tim Tebow

The NFL is entering its 2025 season, which means we’re a quarter of the way through this century of football. All week long, Yahoo Sports Senior NFL Writer Frank Schwab will dive into the past 25 years in the league.

More: All-Quarter Century Team | 25 best draft picks | Top 25 teams

For a long stretch of the 1970s and 1980s and even most of the 1990s, there weren’t many great Super Bowls. That has changed.

A list of the best 25 games of the past 25 years has to include an inordinate amount of Super Bowls. Throughout this century, the ultimate game each season has consistently delivered. When the biggest audiences have tuned in, the teams have brought their game up.

Here’s our top 25 games since the start of the 2000 season.

25. Tebowmania: Broncos walk off Steelers

The height of Tebowmania. The 2011 Broncos were one of the most entertaining teams you’ll ever see, and this was their final unbelievable win. Tim Tebow, who threw for 316 yards against the Steelers in this wild-card game, hit Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime for an 80-yard walk-off touchdown. Tebow would start only one more game at quarterback in the NFL, when the Broncos were eliminated the following week.

24. Miracle at the New Meadowlands

When you look through this list, it’s very hard for a regular-season game to make it. This one was special. Everyone remembers DeSean Jackson’s punt return touchdown with time expired to complete the Eagles’ comeback win over the Giants late in the 2010 season, but what is lost is that Michael Vick went nuclear in the second half to drag Philadelphia back in the game. This was as dramatic as a regular-season game can get.

23. Andrew Luck leads comeback over the Chiefs

The Colts fell behind the Chiefs early in a 2013 wild-card game, and it was 38-10 not long into the third quarter. That set the stage for a wild comeback from the Colts, who won 45-44 on a fourth-quarter bomb from Andrew Luck to T.Y. Hilton. It’s the highlight of Luck’s short NFL career.

22. 49ers come back to stun Giants

The first playoff game on Jan. 5, 2003, was a 36-33 Steelers comeback win over the Browns, after Cleveland took a 24-7 lead. That game barely missed this list. The second playoff game of the day, which had an even greater comeback, made the cut. The 49ers trailed 38-14 late in the third quarter of their wild-card game against the Giants when the comeback began. It ended when New York had a bad snap on a field-goal attempt that would have won the game. Pass interference should have been called on the desperation heave downfield after the bad snap, but it wasn’t and the 49ers held on for a 39-38 win. What a day of playoff football.

21. Patriots and Panthers light it up in 4th

Super Bowl XXXVIII had a scoreless first quarter and a scoreless third quarter. It didn’t look like a classic going into the fourth quarter. Then the Patriots and Panthers erupted for 37 combined points. The final three points were from Adam Vinatieri, who hit his second Super Bowl-winning field goal as time expired.

20. Mile High Miracle

The 2012 Broncos might have been the best of the four teams Peyton Manning led in Denver. It didn’t win a playoff game because the Ravens pulled off a dramatic upset. This game had a bunch of big plays, none bigger than Joe Flacco hitting Jacoby Jones on a desperate deep pass for a 70-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left in regulation. In double overtime, the Ravens kicked a field goal to win 38-35. They’d go on to win the Super Bowl that season.

19. Chiefs beat 49ers again in Super Bowl LVIII

The Chiefs’ comeback win over the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV could have made the list. Instead, the Chiefs’ comeback win over the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII was included. The 49ers took a lead with less than two minutes left, but that’s too much time for Patrick Mahomes. He led a game-tying drive. In overtime, Kyle Shanahan took the ball first, the 49ers kicked a field goal, and then Mahomes cut San Francisco’s hearts out. A walk-off touchdown from Mahomes to Mecole Hardman secured Kansas City’s third championship of their dynasty.

18. ‘We are all Patriots’

It’s hard to remember, but there was a time when the Patriots were a lovable underdog with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. The Rams were a big favorite in Super Bowl XXXVI, but a great defensive plan from Belichick kept them in the game. Then, at the end, a young Brady drove New England into position for Adam Vinatieri to hit a game-winning field goal as time expired.

17. Helmet Catch

In a vacuum, Super Bowl XLII wasn’t a great game. There were just 10 points scored through three quarters as both offenses struggled. But it was historic. The Giants were able to defeat the 18-0 Patriots with the help of David Tyree’s famous catch pinned against his helmet. The Patriots took a lead just before the two-minute warning on a Randy Moss touchdown. Then Eli Manning then led a go-ahead drive punctuated by Tyree’s catch and capped by Plaxico Burress’ touchdown with 35 seconds left. It’s one of the most significant upsets in NFL history.

16. Steve Smith walks it off

The Rams came close to a few more Super Bowl titles early in the century. They were upset in the 2003 divisional round game at home when Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme hit Steve Smith for a 69-yard touchdown in double overtime. The Rams won a wild-card game the next postseason, then didn’t win another playoff game for 14 years.

15. Seahawks’ miracle comeback vs. Packers

The Packers put on a clinic in how to blow a game. In this NFC championship game in 2015, Green Bay seemed to seal a win when Morgan Burnett intercepted Russell Wilson in the fourth quarter. That’s why Julius Peppers told Burnett to slide down, and he did. But the Seahawks, down 19-7 at the time, weren’t dead. They scored with just over two minutes left, got an improbable onside kick, and scored again. The Packers rallied to force overtime, then Wilson hit Jermaine Kearse for a game-ending 35-yard touchdown to send Seattle to the Super Bowl.

14. Cardinals outlast Packers 51-45

Kurt Warner and Aaron Rodgers threw haymakers in this wild-card matchup at the end of the 2009 season between Hall of Fame quarterbacks (Warner is in and Rodgers will be someday soon). They combined for more than 800 yards and nine touchdown passes. In overtime, the Cardinals got to Rodgers, hitting him and jarring the ball loose. Rodgers inadvertently kicked the ball, and it landed in Karlos Dansby’s hands for a game-ending return.

13. Seahawks out-slug 49ers for NFC title

The Seahawks and 49ers played some tough, intense, competitive games against each other early in the 2010s. The 2013 season NFC championship game was the apex of that rivalry. The Seahawks outscored the 49ers 10-0 in the fourth quarter, and Richard Sherman’s tip in the end zone that led to Malcolm Smith’s interception sealed a 23-17 win and sent Seattle to the Super Bowl.

12. 49ers topple Saints in a Candlestick thriller

Drew Brees led a very good Saints team into Candlestick Park for this 2011 season divisional round game, threw for 462 yards and four touchdowns, and still lost to the 49ers. There were 34 points in the fourth quarter and four lead changes in the final 4:02. Vernon Davis’ touchdown catch with nine seconds left decided this thriller 36-32 in favor of San Francisco.

11. Patrick Mahomes overcomes Eagles

The Chiefs were in trouble at halftime of Super Bowl LVII, trailing 24-14 and with Patrick Mahomes hobbling around on a bad ankle. But Mahomes threw for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and led a drive in the final minutes for Harrison Butker’s field goal as time expired to win another championship. The Eagles would end up getting some Super Bowl revenge two years later.

10. Eagles win first Super Bowl in Patriots shootout

It’s pretty amazing to consider that nearly 18,000 NFL games have been played, but the one that saw the most combined yards happened in a Super Bowl. The Patriots and Eagles combined for a record 1,151 yards in a fun up-and-down game. The most memorable yard came on the “Philly Special,” the most famous trick play in Super Bowl history. Philadelphia’s first ever Super Bowl title came in a great game.

9. Tuck Rule

This wasn’t the prettiest game, in terms of execution. But the snow in New England provided a memorable setting, and it ended up being a game that changed NFL history. It looked like the Raiders would win this 2001 season divisional game when Charles Woodson hit Tom Brady, still in his first season as a starter, forcing what looked like a fumble. That’s when we all got familiar with the tuck rule. It was called incomplete, Adam Vinatieri would hit one of the greatest kicks in NFL history to send the game to overtime and the Patriots won. New England ended up winning the Super Bowl that season and a dynasty was born.

8. Rams 54, Chiefs 51

There has been one game in NFL history in which a team scored more than 50 points and lost. This was it. It wasn’t just a random high-scoring game; this was a Monday night showcase between two 9-1 Super Bowl contenders late in the 2018 season. It wasn’t just a defensive debacle either. There were big scoring plays from each defense in the game. It’s just that the offenses were that good. The Rams held on in a game that thrilled us.

7. Minneapolis Miracle

Some games are remembered as being great for a memorable play at the end, even if the first 59 minutes weren’t all that interesting. The “Minneapolis Miracle” was a heck of a divisional round game even if it just ended with the Saints tackling Stefon Diggs. But we know that Diggs inexplicably got behind the Saints defense for a 61-yard touchdown as time expired, the Vikings advanced to the NFC championship game and a classic was made.

6. Patriots delay Chiefs dynasty in OT

This 2018 season AFC championship game will age as a time capsule game. On one side was 41-year-old Tom Brady trying to get his sixth Super Bowl ring. On the other was 23-year-old Patrick Mahomes, at the end of his first year as a starter and his first MVP season. It was two dynasties passing in the night. Incredibly, there were 44 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Patriots won 37-31 in OT, and two weeks later won their final Super Bowl of the Brady/Bill Belichick dynasty. The Chiefs would have to wait their turn for their first title of their dynasty.

5. Steelers over Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII

This game had two of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history, and that doesn’t count Larry Fitzgerald’s majestic touchdown to give the Cardinals a lead with 2:37 left. The Cardinals had seemed to overcome James Harrison’s ridiculous 100-yard interception return touchdown to end the first half, and they were closing in on the franchise’s first Super Bowl title after Fitzgerald split the defense and scored. But Ben Roethlisberger led a game-winning drive, capped by Santonio Holmes’ amazing catch in the back of the end zone to help the Steelers become the first franchise to win six Super Bowls.

4. Peyton Manning and Colts come back vs. Patriots

The 2006 season AFC championship might be the most underrated great game in NFL history. The Patriots took a 21-3 lead and it looked like another disappointment for Peyton Manning. But Manning led a brilliant comeback, the Colts got a game-sealing interception off Tom Brady late and finally Manning was heading to his first Super Bowl. There were many great Manning-Brady duels, but this was the best of the bunch.

3. 28-3: Patriots’ comeback crushes Falcons

It’s hard to rank any game that wasn’t particularly interesting deep into the third quarter. The Falcons were blowing out the Patriots, famously leading 28-3. The comeback is what we remember, with every single thing that the Patriots needed to go right — 16 different plays during the comeback, in fact — working out in their favor. It’s not the biggest comeback in NFL history, in terms of points, but it’s the most famous comeback ever.

2. 13 seconds: Chiefs somehow beat Bills

Josh Allen was absolutely incredible in this game, gave the Bills a lead with 13 seconds left in regulation, and somehow Buffalo still lost. The “13 seconds” game will live in Bills infamy, as Patrick Mahomes led a quick drive for a game-tying field goal, then the Chiefs won it in overtime. There was phenomenal quarterback play from both sides, incredible drama late in the game, with five scores coming in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime, and an unbelievable extension of the Chiefs’ dynasty. It is one of the greatest games of all time. Just not the best one of the past 25 seasons.

1. Super Bowl XLIX: Malcolm Butler stuns Seahawks

My pick for the greatest game in NFL history. This was Ali-Frazier I of the NFL, with two prime heavyweights finally meeting for supremacy. The game had just about everything, including an amazing comeback led by Tom Brady against a great Seahawks defense. Jermaine Kearse had one of the great circus catches of all time to set the Seahawks up to win. And then we all remember what happened at the end, with a regrettable play call and Malcolm Butler’s interception, perhaps the single most impactful play in NFL history (name another one that singularly changed who won a Super Bowl). This game, between two of the greatest teams of the era, had it all.