NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history

Wide receiver Dwight Clark of the San Francisco 49ers leaves a Dallas defender in his dust after making 'The Catch' to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 28-27 in the 1981 NFC Championship Game on January 10, 1982 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Arthur Anderson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

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Quarterback Joe Namath of the New York Jets talks with head coach Weeb Ewbank (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history

9. Jets 27, Raiders 23 (AFL: 1968)

If the Jets were to shock the Colts in Super Bowl III, they’d have to survive a shootout at frigid Shea Stadium against the defending AFL champions. Both the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders finished the contest with 400-plus yards of total offense. However, Weeb Ewbank’s squad came up bigger when it counted most in this entertaining contest.

Neither quarterback was accurate on this day. Joe Namath connected on just 19 of his 49 throws, albeit for 266 yards. Oakland’s Daryle Lamonica hit on only 20-of-47 attempts. However, he threw for 401 yards and a score. New York jumped out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead via Namath’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Don Maynard and a 33-yard field goal by Jim Turner. The teams battled and by the fourth quarter, the Silver and Black owned a 23-20 edge.

Namath finished the game with three touchdown passes, the last a six-yard strike to Maynard late in the fourth quarter to put his team ahead to stay. The Raiders drove to the Jets’ 24-yard-line in the closing moments, but a Lamonica incompletion to Charlie Smith was ruled a lateral and the Jets recovered to seal the victory. Raiders wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff caught seven passes for 190 yards and a score in a losing effort.

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