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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Running back Rex Burkhead of the New England Patriots runs past cornerback Kendall Fuller of the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime of the AFC Championship Game (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images) /

NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history

8. Patriots 37, Chiefs 31 (OT) (AFC: 2018)

This Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the AFC Championship Game for the fifth consecutive year. The first of those contests came in 2018. It was a season in which Andy Reid’s team not only captured the top seed in the AFC playoffs but second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes won league MVP honors in his first season as a starter.

Bill Belichick’s team was seeking a third straight trip to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Chiefs were looking to play on Super Sunday for the first time since winning it all way back in 1969.

Andy Reid’s club looked a little tight in the first half and trailed 14-0 at intermission. New England owned a 17-7 edge after three quarters. Then things got very interesting. The teams combined for 38 points in the fourth quarter, 24 of those by Kansas City. Reid’s team would eventually take a 28-24 lead with 2:03 to play.

The Pats would regain the advantage with 39 seconds to play but the teams were headed to overtime after Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker connected from 39 yards out with eight seconds to play. Reid’s club never saw the ball again. New England capped off a 13-play, 75-yard march with a Rex Burkhead two-yard TD run in the extra session. The Patriots finished the game with 524 total yards on 94 offensive plays.

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