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 Earnest Byner of the Cleveland Browns holds the football as he looks on from the field after he was tackled by linebacker Karl Mecklenburg of the Denver Broncos (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images) /

NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history

5. Broncos 38, Browns 33 (AFC: 1987)

This Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs will meet for the AFC title for the second straight year. Such was the case with the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos in the mid-1980s. Courtesy of a 98-yard touchdown drive that helped Denver reach overtime and a Rich Karlis’ field goal in the extra session, the Broncos knocked off the Browns, 23-20, in Cleveland in the 1986 AFC Championship Game.

In a season that was marred by a players’ strike and replacement performers, these teams would meet again with a Super Bowl appearance on the line, this time at Denver. Quarterbacks John Elway and Bernie Kosar went head-to-head in a memorable battle at Mile High Stadium. The latter threw for 356 yards and three scores.

Trailing 38-31 in the fourth quarter, Marty Schottenheimer’s Browns had moved the ball down to the Broncos’ eight-yard-line with just over a minute remaining. Running back Earnest Byner would finish the game with 187 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. He took a handoff from Kosar and was three yards away from the end zone. However, Denver defensive back Jeremiah Castille stripped Byner of the ball and recovered “The Fumble” with 1:05 to play, essentially clinching the victory.

Elway threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns as the team headed to Super Bowl XXII.

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