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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Head coach Vince Lombardi, of the Green Bay Packers (Photo by: Kidwiler Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images) /

NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history

4. Packers 21, Cowboys 17 (NFL: 1967)

In 1966, the defending NFL champion Green Bay Packers traveled to Dallas and defeated Tom Landry’s Cowboys, 34-27, for the league title. It earned Vince Lombardi’s club a berth in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The Packers would go on to defeat the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10, in what was eventually referred to as Super Bowl I.

This time around, the Cowboys and Packers would meet in a different place with much different conditions. It was minus-13 degrees at kickoff at Lambeau Field and a trip to Super Bowl II was on the line. Landry’s club looked a bit frozen early on as a pair of Bart Starr touchdown passes to Boyd Dowler, covering eight and 43 yards, respectively, a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.

Dallas would score the game’s next 17 points, taking the lead when running back Dan Reeves connected with Lance Rentzel for a 50-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Down 17-14, Starr took over with 4:50 to play and drove his team downfield. On third-and-goal at Dallas’ one-yard-line, the Packers’ signal-caller followed guard Jerry Kramer into the end zone and the Pack survived the “Ice Bowl” thanks to Starr’s touchdown with 13 seconds to play.

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