The 5 most memorable NFL Wild Card games of all time

After 18 weeks, the wait is finally over: The NFL playoffs are here. And they underway with a bang, as the Wild Card Round gives us six games over three jam-packed days.

Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens take on their hated rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Josh Allen looks to finally bring the Buffalo Bills to the promised land, starting with a matchup against the Denver Broncos. Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers look to shake up the postseason for the second straight year and ruin a dream season for the Philadelphia Eagles. With some of the best teams and players in the league squaring off this weekend, we're bound to see some instantly iconic moments.

But will they be iconic enough to rank among the greatest Wild Card games of all-time? The NFL introduced a 12-team playoff format in 1990, and in the 33 years since, Wild Card weekend has never failed to deliver — so much so that even the Double Doink and Tomy Romo's botched hold failed to crack our list of the five best games ever. Here's who made the cut.

Honorable mentions

Jan. 4, 2014: Indianapolis Colts 45, Kansas City Chiefs 44

Down 38-10 in the third quarter, it seemed like all hope was lost for Andrew Luck and the Colts. But three straight scores — including one of the, er, Luckiest rushing touchdowns you'll ever see — gave Indianapolis new life, and a spectacular 64-yard bomb to TY Hilton with under five minutes to play clinched a most improbable comeback win.

Jan. 5, 2003: San Francisco 49ers 39, New York Giants 38

Speaking of comebacks: The Giants were so confident after taking a 38-14 lead in San Francisco that Michael Strahan started chirping to 49ers wideout Terrell Owens before the game had even reached the fourth quarter. And then everything fell apart: 25 unanswered points put the Niners up by one in the final minute, Matt Allen flubbed the snap on a potential game-winning field goal for New York and the Giants' pleas for pass interference on the ensuing scramble fell on deaf ears.

Jan. 10, 2010: Arizona Cardinals 51, Green Bay Packers 45 (OT)

Still the highest-scoring game in playoff history, this one had more twists and turns than a roller coaster. Not that you'd know it at halftime, with Arizona taking a 24-10 lead over Aaron Rodgers and the Pack heading into the break. Rodgers caught fire late, throwing four TDs to bring Green Bay back, but he missed an open Greg Jennings on the first play of overtime — and two plays later, a Karlos Dansby fumble return ended the game for Arizona.

5. Jan. 4, 2004: Green Bay Packers 33, Seattle Seahawks 27 (OT)

A game best known by eight simple words: "We want the ball and we're gonna score."

That was Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck's pledge at the start of overtime, after three Shaun Alexander touchdown runs had drawn Seattle even with Green Bay and forced extra football at Lambeau Field. And to be fair, Hasselbeck wasn't wrong. The Seahawks offense did, in fact, score ... for the other team.

Neither Seattle nor Green Bay scored on their first possession of OT, but on the second, a late Hasselbeck pass to the sideline was jumped by Al Harris and taken back for a game-winning touchdown. The Packers would move on to the Divisional Round, where they'd come within one 4th and 26 from knocking off the Eagles.

4. Jan. 8, 2011: Seattle Seahawks 41, New Orleans Saints 36

Heading into this game, most people were outraged that the Seahawks were even involved in it at all. Seattle had gone just 7-9 in 2010, with an offense and defense that both ranked in the bottom third of the league. That was somehow enough to win a truly dreadful NFC West that year and earn a home playoff game, but surely the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints wouldn't have any trouble ... right?

Someone forgot to tell the Seahawks to play along. Behind four touchdown passes from Hasselbeck, Seattle took a shocking 34-20 lead into the fourth quarter. New Orleans cut that deficit to 34-30 with four minutes remaining, plenty of time for one more stop and one more game-winning score. Marshawn Lynch, however, had other ideas.

Lynch carried the entire Saints defense on his back for a 67-yard run that nearly shook the foundation of Lumen Field, capped off by a celebratory dive into the endzone that sealed an instantly iconic upset.

3. Jan. 3, 1999: San Francisco 49ers 30, Green Bay Packers 27

What is it with the Packers and the Wild Card Round?

These two long-time rivals were separated by one score or less for the entirety of this game, a seesaw affair if ever there were one. Green Bay looked to get the last laugh after Brett Favre hit Antonio Freeman for a go-ahead touchdown with just two minutes remaining, but that turned out to be all the time that Steve Young and Terrell Owens needed.

Owens had suffered through an up-and-down 1998 season, cracking the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his young career but frequently winding up in Steve Mariucci's doghouse thanks to a penchant for ill-timed drops. When it mattered the most, though, Owens made sure he held on:

The Catch II gave the 49ers a thrilling 30-27 win, although they would fall to Atlanta in the Divisional Round the next weekend.

2. Jan. 3, 1993: Buffalo Bills 41, Houston Oilers 38

The last of our Wild Card comebacks, this one also just so happens to be the largest comeback in NFL history — period. A Bubba McDowell pick-six gave the Oilers a seemingly insurmountable 35-3 lead in the third quarter. To make matters worse, the Bills had to rely on backup quarterback Frank Reich due to an injury to Jim Kelly, and many fans in Buffalo had already started heading for the exits.

But it turned out that Reich was just the man for the job. Buffalo stormed back with 35 unanswered points, including three TD strikes from Reich to Andre Reed. Houston needed an Al Del Greco field goal just to force overtime, where Bills kicker Doug Christie would send everyone home with a walk-off 32-yarder.

1. Jan. 8, 2000: Tennessee Titans 22, Buffalo Bills 16

Sorry, Bills fans, the good vibes end here. The Titans took a 12-0 lead into the half in Nashville, but two touchdown runs from Antowain Smith put Buffalo ahead early in the fourth quarter. Steve McNair drove Tennessee down the field for a go-ahead field goal, only for Bills QB Rob Johnson to answer back with a field-goal drive of his own. Trailing by one with just 16 seconds left, it seemed like clock had struck midnight on the Titans season.

You probably know what happened next.

To this day, we're still not sure whether tight end Frank Wychek's cross-field heave to receiver Kevin Dyson was really a lateral or actually a forward pass. What we do know is that the officials ruled it the former, and Dyson had nothing but green grass in front of him en route to a game-winning 75-yard kickoff return that immediately became known as the Music City Miracle.