5 unbreakable NFL Wild Card Weekend records
After a wild regular season, the first round of the NFL playoffs is upon us. The NFL has dubbed this "Super Wild Card Weekend," and each day will feature a triple-header.
Over the years, the first round of the playoffs has featured a number of eye-popping performances. Many of these set playoff records that stand to this day, and several of them seem unapproachable.
Here is our list of the five most unbreakable first-round records!
5. Leaning on Lamar
Only one player in NFL history has totaled 40 rushing attempts in a first-round playoff game. Lamar Smith did it in 2000, when he finished with 209 rushing yards and led the Miami Dolphins to a 23-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
It was fitting that he scored the game-winning touchdown, which came on a 17-yard burst in overtime.
Wildcard round great performances : December 30, 2000 RB Lamar Smith runs for 209 yards & 2 TD's including game winner in OT to defeat Colts 23-17 at JRS. pic.twitter.com/9AQ1PKpQUE
— Dolphins History (@DolphinsHistory) January 2, 2019
4. T.O.’s two-pointers
It’s a bit obscure, but this record will take a very special set of circumstances for anyone to tie it, let alone break it.
In the 2002 first-round game between San Francisco and the New York Giants, 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens reeled in a pair of two-point conversions. He is the only player to do that in a playoff game of any kind, and he did it in a wild, 39-38 San Francisco victory that ended with a 24-point comeback.
3. Brady's target practice
Some of the game’s greatest quarterbacks can’t complete 92.9% of their passes in practice against air.
Tom Brady did it against a legitimate NFL defense, when he led the New England Patriots to a 31-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2007.
He completed 26 of his 28 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns, and the Patriots did not punt until the final minute of play.
2. One for the thumb
The present-day NFL is a pass-happy league, so it’s unlikely we’ll see anyone top what Ricky Watters did in 1993, against the New York Giants.
Watters, who was playing for the 49ers, found the end zone five times to set a single-game playoff record, and his side squashed the Giants, 44-3.
Only one other player in NFL history has scored as many as four rushing touchdowns in a game, so this record seems pretty safe.
1. The 32-point comeback
All of the other accomplishments on this list are individual. However, we can’t do a list of Wild Card records justice without talking about one of the biggest comebacks in sports history.
Houston Oilers fans, stop reading now.
The Oilers took a 35-3 lead over the Buffalo Bills in the third quarter of their first-round clash in Buffalo on Jan. 3, 1993.
Many thought the game was over, but Buffalo’s backup quarterback, Frank Reich, had other ideas. He threw four touchdown passes in the second half to spark a wild rally that ended with a game-winning field goal in overtime. The Bills won, 41-38, and went on to play in the Super Bowl.
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