2012 NFL Playoffs: 4 Players That Cost Their Teams a Super Bowl Chance

While some players, like Kyle Williams and Billy Cundiff, are clearly responsible for their teams not making the Super Bowl this year, there are other players for teams that didn't make it as far who held their teams back from potentially making a late-season run.

After what they've done in the playoffs this year, who knows how the New York Giants would have fared in the postseason last year if Matt Dodge hadn't punted that ball to DeSean Jackson?

Sometimes one play can alter the entire course of the season. Here are four players that cost their teams a chance to make Super Bowl XLVI.

Kyle Williams, San Francisco 49ers

I hate to include him on this list after the death threats he has received in the last week, but the fact of the matter is Kyle Williams cost the San Francisco 49ers big in the NFC Championship Game.

There were certainly other factors which hurt the 49ers, but Kyle Williams two fumbles were two of the biggest plays of the game.

His first fumble off the knee really shifted momentum and allowed the New York Giants to take the lead with their first touchdown in over two quarters, and his second essentially ended the game in overtime.

Williams does not deserve the irrational hatred he has faced from disgruntled fans, but he certainly is largely responsible for the 49ers losing.

Billy Cundiff, Baltimore Ravens

Championship Sunday was a bad day for goats, as Billy Cundiff was probably feeling just as bad as the San Francisco 49ers' Kyle Williams after his big mistake in the AFC Championship Game.

Just as everyone was preparing for the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots to go into overtime, Cundiff yanked a very makeable 32-yard field goal as the clock approached zero.

Lee Evans certainly deserves some of the blame and Joe Flacco had a very untimely interception, but the Ravens would still have been in a position to win the game if Cundiff had done his job. 

Mark Sanchez, New York Jets

It's difficult to say Mark Sanchez cost the New York Jets a shot at the Super Bowl since they didn't even make the postseason, but with the talent they have and they way they've played in the playoffs the past two seasons it's not hard to imagine them having made another late-season run this year.

Sanchez threw 18 interceptions this year while only throwing 26 touchdowns, with a passer rating of only 78.2 for the season.

Moreover, he was a big part of the reason they missed the playoffs. In the last three games (all of which the Jets lost) he threw seven interceptions and posted a passer rating below 68 each game. That coupled with the accusations from his teammates that he doesn't even practice make Sanchez look like the weak link for an otherwise solid team.

Vince Young, Philadelphia Eagles

There's plenty of blame to go around for the Philadelphia Eagles after this season. The defense was abysmal at times, the wide receivers dropped an inordinate amount of balls, and Michael Vick was very inconsistent.

That being said, the Eagles would have won the NFC East and been a very dangerous playoff team if they had won just one more game.

Philadelphia signed Vince Young because they knew Vick was injury-prone and they wanted a backup who could step in and win. Early in the season when Vick was knocked out of games against the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons, Young was injured himself and therefore unable to take over and help the Eagles hold on to their leads. Then when he first got in a game, he threw an interception against the Washington Redskins.

Later in the year when he was forced into the starting role, he only won one of three games while throwing eight picks. No one can blame him for the loss against the New England Patriots, but his performance against the Seattle Seahawks was embarrassing. And a win in that game would have gotten the Eagles to the postseason.