The Wildest Walk-Off Touchdowns in NFL History
The 2018 NFL season has featured plenty of spectacular moments, but the Miami Dolphins' eye-popping lateral play to defeat the New England Patriots was the best of them all.
Miami's ridiculous finish sparked a thought: What other games in NFL history have concluded in such a wild fashion?
One very important note: In order to count as a walk-off touchdown, the score must have happened with zeroes on the clock. Thus, legendary plays such as the Music City Miracle, the Immaculate Reception and "The Catch" are not included.
The list is ordered based on a combination of season impact—did this affect a playoff race?—and timing. In fact, several of these amazing finishes happened during the postseason.
Honorable Mention: James White Caps the Comeback
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The play itself wasn't a jaw-dropping moment. Tom Brady pitched the ball to James White, who sprinted toward the right pylon, cut back and powered across the line for a Super Bowl LI win.
What preceded it, though, was legendary.
Late in the third quarter, the New England Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons 28-3. Slowly, steadily, the Patriots trimmed that chasm of a deficit and forced overtime.
New England won the coin toss, marched down the field and set up White's touchdown to end the most memorable Super Bowl comeback ever.
Watch: Video
Mike Thomas Answers a Prayer
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Although the result had little bearing on the final standings, this victory helped the Jacksonville Jaguars post their last non-losing record before six straight sub-.500 seasons.
In Week 10 of the 2010 campaign, Jaguars quarterback David Garrard threw up a prayer in a 24-24 deadlock with the Houston Texans. Mike Thomas found himself in the perfect spot for the answer.
Defensive backs are often taught to swat the ball down on Hail Mary heaves, and that's exactly what Houston safety Glover Quin did. However, the ricochet landed in the waiting arms of Thomas for the stunning touchdown as regulation expired.
Watch: Video
Baltimore's Kick-Six
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Exactly two years after Auburn stunned Alabama in 2013 by returning a missed field goal for a touchdown as time expired, it happened in the NFL.
The Cleveland Browns lined up for a 51-yard, potential game-winning kick with the score tied at 27. Since only three seconds remained in the fourth quarter, regulation would definitely end on that play.
Like this, though?
Baltimore Ravens defender Brent Urban reached up and deflected the ball, which bounced favorably to Will Hill. He shook a tackler, carefully waited for a block and then sprinted into the end zone.
The teams combined to finish 8-24 that year, but the "Kick Six" is a poignant moment in Cleveland's dreadful three-year stretch.
Watch: Video
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Antonio Freeman Gets a Favorable Bounce
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"He did WHAT?!" an incredulous Al Michaels exclaimed. There hardly could've been a more fitting reaction to the "Improbable Bobble."
In 2000, facing a 3rd-and-4 in overtime of this Week 10 rivalry tilt, Brett Favre tossed up a 50-50 ball toward Green Bay Packers teammate Antonio Freeman. Minnesota Vikings cornerback Cris Dishman tried to snag a one-handed interception in front of a diving Freeman.
The ball dropped, but it didn't hit the ground. No, the pigskin bounced off Freeman's left shoulder, and the veteran receiver alertly reached out to snare the ball. He jumped up, eluded Vikings safety Robert Griffith and trotted into the end zone.
Freeman's fortunate bounce handed Green Bay a 26-20 win, though Minnesota eventually won the NFC Central.
Watch: Video
Aaron Rodgers' Miracle in Motown
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Let's start here: Yes, a facemask penalty should not have extended the game. At full speed, it was understandable why the referee threw the flag. Still, it was the wrong call.
Nevertheless, all the Detroit Lions needed to do was prevent the Packers from completing a 61-yard miracle.
You know that didn't happen.
Aaron Rodgers dropped back, bought time and launched the ball downfield. The pass—somehow, some way—fell undeterred into the waiting arms of Richard Rodgers for a touchdown. The 27-23 victory helped nudge Green Bay toward the 2015 playoffs.
Perhaps the most mind-boggling part? The Lions planted two defenders at their 45-yard line to prevent a lateral play, as if they were unaware Rodgers could throw a 60-yard pass.
Watch: Video
DeSean Jackson's Miracle in the Meadowlands
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The New York Giants twice held 21-point leads in this 2010 contest, including a 31-10 score with less than nine minutes remaining. The Philadelphia Eagles would not be denied, however.
In those limited minutes, Philly managed to score, recover an onside kick, score again, force a punt, score yet again and force another punt.
After handling a high snap, Giants punter Matt Dodge seemed to dodge a problematic line-drive kick when DeSean Jackson dropped the ball. However, the speedy returner grabbed it and had a wide-open running lane up the middle of the field.
Jackson went practically untouched, sprinting parallel to the goal line in order to waste any remaining seconds (that were gone anyway) for a jarring 38-31 Eagles triumph.
Most importantly for the Eagles, the victory provided an advantage in the head-to-head tiebreaker that decided the NFC East.
Watch: Video
The Fail Mary
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One replacement ref signaled touchdown. One replacement ref waved for the clock to stop. One giant controversy ensued.
In Week 3 of the 2012 campaign, the Seattle Seahawks trailed Green Bay 12-7 with eight seconds on the clock. Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson provided time for his receivers to get downfield and tossed the ball into the end zone, where chaos followed.
Packers safety M.D. Jennings seemingly had control of the ball for an interception. However, Seahawks wideout Golden Tate caught Jennings and eventually ripped the ball away. While a clear offensive pass interference on Tate went uncalled, it's rarely flagged in Hail Mary situations.
Fortunately for the Packers, the touchdown ultimately didn't cost them the NFC North. Both teams lost in the divisional round too.
More notably, though, the NFL and NFL Referees Association finally reached an agreement to end the 2012 lockout of officials two days later.
Watch: Video
Force-out Rule Keeps Minnesota Out of Playoffs
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As the final seconds ticked off the clock of this Week 17 affair in 2003, it seemed the 3-12 Arizona Cardinals had found another way to lose.
Down 17-12 with 31 seconds remaining at Minnesota's 17-yard line, Cardinals quarterback Josh McCown took a sack. Arizona didn't have any timeouts, so the Vikings surely knew this would be the final play. Get the stop, and they were bound for the postseason.
Instead, McCown evaded a defender, rolled right and connected with Nate Poole for a 28-yard touchdown—thanks to the controversial, since-eliminated force-out rule.
"I really can't put into words how I feel right now," Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper said after the loss. "It's just terrible that you fight that hard all year just trying to stay alive, and lose it like that."
Minnesota fell to 9-7, allowing the 10-6 Packers to make the playoffs.
Watch: Video
Tim Tebow's Miracle Year Continues
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In 2011, the Tim Tebow-led Denver Broncos posted the league's eighth-lowest scoring average. None of the seven teams ranked below Denver reached the postseason.
Despite a pitiful minus-81 point differential and seven victories of seven points or fewer—including three in overtime—the Broncos won a three-way AFC West tiebreaker to make the playoffs at 8-8.
So the 2011 Wild Card Round was nothing new.
Opposite Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver forced overtime at 23 apiece and won the coin toss. On the first play of the extra session, Tebow reared back and threw a perfectly placed ball in stride to Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown.
New England then smoked the Broncos 45-10 in the next round.
Watch: Video
Steve Smith's Double-OT Winner
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Eight years before Tim Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas on the opening play of overtime, Steve Smith began a second extra session with a game-ending touchdown in the 2003 NFC Divisional Round.
The Carolina Panthers and St. Louis Rams entered OT locked at 23, but the first overtime included a pair of missed field goals. Carolina received the kick in OT2 and took advantage immediately.
Jake Delhomme dropped back and whipped a pass to Smith, who split two defenders and raced to the house for a 29-23 win.
Carolina advanced to the NFC Championship Game, defeating the Eagles before losing to Tom Brady and the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Watch: Video
The Minneapolis Miracle
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Just 10 seconds remained on the clock, and the Vikings didn't have any timeouts. On 3rd-and-10 at their own 39-yard line, their only hope of reaching the NFC Championship Game was a miracle.
Marcus Williams dropped his head, and the rest is history.
The Saints safety was in perfect position to tackle Minnesota receiver Stefon Diggs short of the sideline and end the game. However, Williams ducked, whiffed on Diggs and took out teammate Ken Crawley.
Crawley might've had a chance to tackle—or at least impede—Diggs before he turned upfield, hit full speed and crossed the plane. But we'll never know.
Although the Vikings fell to Philadelphia in the next round, they were finally on the right side of a legendary walk-off touchdown.
Watch: Video
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