NFL Playoffs 2011: 10 Best Wild Card Teams In NFL History With Video

The concept of a "Wild Card" is prominent in most American sports. But did you know the NFL was the first league to ever use the format?

Originally, the NFL used the terms "Best Second-Place Team" or "Fourth Qualifier." The media preferred "Wild Card," and the term stuck and became official.

Since the idea was instituted in 1970, five Wild Card teams have won the Super Bowl. Here are the 10 best Wild Card teams in NFL History. 

10. 2010 New York Jets?

The New York Jets made the playoffs this season as an 11-5 team.

In their first game they defeated the favored Indianapolis Colts by a point.

The victory came after the Colts took a two-point lead with a minute remaining. However, Antonio Cromartie returned the kickoff 47 yards and the Jets were able to move into field goal position for the win.

How far can they go?

9. 1992 Buffalo Bills

The 1992 Buffalo Bills made it to the Super Bowl before losing by a full five touchdowns to the Dallas Cowboys. 

They won their first game in overtime on an incredible comeback, which was the best in NFL history. The Bills trailed the Houston Oilers by 32 points in the third quarter before Buffalo scored five consecutive touchdowns.

The Bills then crushed the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins to advance to the Super Bowl, but there the Cowboys proved too much for them. 

8. 1985 New England Patriots

In the Super Bowl the Patriots lost by 36 points. So let's talk about how they got there instead of that game itself. 

The Patriots won two rivalry games by defeating the New York Jets in their Wild Card and the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship.

They won the AFC Championship game by 17 points and they won all of their games leading up to the Super Bowl by at least a touchdown. They also beat the L.A. Raiders on the road there. 

7. 1975 Dallas Cowboys

In 1975 the Dallas Cowboys became the first Wild Card team to make the Super Bowl.

They got there by defeating the Minnesota Vikings in their first game with a Hail Mary pass. With 24 seconds remaining, quarterback Roger Staubach threw the ball up for grabs down the right side of the field. Drew Pearson came down with it to give the Cowboys a 17-14 victory. 

In the NFC Championship, Staubach threw for 220 yards, rushed for 54 yards and threw four touchdowns to upset the St. Louis Rams by 30 points.

The Super Bowl came down to a last minute drive by the Cowboys. They got the opportunity to throw two Hail Mary passes for the victory but both failed. The first hit the shoulder of a Cowboys wide receiver while the second was intercepted as time expired. The Cowboys fell 21-17. 

5. 1980 Oakland Raiders

In 1980 the Oakland Raiders became the second Wild Card team to advance to the Super Bowl and the first to win it. The Raiders were a Wild Card after losing a tie-breaker for the division title. 

The Raiders got to the Super Bowl by defeating the Houston Oilers 27-7, the Cleveland Browns 14-12 and the San Diego Chargers 34-27.

The most dramatic of these games was against the Browns. The Raiders won on a botched play by the Browns known as Red Light 88. The Browns were on the 13-yard line and were in position for a game-winning field goal with less than a minute remaining. 

Browns quarterback Brian Sipe was instructed to throw the ball away if no one was open. Instead, he tried to force a pass which was intercepted. The Raiders would advance in a game they had no business winning, but you wouldn't hear them complaining. 

In the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, quarterback Jim Plunkett dominated and the Raiders cruised to a 27-10 victory. 

Part two of the above video can be seen here and part three can be seen here.

6. 1999 Tennessee Titans

Surely everyone remembers how close the Titans came to winning a Super Bowl in 1999.

One yard. One extra step. A split second.

It was minuscule, but they lost. 

In their Wild Card match-up the Titans edged the Buffalo BIlls by six points. The Titans scored on the controversial play seen above. Was it a forward pass on the kickoff return? Hard to tell.

In any case, that play allowed the Titans to edge the Bills and advance to the divisional playoff. In the divisional playoff the Titans beat the Indianapolis Colts by a field goal then went on to crush the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship.

The Super Bowl came down to a two minute drill. The Titans got the ball with 1:54 left and drove the length of the field. Their fate was sealed when St. Louis Rams linebacker Mike Jones tackled Kevin Dyson one yard short of a touchdown as time expired. 

4. 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers

Three road games. One neutral site game. One Super Bowl Victory.

In 2005, the Pittsburgh Steelers became the first team to win a Super Bowl without playing a home game in the playoffs. Like the Raiders, they lost a tie-breaker to win their division.

The Steelers were the sixth and final seed in the playoffs, and they became the first sixth seed to win a divisional playoff game, a conference championship playoff game and a Super Bowl.

They cruised through a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in their Wild Card game before winning a nail-biter against the Indianapolis Colts. 

The Colts had a furious fourth quarter comeback with 15 points but fell a field goal short of tying the game.

In the AFC Championship they defeated Denver Broncos 34-17.

Hines Ward was named Super Bowl MVP after a 21-10 victory over the Seahawks. Rookie Ben Roethlisberger finished with the lowest quarterback rating ever for a winning. Amazingly, the Steelers lost the turnover battle but held the NFL's best offense to just 10 points. 

3. 1997 Denver Broncos

Brian Bahr/Getty Images

27 Dec 1997: Running back Terrell Davis #30 of the Denver Broncos during the Broncos 42-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado.

The Denver Broncos finished their 1997 season 12-4 but failed to win their division.

In their first playoff game they racked up an incredible 310 rushing yards with Terrell Davis leading the way with 184 yards and two touchdowns. They defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 42-10.

Facing the top seeded Chiefs they scored a fourth quarter touchdown to take the lead for good and win 14-10. With 19 seconds left, the Chiefs threw a fourth down incompletion into the end zone. Davis again led the way with 101 yards and a touchdown.

In the AFC Championship, the Broncos faced the Pittsburgh Steelers. They forced four turnovers of quarterback Kordell Stewart and Davis rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown to advance the Broncos to the Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers.

Despite having John Elway at the helm, Davis yet again led the Broncos in the Super Bowl. Despite missing much of the second quarter due to blurred vision caused by a migraine Davis had 157 yards and set a Super Bowl record with three rushing touchdowns. The Broncos would edge the Packers 31-24. 

2. 2000 Baltimore Ravens

Despite finishing with the impressive record of 12-4 the 2000 Baltimore Ravens were still a Wild Card. 

In the playoffs they only allowed an insanely low 23 points through four games, less than a touchdown per game. 

In their first game they limited the Denver Broncos to just 177 yards. Against the Titans a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ray Lewis sealed a 24-10 victory. In the AFC Championship they intercepted Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon four times to limit the Raiders to three points.

The Super Bowl was a massacre. The Ravens held the Giants to 152 yards, the third lowest total ever in a Super Bowl. They had four sacks and an amazing five turnovers to win 34-7. 

1. 2007 New York Giants

The 2007 New York Giants won a Super Bowl while only outscoring their four playoff opponents by a combined 20 points. 

But it is who they beat that makes them the best Wild Card team ever.

Yes, beating good teams in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers was impressive.

The road to get the Super Bowl was tough, and then the Giants had to beat a New England Patriots team that was one win away from an undefeated season and being considered football's best team ever.

David Tyree came up with an amazing catch to an extend what would become the Giants came winning drive. The infamous Plaxico Buress came up with the game winning touchdown from Eli Manning and the Giants pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.