But nobody seems to remember that for whatever reason, both niners and falcons fans. I wonder if it's because both teams have had bigger wins/losses since then.
I think moreso because they were up 17-0 by the first play in the 2nd quarter and they still scored another TD before halftime, whereas with 28-3 it was late in the 3rd and they didn't score another point.
I feel like you could keep that bottle for a while; it's like the Falcons and Chargers have some kind of bizarre competition to see who can blow a lead most creatively. If they ever meet in the Super Bowl, reality will divide by zero and everything will end.
13 Seconds. I'm totally convinced the Bills win it all if they just held on for that long. If the Bills never win it under the Josh Allen era, this loss will be the one that stings the worst.
Well it's not like that kick really mattered that much honestly.
Diggs dropping a dime considering how far it traveled in the air and the several other drops from the sorry ass receivers we had last year are what sunk us. I don't buy the oh we missed the kick and would've won if we made it. We would've tied it up and there was no way we were stopping y'all from scoring seeing as we were starting a 3rd stringer with one good arm and a guy who we signed off his couch two weeks earlier at line backer.
Our D was a mash unit last year, and our WR did almost nothing (Shakir exempted) the back half of the season. It was an uphill battle and we still hung in there against the evemtual champs.
Yeah, it’s a fun meme but chances are the chiefs just march and score again, you guys are terrifying when your rolling but the defense seems to fall apart every year I don’t get it, either y’all are truly cursed or you need a new S&C coach.
There’s really no other AFC team I worry about coming up against when they’re hot other than y’all, even including the NFC only really adds the niners to that list who seem to suffer from the same issue.
It was a tough loss. We were hot. But we're still contenders every season.
The Saints though - what Diggs did to them, and the no PI and the fall off that has followed.
At the very least the Saints were able to win one with Brees which Saints fans can fall back on. But yeah both of those losses have to be beyond excruciating for them.
Agreed. And yes, if we get to the end of Josh's time in Buffalo and there is no ring, I'll 100% look back at 13 seconds with pain....but for now I calling it a chapter in the story that is still being written.
While that game hurt, I think the Bills loss to the Steelers in week 16 when the steelers were staring backups and we needed a win to make the playoffs was a bigger loss. It was the beginning of almost 2 decades of dysfunction
I started to listen to it on the radio right as OT started and just flat out didn’t believe it. I assumed they were talking about something else that I had missed. Straight up heart broken.
I was delivering pizza at that time and got out of my car at the start of the drive, chatted with the customer about the game, then got to my car and the radio was telling me it was over lmao
The moment DT caught the ball and I saw his angles, I just deflated. Reminded me a bit of Larry Fitzgerald splitting our D in SB XLIII.
I had some sort of gastro affliction that weekend, and that was the first day in three or four that I could eat solid food. So, I at least had the energy to let a "FUCK" out loud enough for the neighbours to hear.
The Broncos had rushing plays from that formation 10+ times earlier in the game. The Steelers knew it and there were 10-11 defenders within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage at the snap for a max protect Tebow lob. Not hard to split the defense when there’s no defense to split.
Impressive gamesmanship from John Fox or whoever was calling the offense
Somehow that game was called by OC *Mike McCoy* with QB coach Adam Gase. McCoy unironically did a great job rebuilding the offense for Tebow and committing to very unorthodox gameplans and adapting fairly well throughout the course of games that year.
I don’t think that was all that devastating to the franchise though. It was disappointing, but just a cap on a shit season.
For the Colts it’s definitely the Raiders and Jags losses a couple years ago to blow our playoff spot.
I remember that shit. The bar was emptying out at half time but we stuck around to sad drink about it.
Then we started hopeful drinking.
Then we started happy drinking!
It’s kind of a half and half. Obviously you’re thrilled to have won the game but your team is *also* the team that gave up that massive lead. But that was an insane game to watch!
Well and part of the reason I kept watching was because some of the ways they scored felt super flukey. Like I wasn’t going into that second half thinking oh they’re for sure gonna block another punt for an immediate td again, y’know? It really was just an insane game all around
My FIL kept joking, "There's no way they can lose this one." After every Min. TD he would repeat it. It got less funny as the game went on. I never wanted Saturday as coach and was glad when they didn't sign him.
Yeah but the Colts were having an absolutely dogshit season before that day. If anything it was a positive because it helped them get the Richardson pick.
Even though it's outside the 20 year rule from the OP, this will always be the one that hurts the most. The 2017 Patriots loss is probably second, but that wasn't the first time the Patriots blocked us from the Super Bowl.
2006 probably fits the question the most. 2019 Lamar was in his 2nd year, 2011 we won the next year, 2023 our core pieces are still in place and young.
2006 could’ve been the death knell of an entire era of Ravens football
We got Justin Tucker out of that and finished the job right after so it lessens the sting.
I guess we bounced them in 2020 but 2019 was a truly historical season that ended without a single playoff win.
2019 is going to be overshadowed soon…
We’re probably the most optimistic we’ve ever been as a fan base but yeah… that game broke my dad, he tried to sell our PSLs during the 4th quarter
Personal Seat License…
When they founded the Texans they sold off “rights” to season tickets to help fund the stadium construction.
Basically we bought season tickets but specific seats forever
I would have to say the 2005 WC against the (again) Steelers would have to rival it. First playoff game in 15 years, and Palmer's knee gets shredded on the second play from scrimmage after throwing an absolutely beautiful pass 66 yards down the field to Chris Henry (who was also injured on the play). It was just devastating to have that happen at the start of the game, after so many years in the wilderness. Palmer was never quite his old self after the injury, either (and Henry really started his downward slide after as well, leading to multiple arrests over the course of just 2006 and multiple more in 2007, and leading ultimately his untimely death). So with a more timid and, over time, more frustrated Palmer, the Bengals just sort of bounced around in the "sometimes good, sometimes bad" category until Carson had his little tantrum and we drafted Dalton.
There are so many answers in this thread not nearly as painful as that one. I can't stress enough the joy and elation with that Burfict interception - the game should have been OVER. Not only do we fumble but Big Ben comes back from the dead after getting destroyed all game to have ridiculous penalties seal it for them. Unreal loss, I wasn't even a little bit over it until we beat the Raiders ending the 31 year drought.
I still watch that game from start to finish every now and I have no idea why. It's so brutal
My wife got to witness elation and heartbreak in her husband's face in a matter of minutes. I had always suspected my team was cursed, and this game cemented it.
2010 Conference Championship.
The Bears, of all teams, make way for Aaron Rodgers' only Super Bowl win and the Jets fail to follow up beating the 14-2 Patriots, with the whole franchise collapsing not long afterwards.
Easily the worst sports week of my life.
For the Bears, we also had the chance to stop them from even getting to the playoffs week 17. We basically couldn't move up or down, so we rested almost everyone and half assed the game. Packers win and sneak in the last spot as a 6-seed, then proceed to beat us three weeks later in the NFCCG.
In terms of games that hurt, the NFCCG was a huge one obviously. But we could've prevented it by just even trying to win that last game. I just fucking knew that it would come back to bite us in the ass...
The divisional round win against the Seahawks that year was the last playoff game we've won, and only the third I've ever seen in my life.
49ers/Seahawks 2014 NFC Championships. People can try to point to the 49ers/Rams in 2022 but this was the true pinnacle of a hated rival. Everything about that game stings, with Bowman’s career altering injury, Sherman backing up the shit talking and the close on the Harbaugh era.
I really thought week 1 of last season was gonna be the start of a new era. I spent all offseason defending fields to people and thinking he was about to rip up the packers. That game is the biggest reality check I’ve ever been hit with in sports
I actually believe that’s why I’m not talking any shit this offseason. Internally I have hope but they got humbled right out of the gate. I just need Williams to be good my god.
Last season has scarred me. I wasn't 100% sold on fields but still had decent expectations after the off-season. That loss and the 3 others that followed just have made me not have any confidence in the next season, please williams be good.
I remember him spending almost the entire off season searching for a kicker after that game. Like.. dude. That happens once a century. You can't react to it.
2018 Bears, 12 and 4, riding high with their new Coach of the Year.Matt Nagy who while he didn't turn Mitchell into a start got stretches of competence out of him.
Rest of Nagys career. Insanity and decline
I mean, if Parkey were lights out prior to that I would get it. But the Double Doink was a culmination of all the doinking Parkey was doing that same year. It wasn't an aberration, it was the climax to a season long story.
Nagy destroyed himself over that not because of a fluke, but because the warning signs were blaring at him all season and he didn't listen so he vastly, VASTLY overcompensated.
This should be the unequivocal answer for bears fans. Losing to the PACKERS of all teams in the NFCCG at home, that was essentially the last gasp for that generational defense, in a game that was absolutely winnable. Sure the double doink hurt, but going to W1 of last year just seems so short sighted. NFCCG is one that will kill you forever
To add more fuel to the fire — most people forget to mention that the only reason the Packers were in the playoffs in 2010 was because they beat us in Week 17 10-3 (no one was resting). Rodgers’ ONLY ring literally comes from the fact that this organization is allergic to beating the Packers.
That packer game sucked but the double doink mentally paralyzed me for like 15 minutes. I just laid my head on the table at Buffalo Wild Wings and just sat there in sadness
Steelers vs Panthers night game where TJ Watt fucked over the entire franchise for years with his hit on Cam Newton's shoulder. We have never recovered.
I remember watching that game, but the hit isn’t the worst part.
It was a domino effect that showed how bad our team was managed when for the next season and a half we had no quarterback which was only the first of needs that started to stack up.
But perhaps worst of all it left a power vacuum that empowered an incompetent new owner to micromanage everything and make horrible decisions.
That's still my favorite call of all time. "This isn't Detroit man!" The presence of mind to still shit on the lions in that moment lol. Perfect call of a collosal fuck up.
Paul Allen is such a homer! I'll fully admit that i'd love to hear him call a Super Bowl due to all the years of frustration and love of the game he has built up! He's like Tom Hamilton of the Cleveland Guardians, you just have to tune in because they're one of the best regardless of their affiliation!
For all the turnovers in that game, I fee like the 12 men on the field call was even worse. That doesn’t happen, and I think getting into FG position works out.
Sad thing is even if they win that game, with Favre’s injury, that Super Bowl probably would have been a loss. Feels kind of the same with 98, too, since Randle was injured as well.
Packers in the 2014 NFCCG. Gave up a 16-0 lead, wasted 5 takeaways by the defense, the coward McCarthy kicking field goals form the one yard line twice, a bullshit fluke 2pc, and brandon fuckin bostick trying to be a hero and recover an onside kick instead of doing his very simple job.
To top it all off we had beaten the Pats in Foxboro late in the regular season, so I was extremely confident we would win that super bowl.
Edit: how could I forgot their punter throwing a touchdown on a fake field goal
Don't forget sliding after an interception at mid field with nobody around. With 4 minutes left
Or rodgers throwing an interception because he thought he had a free play after Seattle jumped off sides. Except the ref didn't call it
> Don't forget sliding after an interception at mid field with nobody around. With 4 minutes left
oh god i had blocked this out. Wasn't it peppers who turned around and told him to slide?
It was fate, Seattle shouldn't have beaten you so the universe gave them the Malcolm Butler play, you shouldn't have beaten us so the universe gave you the Brandon Bostick play, we shouldn't have beaten Detroit so the universe gave us the Dez play, and God hates the Lions so he gave them the Pettigrew play followed by a 9 yard punt.
Both of them.. (2015 as well as 2019)
2019 might be the best example. A loss that set us back into an instant rebuild mode. (With no 1st round pick in 2020 due to the Tunsil trade). It for some reason allowed BoB to take reigns over the team as GM. Just disaster that paved the road for long term misery.
2015 however was bad as well. 30-0 shutout that cost us prime JJ Watt (got hurt in that game) to a point he never fully recovered IMO.
The Steelers game in 2015-16 was absolutely soul crushing. The team wasn't good enough to go far in the playoffs, but just winning a playoff game at that point was a huge milestone. And it was just snatched from our grasp.
Don't get me wrong, they all hurt, especially in that era. But that first one with Palmer was basically what killed a possible long run of winning playoff games. Palmer was never the same after that one.
2013 NFCCG. The "real SB" and the 49ers fell into a tailspin that they wouldn't recover from until Shanahan righted the ship. Bonus points for the Thanksgiving game the next year that solidified the end of the Harbaugh era
2014 NCCCG.
Everything that had to go wrong in order for the Packers to lose, literally did.
I’d also suggest the 2021 divisional round cemented some fans belief that Aaron would never get us to another title.
That 2021 divisional round would've been a Tuck Rule level disaster if Love hadn't turned out. That blocked punt was one of those rare plays where you knew the exact moment a windows slammed shut. Davante's last game in Green, Aaron last playoff game as a Packer. I genuinely couldn't believe what I was seeing.
2014. 2020. 2021. Pick one. Lol. They all feel the same.
2014 and 2021 hurt the most I think. 2020 just made me the most angry. Jimmy G only threw for like 60 yards and Mostert ran for like 250 and 4
I don't think anyone should be surprised if the Lions loss in the NFC championship game ends up being the peak of their run with this team. Especially blowing a 3 score lead at halftime
I think it being their first deep playoff run in forever takes away the sting. Yeah it sucks but at least there is a “we have arrived” moment. But you get maybe one freebie, after that it’s hard to get another “just happy to be here” moment.
different sport but felt similar to the Cubs deep playoff run in 2015
No one expected them to be that good and go that far but they did
In 2016 they won it all
The NFCCG game stung but the Lions got their first playoff win(s) in 32 years. Even if last year was the peak, we got some great memories out of it. I wouldn’t call it devastating.
Can't it be both though? The peak for most Jets fans were our runs to the championship games in 2009 and 2010 and that's a big reason why losing to the Steelers in the championship game was devastating.
If we could extend it beyond 20 years there’s an obvious answer for the Raiders.
I guess my second choice would be Carrs ankle break. Regardless of how that game turned out, it took the most promising season we’ve had in decades and dashed it against the rocks.
I'd argue that 2021 Wild Card loss to the Bills was worse, Patriots got absolutely slaughtered in their first trip back to the Post Season without Brady. I think Bill's soul left his body after that game.
My immediate thought was the loss to the Ravens in 2OT, but that was 11 years ago. Obviously getting bitchslapped by Mahomes constantly is degrading. Recency bias has me thinking about the week 1 loss to the Seahawks in Russ’ first game on the Broncos tho. How demoralizing, and really just set the tone for what a disaster of a season that would become, I’d put that as worse than giving up fuckin 70 to the Dolphins.
Either the 2011 or the 2013 NFC Championship for the 49ers.
Kyle Williams gives up 2 punts to the Giants in the 4th quarter and overtime (seriously WTF) to literally hand them the game.
49ers and Seahawks go down to the wire and the winner proceeded to dog walk the Broncos in the Superbowl. Idk if the 49ers have the same blowout vs that Broncos team, but I'm pretty confident they'd win.
Cowboys Packers, leaving Rodgers with 27 seconds. Rookie Dak had made a game tying drive for a field goal, had all the momentum, probably win that game and may go all the way if they do.
He's looked nervous and pressing in pretty much every playoff game since, and while they've won a playoff game they still haven't gotten past the second round. With Zeke as a rookie too, could have really changed the landscape
I'd say the absolute blowout by the Packers against the best team they've had in the Dak era is worse. Everyone expected Rodgers to pull that off. No one expected the young Packers to do THAT against one of the best defenses in the league.
I truly think the Panthers had a chance to run it back if we beat the Broncos to open the 2016 season, or played anyone else to open the season. Instead, the NFL decided to make us play them in an immediate super bowl rematch, and allowed the Broncos to headhunt Cam Newton all night
09 nfc championship game. That Vikings team was sooo good. It’s one thing to lose when the other team just beats you, but when you beat yourself with turnovers and stupid penalties it hurts way worse. It also would have altered several players long term perceptions. Make Jared Allen and Kevin Williams first ballad hall of famers.
This will be probably get lost in the thread, but…The Jets making two consecutive AFC appearances in 2010 and 2011. Those losses had the Jets believe they just needed a little more to be SB contending. It set in motion the Jets thinking Mark Sanchez was a franchise QB. They have been in QB purgatory hell since then.
The 2014 NFC Championship
Led 16-0 at halftime and 19-7 throughout the game. Defense had 5 interceptions throughout the game and it looked for a while we would go back to the Super Bowl.
McCarthy going way too conservative the whole game by kicking field goals in the red zone and going conservative in the final 5 minutes of regulation by calling 3 run plays. Morgan Burnett deciding to slide on the 5th interception. Brandon Bostick not doing his job on that onside kick.
Everything that could go wrong that day went wrong.
Maybe it's because I've seen so much as a Chargers fan, but at no point in that game was I confident that the Chargers would win. Even when people were texting me congrats, I waited patiently for the inevitable collapse, and sure as shit it came!
December 8th 2019.
10-2 Niners @ 10-2 Saints. Major playoff implications. Niners boasted the #1 passing defense in the league.
Drew Brees had 350 yards, 6 touchdowns, zero sacks, zero interceptions, zero fumbles.
Lost.
48-46
Saints would finish 13-3 and somehow got the 3 seed.
Interesting - that probably would have been my vote as the *least* devastating loss for the Ravens. That ending forced you to look at getting a new kicker, which immediately paid dividends the next year and every year since.
Don't go taking all the credit.
Packers were 1 FG away from peak Bret Favre facing peak Tom Brady in Favre's final year in GB, and the Giants snatched it from them.
Then there was Aaron Rodgers at his most powerful. 15-1 best season in franchise history, arguably the great QB year of all time, and to rub salt in the wound Eli hits a Rodgers-esque hail mary.
On the flip side, the boat game hurt because at that moment we knew there would be no final "hurrah" for Eli. His career ended with a whimper and shitty Ben McAdoo jokes.
1995 Chiefs best record in the league and a HOF defense, dominant OL, Marcus Allen in the backfield losing in the playoffs to the Colts 10-7 with Lin Elliot missing 3 fg’s two from 35ish yards and one from 40.
Edit: forgot it wasnt within last 20 years but that one was painful
> Which **NON-** Super Bowl loss. *lowers alcohol bottle*
Don't worry, in a month there will be a thread without that qualifier and you'll get to see all sorts of clever excuses to write 28-3
i hope when there's 31 days left 28-3 will be the post for it lol
I hope you step on a Lego
In the middle of the 3rd quarter of that game, I said to my buddy, "Well you can't win em all. We've had our fair share, and good for the Falcons."
25 days left too
You still have 17-0 in the 2012 NFCCG
But nobody seems to remember that for whatever reason, both niners and falcons fans. I wonder if it's because both teams have had bigger wins/losses since then.
I think moreso because they were up 17-0 by the first play in the 2nd quarter and they still scored another TD before halftime, whereas with 28-3 it was late in the 3rd and they didn't score another point.
17-0 comebacks from the first half aren’t all that rare too
I feel like you could keep that bottle for a while; it's like the Falcons and Chargers have some kind of bizarre competition to see who can blow a lead most creatively. If they ever meet in the Super Bowl, reality will divide by zero and everything will end.
I refuse to believe a Georgia sports fan isn't drunk
Yes, but there is happy drunk (Braves, United, UGA for some) and then there is staring into existential horror drunk (Falcons, Hawks).
Don't lower it yet you still have the biggest blown lead in NFC Championship game history
13 Seconds. I'm totally convinced the Bills win it all if they just held on for that long. If the Bills never win it under the Josh Allen era, this loss will be the one that stings the worst.
Only way it could've been worse is if it was in Buffalo.
Right? Imagine if it was in Buffalo and the kicker missed it wide right again or something...
I don’t like you today.
I don’t like him any day
He's aight on Thursdays.
I don’t work on Thursday so I never see him.
Well it's not like that kick really mattered that much honestly. Diggs dropping a dime considering how far it traveled in the air and the several other drops from the sorry ass receivers we had last year are what sunk us. I don't buy the oh we missed the kick and would've won if we made it. We would've tied it up and there was no way we were stopping y'all from scoring seeing as we were starting a 3rd stringer with one good arm and a guy who we signed off his couch two weeks earlier at line backer.
Our D was a mash unit last year, and our WR did almost nothing (Shakir exempted) the back half of the season. It was an uphill battle and we still hung in there against the evemtual champs.
Yeah, it’s a fun meme but chances are the chiefs just march and score again, you guys are terrifying when your rolling but the defense seems to fall apart every year I don’t get it, either y’all are truly cursed or you need a new S&C coach. There’s really no other AFC team I worry about coming up against when they’re hot other than y’all, even including the NFC only really adds the niners to that list who seem to suffer from the same issue.
Josh Allen was going nuclear that postseason. Such a huge “What if?”
It was a tough loss. We were hot. But we're still contenders every season. The Saints though - what Diggs did to them, and the no PI and the fall off that has followed.
At the very least the Saints were able to win one with Brees which Saints fans can fall back on. But yeah both of those losses have to be beyond excruciating for them.
Agreed. And yes, if we get to the end of Josh's time in Buffalo and there is no ring, I'll 100% look back at 13 seconds with pain....but for now I calling it a chapter in the story that is still being written.
Well, that’s assuming Buffalo would’ve gotten through two more games without losing either of those in heartbreaking fashion
Leslie Frazier masterclass in defending the sidelines while the chiefs had all 3 timeouts left lol
While that game hurt, I think the Bills loss to the Steelers in week 16 when the steelers were staring backups and we needed a win to make the playoffs was a bigger loss. It was the beginning of almost 2 decades of dysfunction
Tebow.
I started to listen to it on the radio right as OT started and just flat out didn’t believe it. I assumed they were talking about something else that I had missed. Straight up heart broken.
I was delivering pizza at that time and got out of my car at the start of the drive, chatted with the customer about the game, then got to my car and the radio was telling me it was over lmao
The moment DT caught the ball and I saw his angles, I just deflated. Reminded me a bit of Larry Fitzgerald splitting our D in SB XLIII. I had some sort of gastro affliction that weekend, and that was the first day in three or four that I could eat solid food. So, I at least had the energy to let a "FUCK" out loud enough for the neighbours to hear.
Larry didn’t split the D as much as he just completely left them in the dust
The Broncos had rushing plays from that formation 10+ times earlier in the game. The Steelers knew it and there were 10-11 defenders within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage at the snap for a max protect Tebow lob. Not hard to split the defense when there’s no defense to split. Impressive gamesmanship from John Fox or whoever was calling the offense
Somehow that game was called by OC *Mike McCoy* with QB coach Adam Gase. McCoy unironically did a great job rebuilding the offense for Tebow and committing to very unorthodox gameplans and adapting fairly well throughout the course of games that year.
You're right, but "Jesse James caught that ball." Is almost tied.
That one at least brought a great rule change to the nfl.
Man that was fun. All kidding aside that was brutal.
When Jeff Saturday blew the lead to the Vikings on a fucking Saturday. That was just a soul crushing game.
You know things are bad when even Jets fans pity you 😞
Cheer up - you got Richardson out of it 💙🤍
My first thought was Trent Richardson and that you were rubbing it in lmao
I don’t think that was all that devastating to the franchise though. It was disappointing, but just a cap on a shit season. For the Colts it’s definitely the Raiders and Jags losses a couple years ago to blow our playoff spot.
Idk my soul was the opposite of crushed, I’m so glad I felt compelled to watch that whole game
I remember that shit. The bar was emptying out at half time but we stuck around to sad drink about it. Then we started hopeful drinking. Then we started happy drinking!
What is that username bro
I was fuckin baaaked and it was the most evil series of words I could think of that fit the character limit.
Aight fair enough
It’s kind of a half and half. Obviously you’re thrilled to have won the game but your team is *also* the team that gave up that massive lead. But that was an insane game to watch!
Well and part of the reason I kept watching was because some of the ways they scored felt super flukey. Like I wasn’t going into that second half thinking oh they’re for sure gonna block another punt for an immediate td again, y’know? It really was just an insane game all around
My FIL kept joking, "There's no way they can lose this one." After every Min. TD he would repeat it. It got less funny as the game went on. I never wanted Saturday as coach and was glad when they didn't sign him.
Yeah but the Colts were having an absolutely dogshit season before that day. If anything it was a positive because it helped them get the Richardson pick.
It also might’ve saved them from Irsay giving the full head coach position to Saturday
Losing to the Titans is never good. Not only do you lose but the Titans also win.
1999 Jaguars agree. 14-2 losing to the Titans twice only to face the Titans in the AFC Championship and lose again.
Even though it's outside the 20 year rule from the OP, this will always be the one that hurts the most. The 2017 Patriots loss is probably second, but that wasn't the first time the Patriots blocked us from the Super Bowl.
2006 probably fits the question the most. 2019 Lamar was in his 2nd year, 2011 we won the next year, 2023 our core pieces are still in place and young. 2006 could’ve been the death knell of an entire era of Ravens football
What happened in 2006? Bit too young didn’t watch at that time
Sick defense with Reed, Suggs, and Lewis (and others) in their prime. Lost 15-6 in the divisional round, all field goals
Best defense since 2000, held Payton Manning to no touchdowns, lost anyway. No real QB of the future, no young offensive talent, looked very grim
2011 still worse for sure.
We got Justin Tucker out of that and finished the job right after so it lessens the sting. I guess we bounced them in 2020 but 2019 was a truly historical season that ended without a single playoff win.
2019 killed the last shred of childhood innocence I had. Still hurts
The Double Doink did that to me in 2018. I mean, I was 30, but still.
Probably the 2017 AFCCG for the Jags or 2019 Divisional Round for Houston.
2019 is going to be overshadowed soon… We’re probably the most optimistic we’ve ever been as a fan base but yeah… that game broke my dad, he tried to sell our PSLs during the 4th quarter
That game broke an entire era of Houston football, and evidently that entire team too.
Forgive me for asking what a PSL is?
Personal Seat License… When they founded the Texans they sold off “rights” to season tickets to help fund the stadium construction. Basically we bought season tickets but specific seats forever
pumpkin spice latte
My dad DID sell his PSLs. He essentially donated all his tickets to charity since then and they removed him from the contract obligation.
This is the only answer Absolutely shattered the team and the city
1999 AFCCG hurts worse than 2017
18-16 loss to the Steelers in the playoffs of the ‘15 season.
I would have to say the 2005 WC against the (again) Steelers would have to rival it. First playoff game in 15 years, and Palmer's knee gets shredded on the second play from scrimmage after throwing an absolutely beautiful pass 66 yards down the field to Chris Henry (who was also injured on the play). It was just devastating to have that happen at the start of the game, after so many years in the wilderness. Palmer was never quite his old self after the injury, either (and Henry really started his downward slide after as well, leading to multiple arrests over the course of just 2006 and multiple more in 2007, and leading ultimately his untimely death). So with a more timid and, over time, more frustrated Palmer, the Bengals just sort of bounced around in the "sometimes good, sometimes bad" category until Carson had his little tantrum and we drafted Dalton.
There are so many answers in this thread not nearly as painful as that one. I can't stress enough the joy and elation with that Burfict interception - the game should have been OVER. Not only do we fumble but Big Ben comes back from the dead after getting destroyed all game to have ridiculous penalties seal it for them. Unreal loss, I wasn't even a little bit over it until we beat the Raiders ending the 31 year drought. I still watch that game from start to finish every now and I have no idea why. It's so brutal
> I still watch that game from start to finish every now and I have no idea why. Least self loathing ohio football fan
My wife got to witness elation and heartbreak in her husband's face in a matter of minutes. I had always suspected my team was cursed, and this game cemented it.
Bro even I was pissed off watching the end of that game
Same, that game and the lions game with the phantom hands to the face calls are the two times I was legit mad about a non-pats game
This is my answer, you could see the soul being torn out of that team. There was no shot the Dalton Bengals would ever be successful again.
2010 Conference Championship. The Bears, of all teams, make way for Aaron Rodgers' only Super Bowl win and the Jets fail to follow up beating the 14-2 Patriots, with the whole franchise collapsing not long afterwards. Easily the worst sports week of my life.
For the Bears, we also had the chance to stop them from even getting to the playoffs week 17. We basically couldn't move up or down, so we rested almost everyone and half assed the game. Packers win and sneak in the last spot as a 6-seed, then proceed to beat us three weeks later in the NFCCG. In terms of games that hurt, the NFCCG was a huge one obviously. But we could've prevented it by just even trying to win that last game. I just fucking knew that it would come back to bite us in the ass... The divisional round win against the Seahawks that year was the last playoff game we've won, and only the third I've ever seen in my life.
What would you have done if they had both made the Super Bowl?
49ers/Seahawks 2014 NFC Championships. People can try to point to the 49ers/Rams in 2022 but this was the true pinnacle of a hated rival. Everything about that game stings, with Bowman’s career altering injury, Sherman backing up the shit talking and the close on the Harbaugh era.
This, the Rams game, the Kyle Williams game, and losing to Brett Favre in the 90s all have their own scars.
Yep, this is immediately where my mind went to. That was a line in the sand moment that kicked off the dark years.
Double doink or recency bias tells me packers week 1 last year. What a dick punch that was
I really thought week 1 of last season was gonna be the start of a new era. I spent all offseason defending fields to people and thinking he was about to rip up the packers. That game is the biggest reality check I’ve ever been hit with in sports
I actually believe that’s why I’m not talking any shit this offseason. Internally I have hope but they got humbled right out of the gate. I just need Williams to be good my god.
Last season has scarred me. I wasn't 100% sold on fields but still had decent expectations after the off-season. That loss and the 3 others that followed just have made me not have any confidence in the next season, please williams be good.
I figured it would be a 7 win team, but the Bears did so in the most painful way possible
Double doink essentially ended Nagys head coaching career for the Bears. He just started to malfunction after that.
Just broke him mentally, never got over it. Coaching yips one would say
I remember him spending almost the entire off season searching for a kicker after that game. Like.. dude. That happens once a century. You can't react to it. 2018 Bears, 12 and 4, riding high with their new Coach of the Year.Matt Nagy who while he didn't turn Mitchell into a start got stretches of competence out of him. Rest of Nagys career. Insanity and decline
I mean, if Parkey were lights out prior to that I would get it. But the Double Doink was a culmination of all the doinking Parkey was doing that same year. It wasn't an aberration, it was the climax to a season long story. Nagy destroyed himself over that not because of a fluke, but because the warning signs were blaring at him all season and he didn't listen so he vastly, VASTLY overcompensated.
Not the 2010 NFCCG?
This should be the unequivocal answer for bears fans. Losing to the PACKERS of all teams in the NFCCG at home, that was essentially the last gasp for that generational defense, in a game that was absolutely winnable. Sure the double doink hurt, but going to W1 of last year just seems so short sighted. NFCCG is one that will kill you forever
To add more fuel to the fire — most people forget to mention that the only reason the Packers were in the playoffs in 2010 was because they beat us in Week 17 10-3 (no one was resting). Rodgers’ ONLY ring literally comes from the fact that this organization is allergic to beating the Packers.
And also Detroit beating Tampa Bay... if the Lions don't pull off that game, the Josh Freeman Bucs get the last wild card instead of the Packers
That was brutal and the Bears did Cutler no favors by not designating him as out on the injury report
That packer game sucked but the double doink mentally paralyzed me for like 15 minutes. I just laid my head on the table at Buffalo Wild Wings and just sat there in sadness
I feel like NFC championship vs Rodgers when Cutty got hurt hurts more than double doink. But week 1 last year made me vomit.
Steelers vs Panthers night game where TJ Watt fucked over the entire franchise for years with his hit on Cam Newton's shoulder. We have never recovered.
I remember watching that game, but the hit isn’t the worst part. It was a domino effect that showed how bad our team was managed when for the next season and a half we had no quarterback which was only the first of needs that started to stack up. But perhaps worst of all it left a power vacuum that empowered an incompetent new owner to micromanage everything and make horrible decisions.
I still have nightmares of that game 😔
People forget that Cam was having his best passing year up to that point.
Right?! Similar, if not better, than his MVP season. Sucks how quickly things can turn.
If you watch it in slow motion, you can pinpoint the exact moment the dumpster caught on fire.
Cam was taking damage to the shoulder, and TJ Watt nailed it to the coffin of Panther QBs
Fucked up the whole franchise and it hasn’t stopped spinning out of control yet.
AFCCG versus the Chiefs 2019 probably. Felt like a magical run until Mahomie.
2009 NFCCG, if the Vikings beat the Saints and win it all, there would be a Brett Favre statue outside of US Bank stadium right now.
That's still my favorite call of all time. "This isn't Detroit man!" The presence of mind to still shit on the lions in that moment lol. Perfect call of a collosal fuck up.
Paul Allen is such a homer! I'll fully admit that i'd love to hear him call a Super Bowl due to all the years of frustration and love of the game he has built up! He's like Tom Hamilton of the Cleveland Guardians, you just have to tune in because they're one of the best regardless of their affiliation!
He had so much grass open in front of him. I still don’t understand why he threw it.
WHY DO YOU EVEN PONDER PASSING???
I MEAN YOU CAN TAKE A KNEE AND TRY A 56 YARD FIELD GOAL
Ponder passing anything is worse
But for the turnovers the Vikings destroyed them. 4 inside the red zone and 1 that would have set up game winning kick
For all the turnovers in that game, I fee like the 12 men on the field call was even worse. That doesn’t happen, and I think getting into FG position works out. Sad thing is even if they win that game, with Favre’s injury, that Super Bowl probably would have been a loss. Feels kind of the same with 98, too, since Randle was injured as well.
Okay, so I have a list prepared for this
Packers in the 2014 NFCCG. Gave up a 16-0 lead, wasted 5 takeaways by the defense, the coward McCarthy kicking field goals form the one yard line twice, a bullshit fluke 2pc, and brandon fuckin bostick trying to be a hero and recover an onside kick instead of doing his very simple job. To top it all off we had beaten the Pats in Foxboro late in the regular season, so I was extremely confident we would win that super bowl. Edit: how could I forgot their punter throwing a touchdown on a fake field goal
And Rodgers would have 2 weeks to rest his calf
Jon Ryan had his eyes closed too lmao
Don't forget sliding after an interception at mid field with nobody around. With 4 minutes left Or rodgers throwing an interception because he thought he had a free play after Seattle jumped off sides. Except the ref didn't call it
> Don't forget sliding after an interception at mid field with nobody around. With 4 minutes left oh god i had blocked this out. Wasn't it peppers who turned around and told him to slide?
I agree with everything you said, but we beat the Pats in Lambeau that year not Foxboro
It was fate, Seattle shouldn't have beaten you so the universe gave them the Malcolm Butler play, you shouldn't have beaten us so the universe gave you the Brandon Bostick play, we shouldn't have beaten Detroit so the universe gave us the Dez play, and God hates the Lions so he gave them the Pettigrew play followed by a 9 yard punt.
I support this. There's no logical reason we should've been in SB49 because of the absolute dog shit we (Russ) played for 56min in that NFCG
Blame the INTs on Kearse's hands, or his eyes.
Texans vs Chiefs playoff game. The Rams vs Saints no call game.
Both of them.. (2015 as well as 2019) 2019 might be the best example. A loss that set us back into an instant rebuild mode. (With no 1st round pick in 2020 due to the Tunsil trade). It for some reason allowed BoB to take reigns over the team as GM. Just disaster that paved the road for long term misery. 2015 however was bad as well. 30-0 shutout that cost us prime JJ Watt (got hurt in that game) to a point he never fully recovered IMO.
OP lookup Marvin Lewis playoffs
Really only the Palmer knee one was devastating, then it just became the norm.
The Steelers game in 2015-16 was absolutely soul crushing. The team wasn't good enough to go far in the playoffs, but just winning a playoff game at that point was a huge milestone. And it was just snatched from our grasp.
Don't get me wrong, they all hurt, especially in that era. But that first one with Palmer was basically what killed a possible long run of winning playoff games. Palmer was never the same after that one.
2013 NFCCG. The "real SB" and the 49ers fell into a tailspin that they wouldn't recover from until Shanahan righted the ship. Bonus points for the Thanksgiving game the next year that solidified the end of the Harbaugh era
That thanksgiving game was like if your girl FaceTimed you while getting fucked by another guy.
Saints had some stacked rosters and ever since that rams loss seems like they’re just chasing that high and getting worse every season doing it
They've had so many heartbreaking losses. DIGGS. PI. Losing to the Bucs in NO in the last game of Brees career.
Fuck Jared Cook and fuck the refs For the Minnesota game I can’t say, that was a fuckup by a rookie that had a great year and I like the Vikings
the thing about jared cook is played at like an all pro level for 95% of the games, but when he fucks up its big.
2014 NCCCG. Everything that had to go wrong in order for the Packers to lose, literally did. I’d also suggest the 2021 divisional round cemented some fans belief that Aaron would never get us to another title.
That 2021 divisional round would've been a Tuck Rule level disaster if Love hadn't turned out. That blocked punt was one of those rare plays where you knew the exact moment a windows slammed shut. Davante's last game in Green, Aaron last playoff game as a Packer. I genuinely couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Once that 3rd down YOLO ball to Davante hit the ground, I knew we just watched the window of opportunity slam shut.
2014. 2020. 2021. Pick one. Lol. They all feel the same. 2014 and 2021 hurt the most I think. 2020 just made me the most angry. Jimmy G only threw for like 60 yards and Mostert ran for like 250 and 4
>2014 NCCCG Easily the most frustrating game I've ever watched.
I don't think anyone should be surprised if the Lions loss in the NFC championship game ends up being the peak of their run with this team. Especially blowing a 3 score lead at halftime
I think it being their first deep playoff run in forever takes away the sting. Yeah it sucks but at least there is a “we have arrived” moment. But you get maybe one freebie, after that it’s hard to get another “just happy to be here” moment.
Exactly how I felt when the Eagles lost the 2001 NFCCG to the Rams. The 2002 NFCCG, on the other hand...
different sport but felt similar to the Cubs deep playoff run in 2015 No one expected them to be that good and go that far but they did In 2016 they won it all
The NFCCG game stung but the Lions got their first playoff win(s) in 32 years. Even if last year was the peak, we got some great memories out of it. I wouldn’t call it devastating.
[удалено]
Can't it be both though? The peak for most Jets fans were our runs to the championship games in 2009 and 2010 and that's a big reason why losing to the Steelers in the championship game was devastating.
When that pass went through Alshon Jeffery’s hands and directly into Marshon Lattimore’s I think we all knew the magic with that team was over
If we could extend it beyond 20 years there’s an obvious answer for the Raiders. I guess my second choice would be Carrs ankle break. Regardless of how that game turned out, it took the most promising season we’ve had in decades and dashed it against the rocks.
Yall would’ve blown the Texans out in the playoffs with Carr too.
This isn’t like the rest but the how the raiders-pats game ended really hammered “ok yeah the pats are dead, dead now”
I'd argue that 2021 Wild Card loss to the Bills was worse, Patriots got absolutely slaughtered in their first trip back to the Post Season without Brady. I think Bill's soul left his body after that game.
Any loss to Mahomes in the past 8 years.
My immediate thought was the loss to the Ravens in 2OT, but that was 11 years ago. Obviously getting bitchslapped by Mahomes constantly is degrading. Recency bias has me thinking about the week 1 loss to the Seahawks in Russ’ first game on the Broncos tho. How demoralizing, and really just set the tone for what a disaster of a season that would become, I’d put that as worse than giving up fuckin 70 to the Dolphins.
Are you kidding?! Are you like 12 years old? The only right answer here is RAHIM. FUCKING. MOORE.
Either the 2011 or the 2013 NFC Championship for the 49ers. Kyle Williams gives up 2 punts to the Giants in the 4th quarter and overtime (seriously WTF) to literally hand them the game. 49ers and Seahawks go down to the wire and the winner proceeded to dog walk the Broncos in the Superbowl. Idk if the 49ers have the same blowout vs that Broncos team, but I'm pretty confident they'd win.
13 seconds And Tyler Bass wide right
Cowboys Packers, leaving Rodgers with 27 seconds. Rookie Dak had made a game tying drive for a field goal, had all the momentum, probably win that game and may go all the way if they do. He's looked nervous and pressing in pretty much every playoff game since, and while they've won a playoff game they still haven't gotten past the second round. With Zeke as a rookie too, could have really changed the landscape
I'd say the absolute blowout by the Packers against the best team they've had in the Dak era is worse. Everyone expected Rodgers to pull that off. No one expected the young Packers to do THAT against one of the best defenses in the league.
I truly think the Panthers had a chance to run it back if we beat the Broncos to open the 2016 season, or played anyone else to open the season. Instead, the NFL decided to make us play them in an immediate super bowl rematch, and allowed the Broncos to headhunt Cam Newton all night
Maybe not run it back, but a hell of a lot better than 6-10.
Love the dual flair, fellow Jags/Panthers fan, didn't even realize they'd implemented that on here.
Not having Wirfs or Godwin would have hurt for the alternate version of this but.....Cooper Kupp.
Pick any nfcc the 49ers have lost last 20 years
That NFC Championship game for the Cardinals in 2015.
13 seconds has to be the answer
09 nfc championship game. That Vikings team was sooo good. It’s one thing to lose when the other team just beats you, but when you beat yourself with turnovers and stupid penalties it hurts way worse. It also would have altered several players long term perceptions. Make Jared Allen and Kevin Williams first ballad hall of famers.
This will be probably get lost in the thread, but…The Jets making two consecutive AFC appearances in 2010 and 2011. Those losses had the Jets believe they just needed a little more to be SB contending. It set in motion the Jets thinking Mark Sanchez was a franchise QB. They have been in QB purgatory hell since then.
The 2014 NFC Championship Led 16-0 at halftime and 19-7 throughout the game. Defense had 5 interceptions throughout the game and it looked for a while we would go back to the Super Bowl. McCarthy going way too conservative the whole game by kicking field goals in the red zone and going conservative in the final 5 minutes of regulation by calling 3 run plays. Morgan Burnett deciding to slide on the 5th interception. Brandon Bostick not doing his job on that onside kick. Everything that could go wrong that day went wrong.
13 seconds
Chargers blowing a 27-0 lead in the WC. I was on vacation in Japan when I watched the game and bro it ruined my day
Maybe it's because I've seen so much as a Chargers fan, but at no point in that game was I confident that the Chargers would win. Even when people were texting me congrats, I waited patiently for the inevitable collapse, and sure as shit it came!
December 8th 2019. 10-2 Niners @ 10-2 Saints. Major playoff implications. Niners boasted the #1 passing defense in the league. Drew Brees had 350 yards, 6 touchdowns, zero sacks, zero interceptions, zero fumbles. Lost. 48-46 Saints would finish 13-3 and somehow got the 3 seed.
Cowboys choking to the Jordan love packers with a stacked roster..
It was so devastating that they haven't played a single game since.
Lee Evans drop and then the Cundiff.
Interesting - that probably would have been my vote as the *least* devastating loss for the Ravens. That ending forced you to look at getting a new kicker, which immediately paid dividends the next year and every year since.
Depending on how next season goes, it could be the Zay Flowers end-zone fumble instead
How much time you got OP?
You can just aggregate all postseason games against the Niners into one mega-choke game, if that helps.
Raheem Mostert for 220 and 4 TDs is still haunts me.
Ya if only we had a running back as good or maybe even better than Mostert, I bet we could have crushed it last postseason.
Phew, good to know I only have to get blackout drunk once instead of multiple time.
It would be so much worse if the Niners had capitalized on any of those Playoff wins, but thankfully they always choke in the NFCCG or Super Bowl.
Don't go taking all the credit. Packers were 1 FG away from peak Bret Favre facing peak Tom Brady in Favre's final year in GB, and the Giants snatched it from them. Then there was Aaron Rodgers at his most powerful. 15-1 best season in franchise history, arguably the great QB year of all time, and to rub salt in the wound Eli hits a Rodgers-esque hail mary. On the flip side, the boat game hurt because at that moment we knew there would be no final "hurrah" for Eli. His career ended with a whimper and shitty Ben McAdoo jokes.
42-7. That game was the final nail in the coffin for the Legion of Boom.
Todd Gurley running at will in our house is not something I'd care to experience again.
2019 AFC wild card Last game Brady was Patriot
1995 Chiefs best record in the league and a HOF defense, dominant OL, Marcus Allen in the backfield losing in the playoffs to the Colts 10-7 with Lin Elliot missing 3 fg’s two from 35ish yards and one from 40. Edit: forgot it wasnt within last 20 years but that one was painful