game of the year? what an insane game and finish
I have never understood the insistence that the only games that are exciting are games in which both teams relentlessly score...the comeback aspect might have been exciting, but I prefer a game with tons of goal line stands to a shootout. Aaron Rodgers throwing 400 yards in a close loss is not really very new, with him having thrown 384 losing to the Packers the first time (30-23). By the way, this is not even the best Packers shootout of the year
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=291220023 Steelers 37 Packers 36 with Rofflesberger throwing for
503 yards, an 83 and 60 yard touchdown (one from each team), ridiculous 10-16 and 7-16 third down efficiencies (compare that to 5-11 and 3-5 today, yawn). Granted, that was a game of the year candidate for sure.
Best two games of the year in terms of sheer excitement were probably:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=290921015 Colts 27 Dolphins 23; Perfect Prefect Percy Manning versus the Wildcat on Monday night
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=291115011 Colts 35 Patriots 34 Brady and Moss having incredible nights together and still falling short as Manning wrecked them the entire late game
Other standout games:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=291123034 Titans 20 Texans 17 as Vince Young wins the game in ugly fashion (12/22 116 yards 1 TD, but 11 for 73 running!) fueled by Chris Johnson running for 151 yards despite Schaub's typical 300 yard throwing effort, all decided by a field goal to break the tie with just :47 left followed by
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=291129010 Titans 20 Cardinals 17 six days later as Vince Young unleashes holy hell passing (387 yards), Chris Johnson runs for 154, and the Cardinals defense is tight enough that the Titans STILL only win as time expires on VY's first touchdown pass of the day. Most incredible of all, 20-17 is the most likely average score, so to pull it off two weeks in a row is pretty awesome.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=291115024 Chargers 31 Eagles 23 McNabb throws for 450, Rivers throws up a 131 qb rating and has an actual running game on his side, Sproles makes every return a big one (24.5 average), and the Chargers win a convincing game against a future playoff team as they continue their incredible regular game winning streak
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=291101020 Dolphins 30 Jets 25 Sanchez on fire, Thomas Jones running amok, no offense from the Dolphins...and Ted Ginn puts up a 101 yard kickoff return and 100 yard kickoff return 7 minutes apart!
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=291018016 Vikings 33 Ravens 31 a shootout not relying on desperate throwing alone, as Flacco posts 28/43 385 2 TD, Favre throws 21/29 278 3 TD, Ray Rice throws up a 10 for 77, AP 22 for 143 and no fumbles, Sidney Rice goes 6 for 176, all this despite 3 sacks by each team and 8 QB hits on Flacco, 5 on Favre, and Percy Harvin returns 4 for 81 only to be destroyed by Lardarius Webb's 7 for 165! Phew, now that is a fucking shootout!
Other great games like Chargers-Cowboys, Saints-Cowboys, every Saints or Colts game against any good team, both Vikings-Packers games, both Cowboys-Giants games, Steelers-Chargers, Cowboys-Chiefs (Miles Austin 10 for 250 lol), Colts-Broncos (21 for 200 to Marshall and still getting smoked lol), Eagles-Giants (6 for 178 from DeSean Jackson!), and mabye even Chargers-Ravens (Rivers has 436 yards of desperate passing, loses to a dominant defense).
Also I know this post was way more than your post deserved as response, I was curious to figure out the best games of the year once I started though.