NFL: Ranking 2018 vs. greatest conference championship weekends
By Erik Lambert
2010
NFC championship: Green Bay Packers def. Chicago Bears 21-14
It doesn’t get much better than the oldest rivalry in sports getting together in the playoffs. Crazy things always seem to happen between the Bears and Packers. This game was no exception. Aaron Rodgers staked the team to an early 14-0 lead but the Bears defense stiffed long enough for the offense to finally get going, sparked by unlikely backup Caleb Hanie who was forced into the game after Jay Cutler suffered an MCL injury. It looked like Chicago might tie the game but Hanie undid everything with a catastrophic pick-six to defensive tackle B.J. Raji, making it 21-7. Chicago scored shortly after to cut it back to seven but by then it was too late.
AFC championship: Pittsburgh Steelers def. New York Jets 24-19
At first glance, it looked like this game was going to be a blowout. Pittsburgh was all over the Jets for most of the first half, building a 24-0 lead before New York managed a field goal. Everything was going their way. Then, ever so suddenly, it wasn’t. The Jets, led by a series of defensive stops, fought back with 16 more points in the second half to cut the Steelers lead to five. There were still three minutes left to go at that point. All they needed was one more stop. Sadly, the defense ran out of magic. Pittsburgh collected two huge first downs to drain the rest of the clock and escape.