NFL: Ranking 2018 vs. greatest conference championship weekends
By Erik Lambert
2011
NFC championship: New York Giants def. San Francisco 49ers 20-17
People may love points but sometimes a great defensive battle is so thrilling to watch. Such was the case between the Giants and 49ers. One guy who probably prefers to forget it is Eli Manning. He took arguably the worst beating of his career in that game. San Francisco put him on the ground several times. Somehow he battled through, staking the Giants to a 17-14 lead in the 4th quarter.
The 49ers didn’t go quietly though, tying the game to eventually force overtime. After both teams got defensive stops, New York punted away. Momentum changed for good when San Francisco returned Jacquian Williams was stripped of the ball on the return. New York drove down to the six-yard line and kicked the winning field goal.
AFC championship: New England Patriots def. Baltimore Ravens 23-20
People felt there was no way the AFC title game would ever match the craziness of earlier in the day. They were wrong. New England and Baltimore waged another of their many epic battles on a cold night in Foxborough. The Patriots took a 23-20 lead after a 4th quarter TD from Tom Brady. With less than two minutes left, the Ravens drove deep into New England territory and appeared to have the game won when Joe Flacco hit Lee Evans in the end zone.
Sadly he didn’t secure the ball enough and had it knocked out of his hands. This forced the Ravens to settle for a field goal, but miscommunication on the sidelined forced kicker Billy Cundiff to rush onto the field. The ensuing attempt hooked badly to the left, sending the Patriots back to the Super Bowl.