Best regular season games since '90

SI Staff | Nov 7, 2007

Best regular season games since '90 /

Best regular season games since '90

1990, Week 13: New York Giants (10-1) at San Francisco 49ers (10-1)

What would have been the latest-ever meeting between undefeated teams got spoiled just eight days earlier when New York and San Francisco suffered Week 12 losses. Instead, fans had to settle for a showdown between 10-1 teams and the league's top two defenses. The two-time defending Super Bowl champions edged the visiting Giants in a black-and-blue battle, 7-3, thanks to a John Taylor touchdown catch -- but Big Blue would have their revenge down the road in the NFC Championship Game.

1993, Week 17: Dallas (11-4) at New York Giants (11-4)

Two of the game's fiercest rivals met on the final day of the regular season with the NFC East title up for grabs. Playing in agonizing pain due to a first-degree separation of his right shoulder, Dallas running back Emmitt Smith rushed for 168 yards and touched the ball a franchise-record 42 times -- with 32 carries and 10 receptions. He produced 229 of his team's 339 yards in a 16-13 overtime victory. The Cowboys would go on to win a second consecutive Super Bowl.

1994, Week 11: Dallas (8-1) at San Francisco (7-2)

Eventual league champion San Francisco knocked off defending league champion Dallas at the zenith of a memorable early-1990s rivalry which saw the teams meet six times over a three-and-a-half-year span (including three straight NFC Championship Games). Steve Young threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a third in a 21-14 victory over the visiting Cowboys.

1995, Week 6: Green Bay (3-1) at Dallas (4-1)

Who knows how many championships Brett Favre might have won if not for the Dallas roadblock? The Cowboys had blown Green Bay out of the playoffs in '93 and '94 -- and the Packers viewed this '95 meeting as a chance to host a potential postseason rematch at Lambeau. But Troy Aikman outgunned Favre in a 34-24 victory and the Cowboys would go on to defeat Green Bay in the playoffs yet again. Not until the following season would the Packers finally exorcise their Dallas demons.

1996, Week 7: San Francisco (4-1) at Green Bay (5-1)

After leaving the San Francisco dynasty to assemble a contender of his own, Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren hosted his former employer in a Monday Night Football classic. The eventual Super Bowl champs needed some Brett Favre heroics on a late scoring drive to force overtime -- but Chris Jacke's field goal from 53 yards proved the difference-maker in a 23-20 victory.

1999, Week 16: Jacksonville (13-1) and Tennessee (11-3)

The Jaguars went 14-0 against all of their 1999 opponents, save for Tennessee, which tripped up Jacksonville twice in the regular season and also in the AFC Championship Game. In the second of those contests, Jacksonville missed a chance to clinch the AFC Central as Steve McNair threw five TD passes in a 41-14 victory.

2003, Week 13: New England (9-2) at Indianapolis (9-2)

The Patriots weathered a four-touchdown performance from Peyton Manning to escape the RCA Dome with a 38-34 victory. New England's Bethel Johnson had a 92-yard kick return for a touchdown to end the first half and a 67-yard return in the fourth quarter that changed the tide of the game. Just months later, New England would take down Indianapolis a second time in the AFC Championship Game on its way to a second Super Bowl victory in three seasons.

2004, Week 8: New England (6-0) at Pittsburgh (5-1)

The Patriots watched their incredible 21-game winning streak (including three postseason games) come to an end at the hands of rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the resurgent Steelers. Big Ben drove the Pittsburgh offense to four scores in a surprisingly easy 38-20 victory -- but the Patriots would get the last laugh in the AFC Championship Game.

2006, Week 9: Indianapolis (7-0) at New England (6-1)

Once dismissed as timid and toothless, the recommitted Indianapolis defense intercepted Brady four times in a 27-20 victory. For an encore, the Colts would take down the Patriots with a miraculous come-from-behind victory in the AFC Championship Game on their way to Peyton Manning's only Super Bowl victory.

2007, Week 9: New England (8-0) at Indianapolis (7-0)

The so-called Game of the Century lived up to the hype as Tom Brady led the Patriots to a pair of touchdowns over the last eight minutes to spark the Patriots to a 28-24 triumph. With the victory, Brady snapped his side's three-game skid at the hands of the Colts.

Published Nov 7, 2007

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