Second-and-26. Santonio Holmes’ toe tap. Blowing a 3-1 series lead. 28-3.
Sometimes, you don’t need more than a score or a couple of words to conjure memories of stunning championship-winning games. The pressure, stakes, legacies and dreams of winning it all elevate incredible performances to unforgettable moments etched in sports lore.
Going back to the beginning of the 21st century, we’re breaking down the top-10 championship games across the NFL, the World Cup, college football and basketball, MLB and NBA, and reexamining what made them so special and memorable. Here are our 10 best title games since 2000.
Honorable mention:
- 2010 World Cup Final: Spain’s Andrés Iniesta scores the winner in the 116th minute vs. Netherlands
- 2008 NCAA Championship: Kansas’ Mario Chalmers hits the game-winner to beat Memphis
- 2005 UEFA Champions League Final: Liverpool overcomes a 3-0 deficit vs. AC Milan
- 2014 World Cup Final: Germany’s Mario Götze scores the winner in the 113th Minute vs. Argentina
- 2013 Stanley Cup Final: Chicago Blackhawks win the Cup in Game 6 vs Bruins
10. 2013 NBA Finals: Ray Allen’s Shot for Warmth vs. Spurs in Sport 6
Rowan Kavner: The San Antonio Spurs led by 5 factors with lower than 30 seconds on the clock and had been seven seconds away from celebrating an NBA championship. The trophy presentation was already getting ready when historical past was rewritten with some of the iconic pictures in playoff historical past. After a LeBron James 3-pointer introduced the Miami Heat inside two with 20 seconds to go, Kawhi Leonard made one in every of two free throws on the opposite finish. A 3 would tie it.
James got here off a display screen from Chris Bosh and had a very good look however couldn’t join. Bosh crashed to the rim. Nobody boxed him out. He secured the offensive board as Ray Allen backpedaled towards the nook. Allen barely received his ft behind the 3-point line when he launched the game-tying shot that might ship the competition to additional time, the place the Warmth prevailed earlier than profitable their second straight NBA title in Sport 7. The Spurs would get their revenge on the Warmth a 12 months later, needing solely 5 video games within the 2014 NBA Finals to finish Miami’s run.
9. 2009 Tremendous Bowl: Santonio Holmes’ Toe-Faucet TD Provides Steelers the Win
Ralph Vacchiano: Kurt Warner was alleged to be the star of this present, in a Super Bowl that might be the proper capper to his Corridor of Fame profession. However two gamers on the Pittsburgh Steelers stole his highlight and the sport.
The primary highlight-reel second got here simply earlier than halftime with Warner and the Arizona Cardinals on the Steelers’ 1-yard line. That’s when Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison picked Warner’s go off on the objective line and rumbled 100 yards the opposite manner for a landing — the longest interception in Tremendous Bowl historical past — giving the Steelers a 10-point halftime lead.
Warner led the Playing cards again and even received them the lead with 2:37 to go, when he hit Larry Fitzgerald with a 64-yard landing. However Ben Roethlisberger and receiver Santonio Holmes had one final shock left in them. They shortly drove again down the sphere, and, with 35 seconds to go, Roethlisberger hit Holmes at the back of the tip zone the place he made arguably the best catch in Tremendous Bowl historical past — reaching for the ball manner out of bounds whereas his toes miraculously stayed simply contained in the white traces.
It was sufficient to disclaim Warner his second championship and provides the Steelers ring No. 6.
8. 2016 NBA Finals: LeBron’s Iconic Chase-Down Block vs. the Warriors in Sport 7
Rowan Kavner: With three NBA championships in 4 years, the one title that slipped away from the Golden State Warriors was the 12 months wherein they gained a file 73 video games. They had been unstoppable throughout the 2015-16 season and appeared on their strategy to cementing one of many league’s all-time nice seasons… till LeBron James and Kyrie Irving authored a unique ending. James returned to Cleveland to convey a championship to the town, and he did so by reviving the Cavaliers from the brink within the NBA Finals.
James scored 41 factors in Sport 5, one other 41 in Sport 6 after which produced a triple-double in Sport 7 together with an iconic chase-down block on Andre Iguodala that can stay on spotlight reels in Cleveland ceaselessly. Within the waning minutes of a tie sport, James came out of nowhere to swat the shot. One minute later, Irving buried a step-back three, and the Cavs grew to become the primary group ever to rally again from a 3-1 NBA Finals deficit to win a championship.
7. 2016 NCAA Championship: Villanova’s Kris Jenkins Hits Buzzer-Beater to Beat North Carolina
Michael Cohen: How typically does the most important second of the most important sport on a sport’s grandest stage actually and really come all the way down to a buzzer beater, the end result solely determined when the clock exhibits all zeroes? It is exceedingly uncommon — one thing followers will bear in mind ceaselessly — and that is why the 2016 nationwide championship sport between North Carolina and Villanova claims its rightful place on this listing.
It wasn’t sufficient for Tar Heels guard Marcus Paige to make a leaning, double-clutch 3-pointer of his personal with 4.7 seconds remaining, tying the sport at 74-74. No, that unimaginable bucket could be swiftly upstaged by arguably the best shot in NCAA match historical past. Wildcats level guard Ryan Arcidiacono flipped an underhand go to ahead Kris Jenkins for a championship-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer as time expired. It is a second that has been replayed thousands and thousands of occasions since then as the last word One Shining Second in a sport that glorifies such issues, and it will not be forgotten any time quickly.
6. 2018 CFP Title: Tua Tagovailoa Leads Alabama to Time beyond regulation Win Over Georgia
RJ Young: What I bear in mind — what some Georgia followers detest — is the play earlier than The Play, leading to Bulldogs defensive finish Jonathan Ledbetter and linebacker Davin Bellamy completely planting Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for a sack and a 16-yard loss. The sport was in additional time, and Georgia had a three-point lead. The Bulldogs had been simply two downs from glory — two downs from this system’s first nationwide championship in 38 years.
However on second-and-26 from Georgia’s 31, Tagovailoa reared again, planted his left foot and uncorked a shot attractive in its arc and spiraling as if it might explode like a Roman candle. A good looking go that grew to become a title-winning shot when wideout DeVonta Smith caught it in stride as two Georgia gamers watched him float into the tip zone, run alongside the again of the white line together with his proper fist excessive and right into a crush of hugs from his Bama teammates. That DeVonta Smith turned out to be the Heisman Trophy winner two years afterward an undefeated nationwide title group solely provides to the mystique.
5. 2008 Tremendous Bowl: Giants Beat Undefeated Patriots
Ralph Vacchiano: The New England Patriots had been 18-0 and everybody thought they had been unbeatable, particularly by a New York Giants group that hardly made the playoffs and entered with few expectations. The Pats had been already a dynasty, led by the consensus biggest coach (Invoice Belichick) and quarterback (Tom Brady) in NFL historical past.
However Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning received in the best way.
And so they did it in model, sealing the take care of an excellent, dramatic game-winning drive within the ultimate minutes, which included one of many biggest performs in Tremendous Bowl historical past. Manning saved the drive by pulling himself away from two Patriots defenders and heaving the ball 32 yards downfield to fourth receiver David Tyree, who made a leaping, one-handed catch by pinning the ball in opposition to his helmet.
And that wasn’t all. Manning completed the drive by hitting Plaxico Burress for a game-winning landing go with 35 seconds remaining. And when the Giants protection, which had battered Brady all sport lengthy, stopped the Patriots’ ultimate, desperation drive, the Giants had capped probably the most sudden, inconceivable and ideal Tremendous Bowl upset of all time.
4. 2006 Rose Bowl: Vince Younger and Texas Beat Undefeated USC
RJ Younger: The Vince Younger Sport — that’s how I and lots of others bear in mind it. That’s as a result of, with 19 seconds left to play, on fourth-and-5, Younger took off for the pylon from the 8-yard line to attain the landing that might earn Texas a 41-38 win in opposition to the No. 1 USC Trojans and the 2005 BCS championship. It capped off an inconceivable win in opposition to a seemingly unbeatable opponent.
When the sport ended, Younger clutched a rose stem in his tooth. The field rating mirrored he’d accounted for 467 whole yards — together with 200 speeding yards and three speeding touchdowns — in a win in opposition to a program that had not misplaced a single sport in 831 days (Sept. 27, 2003) and had been ranked No. 1 within the nation for 735 consecutive days.
3. 2025 World Collection: Dodgers Beat the Blue Jays in Sport 7
Rowan Kavner: The Blue Jays returned house with two probabilities to knock out the reigning champs. As an alternative, the town of Toronto was left heartbroken. After getting doubled off on a line drive to finish Sport 6, the Blue Jays responded by placing first on a three-run homer by Bo Bichette in Sport 7. They had been two outs away from celebrating their first championship since 1993 when Miguel Rojas, whose nifty decide at second base ended Sport 6, grew to become the Los Angeles Dodgers’ unlikely Sport 7 hero.
The sunshine-hitting infielder lifted the first-ever game-tying house run within the ninth inning of a winner-take-all World Collection finale. The Blue Jays nonetheless had a number of probabilities to stroll it off within the backside of the body, however Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s slide house was simply late on a bases-loaded grounder and a deep drive within the hole by Ernie Clement was tracked down by middle fielder Andy Pages, who bulldozed teammate Kiké Hernandez to make the play.
Two innings later, a home run from Will Smith put the Dodgers ahead for the primary time, and World Collection MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto — one evening after throwing 96 pitches in a Sport 6 win — recorded the ultimate eight outs of Sport 7 to cement a dynasty. The Dodgers grew to become the primary repeat champions because the New York Yankees gained three straight titles from 1998-2000.
2. 2022 World Cup Ultimate: Argentina Beat France in Penalties
Doug McIntyre: At halftime at jam-packed Lusail Stadium, many of the nearly 90,000 souls in attendance had been already in a celebratory temper. With Argentina comfortably forward 2-0, everybody however the comparatively small minority of Les Bleus backers in attendance was satisfied that Lionel Messi was lower than an hour away from lifting his first World Cup and cementing his legacy as the best soccer participant of all time.
Then all hell broke unfastened with 10 minutes left. France received a penalty that Kylian Mbappe transformed. Seconds later, in entrance of a worldwide tv viewers of 1.5 billion, Mbappe capitalized on a Messi turnover in midfield and evened the rating with a ruthless volley. Messi scored his second of the match deep into further time — the storybook ending each impartial wished. One more French penalty someway despatched Mbappe to the spot once more. After all, he accomplished his hat trick. France then had a golden likelihood to win, however Albiceleste keeper Emiliano Martínez’s spectacular kick save on Randal Kolo Muani ensured that the competition could be determined by way of a tiebreaker.
Membership teammates in Paris turned hated rivals on this evening in Qatar. Messi and Mbappe both scored from 12 yards again, however one other Martinez cease, mixed with a French effort that sailed vast, left Argentina one shot from glory. Gonzalo Montiel stepped up and calmly stroked the ball previous Hugo Lloris, giving Messi his second and ending the best World Cup ultimate ever performed.
1. 2017 Tremendous Bowl: Patriots Overcome 28-3 Deficit to Beat Falcons
Henry McKenna: This was a sport for the file books with Tom Brady and the Patriots overcoming the — now meme-ified — 28-3 deficit, the most important comeback in Tremendous Bowl historical past. Sorry, Falcons followers. The comeback began nearly as a joke on the sideline, with Julian Edelman saying to Brady: “Going to be a hell of a narrative.” Edelman delivered within the fourth quarter with what have to be the most improbable catch in Super Bowl history — with the Patriots receiver famously bobbling the ball off a defender’s shoe.
That helped ship the sport into the first-ever additional time interval in a Tremendous Bowl, the place New England completed it off with a landing from James White. The Patriots and Falcons scored 62 whole factors. Brady threw for 466 yards and two touchdowns. To this present day, Matt Ryan has to take care of folks reminding him of “28-3.”
