We all remember the famous NFL “disasters” – games that one team had locked up but made some fatal mistake to throw it all away (the Miracle at the Meadowlands, Red Right 88, the Music City Miracle, Tony Romo’s Fumble, etc). However, there are many times where a team came dangerously close to throwing it all away, but were spared by some reprieve in the end. These are the moments that sometimes get forgotten because of the “all’s well that ends well” philosophy. This week’s America Loves Countdowns® series takes a look back at ten of the biggest near misses in the history of the NFL.

Bills vs Broncos (1991 AFC Championship Game)
The 1991 AFC title game was a tough defensive struggle. The Bills had scored on a pic-six and had tacked on a Scott Norwood field goal to take a 10-0 lead. Buffalo still had that lead in the final two minutes of the game and even better for them, Denver’s comeback king John Elway had been knocked out of the game. Veteran backup QB Gary Kubiak, playing in what would end up being his final NFL game, led a late touchdown drive to cut the deficit to 10-7. Disaster then nearly struck for Buffalo when the Broncos recovered the ensuing onside kick right around midfield. Needing only 20-30 yards to force a shocking overtime, Denver’s Steve Sewell fumbled the ball and Buffalo was able to wrap up the victory.

Bears vs Buccaneers (2001 Regular Season)
Chicago was in a tight race with both Green Bay and Tampa Bay in the NFC Central Division when they jumped out to a 15-point lead in this critical late-season game. The Bucs staged a comeback, cutting the score to 27-24, but it was going to be too little too late. With 1:54 left in regulation, Bears safety Tony Parrish intercepted a pass at the Tampa Bay 26 yard line. The Buccaneers only had one timeout, so Chicago could run most of the clock out with kneel downs. Instead head coach Dick Jauron opted to call a running play. Bears RB Anthony Thomas fumbled, but fortunately for Chicago, the Bears recovered. Jauron then decided to take a knee on 2nd down, 3rd down, and….. 4th down! This gave the ball back to Tampa Bay with just enough time for them to complete a couple of passes and for Chicago to commit a really dumb unnecessary roughness penalty. The result was that accurate kicker Martin Gramatica had a chance to send the game into overtime with a long field goal attempt. Thankfully for Jauron, Gramatica missed the kick and the blunders were all forgotten.

Jaguars vs Falcons (1996 Regular Season)
In their second year of existence, the Jacksonville Jaguars put together an amazing late season run. They won four games in a row and were guaranteed a Wild Card berth if they could beat the lowly 3-12 Atlanta Falcons in the final game of the regular season. Jacksonville held a comfortable lead for most of the game, but Atlanta stormed back in the 4th quarter. In the final seconds with the Falcons down by two points, Morten Andersen had a chance to win the game with a 30-yard field goal. Andersen holds numerous NFL records including most field goals and most points. For him, a 30-yard kick was the equivalent of a 2-foot putt for Tiger Woods. However, Andersen pushed the ball wide left and the Jaguars were spared the near disaster of coming all the way back from a 4-7 record to having the playoffs all wrapped up to nearly blowing it against one of the league’s worst teams.

Titans vs Texans (2007 Regular Season)
When the 4th quarter of this 2007 game began, Tennessee had a 32-7 lead over division rival Houston. The game was over, or so it seemed. The Texans reeled off 29 4th quarter points to shockingly take the lead. It was a collapse of epic proportions for the Titans. In fact, it would have made the list of biggest comebacks in NFL history, which is of course topped by the 32-point comeback the Bills made over this same franchise in the 1992 playoffs. Fortunately for the Titans, they still had one last chance at the end of the game. Kicker Rob Bironas nailed his NFL-record 8th field goal of the day to give Tennessee the victory, and the huge comeback was rendered meaningless. The Titans would barely squeeze into the playoffs that season, which would not have happened had they lost this game.

Dolphins vs Redskins (Super Bowl VII)
The 1972 Miami Dolphins had history neatly wrapped up. They were about to cap their historic undefeated season with a Super Bowl victory over Washington. Their “No-Name Defense” had shutout the Redskins offense, and with two minutes left in the game, they lined up for a field goal that would have given them a 17-0 lead, a very appropriate score for a 17-0 season. However, kicker Garo Yepremian’s kick was blocked. That was bad, but what Garo tried to next do was ten times worse. He clumsily picked up the ball and tried to pass it. Instead it slipped out of Garo’s hands and into the arms of Washington’s Mike Bass, who returned it for a touchdown. Now instead of 17-0, it was 14-7. The Redskins then forced Miami to punt and came dangerously close to blocking it. In the end, the Dolphins held on but not before their special teams very nearly caused a huge disaster.

Jaguars vs Saints (2003 Regular Season)
The Jaguars were closing out a sub par season at home against the Saints, who were still alive for a playoff berth. Jacksonville held a 20-13 lead with only 6 seconds remaining. New Orleans had the ball, but they were on their own 25-yard line. It was too long for a hail mary try so the game was all but over. What happened next was a crazy, unbelievable play which saw the Saints complete a series of laterals and somehow get the ball into the endzone with no time left on the clock. It would have gone down as one of the greatest plays in NFL history, one that Jags fans would have to relive forever. The play did go down in NFL history as a full-fledged disaster – but not for the Jaguars. Normally reliable veteran John Carney missed the ensuing extra point, and the Saints lost. What was supposed to be a disaster for Jacksonville ended up being what ESPN called “one of the most twisted, cruel moments in the 37-year history” of the Saints.

Steelers vs Colts (1995 AFC Championship Game)
In 1994, the Steelers suffered a disastrous loss in the AFC Championship Game, falling on their home field to the upstart San Diego Chargers. The following season they overcame another series of disasters – Rod Woodson’s torn ACL on opening day, a 3-4 start, a late go-ahead touchdown pass by the Colts in the AFC Championship Game – to be in a position that left them just five seconds away from going to their fifth Super Bowl. Indianapolis had one last desperation chance to win the game. From the 29 yard line, QB Jim Harbaugh heaved a pass into a pass into the corner of the endzone where it was juggled and batted around by a pack of players from both teams. As the ball started to fall to the turf, it initially appeared that Colts WR Aaron Bailey had caught the ball. In actuality, it had bounced to the ground and into his arms. The Steelers ran onto the field to celebrate, knowing that they had narrowly avoided a massive disaster.

49ers vs Cowboys (1981 NFC Championship Game)
The 1981 NFC title game was a classic. It featured the passing of the baton from Dallas, the team who had dominated the conference in the 1970′s, to San Francisco, the team who would dominate it during the 1980′s. It also featured one of pro football’s most memorable plays: Joe Montana’s game-winning touchdown pass to Dwight Clark in the back of the endzone (better known simply as “The Catch”). What many people don’t remember is that “The Catch” happened with 51 seconds left, giving Dallas enough time to mount a miracle comeback which came dangerously close to happening. Dallas QB Danny White completed a pass over the middle to Drew Pearson, and even though the 49ers should have been playing a safe prevent defense, Pearson broke free. San Francisco DB Eric Wright barely got a hand inside Pearson’s shoulder pads and was able to stop the play from becoming a miracle touchdown (see 4:25 mark of this clip). Even with the tackle, the 49ers were still in trouble because Dallas needed only a field goal to win the game, but on the next play, their defense sacked White and caused a fumble that iced the game. It went down as one of the great games in 49ers history, but it was very nearly all wiped out by a disastrous defensive lapse.

Steelers vs Colts (2005 AFC Divisional Playoffs)
Ten years after nearly suffering a disastrous loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs, history almost repeated itself as the Steelers once again had what appeared to be a totally safe lead heading into the final moments of the game. Pittsburgh linebackers Joey Porter and James Farrior had just sacked Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning on his own 2-yard line on a 4th down. Up by three points, the Steelers handed off to future Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis, who was supposed to plow into the endzone as he had done so many times before to clinch the victory for Pittsburgh. Even if he had gotten stopped, the Colts just would have been forced to use up their timeouts and eventually watch helplessly as the last seconds ticked off the clock. The only possible bad thing that could have happened was for Bettis to fumble the ball, which was highly unlikely considering the fact that The Bus hardly ever fumbled on normal plays, much less plays where runners typically over-protect the ball at the end of a game. But a perfectly timed hit by Colts LB Gary Brackett caused Bettis to lose the ball, and even more disastrous, an unfortunate bounce allowed CB Nick Harper to pick up the ball in full stride. We all know how this story ended – Ben made the miraculous tackle and the Idiot Kicker missed the field goal – but the Steelers and their all-time great running back came so very close to suffering what would have been a horrendous disaster.

Oilers vs Steelers (1989 AFC Wild Card Game)
In the glory days of the AFC Central, the Houston Oilers and head coach Jerry Glanville were reviled, especially by the other teams in their division. In December of 1989, the Bengals ran up 62 points on the Oilers, including an unnecessary late field goal just to really stick it to them. After that game, Cincinnati head coach Sam Wyche called Houston “dumbest, most undisciplined, stupid football team we’ve ever played”. A few weeks later, the Oilers hosted the Steelers in the AFC Wild Card Game. The game was tied with just seven seconds remaining in regulation. Houston had the ball at their own 30 yard line. It was way too long for a field goal or a hail mary pass, so the logical thing to do would have been to take a knee and send the game into overtime. But Glanville was anything but logical. The Oilers decided to run a play, and then this happened. Had this play gone a few more inches the other way, it would have been replayed for all-time as the single most legendary collapse in NFL playoff history. As it stands, few people will ever remember that the Oilers came so dangerously close to disaster.