NFL Classics

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NFL Classics is a series of videotaped rebroadcasts of National Football League games that air on the NFL Network. The show airs weekly during the offseason and also occasionally during the NFL season. As of the 2010, the series airs on Monday night while Super Bowl Classics airs on Friday night.

The program, the first such series to air on any American television network, premiered on May 10, 2007, with a re-air of the Chicago Bears' Monday Night Football comeback victory over the Arizona Cardinals in 2006.

NFL Classics is an extension of an earlier series called Super Bowl Classics, which showed full-length re-airs of some of the most memorable Super Bowl games.

The NFL is the last United States–based major professional sports league to make such broadcasts available on TV. Previously, NFL Network and ESPN Classic had aired NFL's Greatest Games, 90-minute edited versions using footage from NFL Films. The other major leagues – MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR – have all had games (or races, in NASCAR's case) air on ESPN Classic. However, at this time, full-length MLB games are shown on Classic only occasionally, while NHL games are presently aired on NHL Network.

Episode list

Super Bowl Classics

2007

1This was not on the original NFLN schedule; it replaced a scheduled telecast of the Las Vegas All-American Classic, which was cancelled
2The last minute of the first half (including the Rocky Bleier touchdown reception) was missing from the footage.

2008

This schedule reflects only game re-airs that NFL Network did not show the previous year. Also, most of the premieres tied into the participating teams in Super Bowl XLII and to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only perfect team for an entire season in NFL history.

NFL Classics

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

December 2007

Except for the Dec. 8 and 21 games, all of these contests promoted the December 28 game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants which was shown on NFLN, CBS, and NBC in a three-way simulcast.

  • December 8, 2007 – New England Patriots 23, Pittsburgh Steelers 20, September 25, 2005: Tied 20–20 with 1:21 minutes left thanks to a Ben Roethlisberger four-yard touchdown to Hines Ward, Tom Brady led the Patriots to a drive ending with a last-second, 43-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri.
  • December 21, 2007 – Miami Dolphins 29, New England Patriots 28, December 20, 2004: Trailing 28–17, underdog Miami comes back to win against the heavily favored Patriots thanks to a rushing touchdown by Sammy Morris, a passing touchdown by A. J. Feeley, and two late interceptions by Tom Brady in the last 2:17.
  • December 26, 2007 – New England Patriots 38, New York Jets 14 September 9, 2007: The Patriots win against the Jets in a game that began New England's 16–0 run and was most remembered as the game in which Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs recorded the longest kickoff return in NFL history (108 Yards).
  • December 26, 2007 – New England Patriots 24, Indianapolis Colts 20 November 4, 2007: In a game that was built up as "Super Bowl 41½", The Patriots ended up winning and continuing its run to a 16–0 record thanks to two touchdown passes by Tom Brady late in the game when the Colts were leading by 10 points.
  • December 27, 2007 – New England Patriots 31, Philadelphia Eagles 28, November 26, 2007: The Patriots ended up beating a tougher-than-expected Philadelphia squad to continue their quest for an undefeated season in what was New England's closest game of that season.
  • December 28, 2007 – New England Patriots 27, Baltimore Ravens 24, December 3, 2007: Thanks to a few penalties in New England's favor and a good final drive, the Patriots were able to go 12–0 on a Monday night in what would be a 16–0 regular season in a game many people said should've been won by Baltimore. Despite leading 27–24, the Patriots did not secure the win until a last-second desperation heave by Kyle Boller was caught at the Patriots 2-yard line by Derrick Mason and stopped. This game was the most watched program in cable television history.

January 2008

June 2008

Beginning with this season, NFL Classics is a new series of 2½ to 3 hour programs with opening and closing sequences and some editing. This was scheduled to run on Monday nights for 10 weeks.

  • June 2, 2008 – Miami Dolphins 28, New York Jets 24, November 27, 1994: With the Jets leading 24–6 in the third quarter of a game that, if won by New York, would result in a first-place tie with Miami in the AFC East, Dan Marino throws two more touchdown passes to Mark Ingram to cut the lead to three. Then with just over 2 minutes left in regulation, Marino led a last-minute drive that culminated in a "fake spike" pass where Marino pretended to spike the ball (which would stop the clock) before throwing the winning touchdown pass to Ingram with 22 seconds left (the Clock Play).
  • June 9, 2008 – Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 7 January 10, 1982 (the Freezer Bowl): In one of the coldest games in NFL history, with a wind chill falling below -35 degrees Fahrenheit, the Bengals were the only team able to deal with the weather thanks to a solid performance on defense and on offense (led by a three touchdown performance by Cincinnati's quarterback and 1981's NFL Most Valuable Player Award winner, Ken Anderson) to win the AFC Championship Game and move on to Super Bowl XVI, although they lost to the San Francisco 49ers.
  • June 16, 2008 – Baltimore Ravens 39, Jacksonville Jaguars 36 September 10, 2000
  • June 23, 2008 – Tennessee Titans 22, Buffalo Bills 16 January 8, 2000: This is the game where the Music City Miracle occurred. Following a late field goal by Bills kicker Steve Christie, Buffalo kicked off and the ball was recovered by Titan fullback Lorenzo Neal. Neal handed off to tight end Frank Wycheck who lateraled the ball to receiver Kevin Dyson, who ran in for a touchdown with 3 seconds remaining. The play was ruled as a lateral, and thus a legal play instead of an illegal forward pass, by Phil Luckett after instant replay.
  • June 30, 2008 – Green Bay Packers 24, Cincinnati Bengals 23 September 20, 1992: This game is where Brett Favre's career officially began, as he was forced into the game in the 1st quarter in place of injured Don Majkowski. Favre started slow, as the Packers trailed 17–3 in the 4th quarter, but rallied, throwing his first NFL touchdown pass to Sterling Sharpe in the 4th quarter. Trailing 23–17 with just over a minute left, Favre drove the team down the field, completing the winning touchdown throw with just 13 seconds remaining, and since then, he has started every game for the Green Bay Packers through the 2007 season.

See also

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