GOLDBERG ON FOOTBALL: Other 'greatest' games

The 49ers' drive is known for "The Catch" - Dwight Clark's leaping grab in the back of the end zone for the winning TD with 51 seconds left. The drive, which started with 4:54 remaining, was an 89-yard masterpiece of play-calling by coach Bill Walsh and execution by Montana. The 49ers went on to beat the Bengals in the Super Bowl, the first of four titles in the '80s and five between 1981 and 1994.

Another notable Montana drive happened on Jan. 22, 1989. That one went 92 yards in 11 plays to beat Cincinnati 20-16 in the Super Bowl. Montana capped it with a 10-yard pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left.

Elway's drive began on his own 2-yard line with the Broncos trailing the Browns 20-13 and 5:32 to play in regulation. It included a 20-yard completion to Mark Jackson on third and 18. Elway had to pick the snap up off the ground because it hit the motion man. ("I've had nightmares about that play ever since," says Marty Schottenheimer, who coached the Browns.) It ended with 31 seconds left on a 5-yard TD pass to Jackson. Rich Karlis' 33-yard field goal in overtime sent the Broncos to the Super Bowl.

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ONE-MAN TEAM:

Jan 2, 1981. San Diego 41, Miami 38, overtime. The Chargers blew an early 24-0 lead. But in perhaps the most remarkable individual performance ever, San Diego's Kellen Winslow caught 13 passes for 166 yards and blocked what would have been a game-winning field goal by Uwe von Schamann with four seconds left in regulation. Exhausted, Winslow had to be helped off the field after the game played in 85-degree Miami heat. A week later, the Chargers had to play the AFC title game in wind chills below minus-50 in Cincinnati and lost 27-7.

One more overtime note: On Christmas Day, 1971, Miami beat Kansas City 27-24 on Garo Yepremian's 37-yard field goal with 7:20 left in the second overtime period, the longest game ever played.

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SUPER ENDINGS:

Jan. 30, 2000. St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16. If not for the Music City Miracle, the Titans wouldn't have been there. This one ended with Mike Jones tackling the aforementioned Kevin Dyson a yard short of the goal line on the final play to preserve the Rams' victory. St. Louis, the NFL's dominant team all year, led 16-0, the Titans rallied to tie it, then Kurt Warner's 73-yard pass to Isaac Bruce with 1:54 left gave St. Louis the lead.

Steve McNair brought the Titans back: 1 yard and 1 second short.

Other super endings in a decade of memorable title games include the one last Feb. 3, when New England's run at the first-ever 19-0 season ended in a 17-14 upset by the Giants on Eli Manning's 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left. That final drive was marked by one of the most remarkable plays in NFL history - David Tyree's 32-yard catch against his head after a Houdini-like escape from New England's pass rush by Manning.

Two more involving New England: 20-17 over the Rams in 2002 and 32-29 over Carolina in 2004, in a game that was scoreless for 26 minutes and 55 seconds before exploding into a shootout. The teams scored 37 points in the fourth quarter alone. Adam Vinatieri, who won the 2002 game with a field goal, kicked a 41-yarder with four seconds left, a little more than a minute after Jake Delhomme's 12-yard pass to Ricky Proehl had tied it.

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FROZEN TUNDRA:

Dec. 31, 1967. Green Bay 21, Dallas 17. The Ice Bowl of legend, although the temperatures in this NFL title game - an estimated wind chill of minus-48 - weren't as cold as they were in Cincinnati 13 seasons later. With the Cowboys leading 17-14, 16 seconds left and no timeouts, Vince Lombardi, now the Packers' coach, opted to go for the win and not a game-tying field goal. Bart Starr ran a sneak and got into the end zone. "Well, run it and let's get the hell out of here," Lombardi said during the timeout that led up to the deciding play.

What fans often forget is that the two teams played another epic championship game a year earlier. An interception in the end zone of the Cotton Bowl by Tom Brown in the waning moments preserved Green Bay's 34-27 win. That sent Green Bay into the first Super Bowl.

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ANCIENT HISTORY:

-On Nov. 17, 1940, the Washington Redskins beat the Chicago Bears 7-3 in a regular-season game. Afterward, Washington owner George Preston Marshall called the Bears "crybabies and quitters," a comment used as bulletin board material by Chicago coach George Halas when they met again for the championship three weeks later.

With the Bears using the newly minted T-formation, Bill Osmanski ran 68 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the game; Charlie Malone dropped a sure TD pass for Washington on the next series and the rout was on.

Final score: Chicago 73, Washington 0. To this day, the worst beating in NFL history.

-Dec. 9, 1934. New York Giants 30, Chicago Bears 13. The unbeaten Bears took a 10-3 lead over the 8-5 Giants at halftime of the NFL championship game on a frozen field at the Polo Grounds. Steve Owen, the Giants' coach, sent his equipment manager, Abe Cohen, to find better footwear. Joined by Wellington Mara, the 18-year-old son of the owner, Cohen went to nearby Manhattan College and came back with a full set of sneakers. After Chicago went up 13-3 in the third quarter, the Giants used their traction advantage to score 27 points in the fourth and win "The Sneaker Game."

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The 2008 season will be Dave Goldberg's 25th covering the NFL.