Anyone who has followed the NFL for a sustained amount of time will know that the league has a penchant for drama. Last-minute victories snatched from the jaws of defeat, unbelievably audacious plays, and on-field conflicts that are rarely seen in any other professional sport all add up to make the NFL an absolute joy to experience.
The past ten years have seen some of the NFL's defining moments, as well as some plays that instantly made it into the history books and continue to influence strategy across the entire league today. Here are some of our top NFL moments from the past decade.
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Tom Brady Secures his Legacy
Tom Brady is pretty much the undisputed king of the NFL and probably the most successful quarterback ever to walk on the field. His career will undoubtedly be associated with his 20-season run with the New England Patriots, which helped pull the team from the doldrums to its current place at the tippy top of the NFL odds for the coming season. The pinnacle of his career is often considered to be Super Bowl 49, where he famously intercepted the Seattle Seahawks in the final minutes and secured another victory for the Pats.
The Eagles' Greatest Play
The Philly Eagles came in from the cold and returned to legend status at Super Bowl 52, where quarterback Nick Foles gave an outstanding performance to dislodge the Pats and secure a victory for the ages. During a truly breathless play, Foles threw for a staggering 373 yards and notched three touchdowns, all while pulling off a tete-a-tete against none other than Tom Brady. It all came down to the final 38 seconds, during which Foles pulled one over on the Pats and managed to get the ball to Corey Clement, who then rallied it back to Foles, giving him the winning touchdown of the game. Football doesn't get better than this.
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A Comeback for the Ages
We all love a good comeback story, which is something that no team does better than the New England Patriots. Never before in history have NFL predictions been so off. Thankfully, they're much more accurate nowadays as they're based on data, trends, and expert opinions. But, back then, some reports were putting the Patriots at a 0.4% chance of victory during Super Bowl 51, given the unbelievable winning streak that their rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, had pulled off through the season.
At first, it seemed that the naysayers were right, with the Falcons ending the first half at 28-3. However, something switched in the second half and the game changed. Suddenly, the Pats were back in business, going on to score the next 25 points unimpeded and eventually winning Super Bowl 51 in what might just be the greatest comeback story in the history of the NFL.
These are our top NFL moments from the past ten years – moments in which today's sporting legends truly came to the fore and so many of our assumptions about the league were turned upside down. We can't wait to see what the next decade will bring.
