Greatest Game-Saving Defensive Plays

[theapportioner]

Malcolm Butler's interception heard round the world now has to be considered one of the greatest game-saving plays in football history. What are the others?
 
Obviously for the Patriots, Willie McGinest's goal-line tackle of Edgerrin James in 2003 was huge, but it wasn't in the Super Bowl. The only comparable event to Butler's that comes to immediately to mind is the ending of Super Bowl XXXIV, with Mike Jones tackling Dyson at the 1-yard-line. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61l-dFfqYZg

 

[JimBoSox9]

Malcolm Butler's interception heard round the world now has to be considered one of the greatest game-saving plays in football history. What are the others?
 
Obviously for the Patriots, Willie McGinest's goal-line tackle of Edgerrin James in 2003 was huge, but it wasn't in the Super Bowl. The only comparable event to Butler's that comes to immediately to mind is the ending of Super Bowl XXXIV, with Mike Jones tackling Dyson at the 1-yard-line. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61l-dFfqYZg

 
Crikey, that seems like almost the same play, from a little further out.  Dyson motions and ends up on the outside half of twins.  You can't see it, but it looks like the inside receiver runs either a fade or a rub to the right, clearing the seam for Dyson to run a slightly deeper slant to the goal line.

 

[bankshot1]

Maybe Jimmy Smith's defense (hold/PI?) on Crabtree in SB 47 that preserved the win for the Ravens.

 

[Leather]

Man, that flag on Bly would have gone down in history had things turned out different.
 
EDIT: gosh, a lot of flags.

 

[theapportioner]

Man, that flag on Bly would have gone down in history had things turned out different.
 
EDIT: gosh, a lot of flags.

 
Yeah, the Rams defense got unhinged at the end there. Great tackle by Jones, but the Rams were also lucky as hell.

 

[mt8thsw9th]

As Barnwell noted, while a huge tackle, that play wouldn't have lost the game for the Rams. Butler's INT is really without peer, particularly in the context of the Super Bowl. It may be tough to find a playoff game that's even in the ballpark.

 

[Hoya81]

You could argue the Hail Mary end zone knockdown in SB46 and the two pass deflections on the deep passes to Moss at the end of SB42.

 

[TFP]

Wow I never realized the Titans accepted the offsides penalty to save the down, but it cost them 2 yards. At the time, they probably never thought they'd need exactly that much, and they didn't end up needing the down they saved there. That's crazy.

 

[Ed Hillel]

As Barnwell noted, while a huge tackle, that play wouldn't have lost the game for the Rams. Butler's INT is really without peer, particularly in the context of the Super Bowl. It may be tough to find a playoff game that's even in the ballpark.

If we are extending to playoff games, I imagine there are a few. Sherman's INT against San Fran immediately comes to mind, and I also remember the Packers ending a game similarly a few years ago, I want to say against the Eagles.

 

[Kremlin Watcher]

As mentioned in another thread, how about Hightower's amazing tackle of Lynch on the one on first and goal? Lynch looked like a lead-pipe cinch to lurch into the end zone; Hightower's tackle saved that play and without it, Butler never would have had the chance to make that pick.

 

[dynomite]

With respect to the Hightower play: it was stunning -- he fought off a block to get his legs, on what we know now was one arm.

1) I think Ayers should get partial credit for also shrugging off a block and ensuring Lynch went down.

2) Lynch hit the turf at 1:02ish. So even if he gets in there, Brady has a lot of time and 2 TOs. That doesn't take away from what Hightower did, but I think it's part of why that play will be overshadowed.

 

[johnmd20]

If we are extending to playoff games, I imagine there are a few. Sherman's INT against San Fran immediately comes to mind, and I also remember the Packers ending a game similarly a few years ago, I want to say against the Eagles.

 
Tiny thing, but it was Malcolm Smith who picked off that pass. Sherman was the one who tipped it to Smith.

 

[Average Reds]

 
Crikey, that seems like almost the same play, from a little further out.  Dyson motions and ends up on the outside half of twins.  You can't see it, but it looks like the inside receiver runs either a fade or a rub to the right, clearing the seam for Dyson to run a slightly deeper slant to the goal line.

 
Dyson gets to the end zone and the previous play by McNair becomes epic.  But he didn't make it and so no one even remembers McNair's effort.  (Kind of like the Endy Chavez catch that no one cares about from the 2006 NLCS.)

 

[bowiac]

If we are extending to playoff games, I imagine there are a few. Sherman's INT against San Fran immediately comes to mind, and I also remember the Packers ending a game similarly a few years ago, I want to say against the Eagles.

Using the Pro-Football-Reference win probability model (just easier to link/track than Advanced Football's), the Butler play took the Seahawks from 84.4% to 0.2%, a swing of 84.2%.
 
Assuming you mean Malcolm Smith's INT vs. San Fran, that only swung things by 16.5%., which I find a bit surprising.

 

[Remagellan]

 
Dyson gets to the end zone and McNair's play before that is remembered as epic.  But he doesn't make it and I didn't even remember McNair's effort.  (Kind of like the Endy Chavez catch that no one cares about from the 2006 NLCS.)

 
 
Or this catch that this Jerome Kearse guy once made in a Super Bowl.   I heard it was a doozy, but I think his team lost anyway.   
 
(I know no one will be happy with the comparison, but I thought McNair's play in which he shook off two Ram defenders was the greatest play in Super Bowl history until The Helmet Catch, which immediately reminded me of McNair's play.   Sadly the ending to the script was different.)  

 

[bowiac]

The James Harrison interception was a 42.8% swing, which is the highest I've seen apart from Butler.
 
I suspect the Malcom Smith play is being undersold by the quirks in the Pro-Football-Reference model.

 

[DJnVa]

Assuming you mean Malcolm Smith's INT vs. San Fran, that only swung things by 16.5%., which I find a bit surprising.
 

 
Well, they were on the 18, with only 30 seconds left. It does seem like the chances of SF scoring there were higher than 16.5%. but maybe not.

 

[Average Reds]

 
 
Or this catch that this Jerome Kearse guy once made in a Super Bowl.   I heard it was a doozy, but I think his team lost anyway.   
 
(I know no one will be happy with the comparison, but I thought McNair's play in which he shook off two Ram defenders was the greatest play in Super Bowl history until The Helmet Catch, which immediately reminded me of McNair's play.   Sadly the ending to the script was different.)  

 
The difference is that McNair's play is a spectacular individual effort.  Kearse got lucky when the ball found him.
 
Of course, none of it matters since neither team won.

 

[Super Nomario]

The James Harrison interception was a 42.8% swing, which is the highest I've seen apart from Butler.
 
I suspect the Malcom Smith play is being undersold by the quirks in the Pro-Football-Reference model.

Looks like Corey Graham's pick of Manning in OT in 2012 was worth 65.1, taking Denver from 74.1% to 9.0%. 
 
I don't remember this game, but the Rams drove to the Carolina 35 in overtime (fringe of FG range) and then Bulger threw a pick. The OT winning probabilities look wonky though.

 

[Bleedred]

Is it intentional that the wrong Butler is in the banner of the SOSH site?   Butler #23 is up there with the other NEP greats from 2014-15

 

[mt8thsw9th]

Is it intentional that the wrong Butler is in the banner of the SOSH site?   Butler #23 is up there with the other NEP greats from 2014-15

 
That's him wearing #29 prior to Blount arriving. Probably not how most remember him, though.

 

[johnmd20]

 
Well, they were on the 18, with only 30 seconds left. It does seem like the chances of SF scoring there were higher than 16.5%. but maybe not.

 
Yeah, I think that's why. Seattle was on the 1. That's why the swing wasn't that big for Seattle in that game.

 

[Leather]

Favre's interception in the 2010 NFC Championship game turned NO's win % from 9.1% to 97.5% (or, conversely, MIN's from 90.9% to 2.5%). 
 
To recap:  they were on the New Orleans 38 in a tie game with 19 seconds left.  All Favre had to do, in all likelihood, was run or dump the ball off 5 yards.
There was a guy wide open at the 32.  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UUeqvquXZI

 

[johnmd20]

Favre's interception in the 2010 NFC Championship game turned NO's win % from 9.1% to 97.5%.

 
That's a wonky figure. The game was likely to go into OT. I guess the 97% is because Minn had no chance to win in regulation, barring a Butler-esque pick 6. Once it got to OT, it was back to 50%.

 

[fairlee76]

 
Dyson gets to the end zone and the previous play by McNair becomes epic.  But he didn't make it and so no one even remembers McNair's effort.  (Kind of like the Endy Chavez catch that no one cares about from the 2006 NLCS.)

Right.  I can't believe the play that McNair made there and the fact that I had completely forgotten about it.

 

[Devizier]

the Dyson play and the Harrison pick six are the only two that I can think of.

 

[Revkeith]

It didn't win the game, but Dan Bunz's open-field tackle in Super Bowl XVI was one of the most clutch individual plays you'll ever see.

 

[twothousandone]

Kenny Calhoun of Miami swapped away a Nebraska pass late in the 1984 Orange Bowl (less than a minute left, but I don't remember if it was the last play). Nebraska was down 1, having just scored a TD. They opted to go for 2 -- make it and win, miss it and lose. They missed.

 

[theapportioner]

Favre's interception in the 2010 NFC Championship game turned NO's win % from 9.1% to 97.5% (or, conversely, MIN's from 90.9% to 2.5%). 
 
To recap:  they were on the New Orleans 38 in a tie game with 19 seconds left.  All Favre had to do, in all likelihood, was run or dump the ball off 5 yards.
There was a guy wide open at the 32.  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UUeqvquXZI

 
Certainly, credit to the defense, but I remember that more as Favre making a mindnumbingly stupid play.

 

[Leather]

 
That's a wonky figure. The game was likely to go into OT. I guess the 97% is because Minn had no chance to win in regulation, barring a Butler-esque pick 6. Once it got to OT, it was back to 50%.

 
It does seem a little odd, but it was a huge, game-turning play.  Favre takes the 5 yards that NO gave him, or passes for 6-7 to the Viking on the top of the screen, and Longwell was 12/15 in FG's over 40 yards that season.    

 

[Sam Ray Not]

MVP Larry Brown's second pick of Neil O'Donnell in Superbowl XXX has to be right up there. Steelers were down just 20-17 with 4:15 left and the ball on their own 32. Brown returns it to the Steelers' 6 yard line, Emmitt Smith walks into the end zone two plays later, game over.
 
Of course, both Brown picks that game were of the "right place at the right time" variety -- O'Donnell under a heavy blitz flinging it out into the flat with no Steeler receivers in the area code. "Hey ma, look what I found!" The Butler pick is 100 times more epic, not just for the historically high-leverage situation but also for the fact that the play itself was unbelievably brilliant and heady, with a far bigger measure of skill than luck.

 

[Marciano490]

Man, that Jones/Dyson play was gym motivation for years.  You never know when that extra rep is going to make all the difference in the world.

 

[CaptainLaddie]

It isn't close, Sam.  Before that play, the Cowboys still had an 82.8% of winning -- after it was 99.7.

 

[Dehere]

According to PFR's WPA Tracy Porter's pick of Peyton Manning in SB 44 only had a 10.4% impact on win probability, but it took Indy to a 0.0% chance.
 
That figure feels a little weird to me. It certainly didn't feel at the time like Indy only had a 10% chance to win. If you had offered any NFL fan 9 to 1 on Indy winning that game prior to that play, 100 people out of 100 would have jumped on those odds.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Harrison play
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqnQwKAI4OE

 

[Marciano490]

I know it was ruled a TD, but what's the general thinking on whether he was down before the ball crossed?

 

[snowmanny]

I think the Harrison play was probably the greatest play in Super Bowl history, but it wasn't game-saving.  How about Ben Roethlisberger?
 
http://youtu.be/FUcDGLHCOi4

 

[theapportioner]

I think the Harrison play was probably the greatest play in Super Bowl history, but it wasn't game-saving.  How about Ben Roethlisberger?
 
http://youtu.be/FUcDGLHCOi4

 
That's a good one, and a bit similar to the Patriots' situation in that it involves two separate, improbable events (albeit on the same play in this case) -- Bettis fumbling from the 2 yard line and Roethlisberger making a shoestring tackle to prevent the fumble return for the touchdown.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

According to PFR's WPA Tracy Porter's pick of Peyton Manning in SB 44 only had a 10.4% impact on win probability, but it took Indy to a 0.0% chance.
 
That figure feels a little weird to me. It certainly didn't feel at the time like Indy only had a 10% chance to win. If you had offered any NFL fan 9 to 1 on Indy winning that game prior to that play, 100 people out of 100 would have jumped on those odds.

That does seem odd. They had the ball in Saints territory, 3rd and 4, with 3:24 left in the game, down 7. Seems like better than a 10% to me as well, assuming that was 4 down territory.

 

[Sam Ray Not]

It isn't close, Sam.  Before that play, the Cowboys still had an 82.8% of winning -- after it was 99.7.

Really.? There's only a 17.2% chance of winning with the ball on your own 32, a 3-point deficit, and 4:15 left? Are you sure there's not a large "Neil O'Donnell factor" in that calculation? ;-P
 
General point taken, though: the pick wasn't a game changer, and obviously not in the same universe as the Butler pick. Still, it was big enough (along with the one other INT) to compel MVP voters to vote for Larry freaking Brown, absent any other memorable performances.

 

[snowmanny]

 
That's a good one, and a bit similar to the Patriots' situation in that it involves two separate,
improbable events (albeit on the same play in this case) -- Bettis fumbling from the 2 yard line and Roethlisberger making a shoestring tackle to prevent the fumble return for the touchdown.

It's also similar because if the Seahawks had run Lynch instead, Hightower would have popped the ball out like Brackett did to Bettis.

 

[johnmd20]

Really.? There's only a 17.2% chance of winning with the ball on your own 32, a 3-point deficit, and 4:15 left? Are you sure there's not a large "Neil O'Donnell factor" in that calculation? ;-P
 
General point taken, though: the pick wasn't a game changer, and obviously not in the same universe as the Butler pick. Still, it was big enough (along with the one other INT) to compel MVP voters to vote for Larry freaking Brown, absent any other memorable performances.

 
I mean, there was only a 10% chance for Indy in Saints territory with 3 minutes left. I guess it's really hard to score late in the game.
 
Which means Brady is AMAZING!

 

[Turrable]

Malcolm Butler's interception heard round the world now has to be considered one of the greatest game-saving plays in football history. What are the others?
 
Obviously for the Patriots, Willie McGinest's goal-line tackle of Edgerrin James in 2003 was huge, but it wasn't in the Super Bowl. The only comparable event to Butler's that comes to immediately to mind is the ending of Super Bowl XXXIV, with Mike Jones tackling Dyson at the 1-yard-line. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61l-dFfqYZg

 
Never saw this full drive, it's crazy looking back that the Titans opted not to take 2 extra yards on the offside call. Obviously you take the down there every time and there's a good chance they wouldn't have won anyway...but damn.
 
shit, what t4p said

 

[JerBear]

I'd have to check rules in '99 but the clock might have wound on the ball being set of they declined.

I could also be wrong.

 

[bibajesus]

Sterling Moores swat against the Ravens was a game saver. It wasn't the Super Bowl and Cundiff had to miss a fg but the games over if Evans catches it.