Most Devastating Call of All Time Against Every NFL Team

Some of the NFL's most well-known moments are shrouded in referee controversy.

Many of them involved calls that were objective misses. Some were so close that the debate will live on forever. And even a few were clearly the correct calls.

But all of them were undeniably devastating.

Here is the step-by-step process I used to select every team's most devastating call:

- The call had to have come in a loss.

- No-calls were eligible to be included.

- The stakes of the call weighed heavily. Most of these calls were made in playoff games, and many of them were made in Super Bowls. The call also needed to have a big impact on the game.

- Three regular-season calls were picked. Though the teams that had regular-season calls picked have had playoff calls go against them, the regular-season calls were so historically bad that they won out.

- When deciding between two calls that had similar stakes, I almost always chose the call I found to be worse. In other words, sometimes I was choosing between a clearly bad call and a somewhat questionable call. I usually chose the clearly bad call.

- In a few cases, I chose a call that I agreed with because nothing else came close for that team. For example, I believe Dez Bryant's catch was correctly overturned to an incomplete pass based on the rules at the time, but that is the selection for the most devastating call against the Cowboys nonetheless.

Video of the block occurs at the 25-second mark

Two enormous calls went against the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. Both were close calls that I wouldn't categorize as egregious mistakes, but the magnitude of the calls ensured one had to be picked for this article.

Santonio Holmes' toe-tap(?) catch late in the fourth quarter essentially won the game for the Steelers, and most believe it was a legal catch. But did he get his right foot down? The call on the field was a catch, and there was no evidence to overturn it.

The choice for this slide had almost the same magnitude but realistically could have been seen by the refs.

During James Harrison's interception return, LaMarr Woodley blocked Tim Hightower at about Arizona's 25-yard line. Woodley attempted to push Hightower's shoulder, but it looks like his left hand got more of the back than the shoulder.

Had the illegal-block-in-the-back call been made, the halftime score would've been 10-7 instead of 17-7. The Cardinals went on to lose 27-23.

Video of the play

It's a ref's nightmare.

Fourth down, 1:13 to go, 2012 NFC Championship Game, Falcons driving down four, and the pass falls incomplete after some contact.

The refs deemed the contact marginal, and the 49ers held on for a 28-24 win.

As the replay shows, NaVorro Bowman holds Roddy White's shoulder as White tries to break away from him. However, the pass was thrown behind White, so it's debatable how much Bowman's contact prohibited the play's success.

With that said, regardless of the quality of the throw, if there is illegal contact, it's supposed to be called.

The Falcons were the victims of another playoff no-call in the 2017 NFC Divisional Round. Did Jalen Mills get away with illegal contact against Julio Jones?

Finally, a shoutout to this roughing-the-passer call against Grady Jarrett. The stakes were too low for it to be the pick, but it's one of the worst calls in recent memory.

Video of the call

Down by 10 with about seven minutes to go, Lamar Jackson threw a pass into triple coverage that was intercepted, essentially ending the 2023 AFC Championship Game.

There was obvious contact, but the no-call seemed justifiable in real time because Deon Bush undercut the throw. But a closer look shows that Isaiah Likely might have had a play on the ball had Chamarri Conner not pushed him well before the ball arrived.

Had this pass interference been called, the Ravens would have had 1st-and-goal with a chance to cut Kansas City's lead to three.

Instead, the Chiefs held on for a 17-10 victory.

The pass interference call on Tre'Davious White from the 2024 AFC Divisional Round was heavily considered.

Video of the play

This was a tough decision between the Music City Miracle and the spot given on Josh Allen's fourth-down run during the Bills' recently concluded playoff run.

Here is why the fourth-down spot got the edge:

- Allen's run occurred in the AFC Championship Game, whereas the Music City Miracle occurred in the AFC Wild-Card Round.

- Most importantly, the Music City Miracle was correctly ruled a backward lateral, whereas Allen's run was likely a first down.

Let's set the scene.

It was 4th-and-inches from Kansas City's 41-yard line with the Bills leading 22-21 in the fourth quarter. Allen attempted a Tush Push, and the Chiefs turned Allen sideways right at the 40-yard line.

One side judge appeared to have Allen a bit past the 40-yard line for a first down. The other had him short.

For whatever reason, the refs went with the side judge's spot that had Allen short.

After review, the call on the field stood.

Had the Bills been granted a first down, they would have likely added to their lead. Instead, the Chiefs took advantage of a short field to score a go-ahead touchdown, and they never trailed again, winning 32-29.

Video of the play

Even in slow-motion, it's difficult to tell what the call should be.

The play in question featured Panthers receiver Jerricho Cotchery. The initial call was incomplete, which ended up being the most crucial part of this play.

After the game, NFL officiating director Dean Blandino said, "Had it been ruled a catch, we would have stayed with the ruling of a catch."

Facing a 3rd-and-long two plays later, Cam Newton was strip-sacked by Von Miller. Malik Jackson fell on the ball for a touchdown. The Broncos had a 10-0 first-quarter lead that they never relinquished.

Who knows what would have happened in Super Bowl 50 had Cotchery been credited with a catch.

Video of the play

Early in the third quarter of the 1979 Wild Card Round, the Bears led the Eagles 17-10. Walter Payton took a handoff 84 yards to Philadelphia's 1-yard line, and had the play stood, he surely would've scored moments later to give Chicago a commanding two-score lead.

Instead, wide receiver Brian Baschnagel was called for illegal motion. In the replay, you can see Baschnagel come into the frame right before the ball is snapped. He is motioning parallel to the line of scrimmage and coming toward the ball. This type of motion is used constantly today and never called a penalty.

But for reasons I don't understand, an official thought he was moving toward the line of scrimmage. Baschnagel said the league later admitted it was a bad call.

The Bears went on to lose 27-17, and they didn't get back to the playoffs for five years.

Video of the play

The fact that Logan Wilson was called for defensive holding while NaVorro Bowman was not called for anything must make Bengals fans sick.

Wilson was called for putting his hand on Cooper Kupp's stomach before the pass was thrown. From afar, it might look like Wilson was holding Kupp, but the replay shows Wilson doesn't restrict Kupp's movement.

This should have been a no-call, and the result would have been 4th-and-goal from the 8-yard line.

Instead, the Rams got a fresh set of downs from the 4-yard line, and they took advantage with a Matthew Stafford TD pass to Kupp.

They held on for a 23-20 Super Bowl LVI victory.

Shout-out to the do-over play from the Chiefs' 2022 AFC Championship Game win.

Video of the sequence

This was a refereeing fiasco.

Down by five with 1:08 to go, the Cleveland Browns needed a first down to extend the game. They got it when Tim Couch found Quincy Morgan.

Morgan did not catch it cleanly, but the refs ruled it a catch. Couch then spiked the ball, meaning that the Morgan play was unreviewable.

Or so we thought.

After Couch spiked the ball, the officials decided to review the Morgan catch, which the officials are not allowed to do. They did it anyway, as lead official Terry McAulay announced that the replay center buzzed down to the field prior to Couch spiking the ball.

After review, they said Morgan dropped the pass, giving the Jacksonville Jaguars the ball on downs.

The loss dropped the Browns to 6-6, and they ended up missing the 2001 playoffs.

Video of the play

Jason Garrett, Dallas' head coach at the time, summed up this call to ESPN's Tom Junod when asked about it years later.

"I know everyone's going to say you have to 'survive the ground.' That's the bailout everybody uses. But if you watch Dez, he catches the ball on the 5-yard line. And the number of times I've heard Dean Blandino and Gene Steratore and many others say, 'Well, when you're talking about whether or not it's a catch, you simply need to have time enough to make a football move' or, as they sometimes say, 'a move common to the game.' They're quick to say, 'You don't have to make a move—you just have to have the time to make it.'

"So let's evaluate what Dez did. He catches the ball at the 5-yard line 13 feet in the air. He takes one step, he takes two steps, he takes a third step. He takes the ball and he switches hands. On his third step he squats and lunges and extends the ball. Think about all those football moves he made. Think about the three steps. They've subsequently put in a three-step rule—three steps and it's a catch. But this idea that he had to have time enough to make a move common to the game? Here's this guy catching it 13 feet in the air on the 5, taking three steps, lunging, extending the ball, and they don't give him a catch after it's been ruled a catch on the field?"

As it was a fourth-down play, the Cowboys turned it over on downs. They never got the ball back, as the Packers ran out the clock to win the 2014 NFC Divisional Round game 26-21.

It was the last pass Tony Romo threw in the playoffs.

Video of the play

The Broncos were 12.5-point favorites over the Jaguars in the 1996 AFC Divisional Round, and things were playing out as expected early on.

Leading 12-3 in the second quarter, Denver cornerback Tory James intercepted a Mark Brunell pass at Jacksonville's 25-yard line. Had the play stood, the Broncos would have had a golden opportunity to take a 16-point lead.

Instead, the refs called pass interference on James. I have no idea what they saw, because it wasn't even close to pass interference.

That was the turning point, as the Jaguars scored a touchdown on that drive and never looked back, eventually winning 30-27.

It was one of the most devastating losses in Broncos history, but the bad call has mostly been forgotten because Denver went on to win the next two Super Bowls.

The only other play that was considered was Butch Johnson getting credited with a 45-yard touchdown catch in Super Bowl XII.

At that point, the Broncos were already trailing 13-3, so the call likely didn't cost them the game. They went on to lose 27-10.

Video of the play

The strangest part of this play was that it was initially called pass interference, and then about 20 seconds later the refs announced there was no pass interference.

Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens never turned around to make a play on the ball. Though the only contact he made was marginal, it's usually called pass interference when a defender never turns his head.

However, Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew held Hitchens' face mask during the route, so it should have been offsetting penalties and a replay of 3rd-and-1.

Instead, the down counted, and the Lions went on to punt on fourth down while leading 20-17 in the fourth quarter of the 2014 NFC Wild Card Game.

The punt was terrible, going only 10 yards. The Cowboys responded with a 59-yard touchdown drive. The Lions drove into Dallas territory with just over one minute to go, but they stalled out, giving Dallas a 24-20 win.

Shout-out to Taylor Decker being ruled an ineligible receiver, which cost the Lions a win last year. That was a bigger refereeing fiasco, but the call in the playoffs was more devastating.

Video of the play

Four plays before Terrell Owens caught the game-winning touchdown pass to send the Packers home in the 1998 playoffs, Jerry Rice fumbled.

But he was ruled down, and Green Bay couldn't challenge because coaching challenges weren't implemented until the next season.

After this loss, Mike Holmgren resigned, and the Packers missed the playoffs the next two seasons.

The stakes of the game are why Rice's fumble tops the Fail Mary.

Video of the first and second

In this instance, I'm letting you decide.

The Texans were victims of two questionable roughing calls in their 23-14 AFC Divisional Round loss two weeks ago.

The first, called on Will Anderson Jr., came on a third-down incompletion, allowing the Chiefs to extend their drive. They ended up getting a field goal to take a 6-3 advantage.

The second, called on Henry To'oto'o, came on a first-down Mahomes scramble for four yards. It led to a touchdown to put Kansas City ahead 20-12.

These two calls and the missed offsides on the blocked field goal helped the Chiefs grow a comfortable lead. It would have been a much tighter fourth quarter had the Texans gotten these calls.

Shout-out to the refs giving the Texans a bad spot on three consecutive plays in a 2016 Monday Night Football loss to the Raiders. In that same game, DeAndre Hopkins should have had a 60-yard touchdown, but he was incorrectly ruled out of bounds at the 36-yard line.

Video of the play

In the second quarter of the 1995 AFC Championship Game, Kordell Stewart stepped out of bounds before being credited with a touchdown catch. The refs missed it, and the Steelers took a 10-6 lead.

In all likelihood, the Steelers would have kicked a field goal had the correct call been made, so they essentially got four extra points they didn't deserve.

The final score was 20-16.

With that said, the Colts had their chances. They led 16-13 late in the fourth quarter, and even after they gave up that lead, Jim Harbaugh's last-second Hail Mary was almost caught in the end zone.

Video of the play

The Jaguars were one ref mistake away from a massive upset in the 2017 AFC Championship Game.

Myles Jack stripped Dion Lewis, and when Jack got possession of the ball, he should not have been ruled down. Just ask Tom Brady.

Had the play not been blown dead, Jack likely would have scored a touchdown to give the Jags a 27-10 fourth-quarter lead.

Instead, the Patriots rallied for a 24-20 win, and the Jags didn't make the playoffs in the next four seasons.

Video of the play

Dee Ford being ruled offsides to negate a game-sealing interception in the 2018 AFC Championship Game is the most devastating call in Chiefs history.

But it was clearly the correct call, which presented a dilemma: pick a good call that had an enormous impact, or pick a bad call from the same game that had a smaller-but-still-big impact.

I went with the latter.

On 2nd-and-7 in the fourth quarter with the Chiefs leading 21-17, Tom Brady threw an incomplete pass. Chris Jones' right hand hit Brady in the shoulder, which is legal.

The official must have thought Jones hit Brady in the helmet, which would be an infraction.

The Patriots were gifted a first down, and they went on to score a touchdown on the drive.

Thirty points were scored after this call was made, so it alone didn't cost the Chiefs the game. But if they had gotten a stop, perhaps they would have never lost the lead. Instead, they lost 37-31 in overtime.

Shout-out to this blown call in the 2017 playoffs (the Chiefs should have been credited with a fumble recovery), which allowed the Titans to kick a field goal in a game they ended up winning by one point.

Video of the play

Some say it was a good call, bad rule. Others say it was a bad call. Wherever you land, we all agree the Raiders deserved better.

The refs overturned the call on the field, which was a fumble, to an incomplete pass. From there, the Patriots picked up a first down to set up a game-tying field goal to force overtime.

They went on to win the 2001 AFC Divisional Round game 16-13 before winning their first of six Super Bowls in 18 seasons.

Meanwhile, the Raiders have made the playoffs just three times since this loss.

Rob Lytle's fumble being ruled down by contact and the Immaculate Reception were also considered, but there's no topping the Tuck Rule.

Video of the play

It took Ken Stabler 30 years to publicly admit he threw the ball forward.

Not that we needed Stabler's admission.

It was obvious Stabler was throwing the ball forward in a way that might look like a fumble. It was the only play he had on fourth down with the Raiders trailing by six in the final seconds.

Stabler's "fumble" was recovered for a touchdown, giving the Raiders a one-point win.

The San Diego Chargers (9-7) went on to miss the 1978 playoffs by one game.

Shout-out to this Jay Cutler fumble somehow not being ruled a fumble, costing the Chargers a game in the 2008 regular season.

Video of the play

Yes, it's the fourth call to benefit the Patriots in five slides.

Down 10-3 with 4:30 to go in Super Bowl LIII, the Rams' Jared Goff threw a dart to Brandin Cooks, who likely would have caught the ball had Stephon Gilmore not held his left arm.

Though this kind of contact is often not called, it is pass interference. Had the refs made the call, it would have been 1st-and-goal from about the 5-yard line.

Instead, the Rams never scored again, losing 13-3.

Shout-out to this "holding" call on John Sullivan in the same game.

Video of the call

Down 20-17 with under three minutes to go, the Dolphins needed a big defensive play to give themselves one more chance.

They got it by forcing John Riggins to fumble, but the refs ruled him down.

Washington scored a touchdown on the next play to effectively seal Super Bowl XVII.

Had the Dolphins been correctly given possession, they would have needed to drive 60-plus yards to get in field-goal range.

That would have been unlikely with how much Washington's defense dominated the second half, but not even getting the chance is a bitter pill to swallow.

Video of the play

Brett Favre's interception late in the fourth quarter will go down in history as the turning point of the 2009 NFC Championship Game, but Favre should have had a golden opportunity to make up for that mistake in overtime.

On 4th-and-inches, Pierre Thomas attempted to jump over the pile for a first down. Chad Greenway knocked the ball out of his hands, and Thomas recovered it short of the line to gain.

But the replay center didn't have a definitive view of where Thomas was down, so they said the call stands.

This is a classic case of whether being 99 percent sure of something is conclusive enough to overturn the call on the field. Some officials will change a call based on 99 percent, while others will not unless they are 100 percent sure.

The Saints went on to kick a walk-off field goal a few plays later. The Vikings did not return to the NFC Championship Game for eight years.

Video of the play

In the 1976 AFC Divisional Round, the 13-1 Oakland Raiders matched up with the 11-3 New England Patriots. In hindsight, it was the de facto Super Bowl.

The Patriots led 21-17 with under two minutes to go. Facing a 3rd-and-18, Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler faced heavy pressure and threw an incomplete pass. He was hit right after he released the ball.

Roughing-the-passer penalties were rarer at that time. It had to be something egregious to get called.

This wasn't even close to egregious.

It was a clean hit by Ray Hamilton. Nonetheless, the Raiders took advantage of their lifeline, scoring a touchdown to win 24-21.

In the next three weeks, they beat the Steelers by 17 and the Vikings by 18 to become Super Bowl champions for the first time.

A Patriots fan might say things evened out with the Tuck Rule Game.

Shout-out to the refs for missing an illegal formation on the Philly Special (Alshon Jeffery needed to be on the line of scrimmage). That missed call cost the Patriots four points in a tight Super Bowl loss, so it was heavily considered. But the fact that the roughing-the-passer call came so late in the game pushed it over the edge.

Video of the play

Considering the stakes and how obvious the penalty was, this might be the worst missed call in NFL history.

Deadlocked at 20-20 with under two minutes to go in the 2018 NFC Championship Game, the Saints needed a first down to essentially end the game.

Nickell-Robey Coleman hit Tommylee Lewis before the ball had gotten there, which is blatant pass interference.

On top of that, there was helmet-to-helmet contact.

Had the officials made the right call, the Saints would have had 1st-and-goal from the 6-yard line. The Rams had just one timeout left, so the Saints would have killed the clock before kicking a field goal with about 15 seconds to go.

Instead, the Saints kicked a field goal with 1:41 to go. Then Jared Goff led a game-tying field-goal drive to force overtime, and the Rams won in OT.

Video of the play

The 49ers erased a 38-14 deficit by scoring 25 unanswered points to take a one-point lead with a minute to go in the 2002 NFC Wild Card Round.

But Kerry Collins responded with a surgical drive to get the Giants into field-goal range.

And then...chaos.

Holder Matt Allen couldn't handle a bad snap, so he did the next best thing: buy time and heave the ball toward the end zone.

Rich Seubert is an offensive lineman, and offensive linemen are rarely eligible receivers. But he was an eligible receiver in this case, and Chike Okeafor pulled him down for what should have been pass interference.

But the refs thought Seubert was an ineligible receiver, and you can't be called for pass interference on an ineligible receiver.

The NFL admitted that pass interference should have been called. And though the Giants did have other ineligible players downfield, the result should have been offsetting penalties and a replay of the down.

Given a second chance, would the Giants have made the 41-yard field-goal attempt? Probably, but we'll never know for sure.

Video of the call

Leading the Browns 20-10 with under four minutes left in the 1986 AFC Divisional Round, the Jets were the victims of two devastating calls that gave life to what would become a devastating loss.

Facing a 2nd-and-24, Bernie Kosar threw an incomplete pass. Mark Gastineau hit Kosar well after he released the ball, and he was called for roughing the passer, giving the Browns a fresh set of downs. This call was the turning point of the game, but it was also the right call, and as stated on the methodology slide, I want to pick bad calls over good calls whenever possible.

Three plays later, the Browns were facing a 3rd-and-10, and that's when the Jets got screwed. Joe Posnanski of The Athletic summed it up nicely.

"Kosar completed a clumsy short pass to Reggie Langhorne, and he was clearly tackled in-bounds and short of the first down. The officials marked the ball short. The clock was running. The Browns had to rush to the line to try a fourth-down play. The game probably would have ended right then.

"EXCEPT … the officials did two wonderfully unconscionable things. First, they marked the ball about a yard ahead of the original spot. I have no idea why they did this, but I do remember Jets coach Joe Walton going absolutely batty over it. This was in the prehistoric days before replay so there wasn't anything he could do about it then.

"AND THEN, the referees stopped the clock to measure. This was not only helpful in terms of game management; it allowed the Browns to catch their breath and regroup."

The Browns went on to win in double overtime, thus the "Marathon by the Lake" moniker.

Shout-out to this missed call in the 2001 AFC Wild-Card Round. Had Tim Brown been called for holding Victor Green, the Jets might have come back from a 31-24 deficit.

Video of the play

Eagles cornerback James Bradberry admitted he held Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, but that doesn't end the debate.

There was no call on this Michael Crabtree play.

There was no call on this Julio Jones play.

There was no call on this Roddy White play.

And, of course, there was no call in the Saints-Rams NFC Championship Game.

What these plays have in common is they occurred with less than two minutes to go in a playoff game. They were also on third or fourth down.

All of them could have been defensive penalties, but the refs decided to let them go, likely because they didn't want a penalty to decide the game.

Had there been no call in Super Bowl LVII, the Chiefs would have attempted a go-ahead field goal with 1:48 to go. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense would have had a chance to tie or win the game.

Instead, with a fresh set of downs, the Chiefs killed the clock before kicking a last-second field goal to win 38-35.

Video of the play

Many reading this slide will say, "Any contact to a kicker has to be called running into the kicker by letter of the rules. Period. End of story."

To me, it's not that simple.

Refs should consider the spirit of a rule when applicable.

And the spirit of the running-into-the-kicker rule was to protect kickers from injuries to their kicking leg, specifically when a defender dives into their kicking foot as they are following through.

What no one wants to see is a flag thrown because the kicker is lightly contacted almost a second after making contact with the ball.

Had Joe Nedney stayed on his feet instead of flopping, I'm confident the refs would have deemed the contact so marginal that they would have gone with a no-call, just like they did here.

In effect, Nedney tricked the refs and was rewarded for it.

Moments later, Nedney made a 26-yard field goal to send the Titans to the 2002 AFC Championship Game.

The Jerome Bettis coin toss and the Jesse James play were also considered, but the stakes of the Nedney flop made this a relatively easy decision as the most devastating call to go against the Steelers.

Video of the play

The 49ers have had the highest number of devastating playoff calls go against them in recent history.

Jimmy Smith got away with contact on Michael Crabtree on 4th-and-goal. The 49ers offense never got the ball back in a 34-31 Super Bowl XLVII loss.

NaVorro Bowman took the ball from Jermaine Kearse before Kearse was down in the 2013 NFC Championship Game, but the play was deemed unreviewable. Had the Seahawks scored any points on the drive, this would've been the selection.

From the two Super Bowl losses to the Chiefs, the play that stands out the most is Jerick McKinnon holding a blitzing Fred Warner in overtime. There was no call, and the Chiefs converted a third down on that play before scoring a walkoff TD.

And though this isn't recent history, we can't forget the phantom holding call on Ronnie Lott that allowed Washington to kill the clock before kicking a field goal to win the 1983 NFC Championship Game 24-21.

All of these are reasonable picks for this slide, but the refs giving Ahmad Bradshaw forward progress in the 2011 NFC Championship Game gets the nod.

With under three minutes to go in a 17-17 tie, Bowman stripped Bradshaw before he was down, and right after the ball was loose, the ref blew his whistle, deeming forward progress. Once forward progress is ruled, a play is unreviewable.

Had this play been ruled a fumble, the 49ers would have been in chip-shot field-goal range. One first down would've effectively ended the game, and even without one, San Francisco's defense likely would have held on to a three-point lead in the last minute.

Instead, the game went to overtime, and the Giants forced a Kyle Williams fumble to get into field-goal range. They won 20-17 to advance to the Super Bowl.

Video of the play

The Seahawks were victims of a few devastating calls in Super Bowl XL, including Darrell Jackson's offensive pass interference that cost Seattle four points.

But the turning point of the game was Sean Locklear's holding penalty.

Steelers pass-rusher Clark Haggans tried to time the snap count perfectly, but he was just a bit early and should have been called for offsides. The refs missed that.

Because he was early, he got a step on Locklear. In a compromised position, Locklear impeded Haggans' progress before letting him go. What Locklear did is usually not called holding, but the refs decided to make the ticky-tack call after missing the offsides.

At worst, it should have been offsetting penalties. Had the refs not called holding, it would have been 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The Seahawks would have likely taken a 17-14 lead moments later. Instead, they lost 21-10.

Shout-out to the refs for giving Vinny Testaverde a touchdown on a 4th-and-goal run from the 5-yard line in the 1998 regular season. Testaverde should have been ruled down about half a yard short.

Video of the play

Facing a 2nd-and-23 with just under a minute to go, the Buccaneers needed a chunk of yards to give themselves a realistic chance of getting a first down.

Shaun King rifled a pass to Bert Emanuel for 13 yards, and the Bucs immediately called timeout with 40 seconds to go.

Upon review, the refs ruled it an incomplete pass.

The Bucs ended up turning it over on downs, giving the Rams an 11-6 victory in the 1999 NFC Championship Game.

Tony Dungy lost his next two playoff games with Tampa and was fired after that. But the Bucs reached the mountaintop in 2002 with Jon Gruden leading them to a Super Bowl XXXVII victory.

Video of the play

Trailing 17-10 in the third quarter of the 1979 AFC Championship Game, the Houston Oilers should have tied it up with Mike Renfro's outstanding touchdown catch.

But the refs thought he was out of bounds, and there was no instant replay to save them.

The Steelers went on to win 27-13 before claiming their fourth Super Bowl in six years.

Meanwhile, the Titans franchise did not return to the conference championship game until the 1999 season.

Video of the play

Every NFL team has been the victim of a phantom catch at some point.

But only Washington has been the victim of The Phantom Catch.

Mel Gray was credited with a game-tying touchdown catch during the 1975 regular season, and the Cardinals eventually beat Washington 20-17 in overtime.

Washington entered the game 6-2, but the loss was the beginning of a 2-4 close to the season. Washington missed the playoffs, while St. Louis surged to an 11-3 record to win the NFC East.