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ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

by Ted Bauer

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Can't even explain this one.

FOR BEST DIVISIONAL ROUND GAME EVER, WE'RE TAKING THE IMMACULATE RECEPTION

What is "All-World Power Rankings?"

This weekend should be fun: Ravens/Titans (4:30 Saturday) is an underrated rivalry, with Ray Lewis vs. Kerry Collins dating back to the Super Bowl almost a decade ago; Cardinals/Panthers (8:00 Saturday) should have a good deal of offense, and features two of the best receivers in football; Eagles/Giants (1:00 Sunday) is going to re-define basic notions of what "intensity" means and just when you think it's safe to start thinking about work Monday, Philip Rivers is gonna start running his yap to some blue-collar football fans in the cold. Divisional weekend: sweet. So seriously, what's the best game ever from that round? (Think we missed some key ones? Holla.)

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
1 (14) STEELERS 13, RAIDERS 7 (1972) We won't even attempt to explain what happened on The Immaculate Reception play, 'cept to say this: anytime you can take football and cross it with religion without Tim Tebow getting involved, that's a great day.
2 (410) JAGUARS 30, BRONCOS 27 (1996) This was one of those upsets that no one saw coming. We watched it at our grandfather's. He barely follows sports and even he was going nuts for Mark Brunell. When a non-sports fan is getting psyched about Mark Brunell, ya know the energy is palpable.
3 (21) PATRIOTS 16, RAIDERS 13 (2001) More conventionally known as "The Tuck Rule" game. Our man David Fleming has this as his best Divisional game ever. True story: we were at a house party during this thing, standing about three feet from a Raiders fan and a Pats fan who happened to be standing right next to each other. After the call, the Raiders kid just clocked the Pats kid in the face, dropping him to the floor. That single moment basically defined our perception of a franchise.
4 (127) RAIDERS 28, DOLPHINS 26 (1974) Better known as "The Sea of Hands" game. (It's No. 4 on that link.) Man, the Raiders are on this list quite often, eh? Bring 'em back to glory, JaMarcus.
5 (899) PATRIOTS 24, CHARGERS 21 (2006) In hindsight, this was completely unsurprising: a Marty Schottenheimer team vs. a Tom Brady team? Even in San Diego, we shoulda seen it coming. Had this convo with a friend recently: outside of the three Super Bowls, is this the signature win of Brady's career? We vote yes.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
18 (144) CHARGERS 41, DOLPHINS 38 (1981) They call this one "The Epic in Miami." Ya know the image of Kellen Winslow being helped off the field by two teammates? It's from this game.
28 (701) RAIDERS 37, COLTS 31 (1977) "Ghost to the Post." If you ever want to annoy people at a watering hole, start using "Ghost to the Post" as an all-inclusive catch phrase. We've done it. Completely leaves you friendless.

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT WHAT
STEELERS 21, COLTS 18 IN 2005 (Absolutely no way the Colts shoulda lost this game. The things we learned in this one: are we still feeling 'em?)
CHARGERS 22, DOLPHINS 21 IN 1994 (We never bought the hype about this one.)


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