The Playoff Game That No One Wanted (Documentary)

[@commanderjoj6426]

I remember this. The Zach Crockett game.

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

This guy seriously needs some more subscribers

[@Rockhound6165]

Couple of things. #1, this Colts team came within a whisker of going to the Super Bowl that year losing the AFC title game 20-16 and IIRC it came down to the final play. #2, the Colts QB that year was Jim Harbaugh who as we all know became a head coach and coached in the Super Bowl against his brother.

[@matthewdaley746]

The NFL wanted the Steelers to go to the SB because they, "deserved," it, as such, they ignored blatant, PI, on the final play, to say nothing of the fact that Kordell Stewart's, TD, shouldn't have counted, simple as that.

[@John-tr6of]

Or the fact that, under today's rules where the ground can't cause a fumble, the Hail Mary from Jim Harbaugh to Aaron Bailey is ruled a catch.

[@matthewdaley746]

​​​​@@John-tr6ofIndefensibly, cowardly, officials, unquestionably.

[@TheAoalec14]

@@John-tr6ofwhy? Are you saying he caught it then fumbled it?

[@matthewdaley746]

​​​​@TheAoalec14 Unsure what's being, proposed.

[@KBroly]

This game was probably the game that showed the NFL any mid market teams would draw for them if it was a competitive game.

[@WVUer21]

"...if there's one team that could do it, it's the Chargers." Lot of levels to unpack there.

[@Ninerfan4life]

I remember this game. From what I remember it was an entertaining playoff game.

[@chrisguardiano6143]

It's not just the NFL where this happened as earlier that year in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the majority of the country was forced to watch as the 2nd part of a playoff doubleheader on Fox, Vancouver take on St Louis though unlike this, Fox were the ones that made the decision to put this game in an important time slot even though the match up was better suited for a prime time slot on ESPN. Before I go further, I should point out that if you lived in Dallas, Detroit, the Bay Area or Chicago, you got to see your local team play because Fox did their NHL playoff coverage very similarly to how they do NFL & MLB coverage where you get to see your local team play regardless if there are other games on Fox at that time. However in areas that did not have an NHL team or their team did not make the playoffs, St Louis along with the entire East Coast the Fox affiliates were mandated by Fox to show Vancouver-St Louis even though there was little interest in either team. This is because Fox thought that it was a good match up to show nationally because Vancouver had made the Stanley Cup Final the previous season & St Louis had Brett Hull. However the majority of hockey fans wanted Fox to show Detroit-Dallas instead given how loaded with talent Detroit was at the time & because Dallas had Mike Modano the best American player in the league at the time. Even though Vancouver-St Louis was a thrilling game that ended 5-3 to the Canucks, it did not do well at all in the ratings when compared to Detroit-Dallas mainly because the entire state of Texas along with Northern Ohio (which included Cleveland) got Detroit-Dallas. This is easily the worst decision Fox ever made when it came to their short 4 year run with the NHL.

[@rngfootball759]

Zach Crockett, king of the wild frontier had a monster game

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

His career began and ended with that game

[@raidger4]

@@marcusmcgraw3519he was productive with the Raiders in their 3 year run from 2000-2002. 14 Blast

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

@@raidger4 he was productive in the red zone. I would hope you could punch it in from 2 yards out

[@ericrakestraw664]

If streaming existed in 1995, this is the game that would be exclusive to Peacock.

[@diamonddog13]

It's kind of insane that by this time Don Criqui was the number 6 guy at NBC. He was number 2 just a few years earlier, called many legendary games, and never really lost his fastball even into the 2010's. Mad disrespect from NBC.

[@derekbrown2215]

I always liked Criqui. I wonder if he ticked the execs off at some point.

[@chadadams6052]

Eventually all the greats get older and get phased down to a lower crew it happened to Summerall, Dick Enberg, Greg Gumbel, Dick Stockton among others

[@derekbrown2215]

@@chadadams6052 Greg Gumbel is still prominent during March Madness with Clark Kellogg

[@chadadams6052]

@@derekbrown2215 Yes, but he was still demoted to a lower crew in the NFL, he ended his NFL run as the #4 PxP guy behind Nantz, Eagle and Harlan

[@mgb4692]

@@chadadams6052 The problem there is? Nantz/Bird/GOAT are easily the better top trio between them and FOX. Not like Al Michaels getting totally swatted for Noah Eagle--he's got a few of his dad's cadences but he totally ain't ready for anything but midcard Big Ten games

[@AEMT-ks4so]

Just a video idea. Texas A&M vs Auburn when Bo Jackson was there. I think it was 86. The controversy of this game was Brent Musberger's obvious disdain for A&M. So much so thst he spent so much time talking about Bo that he straight up missed an A&M touchdown. The fallout was that A&M was prepared to for go televised games if Musberger was announcing.

[@clydemiller4776]

Love the music drops between chapters. Took a few listens to realize how fat that bass line is.

[@anthony0358]

Did ABC get the first choice because the two more compelling matchups on paper were on Saturday? Excellent video. Back in 1995 the Buffalo Bills would never play a game at 4pm when there was a west coast team that would fill the 4pm slot. Starting in 2002 that all changed with the reduction of 1230pm games. It is also common for teams to play on Sunday and come back on short rest Saturday.

[@Staceyatkinson4496]

Hey jg9, I'm from the UK, I was in USA for a holiday in 91,I always thought that nfl tv was so complicated

[@brianwise5850]

So happy to see my wildcats in a video.

[@someperson3883]

When the Wildcard Round had 4 teams I always thought the 3 seed should have played on Saturday and the 4 seed on Sunday. And in the Divisional Round the 1 seed on Saturday and the 2 seed on Sunday

[@reekgotti3209]

The Chargers were the defending AFC Champs

[@josephsarto689]

Exactly. Who wouldn’t wanna see the defending afc champs in the marquee time slot

[@fortynights1513]

Very True, but at the same time, was it considered a fluke that they made the Super Bowl, and were they expected to have a chance at repeating in 95?

[@Fender178]

@@fortynights1513 yeah considering the Chargers beat an underperforming Steelers team in 1994 to win that AFC championship and Neil O'Donnell couldn't hit a broadside of a barn if his life depended on it. Yeah the Steelers underperformed in that 94 AFC championship game.

[@Venom3254]

​@@josephsarto689They got destroyed in the Super Bowl, I'm sure majority wanted to see the NFC powerhouses instead

[@josephsarto689]

9 of the last 11 afc teams had been destroyed in the Super Bowl. And the nfc powerhouses, had a bye

[@chrisuncleahmad666]

Another thing to note is that the Raiders collapse altered both AFC WC Games: If Oakland beat Denver in week 17, the AFC WC games would have been Colts/Bills and Raiders/Chargers

[@reidcraig3739]

That is correct. The Chargers, Colts, and Raiders would have all finished with the same record of 9-7. However the Chargers and Raiders would still own the tiebreaker over the Colts due to head-to-head matchups. This would make the Colts the 6 seed. The Chargers would own the tiebreaker on the Raiders thanks to their division record (4-4 to 3-5)

[@marcus813]

Things worked out for NBC after all. Nobody could've seen a Chargers home game coming prior to the then-Oakland Raiders collapse coming. I'm thankful for the current playoff format and the added flexibility that comes with it (the constraints of a Monday Night playoff game notwithstanding).

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

Yep and now abc will be doing a divisional round Game too.

[@Jason_Maier]

You mentioned appealing games in a prime tv slot: If the Steelers upset the Broncos this WC weekend; that means as the lowest seed, they play the #1 seed (which this year is the Ravens). You know the networks and NFL want a Ravens/Steelers game in a prime slot.

[@matthewdaley746]

Your argument works in principle, but, let's be real here, the Ravens will obliterate the Steelers, especially without T.J. Watt, a higher draft pick could help them more than a Second Round Playoff exit.

[@Thunder103093]

you are massively underestimating the fact that the steelers play well against good teams, the ravens choke alot of the times when they get the bye & the steelers play well against the ravens. as someone who watched this rivalry all my life since im a marylander. i will not be surprised if the steelers did beat the ravens & my dad, who is a hardcore ravens fan. picks the steelers to win if they play again@@matthewdaley746

[@matthewdaley746]

​@Thunder103093 It could happen, but, I'm predicting them to, Run Out Of, Miracles, before that time, plus, the Ravens, really just aren't going to lose to them three times in one season, including twice at home, simple as that, just won't.

[@Thunder103093]

@@matthewdaley746They did lose to them 3 times in 2008, so it can indeed happen

[@matthewdaley746]

​@Thunder103093 That team won the SB, but, to be fair, their Kryptonite, the Patriots, lost Tom Brady in the first Game, to say that team was a mirage, is exceedingly polite.

[@chrisuncleahmad666]

NBC got the best of those 4 WC weekend games. Don’t be fooled by the final score. This game was closer than 35-20 would indicate. Until Harbaugh’s rushing touchdown at the end, both teams literally were trading scores. NBC got a game with SIX lead changes (the other 3 WC games had 2 lead changes combined)

[@ericrakestraw664]

How crazy was it that the ratings/share predicted exactly the final score of the game? It's almost as if the outcome was scripted by the NFL.

[@JahNuhThunDeeTheOneAndOnly]

The Chargers were the defending AFC Champs but there were just two problems: 1. They really weren’t all that compelling to watch in 1995 2. There wasn’t much excitement to be found in the AFC during the 95 season among the playoff teams compared to the NFC teams

[@fortynights1513]

Given you are a Niner fan clearly, legit question about the 1995 season: If Steve Young doesn’t get hurt, does your team win the two close games with the Saints and Panthers that they lost with Elvis Grbac and get the top seed? And if so, do you think they win the Super Bowl? (assuming the Packers are beaten by the Cowboys in an earlier round, your team beats the Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, and the Steelers in the Super Bowl) And if that’s the case, do we have three teams labeled the “team of the 90’s”?

[@matthewdaley746]

Those, points, seriously, accurate-unquestionably.

[@matthewdaley746]

​@fortynights1513 Not sure what he would say, but, I think 1994 had a, "Deal, With, The, Devil," feel to it, the 49ers lost too many important players, and, weren't going to win again, "The, Devil," Collected Immediately.

[@JahNuhThunDeeTheOneAndOnly]

@@fortynights1513 To answer these questions: 1. Yes 2. Yes 3. Yes

[@matthewdaley746]

​​​@@JahNuhThunDeeTheOneAndOnlyYou're A Better Man Than I, after the Cowboys imploded, the 49ers needed one of the worst calls in NFL Playoff history to avoid four straight Playoff losses to the Packers, additionally, they had the most wins in the 1990s, despite, winning as many SBs in the decade as the Rams, who had exactly one Playoff appearance, and, over 100 Games lost.

[@pabloorange7835]

The 1980 Holiday Bowl had one of the most incredible finishes in bowl history. BYU came from 20 points down in the last four minutes to beat SMU 46-45. Jim McMahon versus the Pony Express. Decided on a Hail Mary on the last play.

[@tonecot8932]

Yes kids, there was a time before Peyton that the Indy Colts existed. They had a College Football Champion Coach as QB.....and Jack Truedau was there a few years too.

[@raidger4]

I just assumed that since FOX had the late game the previous year CHI/MIN that NBC had it that year. And since the game was on the west coast it made sense it was scheduled for that time. Of course I was 14 and never thought of ratings or other stuff.

[@Barraind.Faylestar]

Haha, man, could you imagine a playoff team in one of the top 5 TV markets in the US not getting a single game, including their home wild card game, in a premiere timeslot, and only getting 1 nationally televised regular season game, on the last Saturday of the season? In an era where flexing games existed and the league kept multiple games between teams eliminated from the playoffs in those slots instead, including UNFLEXING that team for one of those throwaway matchups, on purpose? That would be funny.

[@Cityofstroud]

Im a big fan cant wait for Tomorrow

[@CTubeMan]

(That Guy Alert) It’s true the Colts didn’t have any games on Thursday, Sunday, or Monday night. But the Patriots game you showed at the beginning of the video was on Saturday night on ESPN. It was moved there since the NFL didn’t play on Christmas Eve night at that time. Incidentally that’s a policy to which I’d like to see the NFL return.

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

Yeah NFL shouldn't play on Christmas Eve but they should still play on Christmas.

[@corbenhavener7531]

Indiana media markets are interesting. I live in Fort Wayne and the Colts are the most popular team here. The Bears are a strong 2nd. A typical Sunday has a Colts game on CBS against a Bears game on Fox. Northwest corner is in the Chicago market anyway and I think South Bend may favor the Bears. Louisville seems to be the wildcard between either the Colts or Bengals since that market has a section of the state’s southeast.

[@JG24Billy]

South Bend is pretty even, usually favors the better team between colts and bears, we get lions when they're available also.

[@diamonddog13]

Another obvious thing to ask in hindsight: If you run a stadium that hosts both an NFL team and a bowl game, couldn't you simply schedule the bowl game so that there could be no possible conflict? Knowing the NFL playoff schedule well in advance, the Holiday Bowl should have been scheduled for December 28th instead of the 29th.

[@PAGoTribe1963]

If I recall correctly, the Holiday Bowl was always a mid- to late-work week game.

[@marcus813]

I wonder if ESPN's scheduling was a factor. ESPN aired the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28, 1995.

[@JayTemple]

27:28 Don't you know it never rains in southern California?

[@daveporter0217]

Albert Hammond predicted the weather there decades before this game.

[@RySenkari]

Captain Comeback was appointment television that year!

[@matthewdaley746]

Deserved far better, poisonous.

[@pabloorange7835]

Rodney Culver’s last game before the ValuJet crash in the Everglades.

[@Thunder103093]

raitings dont matter to us fans

[@thomascrowley9122]

The team that was in the SB the year before isn't appealing?

[@matthewdaley746]

Considering the way they completely fell off of a cliff in their subsequent years, and, ultimately, moved, not, especially, this was a truly prescient decision, albeit completely unintentionally, for sure.

[@Fender178]

Well it was a fluke that the Chargers even made it to the Super Bowl XXIX because the Steelers way under performed and played like absolute crap in the 94 AFC championship game. Neil O'Donnell couldn't hit a broadside of a barn. Which the 49ers proved when they crushed the Chargers and Steve Young threw a SB record of 6 TD passes.

[@matthewdaley746]

​​​​@Fender178 Additionally, 49ers, vanished, quickly.

[@_2true]

As a uk viewer the early games are elite. 9.30 pm for is

[@CoreyT127]

That’s crazy a 9-7 wildcard non division winner. Had a home playoff game! AFC was trash that year. The 4,5,6 seeds were 9-7 the 3 was 10-6 the 2 was 11-5. And the 13-3 #1 ? Was one and done in the playoffs!

[@jeremydobbs5578]

And let's not forget the fierce rivalry between the Bills and Dolphins

[@briannearey8902]

I'd listen to Marv call a game of UNO

[@randytracy1742]

We all know where this goes- after the wild card game, the colts won the divisional round, beating the chiefs in an upset, advancing to the AFC Championship! 😮😮😮😮😮😅

[@matthewdaley746]

Only to get robbed by the gutless officials, at least, the right team won the SB, so, there's, that, rationally.

[@andrewfreeland4858]

As a Colts fan, I fail to see the problem.

[@zacharydavis5822]

He hates indy man he's a jags fan. But I agree as a Colts fan I see nothing wrong with this game.

[@josephsarto689]

But would jg9 hate the 1995 colts? The colts and jags were in different divisions

[@zacharydavis5822]

@josephsarto689 true. AFC East and AFC Central. Honestly, I'm unsure. I'm only basing it off modern inter division hate toward the two franchises.

[@Fender178]

Well since you are a Colts fan of course you wouldn't see this as a problem. There were bigger market games in the Playoffs so no outside football fans would give two craps about the Colts or the Chargers unless you were a fan of one or both teams.

[@zacharydavis5822]

@@Fender178 obviously aware of that.

[@itz-luigi1210]

We loved Harbaugh in the Midwest

[@noworries2432]

How do you find these stories?

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Digging through a bunch of newspaper archives. Thought to myself when I saw something about the time and date of this game, "wait a second, why the heck was this game the marquee game?", and then the wheels were in motion to do a full-length documentary on it once I truly realized how every stat made this decision seem all the more asinine on the surface without any additional context

[@mrmoose6619]

I do wonder what would happen if there were 3 western teams (say Denver, Raiders, and San Francisco) who would have earned the right to host Wild Card games back in this era...

[@jamesdulany2176]

I don't have any data to back this up, but this is just a hunch: Baltimore wanted nothing to do with them. I don't think this was a hate-watching scenario like what happened between the Cardinals and St. Louis (though I'm more than willing to be wrong)

[@matthewdaley746]

Which is truly hysterical, considering that ultimately, Baltimore would get, "The, Last Laugh," while, the Colts are seen as the AFC's Packers, who had two transcendent QBs, yet, grossly, underachieved.

[@WhatAG23]

There’s no way Roger Goodell would change a playoff game so drastically if it meant he lost money

[@derekbrown2215]

"Captain Comeback" Jim Harbaugh era.

[@Ambivalence18]

I think this game is indicative of how mediocre the AFC was in the 1990s.

[@michaelholman517minKC]

I’m sure Dick Enberg didn’t mind a home game for New Year’s Eve either…

[@Fender178]

Well in NBC's defense here their hands were tied as you said JG9 that having a West Cost team play at 10am Pacific time would be insane and they had no choice but to accommodate the Chargers because of the Holiday Bowl schedule conflict and it is important to have Stadium looking good no matter what team it is playing in a playoff game. What is funny about that list is that a Christmas special beat out MNF a bloody Christmas special beat out the one of the most successful programs in ABC's history. Also NBC knew that 1994 AFC Championship game was a fluke win by the Chargers because the Steelers underperformed badly in that game and Neil O'Donnell couldn't hit a broadside of a barn to save his life.

[@matthewdaley746]

Yeah, they only made the SB the following year because the officials thought they needed to, "right a wrong," against that, the Colts never had a chance, period, no doubt.

[@jimnfl7134]

Judgment video made by a fan of a TEAM (JAguars). How many Super Bowls has your team been to?

[@jeffprovo7604]

Maybe I'm weird, but I feel like the playoff schedule should be based entirely on the seeding and geography shouldn't matter. Like... it should literally just be AFC game 1 is at noon, NFC game 1 is at 4, then the next day it's reversed...or...whatever... but the specific teams involved shouldn't change the scheduling, especially now when we've got games happening at 9am eastern time because the NFL insists on playing games in London or Germany.

[@slimypickle19]

I don't think it was that big of a deal. All anyone cared about was Cowboys & 49ers the next week. Unreal how Green Bay spoiled the 4th straight NFC title game between those 2.

[@travismiller4320]

NFL does count Milwaukee in Packers market.

[@andrewgrove1691]

The colts ended up in the championship game.

[@matthewdaley746]

Yeah, and, they would have won if the officials hadn't been scared by the, "Three More Yards," banners that were blanketing the stadium, (in, an, instantly-banned, practice), the Steelers proceeded to prove that they totally didn't belong in the SB.

[@josephsarto689]

Too bad the chiefs didn’t have Harrison butker in 1995

[@matthewdaley746]

​@josephsarto689 Too bad the NFL felt sorry for the Steelers, at least, The, Football Gods, guaranteed that no permanent damage was done, by remembering that sports doesn't owe you anything, it, simply, doesn't.

[@johnwiesner9590]

In both 1995 and 2003 the Chiefs went undefeated at home, then lost at home to the Colts in the divisional round.

[@matthewdaley746]

​​​​@@johnwiesner9590Chiefs frequently upset, unquestionably.

[@higgy04]

6:51 - The cliche returns

[@michaeldailey7103]

I went to this game !!!

[@KevinT7274]

You had to point out NBC didn't even use their #1 or #2 broadcast team for that game. Who were the announcers?

[@John-tr6of]

If you mean this playoff game, Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire and Phil Simms. NBC's #1 team.

[@KevinT7274]

@John-tr6of I thought Charlie Jones was on play by play but others were saying it was Enberg's crew.🤷

[@mgb4692]

@@KevinT7274 I distinctly remember Enberg doing a promo for the then-premiering Third Rock so yep it was him

[@davidg1612]

The Chargers need to go back to those uniforms. I can't stand the current ones.

[@brotheldan2009]

The Chargers were in the Superbowl the year before they were the top Wildcard team as well, also Miami at Buffalo Atlanta at Green Bay werent exactly much better. The best game was Detroit at Eagles so if anything maybe Colts Chargers shoulda been Saturday night??

[@AlexFehrTheLoneWolf]

Was Jim Harbaugh the Colts QB that year?

[@Kings0424]

Yup sure was

[@johnwiesner9590]

This actually ended up being the best of the four wild card games that year. The day before the Eagles totally destroyed the Lions, leading by as many as 44 points, before the Lions scored a few garbage TDs to make the score a little more respectable.

[@matthewdaley746]

Yeah, and, because they didn't want to set the record for points given up in a Playoff Game, they called a, TO, during a, FG, really pathetic, unquestionably, no doubt.

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

Why did you dedicate an entire hour to this game, out of all the playoff games? I would say Washington / Tampa Bay in 2005 was a much better pick for this segment. Nobody wanted to see either team, and it proved to be a terrible game

[@raidger4]

That game opened Wild Card weekend. The Sunday late game Wild Card game that year was Steelers/Bengals, the game which Carson Palmer got injured.

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

@@raidger4 this game kind of had to be the late game on Sunday though. The Chargers play on the west coast, so hard for it to be the early game

[@raidger4]

@@marcusmcgraw3519huh? Thought we were talking about WAS/TB from 2005 which was the first game on Saturday that year

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

@@raidger4 we were, I’m saying this game that JG9 picked to highlight in the video

[@MohaveWanderer]

People who decide if their gonna watch the game based on the the markets are literally npcs it’s like why are you even a jags fan if supposedly nobody wants to watch your team and even when you win people claim it’s bad for the ratings lmao you literally can’t win it’s a lose lose scenario

[@e93sports80]

👍👍

[@anthony_rivera4735]

I hate when playoff games have two 9-6-1 or worse teams play each other, it happened in 1978-79 wild card round between the falcons and eagles, 1983-84 wild card round between the Seahawks and broncos, 1989-90 wild card round between the Steelers and oilers, 1989-90 divisional round between the Browns and Bills, 1990-91 wild card round between the bengals and oilers, 1994-95 wild card round between the packers and lions, 1995-96 wild card round between the colts and chargers, 1999-00 wild card round between the dolphins and Seahawks, 2004-05 wild card round between the Seahawks and Rams, 2006-07 wild card round between the Seahawks and cowboys, 2008-09 nfc championship game between the cardinals and eagles and 2022-23 wild card round between the jaguars and chargers.

[@josephsarto689]

2008 eagles were not 9-7 or worse. They were 9-6-1

[@crocidayle]

The only ones that make sense are the Wild card matchups or divisional match ups. To get mad about the Eagles V Cardinals Championship game is asinine because they earned the right to play in the game by beating the teams they played.

[@CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about the broadcast of the Colts AFC Championship Game against the Steelers.