Top 10 Most Painful Chokes in NFL History

Atlanta dominated this game from the get-go. They were cruising to a 28-3 lead. Thirty fanbases were ready to dance on the Patriots' demise. The Falcons were absolutely embarrassing them.

But they did the one thing you don't do against the Patriots: they got super conservative and put their guard down, allowing 25 unanswered points to tie the game and send it to OT, in which the Pats marched down the field to win. To this day, Atlanta still can't live that one down.

It's made even worse that the Falcons haven't really done anything since this game. They had their best opportunity at a Super Bowl, and they blew it. That game will haunt this franchise until they actually win it all.

Picture this: you have a dream scenario in your hands. Down 28-24 to the Patriots, but thanks to a crazy catch by Jermaine Kearse and a short run by Marshawn Lynch, Seattle was on the Patriots' 1-yard line. Pretty much the easiest thing ever was to hand the ball back to Beast Mode, who is arguably the greatest goal-line running back to ever play this game, right? There's no way you screw this up. Easy TD, easy win.

Well, not if you're Pete Carroll, who for whatever reason felt it would be better to pass the ball instead of running it. And just like that, the ball got intercepted at the goal line by Malcolm Butler. The Patriots would win it 28-24. One of the most boneheaded coaching decisions I've ever seen.

Picture this: a perfect scenario. You're up 24-0 on the road. Kansas City is literally self-destructing and imploding. Nothing is going their way. It should be an easy win, right? Well, wrong!

See, Bill O'Brien is a hack. The Chiefs needed only three plays to get on the board. Houston blew a 24-0 lead in 10 minutes. Even worse, they just checked out in the second half. How does 41 unanswered points sound? Kansas City ran out of touchdown fireworks. Adding even more insult to injury, the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.

Da Bears had a deadly defense and looked to be a potential dark horse. Even better, the Eagles just barely made it to this point to begin with. Unfortunately, they underachieved the entire game. Trailing 16-15 to the Eagles near the end of regulation, all the Bears needed was a 43-yard field goal from Cody Parkey to seal the game.

Parkey had been infamous for hitting the uprights for much of the season, and the trend continued in excruciating fashion for Bears fans. His game-winning attempt was partially blocked, hit the left upright, bounced off the crossbar, and fell back toward the field. The Eagles won and advanced. That's as painful as it gets, Chicago. Imagine having a stacked defense only to be humbled like that.

In one of the most exciting conference games in NFL history, it came down to one kick. The Vikings were up 27-20 against the Falcons and were in Falcon territory. They were about to settle with a field goal to make it a two-score game, which would have iced and sealed the win for the Vikings considering it was inside 2 minutes. Gary Anderson had been automatic all season long and never missed a single field goal the entire season, so rightfully everyone thought he would easily make that kick.

But he missed it wide left. On top of that, the defense couldn't stop the Falcons, who tied the game to send it to overtime. Making matters worse, they kicked the game-winning field goal to win the game. On the Minnesota scale, this is like a 7.5.

The Vikings were looking for some way to keep their season alive with a couple of seconds left in the game. After blowing their 17-point lead against the Saints and having an exotic battle in the final 3 minutes, it seemed the Saints were going to the Championship Game against the Eagles. All they needed to do was make one more tackle. But they couldn't even do that.

Case Keenum threw a deep ball to Stefon Diggs, who caught it and could have easily been tackled by Saints rookie cornerback Marcus Williams if he hadn't attacked him so early. He not only completely whiffed on an easy tackle, but he also cartwheeled into his own teammate, who was most likely the last Saints player to have a chance to tackle Diggs. Just like that, Diggs was gone to win the game for the Vikings with no time left.

The Chiefs finally made the playoffs again and looked to end their curse and advance. Early on, they looked good. The Andy Reid era was off to a bright start. All they had to do was finish.

Kansas City took a surprising lead on the road against Indianapolis, leading 31-10 at halftime and extending the lead to 28 points early in the third quarter. Then the Chiefs' defense and several injuries let them down, as Andrew Luck and the Colts came storming back. The Colts found themselves winning, 45-44.

The Saints were a heavy favorite to go far into the Super Bowl. Stepping in their way, though, were the Vikings again. To choke to the same team twice in the playoffs back-to-back is unbelievable. I feel this one was worse because this was more on Drew Brees than the defense. He played one of the worst games I could ever remember.

The most accurate quarterback in NFL history was not so accurate in this game.

The Vikings hosted the Seahawks in a freezing cold atmosphere. Things were bitterly cold as both teams had locked horns, and all the Vikings had to do was make a field goal. It was a 26-yard chip shot. Blair Walsh had made a few field goals earlier in the game.

But unfortunately, his final one is the most memorable from this game, in which he missed it and wasn't even close. He hooked it left. That's the type of painful loss that lives on in infamy.

In their first Super Bowl appearance, the favored (+7) Bills and their explosive no-huddle offense took on the NY Giants in Tampa Stadium. Giants coach Bill Parcells and defensive coordinator Bill Belichick largely held the high-scoring Bills in check, playing sound defense and using a running attack that ate up the clock.

However, trailing 20-19 in the game's waning moments, the Bills put together a clutch drive starting at their own 10 and got to the Giants' 29 with 8 ticks left. The Bills elected to try a 47-yard field goal. As every Bills player not on the field goal unit lined up and held hands on the sidelines, Scott Norwood's attempt sailed just wide. Sadly for Buffalo fans, it was the start of a four straight Super Bowl losing streak, with the following three Super Bowls being largely blowouts.

A game and player (Norwood) that would be infamously remembered as "Wide Right."

This should be in the top ten. This was an absolute disaster for a Packers team that was better than their opponent, the Seahawks. This was a team that I think would have won the Super Bowl if not for what transpired in this game. Brandon Bostick is not solely to blame for what happened, though he sure does deserve a lot of the blame.

Russell Wilson threw four interceptions, and yet Seattle still came out on top. They couldn't stop Jon Ryan from throwing a touchdown, and they couldn't stop Jermaine Kearse either.

While it was only a regular-season game, the fact of the matter is Indianapolis should have won this game. If you watched this game, the Minnesota Vikings were out of sorts in the first half - arguably the worst first half I have ever seen from a professional football team. Indianapolis didn't even have to do anything. They just had to stand there as Minnesota completely self-destructed in every possible way in that first half.

A 33-0 lead was blown because the Colts didn't have a clue how to burn the clock. They only scored 3 points the entire second half and overtime. They successfully blew a 22-point lead in 15 minutes. I feel bad for Matt Ryan. First, it was 28-3, now this. Indianapolis might not recover from that kind of defeat.

The fact that Brandon Staley and Joe Lombardi were allowed back on the team plane after this game is surprising. Staley made the smart decision to play his starters in a meaningless week 18 game, and it cost him Mike Williams, who could've been useful in this game, and they probably would've won it. Trevor Lawrence looked awful. Four interceptions in the first half alone gave the Chargers a 27-0 lead.

The Chargers had a +5 turnover differential in the game and STILL LOST. That's an impressive feat in and of itself. This performance is fireable. The only way to recover is to clean house and fire everybody. You didn't even try to eat up the clock. Someone save Justin Herbert from this nightmare of a franchise.

Surprised to see them here, aren't you? To finish an NFL season undefeated and go to the Super Bowl is quite impressive. Not to mention, the Patriots were playing against a wildcard team that did not have a decent offense. The Patriots had one of the best offenses in NFL history as they scored 589 points and had veteran quarterback and receiver, Tom Brady and Randy Moss, who both broke records that 2007 season.

This was set to be a dream scenario for the Patriots. Everyone thought they would obliterate the Giants. Instead, they only scored a measly 14 points and allowed the almighty helmet catch to happen, therefore sealing their fate in the history books at 18-1.