The Best Two-Minute Drills in NFL History

Ten drives that turned a hopeless clock into a real chance — and the decisions that made them work. Ranked editorially, not by a formula.

A two-minute drill is not just a hurry-up offense. It is a sequence of trade-offs: sideline versus middle, clock versus yards, timeout versus field position. The drives below are the ones that best combine high stakes, a long field, a short clock and clean execution. Some are famous for one throw; others are famous for fifteen correct ones.

How to read this list: each entry gives the situation, the drive, and the lesson. If you want to test those lessons yourself, practice the same situations against real NFL endings.

1. The Drive — Broncos 23, Browns 20 (OT)

1986 AFC Championship · Jan. 11, 1987 · Cleveland

The situation: Denver trailed 20–13 with 5:32 left and the ball on its own 2-yard line. Ninety-eight yards, no margin, a hostile crowd.

The drive: John Elway converted a third-and-18 with a 20-yard strike to Mark Jackson, then kept moving the chains with a mix of scrambles and sideline throws. Fifteen plays later, Jackson caught a 5-yard touchdown to tie it. Rich Karlis won it in overtime.

The lesson: a long field does not change the math — it changes the number of correct decisions required. The Drive is the canonical proof that converting one unlikely third down can rescue an entire possession.

2. The Catch — 49ers 28, Cowboys 27

1981 NFC Championship · Jan. 10, 1982 · San Francisco

The situation: Dallas led 27–21. San Francisco took over at its own 11 with 4:54 left and no room for a mistake.

The drive: Joe Montana moved the 49ers 89 yards, then escaped a collapsing pocket and found Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone on third down with 51 seconds remaining. The extra point made it 28–27.

The lesson: the best two-minute calls create a second chance. Montana's scramble was not the design — the design was to keep the play alive long enough for a receiver to adjust.

3. Super Bowl XXXIV — Rams 23, Titans 16

Jan. 30, 2000 · Atlanta

The situation: tied 16–16 with 1:54 left. St. Louis had the ball at its own 27 and one of the most explosive offenses ever assembled.

The drive: Kurt Warner hit Isaac Bruce for a 73-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive. Tennessee still had a chance, driving to the St. Louis 10 — but Mike Jones tackled Kevin Dyson at the 1-yard line as time expired.

The lesson: when the defense is selling out to stop the sideline route, the middle of the field can be the fastest clock-stopper of all. One read, one throw, one score.

4. Super Bowl XLII — Giants 17, Patriots 14

Feb. 3, 2008 · Glendale, Arizona

The situation: New York trailed 14–10 with 2:39 left, the ball at its own 17, and a perfect New England season standing in the way.

The drive: Eli Manning escaped a sack, David Tyree pinned a 32-yard pass against his helmet on third-and-5, and Plaxico Burress caught the 13-yard winner with 35 seconds left.

The lesson: two-minute offense is often about extending plays, not speeding them up. The Giants used 12 plays and nearly the entire clock — the opposite of a quick-strike drive.

5. Super Bowl XLIII — Steelers 27, Cardinals 23

Feb. 1, 2009 · Tampa

The situation: Arizona had just taken a 23–20 lead on a 64-yard Larry Fitzgerald touchdown. Pittsburgh got the ball back with 2:37 left.

The drive: Ben Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes for a 40-yard gain to the 6-yard line, then hit Holmes again in the back corner of the end zone with 35 seconds left.

The lesson: the sideline is a resource. Pittsburgh had two timeouts and used the whole field, then isolated Holmes in the back corner of the end zone for the winner.

6. Super Bowl LI — Patriots 34, Falcons 28 (OT)

Feb. 5, 2017 · Houston

The situation: New England trailed 28–20 with 2:30 left and the ball at its own 9-yard line. The deficit, the field and the clock all pointed the same way.

The drive: Tom Brady moved the Patriots 91 yards, capped by James White's 1-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion to Danny Amendola. New England won in overtime.

The lesson: the two-point conversion is part of the drive, not an afterthought. New England had to score and convert just to force overtime — and played the sequence accordingly.

7. 13 Seconds — Chiefs 42, Bills 36 (OT)

2021 AFC Divisional · Jan. 23, 2022 · Kansas City

The situation: Buffalo had just taken a 36–33 lead on Josh Allen's touchdown pass to Gabe Davis, leaving Kansas City 13 seconds and two timeouts.

The drive: Patrick Mahomes hit Tyreek Hill for 19 yards, then Travis Kelce for 25 more, setting up Harrison Butker's 49-yard field goal. Kansas City won in overtime.

The lesson: with 13 seconds, the boundary is optional. Two throws to the middle of the field and two timeouts can be faster than three sideline throws — because the clock stops on the timeout, not just the incompletion.

8. Mile High Miracle — Ravens 38, Broncos 35 (2OT)

2012 AFC Divisional · Jan. 12, 2013 · Denver

The situation: Baltimore trailed 35–28 with 31 seconds left and the ball at its own 30.

The drive: Joe Flacco dropped a 70-yard touchdown into Jacoby Jones' hands to tie the game. Baltimore won in double overtime.

The lesson: sometimes the correct two-minute call is the one that ignores the intermediate throws. With 31 seconds left, a 70-yard shot is not desperation — it is the only route that can produce a tie.

9. Seahawks–Packers — Seattle 28, Green Bay 22 (OT)

2014 NFC Championship · Jan. 18, 2015 · Seattle

The situation: Green Bay led 19–7 late. Seattle's offense had done almost nothing; the season was down to special teams and one drive.

The drive: A fake field goal produced a touchdown, Russell Wilson found Luke Willson for a 24-yard score, Seattle converted the two-point try, and the Seahawks won on Jermaine Kearse's 35-yard touchdown in overtime.

The lesson: the two-minute drill starts before the offense takes the field. A special-teams call can be the highest-leverage decision of the sequence.

10. Colts–Patriots — Indianapolis 38, New England 34

2006 AFC Championship · Jan. 21, 2007 · Indianapolis

The situation: Indianapolis trailed 34–31 with 2:17 left, needing a touchdown against the team that had ended its season before.

The drive: Peyton Manning drove the Colts 80 yards, converting a key third down to Reggie Wayne before Joseph Addai scored from 3 yards out with 1:00 left.

The lesson: the clock is not the only opponent. The Colts used the middle of the field to keep New England's defense honest, then scored with enough time left to survive a final Patriots possession.

Honorable mentions

Vikings 39, Colts 36 (OT), 2022: the largest comeback in NFL history — 33 points down at halftime. Not a single two-minute drill, but the ultimate proof that clock math can change quickly.
Patriots 32, Panthers 29, Super Bowl XXXVIII: Jake Delhomme drove Carolina to a tie with 1:08 left before Adam Vinatieri won it.
Cardinals 26, Packers 20 (OT), 2015 NFC Divisional: Aaron Rodgers' Hail Mary forced overtime; Arizona answered with a Hail Mary of its own.

What these drives have in common

None of them were won by a single heroic throw. In every case, the offense had already decided what it needed before the snap: how many yards per play, when to use a timeout, when to attack the sideline, and when to accept an incomplete pass. The spectacular play was the last decision in a chain of correct ones.

That is also how the game on this site is graded. You are not rewarded for a lucky outcome; you are graded on whether each call improved your win probability in that exact situation. Here is how the scoring works.

Think you can do better? The same situations — real score, real clock, real timeouts — are waiting in unlimited practice mode. Call the drive and compare your decisions with what really happened.