Little hope was given to the Silver and Black against the perennial playoff contending Pittsburgh Steelers. However, the Oakland Raiders pulled off a surprising 34-31 victory to provide rookie head coach Dennis Allen with his first win. The Raiders scored the game's final 13 points to pull off the triumph, sealed by a 43-yard field goal on the last play by Sebastian Janikowski.

This offensive onslaught turned out to be more smoke and mirrors than foreshadowing of what was to come in the 2012 season. The New York Jets didn't score a touchdown until the final game of the preseason, but went on a scoring frenzy. It appeared the Jets wouldn't have many offensive concerns following their 48-28 dumptrucking of the Bills. Instead, it was a lone bright spot in what turned out to be a calamitous season for Gang Green.

Lost in the wilderness of a disappointing 5-11 season for the Arizona Cardinals was a 20-18 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Stephen Gostkowski missed a potential game-winning field-goal attempt in the final seconds to give the Cardinals the upset win. Kevin Kolb threw for one touchdown and ran for another as the Cardinals picked up the second win of their 4-0 start.

The high-powered New Orleans Saints entered this NFC Divisional Playoff as one of the favorites to win Super Bowl XLVI. Instead, the upstart San Francisco 49ers prevailed in one of the most dramatic playoff encounters in recent memory. Alex Smith completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis with nine seconds remaining to cap a wild fight to the finish and give the 49ers a 36-32 victory.

Christmas came early for NFL fans, with six games in one weekend featuring major postseason implications. The most emphatic victory on 'Statement Sunday' was a 34-0 win for the Atlanta Falcons over the defending Super Bowl-champion New York Giants.

The 8-1 Houston Texans got a surprising test from the 1-8 Jacksonville Jaguars in this overtime thriller. The Texans became the first team to score twice in overtime, earning a 43-37 win when Andre Johnson caught a short pass from Matt Schaub and raced 48 yards for the winning score.

With head coach Chuck Pagano missing his first game during an indefinite leave to undergo treatment for leukemia, the Indianapolis Colts pulled off a stunning 30-27 win over the visiting Green Bay Packers. Andrew Luck's 4-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with 35 seconds left gave the Colts the victory and capped a comeback from a 21-3 halftime deficit.

The Green Bay Packers stormed through the 2011 regular season with a 15-1 record, but succumbed to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants in embarrassing fashion in the divisional playoffs at Lambeau Field. The Giants defeated the Packers, 37-20, in a startling upset, which was punctuated by a Hakeem Nicks touchdown catch on a desperation heave by Eli Manning at the end of the first half.

Before he was a part of the three-ring circus season in New York, Tim Tebow was providing late-game heroics for the Denver Broncos. Tebow stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers with an 80-yard touchdown strike to Demaryius Thomas in what was the quickest ending to an overtime game in NFL history. The Broncos prevailed 29-23 in the wild-card showdown.

It's not shocking the Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers in this Monday night game from Week 3. What was shocking was the way it ended. Russell Wilson's touchdown pass to Golden Tate on the final play gave the Seahawks a 14-12 win, and gave the young 2012 season its most controversial moment. The bizarre final play re-ignited frustrations over replacement referees and sparked a resolution to bring back the locked-out refs.