Our NFL.com "Bracketology" quest to determine the greatest play in NFL history has reached the Final Four. And just in like that other tournament, upsets have made for a surprising semifinal setup.
All four No. 1 seeds in our brackets lost in the Elite Eight. Say goodbye to some of the most famous plays in NFL history: The Catch, The Helmet Catch, The Immaculate Reception and the Music City Miracle are out.
This wasn't a quest to find the most important play ever, but simply the greatest play. That's why I can't totally crush the readers for choosing Marshawn Lynch's "Beast Mode" run in the playoffs over the Music City Miracle. (Although both plays are pretty sweet.) I can take issue with Troy Polamalu's random flying tackle taking out the Immaculate Reception. My guess: Raiders fans came out voting in full force to make sure to ruin Franco Harris' shining moment. The voters got it wrong.
In three of the four upsets, recent plays took out historic ones. Polamalu's tackle will take on DeSean Jackson's walk-off punt return against the New York Giants in one semifinal. Jackson surprisingly beat out The Catch by a wide margin.
Lynch's run will take on Steve Young's winding touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings in the other semifinal. Young's score is the only play left that didn't occur in the 2010 season.
After so many big upsets, it's tough to handicap which play will end up on top. My prediction from the four remaining plays: Marshawn Lynch will be tough bring down.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
