History Main / DownToTheLastPlay

** Super Bowl LVIII, between the San Fransisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, ended up being the second Super Bowl to go to overtime, and the first since the aforementioned rule change... which ended up being completely moot as the 49ers, the first team to possess the ball in overtime, were only able to come away with a field goal on their first possession[[note]]although there's always the possibility that the rule change did play a role in the sense of affecting the 49ers' overtime decisions; a touchdown being an automatic game-winner might have tipped the scales towards going for it rather than taking the 3[[/note]]. The Chiefs ultimately won on a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

** Super Bowl LVIII, between the San Fransisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, ended up being the second Super Bowl to go to overtime, and the first since the aforementioned rule change... which ended up being completely moot as the 49ers, the first team to possess the ball in overtime, were only able to come away with a field goal on their first possession[[note]]although whether said rule change affected the 49ers' decision-making (maybe they go for it rather than settle for 3 if a touchdown is an automatic game-winner) is an open question[[/note]]. The Chiefs ultimately won on a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

** Super Bowl LVIII, between the San Fransisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, ended up being the second Super Bowl to go to overtime, and the first since the aforementioned rule change... which ended up being completely moot as the 49ers, the first team to possess the ball in overtime, were only able to come away with a field goal on their first possession. The Chiefs ultimately won on a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

* The Army-Navy game of December 9, 2023 had Army up by eight points in the bottom of the last quarter. With a touchdown and two-point conversion needed to take the game to overtime, the Midshipmen ran a 72-yard drive that ran out of steam on the one-foot line with three seconds left on the clock. The ball was then turned over to the Black Knights on downs, who then used the last play of the game to take a safety, ending the game 17-11.

** In 2011, Andy Schleck had a 57 seconds lead on Cadel Evans before the final counting stage in the general classification that year. The thing is, that stage was an ITT, which is a discipline where Evans is far superior to the [[CripplingOverspecialization highly specialized climbers]] Andy and Fränk Schleck. The 4-second lead Fränk had, and the 57-second lead Andy had, was not enough, as Evans beat Andy by 2.31 and Fränk by 2.34, leaving the brothers from Luxembourg in second and third.

* In ''Manga/SilverSpoon'', the BigGame that will decide whether the Yezo High baseball team goes on to the finals comes down to this. Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, our heroes are ahead by one and pitching, and talented freshman Komaba is on the pitcher's mound versus the local champion's best batter. [[spoiler:Heartbreakingly, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs and the more experienced batter hits Komaba's pitch, winning the game for the champs.]]

** The 2003 Carolina Panthers got a similar nickname with "The Cardiac Cats" due to their habit of winning several close games that year. Starting quarterback Jake Delhomme led seven game winning drives, five come from behind wins, all but two of their wins and losses were decided by one score, they had one of the ultra rare double overtime games which they won, and would have almost certainly forced the first ever Super Bowl to go to overtime if John Kasay doesn't kick the last kickoff out of bounds.

* In ''[[VideoGame/FZero F-Zero GX]]'''s second story map (a 1-on-1 against Samurai Goroh) your opponent has infinite boost, so if you try to boost past them they quickly retake the lead. But if you zoom past him at the last moment you win before they can catch up, and it's certainly easier than trying to knock him off-course.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Happens in "The Baseball Game", thanks to the opposing team's EpicFail. Mickey Cleary, the Edgartown Heath Hens’ slugging designated hitter and the team's leader in home runs and runs batted in for the year, comes to the plate in the last of the ninth inning with two runners aboard and a chance to win the game and the Single-A World Series. He ends the game by hitting into a triple play to Bolt, who is playing second base despite lacking a glove and the ability to throw a baseball properly.

* Canadian university football example: In the 2023 Hardy Cup (the championship game of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, basically a quarterfinal game in the national playoffs), the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, playing at home, had trailed the University of Alberta Golden Bears for all of the second half, getting the ball back with four minutes remaining in the 4th quarter, down 27–21. A steady drive put UBC on the Alberta 13-yard line with :03 left, and as the clock ran out, QB Garrett Rooker (a Texas native playing north of the border) passed to Sam Davenport (who'd transferred to UBC after crosstown rival Simon Fraser, the only Canadian school in the NCAA, dropped their football program) to tie the game at 27, with the extra point giving the Thunderbirds a dramatic win.

!!CFL

* In a non-US example, during a quarterfinals match up at the 2018 Japanese High School Baseball Championship or the Summer Koshien, the biggest competition in Japanese sports, Omi Brotherhood High School clung onto a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, Kanaashi Nogyo High School loaded the bases with no outs, and won the game on a 2-run suicide squeeze. [[spoiler:Kanaashi Nogyo would eventually make it all the way to the finals, becoming the first team in over 100 years from Akita Prefecture to make the finals. The previous time a team from Akita reached the finals? 1915, the first year of Koshien.]]

%%* ''Film/TheNatural''

** 32 years later the Eagles and Giants [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_at_the_New_Meadowlands met again in the Giants' new stadium]]. Once again the Eagles appeared to be in a hopeless situation, down 31–10 with only 8:17 left. However a series of quick scores left the game tied with only 14 seconds left and the Giants forced to punt the ball on 4th down. The punter, Matt Dodge, was instructed to punt the ball out of bounds to prevent Eagles return man [=DeSean=] Jackson, any chance to run the ball back for a touchdown. Unfortunately the punt did not go out of bounds and after initially bobbling the ball[[note]]which had the effect of distracting the punt defense team[[/note]], Jackson ran it back for a touchdown. Since time expired well before Jackson entered the end zone, he because the first person in NFL history to score a walk-off punt return touchdown. Failure to kick the ball out of bounds ended the NFL career of Matt Dodge.

* The Christopher Newport University Captains won the 2023 NCAA Division III championship over the Mount Union Purple Raiders, 74-72, on a layup at the buzzer.

* Happens in the opening game of ''Film/HighSchoolMusical 3'', where with 16 minutes to go the Wildcats are losing horribly, but with upbeat inspirational music in their ears manages to even the score, and manages to score a basket just as the clock ticks from 1 to 0.

* In ''The Cricket Match'' by John Parker, the eponymous match comes down to the final over, with the last two batsmen in and needing six runs to win.

* Another example in which the Buffalo Bills were a victim came near the end of the 1999 AFC wild-card game against the Tennessee Titans in what became known as "The Music City Miracle". With seconds left, Steve Christie hit a 41-yard field goal to put Buffalo up 16–15. Then came the kickoff, which was a squib kick first fielded by fullback Lorenzo Neal, who handed the ball to tight end Frank Wycheck. Wycheck then threw a controversial lateral to receiver Kevin Dyson, who took the ball 75 yards for a touchdown (which was confirmed after instant replay showed that Wycheck had not thrown an illegal forward pass), resulting in a 22–16 win that led to the Titans march to UsefulNotes/SuperBowl XXXIV (as well as providing a measure of revenge for several older players who were members of the team when they were known as the Houston Oilers and lost the 1992 wild-card 41–38 to Buffalo after leading '''''35–3'''''). The Bills did not appear in the postseason again until 2017, and with the [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams Toronto Blue Jays]] making it to the [=ALCS=] in 2015, the Bills had [[MedalOfDishonor the longest active playoff drought of any team in the "big four" North American sports leagues]] until 2017 (the Sacramento Kings held that record, which has now ended as of 2023).

* The 1990 college game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Utah Utes. The Utes had blown an early 19-0 lead and the game was tied 29-29 late in the fourth quarter. Minnesota blocked a Utah punt, and after a couple plays, with :08 remaining in the game[[note]]College football didn't have overtime back then[[/note]], Gopher kicker Brent Berglund was set to be the game's hero, once he made a sure-thing 29-yard field goal as time ran out. Instead, the Utes blocked the field goal, then defensive back [=LaVon=] Edwards scooped up the ball and ran untouched to the end zone, giving Utah the 35-29 victory.

* The utterly bizarre conclusion of the Miami Hurricanes hosting the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 2023. Miami was undefeated and ranked #17. Georgia Tech had just come off a humiliating loss to lightly-regarded Bowling Green the previous week. Oddsmakers placed Miami as a 20-point favorite in the game. It was a closer-than-expected game, but Miami got the ball back with 5:30 left in the 4th quarter and 20–17 lead, and milked the clock down to :33, facing 3rd down and 10 yards on the Tech 30-yard line with Tech out of timeouts.[[note]]At least according to the scoreboard; play-by-play suggested that Tech may actually have had one left.[[/note]] Conventional football wisdom would be to have the quarterback take a knee, since the clock would likely run out before they needed to run a 4th down play. Instead, Miami coach Mario Cristobal elected to call a running play. Donald Chaney Jr. gained four yards, then fumbled the ball, which Georgia Tech recovered (though the officials went to a replay review before confirming the turnover). Needing to go 74 yards with :26 left, Tech QB Haynes King threw an incomplete pass, then a 30-yarder, then spiked the ball, then with :01 on the clock, he found a wide-open Christian Leary for a 44-yard TD pass. Bitter Miami fans threw water bottles into the end zone in protest. Tech elected to take a knee rather than kick a PAT, making the score 23–20. With just enough time to run one last play, Miami tried a desperation pass that turned into a Cal-Stanford gambit, but they fumbled on the 5th lateral and Georgia Tech sealed the win.

* A very rare example of the home team—or more precisely, the team hosting the game—being the ''victim'' of a walk-off homer came in the Morgantown Regional of the 2019 NCAA Division I tournament. The regional host, the West Virginia Mountaineers, faced the Texas A&M Aggies in an elimination game—with the ''Aggies'' designated by tournament rules as the home team for said game. With the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the 9th and a 3–2 count, A&M's Bryce Blaum hit a walk-off grand slam.

* The utterly bizarre conclusion of the Miami Hurricanes hosting the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 2023. Miami was undefeated and ranked #17. Georgia Tech had just come off a humiliating loss to lightly-regarded Bowling Green the previous week. Oddsmakers placed Miami as a 20-point favorite in the game. It was a closer-than-expected game, but Miami got the ball back with 5:30 left in the 4th quarter and 20–17 lead, and milked the clock down to :33, facing 3rd down and 10 yards on the Tech 30-yard line. Conventional football wisdom would be to have the quarterback take a knee, since the clock would likely run out before they needed to run a 4th down play. Instead, Miami coach Mario Cristobal elected to call a running play. Donald Chaney Jr gained four yards, then fumbled the ball, which Georgia Tech recovered (though the officials went to a replay review before confirming the turnover). Needing to go 74 yards with :26 left, Tech QB Haynes King threw an incomplete pass, then a 30-yarder, then spiked the ball, then with :01 on the clock, he found a wide-open Christian Leary for a 44-yard TD pass. Bitter Miami fans threw water bottles into the end zone in protest. Tech elected to take a knee rather than kick a PAT, making the score 23–20. With just enough time to run one last play, Miami tried a desperation pass that turned into a Cal-Stanford gambit, but they fumbled on the 5th lateral and Georgia Tech sealed the win.

* The utterly bizarre conclusion of the Miami Hurricanes hosting the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 2023. Miami was undefeated and ranked #17. Georgia Tech had just come off a humiliating loss to lightly-regarded Bowling Green the previous week. Oddsmakers placed Miami as a 20-point favorite in the game. It was a closer-than-expected game, but Miami got the ball back with 5:30 left in the 4th quarter and 20–17 lead, and milked the clock down to :33, facing 3rd down and 10 yards on the Tech 30-yard line. Conventional football wisdom would be to have the quarterback take a knee, since the clock would likely run out before they needed to run a 4th down play. Instead, Miami coach Mario Cristobal elected to call a running play. Donald Chaney Jr gained four yards, then fumbled the ball, which Georgia Tech recovered (though the officials went to a replay review before confirming the turnover). Needing to go 74 yards with :26 left, Tech QB Haynes King threw an incomplete pass, then a 30-yarder, then another incompletion, then with :01 on the clock, he found a wide-open Christian Leary for a 44-yard TD pass. Bitter Miami fans threw water bottles into the end zone in protest. Tech elected to take a knee rather than kick a PAT, making the score 23–20. With just enough time to run one last play, Miami tried a desperation pass that turned into a Cal-Stanford gambit, but they fumbled on the 5th lateral and Georgia Tech sealed the win.

* The utterly bizarre conclusion of the Miami Hurricanes hosting the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 2023. Miami was undefeated and ranked #17. Georgia Tech had just come off a humiliating loss to lightly-regarded Bowling Green the previous week. Oddsmakers placed Miami as a 20-point favorite in the game. It was a closer-than-expected game, but Miami got the ball back with 5:30 left in the 4th quarter and 20–17 lead, and milked the clock down to :33, facing 3rd down and 10 yards on the Tech 30-yard line. Conventional football wisdom would be to have the quarterback take a knee, since the clock would likely run out before they needed to run a 4th down play. Instead, Miami coach Mario Cristobal elected to call a running play. Donald Chaney Jr gained four yards, then fumbled the ball, which Georgia Tech recovered (though the officials went to a replay review before confirming the turnover). Needing to go 74 yards with :26 left, Tech QB Haynes King threw an incomplete pass, then a 30-yarder, then another incompletion, then with :01 on the clock, he found a wide-open Christian Leary for a 44-yard TD pass. Bitter Miami fans threw water bottles into the end zone in protest. Tech elected to take a knee rather than kick a PAT, making the score 20–17. With just enough time to run one last play, Miami tried a desperation pass that turned into a Cal-Stanford gambit, but they fumbled on the 5th lateral and Georgia Tech sealed the win.

* In Wrestling/RingOfHonor, the Briscoes developed a [[InvincibleHero reputation]] for winning such matches in [[AvertedTrope two straight falls.]]

* ''Film/FridayNightLights'': The quarterback for the Panthers is stopped one yard short of the end zone, and the team loses. The ending sequence is played in slow motion with members of the Panthers having a HeroicBSOD, as they can't believe they just lost. It also subverts UnderdogsNeverLose, since the team had to jump through several hoops just to make it to the title game.

* In a no-US example, during a quarterfinals match up at the 2018 Japanese High School Baseball Championship or the Summer Koshien, the biggest competition in Japanese sports, Omi Brotherhood High School clung onto a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, Kanaashi Nogyo High School loaded the bases with no outs, and won the game on a 2-run suicide squeeze. [[spoiler:Kanaashi Nogyo would eventually make it all the way to the finals, becoming the first team in over 100 years from Akita Prefecture to make the finals. The previous time a team from Akita reached the finals? 1915, the first year of Koshien.]]