Saints safety Marcus Williams ducked his head, lowered his right shoulder and ended up on the wrong side of a miracle.
"Life happens," he told the Bleacher Report months after his missed tackle made Stefon Diggs an everlasting hero and the Vikings a 29-24 walk-off winner in last year's NFC divisional playoff game.
Life's not always a beach, either.
In perfect position and needing to make only a routine play to prevent the "Minneapolis Miracle," Williams whiffed and wound up on this man's list of 10 of the more infamous unforced errors on what should have been relatively easy plays to execute in the closing seconds of a postseason game.
Here are the other nine, in the order they occurred:
Red Right 88, Jan. 4, 1981: Known as the "Kardiac Kids" that year, the Browns were trailing 14-12 at Oakland's 13-yard line with less than a minute left in a divisional game played in windy, 4-degree weather at Cleveland Stadium. Coach Sam Rutigliano gave QB Brian Sipe the play — forever known as Red Right 88 — with the stipulation to "throw it into Lake Erie" if the play wasn't open for tight end Ozzie Newsome. It was second down and a 30-yard field goal attempt was the backup plan. Instead, Sipe, the league MVP that year, threw a wobbler into double coverage that was intercepted by Mike Davis.
Darrin Nelson's drop, Jan. 17, 1988: Some will argue that this wasn't an unforced error. That Redskins cornerback Darrell Green played a role in jarring the ball from the Vikings running back at the goal line. The Vikings trailed 17-10 on the road in the NFC title game. They faced fourth-and-goal from the 6 with 56 seconds left. Wade Wilson threw a nice pass. The ball slipped through Nelson's hands and hit his shoulder pads. Before he had time to gather it, Green made contact. The Redskins went on to rout Denver 42-10 in the Super Bowl.
Harmon wide open, Jan. 6, 1990: Another divisional game at Cleveland Stadium saw Jim Kelly and the Bills driving toward a winning touchdown in the closing seconds. Running back Ronnie Harmon was uncovered in the corner of the end zone but dropped the pass. One play later, Clay Matthews made a game-ending interception in a 34-30 win. The Bills would reach the next four Super Bowls.
