It goes without saying that teams with some of the best players in the game, win the most (seems obvious, no?). Super Bowl LIII is no different, featuring the loaded Kansas City Chiefs and their lethal offense against the San Francisco 49ers and their run game and vaunted defense. But in San Francisco’s case, they got an all-time playoff performance from a relatively unknown name.
It’s been a breakout 2019 for Raheem Mostert, with 772 yards and 10 total touchdowns in the regular season. Decent numbers, sure, but it wasn’t exactly indicative of a 220-yard, four-touchdown explosion in the NFC Championship Game against Green Bay. Looking up-and-down single-game playoff leaderboards, there are some expected names. But Mostert is included in this other list of relative unknowns who became playoff heroes:
Raheem Mostert:
His story is becoming a sensation. Undrafted in 2015 out of Purdue, Mostert signed and was cut by Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore, Cleveland, New York (Jets) and Chicago before finally sticking in San Francisco in 2017. With all of those teams he combined for exactly zero rush attempts. Even with the Niners, he had one carry in 2016, six carries in 2017 and 34 in 2018. He became a goal-line back of sorts this year, shattering all of his career highs.
Now he lives in San Francisco lore with his 220-yard, four-TD game against the Packers. Only Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson has more rushing yards in a playoff game than Mostert, and only Ricky Watters has more TDs.
Vernon Perry:
Signing with the Oilers after a two-year stint in the CFL, Perry’s career consisted of 11 interceptions over four seasons, but he’ll always be remembered for his performance in the 1979 AFC Divisional Round game against San Diego.
Having picked off three passes in the entire regular season, Perry set an NFL record with four interceptions against the Chargers, terrorizing Dan Fouts. To boot, he also blocked a field goal and returned it 57 yards in what became a 17-14 Houston victory. That extended into the next week, when he picked off Terry Bradshaw and took it 75 yards to the house on the first possession of the AFC title game.
Frank Reich:
The comeback kid. He engineered the greatest comeback in NCAA history, then went and did the same in the NFL with Buffalo. With Jim Kelly injured, the veteran backup Reich started the 1993 wild-card game against Houston. In his first eight years with the Bills he started a total of six games, and trailed 35-3 early in the third quarter. Alas, he and the Bills stormed all the way back, going on a 35-3 run of their own to force overtime. A game-winning field goal in the extra frame hoisted Buffalo to a stunning victory.
Lamar Smith:
Smith enjoyed a nice decade-long NFL career, and even had a 1,139-yard season with the Dolphins in 2000. But he never made a Pro Bowl, and outside of his Miami tenure, only started 26 career games. But man, in 2000 he was a workhorse, and that carried into the playoffs. In the wild-card game against Indianapolis he toted the rock 40 times (still a postseason record) for 209 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score in overtime to lift Miami to the 23-17 win.
Fast forward over 19 years, and Miami hasn’t won a playoff game since.
Timmy Smith:
A rookie running back, Smith had all of 126 rushing yards in the regular season in 1987. But with George Rogers banged up, Smith helped Washington close out a pair of playoff wins to advance to Super Bowl XXII, when Joe Gibbs decided to start the youngster in the backfield. It paid incredible dividends, as Smith rushed for 204 yards (still a Super Bowl record) and two touchdowns in a 42-10 stomping of Denver.
He never could replicate that success, getting cut after an underwhelming 1988 season, missing all of 1989 and playing in the 1990 opener in Dallas before his career ended for good.
David Tyree:
Most everyone else on this list had a historic game. Tyree, meanwhile, only had three receptions in Super Bowl XLII (with a touchdown), but he, of course, made one of the most legendary catches in NFL history. The Helmet Catch to keep the winning drive alive in the Giants’ stunning upset of the 18-0 Patriots will be remembered forever. And it was caught by a guy who had 95 career receptions, and didn’t catch another pass in his NFL career.
