In case you’re like us and are starting to go into football withdrawls, the good people at NFL Films put together this nice little walk down memory lane to help you re-live this past season, and remind us once again how awesome the sport is.  It isn’t exactly new, but we were saving it up for a time when we thought you might need it most … enjoy:

(Photo: NFLGridironGab.com)

The Detroit Lions just made Calvin Johnson the richest wide receiver in the NFL, signing him to an new eight-year contract worth up to $132 million, including $60 million guaranteed.  It’s one of the biggest deals in league history, surpassing the contract Arizona gave Larry Fitzgerald last year (8-year, $120 million), and ensures fans in Detroit will have the Johnson-Stafford connection to look forward to for the foreseeable future.

In case you were wondering why the Lions were willing to break the bank for Johnson (and were curious why we chose the headline we did for this post), this Megatron highlight video should give you an idea:

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Calvin Johnson = Beast

Jacquian Williams entered Giants history with this forced fumble (Image via Sportsgrid.com)

Earlier this year, we posted a tremendous NY Giants 2011 regular season highlight reel from Youtube user gocolts123456789100, that stood head and shoulders above the average fan-made video. And ever since the Giants wrapped up Super Bowl XLVI, we have been anxiously awaiting his follow-up installment, prior to posting any post-season wrap-up videos.

Well, the new highlight reel of the Giants Super Bowl run is up, and once again our man didn’t disappoint, with another superbly-edited piece, set to perfectly apropos background music – this time, “NY NY” by B.o.B. It’s a great way for Giants fans to re-live the emotion of the team’s improbable yet impressive run through the NFC playoffs, with emotional wins over the Falcons, 49ers and Packers, and ultimately defeating the Patriots to hoist the Lombardi trophy.

And if you’re looking for something more in-depth, we also found this remarkable, 44-minute highlight package covering the entire playoff run in chronological order (starting with the Week 15 victory over the Cowboys) and with painstaking detail, which we’ve embedded below as well.

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(Image via SportsGrid.com)

Sunday’s 2012 Pro Bowl started out pretty much as expected, with defensive players giving minimal effort at little things like rushing the passer, covering and tackling, setting the stage for the offensive shootout that ensued. The AFC ultimately out-gunned the NFC 59-41, with Dolphins WR Brandon Marshall reeling in a Pro Bowl record 4 TDs and earning the MVP trophy.

And while this laissez-faire defensive attitude elicited boos from the crowd and groans from television viewers everywhere, the game did end up providing a few noteworthy moments. To be honest, we didn’t actually watch the whole thing, but we got a pretty good feel for things via the stats and game highlights … and with 100 total points scored, you get the general idea: defense (and running backs) took the day off in Honolulu today. For their part, the NFC had three players – Tony Gonzalez, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Smith - with more than 100 yards receiving, with Fitzgerald pulling in three scores of his own.

Marshall finished with 176 yards on six catches, but none of them were as memorable as this unbelievable (and wildly lucky) third quarter grab of a tipped Andy Dalton pass while laying on his back in the endzone:

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BONUS GIF: The other worthwhile highlight came Drew Brees attempted the rarely-seen drop kick extra point late in the 4th quarter, only to miss it badly [VIDEO here]

(via mocksession.com)

This week 14 block effectively saved the Giants season (Photo: NYPost.com)

There are thousands of fan-made highlights packages to be found on YouTube, but this one of the New York Football Giants 2011-12 regular season stands out from the pack for its incredible editing, high quality footage, and of course, the tasteful use of  ”Run This Town” by Jay-Z (feat. Rihanna) as the backing music.

And even though the Giants barely squeaked into the playoffs as a Wild Card after finishing 9-7, with guys like Eli, Cruuuuuuz, and JPP having breakout seasons, there were still plenty of explosive and memorable plays from this year’s campaign … even before they were able to put it all together just in time for a stunning playoff run.

So if you’re a Giants fan looking for something to keep you fired up during the off-week before Super Bowl XLVI, you’ve come to the right place.

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Compiled in 2008 following their last Super Bowl run, this is by far the most comprehensive (and emotionally stirring) Giants highlights package we’ve ever seen. Featuring the highs and lows from New York’s storied franchise history – and with several classic moments from their rivalry with the Niners included – it is a must-watch for any fan of Big Blue.

Simply put, this is why I’m a fan of the New York Football Giants:

[Music – “This Is The Sea” by the Waterboys]

Sorry, but any objectivity we had been feigning until now goes right out the window today … GO GIANTS!!!

"The Hit" ended Montana's day, and ultimately his career in SF (Photo: NY Daily News)

On Sunday, the 49ers and Giants will meet in the playoffs for an NFL record-tying EIGHTH time … with all of those match-ups coming since 1981. Along the way, the two NFC powerhouses have won a combined 8 Lombardi Trophies, and have given us a few of the more memorable games in playoff history.

In looking back at the rivalry, some of the more indelible playoff memories include Jim Burt blasting Joe Montana in New York’s 49-3 Divisional drubbing in 1986, Roger Craig inexplicably fumbling late in the 1990 NFC Championship game to set up Matt Bahr’s game-winner, and Trey Junkin (whose name alone has become a curse word in Giants fandom) botching the game-winning field goal snap in 2002′s Wild Card game to complete the second-biggest collapse in playoff history.

So before these proud franchises take the field to provide the latest chapter in their long-running saga, we thought it fitting to look back at two of their previous meetings to get ourselves in the proper frame of mind. Specifically, we bring you the highlights from the 2002 NFC Wild Card game and the 1990 NFC Championship.

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 2002 NFC Wild Card game:

And of course, who could forget the 1990 NFC Championship game:

So "Gronking" is now an actual thing (Photo: Boston.com)

Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski has set a new standard for receiving tight ends in the NFL this year, with a record 1,327 yards and 17 regular season touchdowns, plus 3 more in last weekend’s divisional playoff game. Along the way, he’s made a habit of angrily spiking the ball into the turf after every score, spawning the term “Gronking” to describe his particularly violent  take on the traditional celebration.

In fact, in an obvious take-off of the Tebowing trend, Gronking has apparently become a thing among Pats fans - complete with it’s own website - who want to emulate their favorite player. Somehow, in his own jolly-meathead-icon fashion, Gronkowski has actually managed to make spiking the ball cool again.

Now, someone has gone ahead and set clips of Gronkowski’s spikes to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture … and let’s just say it makes for a very explosive highlight reel:

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(Image via Sportsgrid.com)

We’re obviously a little late to the party on this, but the San Francisco 49ers took down the New Orleans Saints 36-32 in the game of the Divisional Playoff weekend, with Alex Smith delivering the game-winning TD to Vernon Davis on what will undoubtedly forever go down in San Francisco sports history as “The Catch III”. 

Both Smith and Davis turned in career-making performances and Smith finally delivered on his #1 pick expectations by out-dueling the NFL’s all-time single season passing leader (Drew Brees) in a game that saw four lead changes in the final 5 minutes! Smith had his NFL bar mitzvah and became a man on Saturday, finishing with 299 yards and 3 TDs passing, 0 INTs and one 28-yard rushing score to pus SF ahead late in the 4th.

For his part, Vernon Davis cemented himself in Niner lore with 7 catches for 180 yards and 2 TDs, including the game winner on a 14-yard strike from Smith with nine seconds remaining. After dominating all day long and when his team needed him most, Davis delivered a huge blow to Saints safety Roman Harper in the endzone and managed to hang onto the ball for the win.

On what was very nearly the 30th anniversary of the original “The Catch” – Dwight Clark‘s infamous touchdown grab in the 1981 NFC Championship game (1/10/82) – Davis’ play more closely resembled “The Catch II” by Terrell Owens in 1999, right down to crying on the shoulder of head coach Jim Harbaugh as he ran to the sideline (pic above).

VIDEO OF ALL THREE 49ERS “CATCHES” AFTER THE JUMP

But after the game, rather than embrace the obvious connection to his predecessors, Davis insisted that his catch go by a different name:

“You’ve got to call it “The Grab,’ ” Davis said of his play. “We were down. I had to make it happen to take my teammates where we want to go.”

“This is huge for us … It’s history, legendary, anything you can describe.”

Yeah … good luck with that, Vern.  It’s “The Catch III”. Get used to it.

The high-powered Saints offense also contributed five turnovers to the Niners’ cause, including 2 Brees interceptions, but give credit where credit is due. Much like their adopted team mascot the honey badger, Jim Harbaugh’s team took what it wanted and proved themselves the better team on this day. The win gives SF their first playoff win in nine years, and they’ll next play host to the New York Giants in Sunday’s NFC Championship game.

Now thanks to the wonders of Youtube, here are all three of the historic 49ers “Catches” in chronological order – Clark>Owens>Davis:

(Photo: Hyoung Chang, DenverPost.com)

When Tim Tebow and the Broncos upset the Pittsburgh Steelers in their wild card playoff match-up last Sunday, most people theorized that divine intervention had a something to do with it. But true football fans understood that it was actually the arrogance of coordinator Dick LeBeau and the Steelers defense – who stacked the box all day and challenged Denver to throw the ball downfield – that allowed Tebow to pass for 316 yards and 2 TDs (including 204 yards to Demaryius Thomas), and knock the defending AFC champs off their throne.

As usual, the NFL Films crew was on hand in Denver to capturing all the sights and sounds from the game for their super-awesome SoundFX program. For this contest, they had Ben Roethlisberger and Elvis Dumervil mic’d up, along with countless parabolic mics roaming the sideline to pick up all the extra-curriculars. So enjoy as we get to watch the action unfold through the eyes of the players and coaches on the field, in what will already go down as a game for the ages:

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in what will already go down as game for the ages,