BroBible
The Divisional Round of the 2026 NFL Playoffs is just around the corner, and eight teams are looking to take one more step toward the Super Bowl and immortality.
Each year, the round presents us with some of the most remarkable and improbable games of all time. But those games would not be special if it were not for a number of special individual performances as well.
Today, we’re taking a look at the top individual performances in the history of the divisional round, which first began all the way back in 1967.
Because it would be a matter of splitting hairs to rank them, we’ve decided to put these performances in chronological order. But they are each, in their own right, some of the top performances that the NFL has ever seen.
Raise your hand if you’re familiar with the name Ed Podolak.
Now put your hand back down, you liar!
Podolak, a second-round pick in the 1969 NFL Draft out of Iowa, played nine seasons in the NFL, all for the Kansas City Chiefs.
His most impressive showing game in the Divisional Round of the 1971 playoffs when, in a double-overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins, he put up 350 all-purpose yards, a playoff record that still stands 55 years later.
Podolak racked up 85 rushing yards, 110 receiving yards, and 155 return yards in what was and still is the longest game in NFL history, coming in at 82 minutes and 40 seconds.
Pittsburgh Steelers legend Terry Bradshaw occasionally goes overlooked when it comes to all-time great quarterbacks because his numbers aren’t the most gaudy.
But in the 1976 Divisional Round against the Baltimore Colts, Bradshaw wasn’t just great; he was perfect.
Bradshaw completed 14 of 18 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, achieving a perfect 158.3 passer rating for his efforts. He is one of only four players to have ever achieved a perfect passer rating in an NFL playoff game, with Peyton Manning in 2004 being the most recent.
Much like Podolak, Vernon Perry wasn’t exactly a star in the NFL. He was undrafted in 1976 and went on to play just five seasons.
But in the 1979 AFC Divisional Round against Dan Fouts and the Chargers, Perry had the game of his life. In fact, he had one of the all-time games of anyone’s life.
The Jackson State product picked off Fouts a record four times in the victory, and also recorded a blocked field goal that he returned 57 yards before being tackled.
Perry continued his insane playoff run with a 75-yards pick six in the AFC Championship Game against Terry Bradshaw and the Steelers, although Pittsburgh went on to win the game, 27-13.
