It is that time of the year when the world of football is infused with some NFL playoff magic that brings the competition to another level. The NFL Playoffs are a single-elimination tournament that is always held after the regular season just to determine which team is going to be the NFL champion.
The NFL Playoffs are constructed by 14 teams, 7 from each of the league’s two conferences. The culmination of the tournament is the Super Bowl, which is one of the most-watched sporting events in the world. If you need, click here to download 2022 NFL Playoff Bracket and have it available to keep track of the games.
Basically, the playoffs are like heaven for football lovers just because the competition between the best teams in the league is on another level.
During the next upcoming weeks, all eyes will be focused on the NFL playoffs, and in such spirit, we’ve selected some movies that will infuse even more NFL magic in between matches. Over the years, the sports genre in movies has grown to a point where now big movie production companies are starting to invest a lot of money covering true stories and inspiring historic events that will give you the chills.
Let’s go through the list of the best NFL movies to watch during the NFL playoffs just to get in the spirit of football even more.
Rudy – 1993
When we talk about the greatest NFL movies of all time, then Rudy is a strong contender for climbing to the top of the list. Some movies earned a special place in everyone’s heart. Most girls cry when watching The Notebook, and guys have a similar spark of emotion when watching Rudy.
This is a classic story, that is common in the sports movie genre where underdogs face the almost impossible challenge and they manage to pull through despite all setbacks. The main actor has a lifelong dream of playing for the University of Notre Dame and manages to get to a point where you cannot fall back.
Additionally, we have Jon Favreau’s movie debut and a shocking on-screen death that brought a lot of attention to the movie. With that said, it is a great movie for NFL fans, and definitely worth the watch during the NFL playoffs.
Friday Night Lights
Most people are familiar with the 2006 Friday Night Series and don’t know that there was a movie with the same name that aired back in 2004. Both are based on a book by Buzz Bissinger and managed to meet everyone’s expectations and paint the most authentic look at west Texas football.
The movie follows the story of Coach Gary Gaines as well as his team, the Permian High Panthers of Odessa. Both Friday Night Lights the movie and the critically acclimated series focus on more than just football, but high school life in general.
It opens the curtains on the starting career path of young athletes and we get to see what they need to go through in order to succeed. If you still haven’t watched the movie make sure you check it out, after all, a 7.2/10 IMDb rating isn’t for underestimation.
Any Given Sunday (1999)
It is hard to imagine a better way of infusing some NFL magic through movies without watching the legendary Any Given Sunday. This is one of the greatest movies of all time, and to this day we hear speeches that are used in the movie just to motivate athletes.
Apart from the highly tense action on the field, Any Given Sunday gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the struggles, hard work, and setbacks that modern-day gladiators from the NFL have to go through.
Despite the lower-than-usual critic and audience score, Any Given Sunday is one of the more accurate descriptions of modern-day football. Some might see the politics and selfish attitudes as negative aspects of the movie, especially those who like to focus on football, but we cannot ignore its presence in modern football.
It is one of the biggest NFL movies with Al Pacino as the coach who went through a lot in life and the only thing he has left is football.
The Program (1993)
It seems like most football movies focus on the tough path that athletes have to go through in order to reach the ultimate goal of completing the big league. The Program is a great football movie that involves several players all coming from different backgrounds as they try to handle the pressure of competing in a major football university league.
Each of the players is trying to balance their hectic lives that involve a lot of drinking, bad influence, and even drugs. Like it or not, that is the reality that surrounds the game, even in today’s times where many talented athletes are dealing with drug abuse or drinking.
Additionally, The Program also focuses on strategy and inner workings just to get the best of the athletes. So, if you like an in-depth movie about the reality of football and its impact on athletes’ lives, The Program is a great watch.
If we top this with some impressive performances from the actors and inspiring story writing that gave birth to some of the greatest lines in football then The Program is a great movie to warm up before a playoff game.
Remember the Titans (2000)
Here we have another iconic movie that has always been on the top must-watch list of NFL movies. This is a true story about a newly appointed African-American coach that tries to build a winning team from a bunch of talented individuals who at that time cannot work well as a unit.
Remember the Titans is a movie that perfectly describes the power of sports and its unifying force. It teaches us that the differences between people don’t matter when you are chasing the same goal.
It is the perfect movie that shows how color, race, or religion doesn’t matter in football.
Let’s get one thing straight, Remember the Titans isn’t perfect. The gameplay portrayals are a bit wacky, and hydration is seen as a form of weakness that doesn’t send a good message to the audience.
However, the main story about the film focuses on the uniting power of football, which is always inspiring and fun to watch.
