Is Dave Roberts' Steal or Adam Vinatieri's 'Snow Bowl' Field Goal a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

Is Dave Roberts’ Steal or Adam Vinatieri’s ‘Snow Bowl’ Field Goal a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

by NESN Staff on Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 10:47AM

Dave Roberts' clutch steal against the Yankees and Adam Vinatieri's 'Snow Bowl' field goal during the 2002 playoffs clash in the quarterfinals of the Boston's Greatest Sports Moment tournament.

2. Dave Roberts pulls off 'The Steal'The whole world knew he was going to steal second base. After Kevin Millar drew a walk in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, that's exactly what Dave Roberts did. With the Red Sox down 4-3 and facing elimination, 90 feet never looked so far. After nearly getting picked off, Roberts took off on Mariano Rivera's first pitch to Bill Mueller. Jorge Posada threw a strike to a covering Derek Jeter, but the left hand of Roberts beat the tag. Mueller singled, and Roberts finished off what is now known as "The Steal" by scoring the tying run. The steal sparked the greatest comeback in Red Sox history, as Boston took Game 4 and won four straight en route to capturing the American League pennant.

9. Vinatieri's game-tying 'Snow Bowl' field goalDoing anything outside when it's snowing is difficult. It's even harder to play football in the snow. Kicking a 45-yard field goal in the snow? Forget about it, right? Well, not if you're Adam Vinatieri. Vinatieri made kicking in the snow look easy in a 2002 AFC divisional playoff game against the Oakland Raiders in New England. During a game that would later be referred to as the "Snow Bowl," or the "Tuck Rule Game," Vinatieri kicked a 45-yard field goal to tie the game 13-13 with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter. The game eventually went to overtime, and Vinatieri again saved the Pats with his leg, kicking a 23-yard field goal to win the game. The Patriots would go on to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history later that postseason.