It is fitting that in the Year of the Tight End, two of the greatest postseason performances by a player at that position would occur.  The only question left after Vernon Davis of the 49ers torched the Saints for 180 yards, and Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots scored three touchdowns against the Broncos, is whether either of them surpassed Kellen Winslow for the greatest postseason performance by a tight end in N.F.L. history.  In an era when gaudy statistics for a tight end were not common, Winslow was the exception, piling up 541 receptions and 45 touchdowns in nine seasons for the Chargers. But he was never better than on Jan. 2, 1982, in a divisional playoff game against the Dolphins that came to be known as the Epic in Miami.  Winslow had 166 receiving yards, which served as the record for yards by a tight end for 30 years and 12 days before Davis overtook it. Winslow also scored a memorable 25-yard touchdown despite playing through a number of injuries and sheer exhaustion.  In this current era of specialization, the hardest aspect of Winslow’s performance to fathom is the fact that he was sent out at the end of regulation to defend a field-goal attempt. Winslow was able to stretch his 6-foot-5 frame to its limit and block Uwe von Schamann’s 43-yard attempt as time expired, sending the game to overtime.  Winslow was helped off the field by his teammates after the Chargers’ 41-38 victory.  Bryant Gumbel, who was part of the game’s broadcast crew, summed up the day by saying, “If you didn’t like this game, then you don’t like football.”  The top postseason games by a tight end by yardage shows Davis and Winslow at the top, with Gronkowski’s 145 yards placing him sixth:  Gronkowski’s three touchdowns were certainly impressive, but they came in a blowout of the Broncos, whereas Davis and Winslow were both the keys to victory in close games. While possibly not fair to Gronkowski, it would seem that the greatest performance would fall to Davis or Winslow.  Statistically it is hard to argue with Davis’s performance as the best, considering he set the yardage record and averaged more than 25 yards a catch. The fact that he also caught the game-winning touchdown pass is certainly a point in his favor.  What likely gives Winslow the edge, however, is not just the blocked field goal, but the fact that he put together his performance in an era when tight ends were featured in far fewer passing plays. Davis’s numbers were eye-popping, but Saints tight end Jimmy Graham had five receptions for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns in the same game, not to mention Gronkowski’s big game later that day, all of which serves to highlight Winslow’s performance.
Vernon Davis and Rob Gronkowski joined Kellen Winslow on the list of greatest performances by a tight end in a postseason game. But Winslow's big day may still be the best of the bunch.