Top 10 NFL Comebacks

He may have been talking about baseball, but Yogi Berra’s “it ‘ain’t over ’til it’s over” mantra certainly applies to football. Parity and aggressive strategy have allowed more opportunities for a team to recover from seemingly insurmountable deficits. The following are the ten biggest rallies purely by how far the eventual winner was behind. So for each one, by all means, call it a comeback.

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Vikings down 33 Against Colts: December 17, 2022

The 2022 season provided two of the most significant comebacks, including a new champion for restoring lost hope. The Minnesota Vikings were in the midst of a year during which they pulled out many close victories. The Indianapolis Colts were trudging through a miserable year. This game only unscored those narratives and then took it a few notches higher.

By halftime, the Vikes had allowed a blocked punt to be returned for a touchdown and an interception to be taken back for six. It was 33-0 two quarters in.

But for a 21-minute span, from midway through the third quarter to late in the fourth, Minnesota outscored Indy 36-3. The Vikings scored five touchdowns within seven possessions.

Indy managed to get it to overtime, and deep into the extra session, but that only prolonged the inevitable. Minnesota’s 60-yard drive ended with a Greg Joseph 40-yard field goal with three seconds remaining. The Vikings had claimed the highest single-game mountain and the Colts had taken the deepest nosedive.

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Jaguars down 27 against Chargers: January 14, 2023

Less than a month later, it happened again. It wasn’t as big a comeback, but it was in a much bigger spot with far more to lose. The Los Angeles Chargers weren’t just blowing a chance to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road, they were relinquishing the chance to move on in the playoffs.

The Jaguars had already rallied late in the year to claim the AFC South and get into the postseason. This was an exaggerated microcosm of their journey. Los Angeles had made a habit of displaying multiple, often divergent identities — sometimes within minutes of each other. By taking advantage of four Trevor Lawrence interceptions, the Bolts jumped out to a 27-0 lead late in the second period.

Jacksonville scored a TD just before halftime and scored 31 of the game’s final 34 points. It didn’t even need overtime to do it. A touchdown plus a two-point conversion cut the deficit to two with 5:40 left in regulation. The Chargers couldn’t maintain possession and the next Jags turn resulted in a 36-yard game-winning field goal as the clock expired.

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Bills down 32 against Oilers: January 3, 1993

No playoff game has yet to top this one for degree of difficulty. Before the game even started, Buffalo was saddled with having to face Houston minus their future Hall of Fame quarterback and running back.

Being down 35-3 early in the third quarter only made it much harder. But Frank Reich was the king of the college football comeback. The former University of Maryland signal-caller who led a stunning 31-point rally against Miami took it to a new level.

The resilient Bills found a way even without Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas. Buffalo scored four TDs within less than seven minutes, were the beneficiaries of a botched Oiler field goal try, and took the lead with 3:08 to go. A Houston field goal forced overtime, but a Nate Odomes interception off a Warren Moon pass set up Steve Christie’s game-winning kick through the uprights. The Bills went on to capture their third consecutive AFC title.

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Bills down 26 against Colts: September 21, 1997

Less than five years later, it wasn’t Reich and it wasn’t Kelly behind center. It was Todd Collins. But the man truly championing this resurgence was running back Antonine Smith. After Indianapolis built a 26-0 lead, Smith delivered three touchdown runs as part of a 37-3 outburst.

He ran the ball only 12 times but totaled 129 yards, including a 54-yard scamper to the end zone with 1:14 to go in the fourth quarter. The Colts had a chance to salvage this disaster with Paul Justin replacing Jim Harbaugh, scoring a late touchdown only to fail on a game-tying two-point try.

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Colts down 28 to Chiefs: January 4, 2014

Andrew Luck delivered 21 come-from-behind victories when trailing in the fourth quarter and overtime. Nobody would doubt that this tops the list.

He and the Colts dug themselves a 38-10 barely a minute into the third quarter before fighting back to a 45-44 victory by throwing for 443 yards and four touchdowns. Luck opened Indy’s first drive of the second half by throwing the second of his three interceptions. The Chiefs scored three plays later.

Then the following happened: Donald Brown 10-yard TD run, Indy sack-and-fumble recovery, Brown three-yard TD catch, Chiefs field goal, Coby Fleener 12-yard TD grab, Luck fumble recovery that turned into a five-yard TD run, Chiefs field goal, T.Y. Hilton 64-yard TD reception. K.C.’s got the ball back but turned it over on downs.

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49ers down 28 to Saints: December 7, 1980

The 49ers, who entered this afternoon at 5-8, were an unproven team with an untested quarterback and an untested NFL head coach. The Saints had nothing to lose, except another game. At 0-13, they were headed to the wrong side of immortality. After the day was over, New Orleans probably wondered what it had to do to win.

Not even a four-touchdown lead at halftime was enough security. San Francisco put it into the end zone on a 1-yard QB run, a 71-yard pass to Dwight Clark, a 14-yard completion to Freddie Solomon, and a seven-yard rush from Lenvil Elliott. It was 35 apiece into overtime until Ray Wersching capped off the Niners’ initial drive with a field goal and prolonged the Saints’ winless campaign a little longer.

The quarterback-head coach combination that led the charge and, eventually, led this team to three Super Bowls? Joe Montana and Bill Walsh.

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49ers down 24 to Giants: January 5, 2003

There have been many comebacks from 24, but this rates slightly higher since it was a playoff game and featured a crazy ending. New York, which needed a late-season surge to get into the postseason, led 38-14 with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter.

Kerry Collins threw for 342 yards, but he needed a bit more to outduel Jeff Garcia who ran even better than he passed. When Garcia did pass, it was often to Terrell Owens. The elite wide receiver made nine catches for 177 yards, two touchdowns, and a pair of two-point conversions.

The difference, though, was special teams. Specifically, New York’s special teams. Two bad snaps by fill-in center Trey Junkin proved costly. The ladder came as the Giants attempted a go-ahead 42-yard field goal try in the waning seconds. Holder Matt Allen desperately tried to pass it downfield to an ineligible receiver, negating an initially called pass interference that the Giants nonetheless disputed. Niners 39, Giants 38.

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Cardinals down 25 to Buccaneers: November 8, 1987

The Bucs should’ve learned their lesson. They had blown a 20-point lead at home to Chicago earlier in the season and now they one-upped themselves. It was a larger advantage and less time remaining.

The Cardinals, then in St. Louis, had to make nearly four touchdowns in under a quarter. They did it with time to spare. Beginning at the 12:42 mark, St. Louis posted 28 unanswered points. One came on a fumble return to the end zone and the last two touchdowns came courtesy of a Neil Lomas-to-J.T. Smith connection.

Tampa Bay’s 53-yard field goal attempt as time expired bounced off the crossbar. There’s never been a bigger fourth-quarter comeback in terms of points.

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Browns down 25 to Titans: October 5, 2014

There’s a common theme for every other game on this list. All the comebacks were done by the home team. Except for this.

Trailing 28-3 in Nashville with 2:44 to play in the second quarter, Cleveland put up 26 unanswered points, culminated by a Travis Benjamin touchdown reception with 1:09 to play. The Titans were on the wrong end of the biggest comeback by a visitor.

Whether it was vastly improved Browns defense or diminished Tennesse offense, the Titans did not run any plays in Cleveland territory after building their 25 point lead.

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Patriots down 25 to Falcons: Super Bowl XLI

This isn’t the biggest comeback, but it came on the biggest stage. Don’t ever say “28-3” to a Falcons fan. Or a 2017 Atlanta Falcon.

Tom Brady’s legacy wouldn’t have been ruined if New England had lost its second Super Bowl in six tries. He also didn’t need a victory of this improbable nature to enter the “greatest quarterback of all-time” argument. The greatest comeback in Super Bowl history wouldn’t have happened if not for teammates like White, Julian Edelman making an insane catch on the game-winning drive, and terrible execution by the Falcons.

The Pats put together 25 unanswered points on four drives to make up the deficit. Once they won the coin toss after regulation, Brady and company was not going to give the ball up. When the Patriots did pull it off in overtime on a James White touchdown run, the legend of Tom Brady somehow got bigger.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 30th, 2023 at 8:11 pm and is filed under Top Lists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.