2022-12-20 08:00:00
The Minnesota Vikings caught up 33 points once morest the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, making the biggest comeback in NFL history. But which teams have previously caught up the biggest deficits?
We show you the eight greatest comebacks in NFL history. Before that, it should be mentioned that a total of 17 times a team has caught up from a deficit of 24 points.
But now we come to the eight biggest comebacks in NFL history.
8. St. Louis Cardinals vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31:28
Backlog: 25 points | Date: November 8, 1987 (Week 9)
In their last season before the suit to Arizona, the Cardinals made a comeback with an incredible comeback in front of their home crowd at old Busch Stadium.
The Bucs had everything under control for three quarters and went into the final quarter with a 28:3 lead. Quarterback Steve DeBerg put on a strong performance, throwing for 303 yards and three touchdowns. But then the thread broke.
The Cardinals shortened with a touchdown pass from Neil Lomax to Robert Awalt and finally caught fire with Niko Noga’s 24-yard fumble return touchdown.
Two more TD passes from Lomax to JT Smith followed and the fabulous comeback was perfect.
From 1988 the Cardinals then played in Phoenix – first as the Phoenix Cardinals and since 1994 as the Arizona Cardinals.
8. Tennessee Titans vs. Cleveland Browns 28:29
Backlog: 25 points | Date: October 5, 2014 (Week 5)
Both teams didn’t have a particularly good phase in their team history, which also reveals a look at the quarterback position. Jake Locker, who actually came to Nashville in 2011 as the eighth pick in the draft, started with the Titans. The week five game was his penultimate NFL start. Brian Hoyer was at the helm for the Browns.
Head coach Ken Whisenhunt’s team at the time got off to a strong start and Locker’s two touchdowns gave them a quick 14-0 lead in the second quarter. He was injured and replaced by “Clipboard Jesus” Charlie Whitehurst, who made five starts in 2014.
Whitehurst helped increase the lead to 28:3, but the Browns cut it to 10:28 seconds before the break. A field goal and safety gave the Browns new hope before Hoyer and wide receiver Travis Benjamin turned the game around. Both provided two touchdowns, with the game winner coming 1:09 minutes from time.
The Browns finished the season respectably 7-9, their most wins since 2007 (10-6). The Titans, meanwhile, went 2-14 in Whisenhunt’s first season. A year later, following seven games, Whisenhunt was over once more and Tennessee would not reach the playoffs once more until 2017.
8. New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons 34:28 OT
Backlog: 25 points | Date: February 5, 2017 (Super Bowl LI)
Of course, the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history cannot be left out of this list.
It was all going well for the Falcons and League MVP Matt Ryan at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. After a first quarter without points, the Falcons turned up the heat and scored three touchdowns in the second quarter. Devonta Freeman ran into the endzone, Ryan found tight end Austin Hooper, and cornerback Robert Alford carried a pick-six on Tom Brady for 82 yards into the endzone.
The Patriots managed a field goal before the break, but that gave little hope, especially since Atlanta increased to 28:3 through a short TD catch by Tevin Coleman in the middle of the third quarter. The mass seemed read.
But then the Patriots, who had made the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history (10 points) two years earlier, took over. Brady found James White late in the third quarter for New England’s first touchdown, who then reduced it to two scores with a field goal in the fourth quarter.
Linebacker Dont’a Hightower forced a fumble on Ryan and New England got the ball back on the 25. Danny Amendola caught a touchdown, White made the two-point conversion and following a series of mistakes by the Falcons, they had to score once more, giving Brady and Co. another chance with 3:30 minutes on the clock from their own 9-yard line received.
A circus catch by Julian Edelman followed and finally a touchdown by White regarding a minute before the end – Amendola equalized with another two-point conversion. The first overtime in Super Bowl history was perfect.
The Patriots won the coin toss, Brady held the ball and White once once more found the end zone for the Patriots’ fifth title.
After losing Super Bowl LII, they won Super Bowl LIII following the 2018 season before Brady said goodbye to Tampa Bay in 2020. Since then, the Falcons have only made the playoffs in 2017.
5. Buffalo Bills vs. Indianapolis Colts 37:35
Backlog: 26 points | Date: September 21, 1997 (Week 4)
It was the last season before Peyton Manning arrived in Indy, and quarterback Jim Harbaugh—yes, the Jim Harbaugh—led his team to a 26-0 lead in the second quarter. However, the offense was not particularly efficient, kicker Cary Blanchard mainly provided the points and sank five field goals throughout the game and had two extra points…
Todd Collins was the Bills’ quarterback and put his team on the scoreboard with a touchdown pass to Lonnie Johnson before the break. Steve Christie also sunk a field goal.
However, running back Antowain Smith was the ultimate force behind the comeback, scoring three total touchdowns and rushing for 129 yards. The Colts collapse was so blatant that the Bills were up 37-29 with five minutes to go.
Indy shortened shortly before the end with a touchdown from the later Hall-of-Fame receiver Marvin Harrison, but the necessary two-point conversion failed.
The Colts finished the season – and the tenure of head coach Lindy Infante – 3-13, giving them the top pick in the 1998 draft, which became Manning. With him, they eventually won Super Bowl XLI following the 2006 season.
And the bills? They finished fourth in the AFC East with a 6-10 record. It was the final season under legendary head coach Marv Levy, who had led them to four straight Super Bowls in the early ’90s. Wade Phillips then took over and made two more playoff trips in the next three years. After that, Buffalo didn’t see any more playoffs until 2017.
4. San Francisco 49ers vs. New Orleans Saints 38:35
Backlog: 28 points | Date: December 7, 1980 (Week 14)
A few years before San Francisco’s grand dynasty of the ’80s and early ’90s began, the franchise made a special mark with a must-see comeback win over the Saints at home in Candlestick Park.
The Saints led 35-7 at the break, led by quarterback Archie Manning, including following two touchdowns each from Ike Harris and Jack Holmes, and already looked like the sure winner.
But head coach Bill Walsh’s sophomore team fought back, led by a young quarterback named Joe Montana. Montana shortened with a touchdown and then found, among others, Dwight Clark with a pass into the end zone.
A rushing touchdown by Lenvil Elliott forced overtime, in which kicker Ray Wersching finally made the victory perfect with a 36-yard field goal.
The Niners won six games that season and this should be their last of the year. In the years that followed, the Niners won four Super Bowls with Montana.
4. Indianapolis Colts vs. Kansas City Chiefs 45:44
Backlog: 28 points | Date: January 4, 2014 (wild card playoffs)
Andy Reid had led the Chiefs straight into the playoffs in his first season in Kansas City and created an incredible spectacle there. With a better ending, however, for the Colts and quarterback Andrew Luck.
After an open first quarter, the Chiefs pulled away with three touchdowns in the second period. The first exclamation mark was a 79-yard touchdown pass from Alex Smith to Donnie Avery to start the second quarter. At the break, KC was already 31:10 ahead thanks to a touchdown run by Knile Davis. Immediately following the break, Davis caught a 10-yard TD pass from Smith for a 38-10 lead, which set the record straight in Indy.
But Luck and Co. hit back straight away. Running back Donald Brown scored two touchdowns in a row and a 12-yard TD pass from Luck to tight end Coby Fleener reduced the lead to 30:41 in the third quarter.
Luck scored himself following a fumble and eventually found wide receiver TY Hilton for a 64-yard touchdown pass that ultimately sealed the game.
The Colts conceded a smack in New England a week later and also lost the AFC Championship Game to the Patriots a year later. The Chiefs, in turn, missed the playoffs entirely the following year, but have made it every year since under Reid, who finally won his first Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes in the 2019 season.
2. Buffalo Bills vs. Houston Oilers 41:38 OT
Backlog: 32 points | Date: January 3, 1993 (wild card playoffs)
The game went down in history as “The Comeback”. Need to know more regarding the biggest playoff comeback in NFL history?
A look back: Hall-of-Famer quarterback Warren Moon led the Oilers – predecessors of the Tennessee Titans – to a 35-3 lead by the start of the third quarter. Safety Bubba McDowell tied the score with a 58-yard interception return touchdown. once morest Quarterback Frank Reich!
That’s right, Reich started this game, not Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. The latter had injured his knee a week earlier, of all things, in a defeat in Houston once morest the Oilers.
So the prospects were pretty bleak following that setback at the start of the second half. But Reich didn’t give up and brought his team back. After a touchdown pass to Don Beebe, Reich found Andre Reed – also a Hall of Famer – three more times for touchdown passes into the fourth quarter. The last even gave Buffalo the lead.
The Oilers equalized with a field goal from Al Del Greco, forcing overtime. In that case, it was kicker Steve Christie who made Buffalo celebrate thanks to a 32-yard field goal.
The Oilers then reached the Super Bowl for the third time in a row, which they lost to Dallas. The same thing happened once more in 1993. All in all, Buffalo lost four Super Bowls in a row from 1990 to 1993 and is still waiting for its first title.
The Oilers, in turn, played in Houston until 1996 and moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they have been known as the Titans since 1999.
1. Minnesota Vikings vs. Indianapolis Colts 39:36 OT
deficit: 33 points | Date: December 17, 2022 (Week 15)
The Colts and their interim coach Jeff Saturday surprised the Vikings and took a 33-0 lead – also thanks to numerous mistakes by the hosts. Minnesota’s first five drives ended with a blocked punt leading to a touchdown, a lost fumble, two turnovers on downs, a punt, and a pick-six.
A Vikings victory was not necessarily in the air at the break.
Then both teams switched roles. The Vikings managed everything, the Colts nothing. Quarterback Kirk Cousins threw a total of four touchdown passes, including one to Dalvin Cook for a 64-yard catch-and-run, forcing an overtime.
Apparently no one wanted to score in that one and a draw would have been enough for the Vikings to win the NFC North. But they wanted more. Cousins found Justin Jefferson for a 13-yard pass that put the Vikings at the 22-yard line. Kicker Greg Joseph finally sunk a 40-yard field goal to win with three seconds remaining. NFL record set!
The Vikings won their division for the first time since 2017 with this success, while the Colts are heading for a big draft pick.
NFL: The biggest comebacks at a glance
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