Docs Website

53 Years Strong! A Trusted Leader In Sports Picks, Best Bets and Predictions Since 1971.

Main Menu

Biggest Comebacks in NFL History

by Mike Pruitt - 10/25/2021

Tom Brady New England Patriots biggest comebacks NFL history

Football is a wild game. We can get a boring 13-3 game with punt after punt, fair catch after fair catch, bubble screens, halfback dives up the middle, and various other passive decisions and plays by both teams.

Sometimes, though, we see an offense like the Arizona Cardinals of 2021, and they air it out. Their offense may not always be effective, but you aren't going to guess what these guys are going to do next.

With that said, I don't care about the head coach's cajones. Any leader of a football team is eventually going to take his foot off the gas. And while this strategy works more times than it doesn't, there are those instances where the prevent defense prevents the team implementing it from winning.

First, though, there must be a spark. And that usually comes in the form of a speech from a team captain and/or head coach. Sometimes these talks come when teams are at their lowest in terms of mental strength and outlook to win the game.

This is when the magic truly happens. Imagine sitting in a locker room at halftime, and your opponent has licked you on offense, defense, and special teams. Any rational human being would be pretty hopeless by this point, but it only takes a few guys to believe and then the group-think kicks in.

That's when the comeback and win mentality permeates throughout the room and into the players. The team that steps out of that tunnel may have the same jersey numbers. However, for the next 30 minutes of playing time, they aren't the same men mentally and emotionally that stepped out there for the first half.

More often than not, these efforts still fail to produce a comeback and win, but that is what makes them even more special. Let's look at some of the biggest comebacks in NFL history.

Doc’s Sports offers NFL expert picks for every game on our NFL predictions page.

1993 NFL Playoffs Buffalo Bills vs Houston Oilers

We will kick things off with one of my favorites, and it was also one of the first full halves of football I ever watched. I can remember my dad, who was a big Warren Moon fan, telling me that the Bills quarterback was hurt, and with them losing 28-0, this game was over.

For some odd reason, though, we still watched, and one touchdown led to another and Frank Reich was quickly turning into a league legend in front of our eyes. This comeback made me a Buffalo Bill fan for life. I'm kidding. I wish I wasn't, though, because I would have rather lost 4 consecutive Super Bowls than have Dan Snyder as the owner of my team that doesn't even have a name anymore.

I apologize. This game was truly a tale of two halves. And in the second, the Buffalo Bills played absolutely perfectly and took home the W with their backup quarterback.

2010 Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants

This game was deemed "The Miracle At The New Meadowlands" by everyone who was not a New York Giants fan. Cool name for a game if the Giants weren't the team that completely blew it.

I don't mind, though. Lawrence Taylor was awesome. However, other than him and Eli Manning, what was there to like about the team? They beat the Pats and prevented them from finishing up a perfect season.

Philly was trailing the G-Men 31-10 with just 7 minutes left to play in the 4th quarter when their improbable comeback on the road began.

It was capped off by a muffed turned touchdown punt return by the dynamic DeSean Jackson when the Giants decided to punt to him with just 12 seconds remaining on the clock. Not Tom Coughlin's greatest moment ever. However, for you Philly fans out there, for one fleeting moment, you could, in fact, fly.

2017 Super Bowl LI New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons

This one! I don't have to jog any memories out there, unless, of course, we are talking about Falcon fans who made enough trips to the Amazon to see their shaman that they somehow forgot about the second half of Super Bowl LI.

The Falcons were up 28-3 with less than half of the 3rd quarter remaining. The Super Bowl win was within their grasp...until it wasn't.

Bill Belichick's halftime adjustments on defense along with Tom Brady's execution on offense made for one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history and certainly the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.

1980 San Francisco 49ers vs New Orleans Saints

It is week 4 of the NFL regular season in 1980, and the world didn't quite yet know who this man was.

What man?

I am talking about Joe Mo, the man who Tom Brady idolized, Joe Montana. I was too young to really see this guy at his best. However, as a kid, I always knew just from the tone of the announcer's voice that he was a special quarterback and maybe the best to ever do it.

This comeback against the New Orleans Saints was one of many for Joe, and this one is the one that put his name on the NFL quarterback map and it is still there to this day.

It was 35-7 at the half. And after 8 minutes of overtime, the San Francisco 49ers kicked a game-winning field goal to make it 38-35.

Get NFL picks on every single game, or if you want our very best bet premium picks by the experts, sign up for your free $60 account with a guarantee.

Most Recent NFL Handicapping

One E-mail A Week Is All You Need!
Our weekly newsletter is loaded with exclusive free picks,insight and advice from our expert handicappers