Call it a Comeback Sunday the NFL hasn’t seen in years.
The Dolphins and Cardinals made history by overcoming 20-point halftime deficits to win on the same day while the Jets rallied from a 13-point deficit in the final two minutes.
Two other teams almost joined the club.
The Falcons fought back from a 28-3 third-quarter deficit — that score sounds familiar in Atlanta — only to fall short against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams when Jalen Ramsey picked off Marcus Mariota’s pass intended for Bryan Edwards in the end zone, sealing a 31-27 victory.
Joe Burrow helped the Cincinnati Bengals erase a 17-3 halftime deficit in Dallas but Brett Maher kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired to give the Cowboys a 20-17 win that dropped the reigning AFC champions to 0-2.
Two weeks into the season, close games and wacky finishes are a common theme. It’s great news for the league, giving viewers who have no fantasy football or gambling interest reason to stick around until the end.
There have been 12 games decided by three points or fewer already, the most through the first two weeks of a season in NFL history.
Eight teams have overcome a deficit of at least 10 points to win or tie, the second-most through Week 2, trailing only the 1987 season when nine teams did it.
Tua Tagovailoa’s performance was most impressive. He tossed six touchdown passes to lead Miami to a 42-38 win at Baltimore after trailing Lamar Jackson and the Ravens 35-14 going into the fourth quarter.
“We basically had to play perfect complimentary football to come back from a deficit like that, and this is a really good team so I couldn’t be happier with him, and his teammates know,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said of Tagovailoa. “His teammates learned a lot about him, and I think he learned something about himself.”
Tagovailoa improved to 8-1 vs Super Bowl-winning head coaches, the highest win percentage league history with a minimum six starts.
His critics should be silent for at least another week.
“Mike told us in our team meeting that this is going to be a great opportunity for us that if we do ever get down against these guys, we know that you’re not looking to put your head down,” Tagovailoa said. “We’re always going to be in the game and just play one play at a time. And Mike is always going to say this. This is kind of like the mind-set for our team, that adversity is opportunity. And, that’s how we played.”
Kyler Murray put on a spectacular display of his own to help Arizona overcome a 20-0 halftime deficit in Las Vegas. Murray ran in from the 3 on the final play of regulation and made a perfect throw into a tight window through traffic for the 2-point conversion to send the game into overtime.
Then, Byron Murphy Jr. returned Hunter Renfrow’s fumble 59 yards for a touchdown to give the Cardinals a 29-23 win over the Raiders.
