Brady joins Marino on the failed comebacks list.
On Sunday Night, the Patriots trailed 31-3 halfway through the third quarter. But that’s when Tom Brady got hot, and New England tied the game with 6:43 left in the 4th quarter. At that moment, many fans probably had visions of the Oilers-Bills playoff game, where Buffalo came back from a 32-point deficit to win.
And while there are a lot of famous comebacks, the failed comeback is much less memorable. But in fact, this was the 4th time a team trailed by 28 points in the game only to tie or take the lead in the 4th quarter… but ultimately lose.
The table below shows all games prior to 2012 where a team trailed by at least 21 points, was trailing entering the 4th quarter, came back to tie or take the lead in the 4th quarter, but then still lost. The table is listed from the perspective of the eventual winner and shows the final points for and points allowed in the game, along with the biggest lead and the largest fourth-quarter deficit the winning team faced despite the large early lead.
| Year | Date | Boxscore | Tm | Opp | PF | PA | BgLd | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 09/25/1994 | Boxscore | MIN | MIA | 38 | 35 | 28 | 0 |
| 1944 | 09/24/1944 | Boxscore | GNB | CHI | 42 | 28 | 28 | 0 |
| 2007 | 10/21/2007 | Boxscore | TEN | HOU | 38 | 36 | 25 | -1 |
| 2004 | 12/12/2004 | Boxscore | SFO | ARI | 31 | 28 | 25 | 0 |
| 1980 | 12/07/1980 | Boxscore | CIN | BAL | 34 | 33 | 25 | -2 |
| 1987 | 10/25/1987 | Boxscore | GNB | DET | 34 | 33 | 24 | -2 |
| 1981 | 01/02/1982 | Boxscore | SDG | MIA | 41 | 38 | 24 | -7 |
| 1996 | 09/22/1996 | Boxscore | NWE | JAX | 28 | 25 | 22 | 0 |
| 2010 | 12/13/2010 | Boxscore | BAL | HOU | 34 | 28 | 21 | 0 |
| 2009 | 10/11/2009 | Boxscore | ARI | HOU | 28 | 21 | 21 | 0 |
| 2009 | 01/10/2010 | Boxscore | ARI | GNB | 51 | 45 | 21 | 0 |
| 2009 | 01/10/2010 | Boxscore | ARI | GNB | 51 | 45 | 21 | 0 |
| 2008 | 09/14/2008 | Boxscore | GNB | DET | 48 | 25 | 21 | -1 |
| 2006 | 12/17/2006 | Boxscore | CHI | TAM | 34 | 31 | 21 | 0 |
| 2004 | 10/10/2004 | Boxscore | MIN | HOU | 34 | 28 | 21 | 0 |
| 2003 | 11/30/2003 | Boxscore | NWE | IND | 38 | 34 | 21 | 0 |
| 1999 | 12/12/1999 | Boxscore | KAN | MIN | 31 | 28 | 21 | 0 |
| 1998 | 12/06/1998 | Boxscore | SFO | CAR | 31 | 28 | 21 | 0 |
| 1995 | 11/19/1995 | Boxscore | DEN | SDG | 30 | 27 | 21 | 0 |
| 1993 | 09/12/1993 | Boxscore | NOR | ATL | 34 | 31 | 21 | 0 |
| 1993 | 01/03/1994 | Boxscore | PHI | SFO | 37 | 34 | 21 | 0 |
| 1991 | 11/17/1991 | Boxscore | NYJ | NWE | 28 | 21 | 21 | 0 |
| 1990 | 10/07/1990 | Boxscore | CIN | RAM | 34 | 31 | 21 | 0 |
| 1990 | 10/07/1990 | Boxscore | CIN | RAM | 34 | 31 | 21 | 0 |
| 1989 | 09/10/1989 | Boxscore | NWE | NYJ | 27 | 24 | 21 | -3 |
| 1986 | 11/20/1986 | Boxscore | RAI | SDG | 37 | 31 | 21 | 0 |
| 1983 | 01/08/1984 | Boxscore | WAS | SFO | 24 | 21 | 21 | 0 |
| 1980 | 11/23/1980 | Boxscore | NYJ | HOU | 31 | 28 | 21 | 0 |
| 1980 | 11/23/1980 | Boxscore | NYJ | HOU | 31 | 28 | 21 | 0 |
| 1979 | 09/09/1979 | Boxscore | WAS | DET | 27 | 24 | 21 | 0 |
| 1975 | 11/30/1975 | Boxscore | WAS | MIN | 31 | 30 | 21 | -6 |
| 1960 | 11/06/1960 | Boxscore | BAL | GNB | 38 | 24 | 21 | 0 |
| 1949 | 10/23/1949 | Boxscore | NYG | CHI | 35 | 28 | 21 | 0 |
| 1945 | 11/04/1945 | Boxscore | WAS | CRD | 24 | 21 | 21 | 0 |
Note that this excludes games this game between Green Bay and Pittsburgh from 1951, where the Packers held a 28-point lead and won, but actually trailed entering the 4th quarter.