Comebacks dot the Week 1 landscape
The NFL never ceases to fascinate, even when it’s making news for all of the wrong reasons (see Rice, Ray). But the on-field product in Week 1 was solid if not spectacular.
Comeback victories were prevalent all over the place, and it started with the Thursday night season opener, where Green Bay led Seattle 7-3 after one quarter before the host Seahawks came back and throttled the Packers by three touchdowns.
New Orleans led Atlanta for much of the game before losing 37-34 in overtime at the Georgia Dome. Jacksonville led Philadelphia 17-0 at halftime before losing 34-17 on the road. The Raiders led the Jets 7-3 in the second quarter before losing 19-14. The Bears scored the first touchdown at home but eventually lost 20-17 in overtime to Buffalo. The Ravens took a 16-15 lead on Cincinnati in the fourth quarter that lasted less than a minute as the Bengals won in Baltimore, 23-16. New England led Miami 20-10 at the half, but the Dolphins routed them after intermission and won 33-20. And Arizona scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter Monday night at home to stun San Diego, 18-17.
Other teams staged furious rallies, but ultimately fell short. Pittsburgh led Cleveland 27-3 at the half, but the Browns came all the way back to tie the game before ultimately losing 30-27 on a last-play field goal. Tampa Bay couldn’t manage anything on offense for three quarters, but only lost 20-14 to Carolina and did have the ball inside the last minute. Indianapolis fell behind 24-0 in Denver late in the second period, and scratched all the way into a backdoor cover, losing 31-24. For more on many of these games, check out this recap of all 16 NFL games last weekend (LINK to main story).
