NFC Notes

COMEBACK WINS HIGHLIGHT UNPREDICTABILITY OF NFL

“It’s amazing how close the NFL is,” says Atlanta head coach MIKE SMITH, whose team overcame a 13-point deficit to win in Week 11. “You just don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

The 2012 NFL season has proven that to be true. And it was evident this past weekend when four teams rallied to win after trailing by at least 11 points. Three of those teams came back from a deficit of at least 13 points.

“The guys trusted each other,” said Buccaneers head coach GREG SCHIANO after Tampa Bay erased an 11-point deficit to come back and win in Week 11. “For those guys to keep fighting, it says a lot. They believed in themselves and believed in each other. When guys had tough plays, their teammates picked them up. And that’s so important.”

This season, nearly 12 percent of the games (19 of 160, 11.9 percent) have featured a team overcoming a deficit of at least 11 points to win. Nineteen such teams are the second-most in a season’s first 11 weeks in NFL history.

“We always talk about playing 60 minutes,” says Chicago head coach LOVIE SMITH, whose team rallied from a 12-point deficit in Week 8. “You’ve got to really just fight to get a win, but the good teams, at the end, find a way to win. No matter how you start, it’s about how you finish.”

Through the first 11 weeks, there have been 15 games – 9.4 percent (15 of 160) of all games – in which a team trailing by at least 13 points came back to win. That is tied with 2011 for the second-most such games at this point in NFL history.

“It’s fun when you come back,” says New York Giants quarterback ELI MANNING, who has orchestrated two 14-point comeback victories this season. “It’s fun when you start making plays and you’re seeing things happen. You get to fight back and then you get the excitement of coming back. You see the rally happening and your teammates get fired up.”

Following are the 19 games this season in which a team has come back from at least 11 points down to win. Thirteen of the games were decided in regulation and six went to overtime. Ten of the games had a team erase a deficit of at least 14 points to win, including three clubs that trailed by at least 18 points.