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Sam Howell’s was the best comeback Sunday in the NFL.
In weekend two of the National Football League, 10 of the games were one-score affairs and almost every one featured a dramatic finish, beginning with the Eagles holding off the Vikings Thursday night.
The New York Giants trailed Arizona 28-7 early in the third quarter before former Duke star quarterback Daniel Jones triggered a comeback that resulted in a 31-28 victory on a field goal by ex-Panthers kicker Graham Gano.
The Seahawks trailed the Lions until midway through the fourth quarter when Geno Smith threw three touchdown passes to pull out a 37-31 win in overtime. The Falcons, coached by former Tar Heel Arthur Smith, rallied from 12 points down to beat the Packers in the fourth quarter on a late field goal.
In other thrillers, the Ravens edged the Bengals 27-24, the Titans kicked a field goal to beat the Chargers in overtime, the Chiefs held on to keep the Super Bowl champs from going 0-2 by beating the Jaguars, the 49ers edged the Rams behind 116 yards rushing from Christian McCaffery, and the Dolphins stopped New England’s last-minute drive to deal the Pats their second home loss.
The comeback closest to our hearts was by Washington, which trailed the Broncos in Denver by 18 points in the second quarter. That’s when Tar Heel Sam Howell took command of the Commanders and tied the game in the third period on two TD passes, eventually dealing the Broncos their largest blown lead in franchise history.
Denver staged its own rally from 11 points down in the fourth period to climb back within two points on a Hail Mary pass from Russell Wilson as time expired on the last play of regulation. The two-point conversion to send the game into overtime failed and Howell is now 3-0 as a starting quarterback in the NFL.
Howell completed 27 of 39 passes for 299 yards with those two TDs and no interceptions in his third game as a starter. The poise he showed facing a large deficit on the road demonstrated that he is the Commanders franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future.
“This a resilient team,” Howell understated after the game one of the most exciting Sundays in NFL history. And the weekend isn’t over yet, with two Monday Night games, the Panthers hosting the Saints in the first one at 7:15.
Featured image via Associated Press/Jack Dempsey
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