4th Quarter Comebacks and Game Winning Drives 2018-20
We've had some debate on Kirk Cousins and the ability to come from behind in 4th quarter comeback situations. I finished the chart provided by MN Researcher (source here) and here are my results. Enjoy!
Rules
Top 5 QBs at making comebacks:
We have 4 of the best QBs on the list, and Josh Allen... he's proved himself as a franchise QB this season and has been able to take the Bills on many comebacks.
Bottom 5 QBs at making comebacks:
Yup, there's Kirk tied for the 3rd worst at making comebacks. Under my new criteria, Kirk gets credit for the 4th quarter comeback against the Packers in 2018 where Carlson missed 3 FGs. Outside of that, Kirk has been unable to bring this team back. So has Matt Ryan, who has suffered through some bad defenses, but he's also guilty of failing to take advantage when they jump out to big leads, but end up blowing the game. Darnold, Winston, and Jones are just sucky QBs who surprisingly are not good at making comebacks.
You might wonder how often QBs have to attempt comebacks. Let's see who has the luxury of not having to, and which QBs always have to.
Top 5 QBs who Always Have to Make Comebacks
Wow, those are some high numbers! Dalton, Tannehill, and Keenum basically have to make comebacks every single week. That's no surprise for Andy or Case, but Tannehill has been a part of a really good Titans team, yet he's always needed to come back. Minshew has been backed by a horrible Jags defense, but Foles has had the Eagles' and Bears' defenses, yet I'd argue it's his poor ability to score points that puts him behind all the time.
Top 5 QBs who Never Have to Make Comebacks
Most of these teams have good defenses, but Mahomes is in another class of his own, and has had no need to make comebacks. Brady being high on this list is no surprise.
Finally, here's the entire list:
Any thoughts?
Rules
- An opportunity occurs any time the team is trailing in the 4th quarter, or comes into the quarter in a tie game
- A 4th quarter comeback includes a game winning drive, or tying the game to get to overtime. If the offense gets another chance and fails, it no longer counts
- What happens in overtime is currently not factored in. Therefore, winning drives in overtime do not count. This would cause conflicts with how I am counting comebacks as tied games, and also saved me some time skipping over the overtime play.
- Currently not including playoff games
- This list is currently going up to Week 12 2020.
Top 5 QBs at making comebacks:
We have 4 of the best QBs on the list, and Josh Allen... he's proved himself as a franchise QB this season and has been able to take the Bills on many comebacks.
Bottom 5 QBs at making comebacks:
Yup, there's Kirk tied for the 3rd worst at making comebacks. Under my new criteria, Kirk gets credit for the 4th quarter comeback against the Packers in 2018 where Carlson missed 3 FGs. Outside of that, Kirk has been unable to bring this team back. So has Matt Ryan, who has suffered through some bad defenses, but he's also guilty of failing to take advantage when they jump out to big leads, but end up blowing the game. Darnold, Winston, and Jones are just sucky QBs who surprisingly are not good at making comebacks.
You might wonder how often QBs have to attempt comebacks. Let's see who has the luxury of not having to, and which QBs always have to.
Top 5 QBs who Always Have to Make Comebacks
Wow, those are some high numbers! Dalton, Tannehill, and Keenum basically have to make comebacks every single week. That's no surprise for Andy or Case, but Tannehill has been a part of a really good Titans team, yet he's always needed to come back. Minshew has been backed by a horrible Jags defense, but Foles has had the Eagles' and Bears' defenses, yet I'd argue it's his poor ability to score points that puts him behind all the time.
Top 5 QBs who Never Have to Make Comebacks
Most of these teams have good defenses, but Mahomes is in another class of his own, and has had no need to make comebacks. Brady being high on this list is no surprise.
Finally, here's the entire list:
Any thoughts?