The Biggest Comeback in NFL History

The biggest comeback in NFL history is the Minnesota Vikings’ 33-point rally against the Indianapolis Colts on December 17, 2022. Minnesota trailed 33-0 late in the first half, then stormed back to win 39-36 in overtime, overcoming the largest deficit any team has ever erased in league history.

Comebacks are pro football’s most improbable drama, and the record book distinguishes between the regular season, the playoffs and the Super Bowl. Each stage has produced a rally that once seemed impossible. Here is the full leaderboard of the biggest comebacks in NFL history, the games behind them, and how the regular-season and postseason records differ. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record: the Vikings erase 33 points

For a half against the Colts, the Vikings looked lost, falling behind 33-0. Then Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota offense caught fire, the defense forced stops, and the Vikings outscored Indianapolis 36-3 the rest of the way. Greg Joseph’s 40-yard field goal in overtime completed a 39-36 win and the largest comeback in NFL history, edging the Buffalo Bills’ long-standing mark by a single point. It stands as the definitive answer to the question of the sport’s greatest rally.

The full leaderboard of the biggest NFL comebacks

The table below ranks the largest deficits overcome in NFL games, noting whether each came in the regular season, playoffs or Super Bowl.

Rank	Deficit	Winner	Opponent	Date	Stage
1	33	Minnesota Vikings	Indianapolis Colts	Dec 17, 2022	Regular season
2	32	Buffalo Bills	Houston Oilers	Jan 3, 1993	Playoffs
3	28	San Francisco 49ers	New Orleans Saints	Dec 7, 1980	Regular season
3	28	Indianapolis Colts	Kansas City Chiefs	Jan 4, 2014	Playoffs
5	26	Buffalo Bills	Indianapolis Colts	Sep 21, 1997	Regular season
6	25	New England Patriots	Atlanta Falcons	Feb 5, 2017	Super Bowl LI
7	23	New York Jets	Miami Dolphins	Oct 23, 2000	Regular season
8	21	Indianapolis Colts	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Oct 6, 2003	Regular season

The list mixes eras and stages, from the 49ers’ 1980 rally to the Patriots’ Super Bowl LI escape. Notably, the Colts appear on both sides of the ledger, as the beneficiary of a 28-point playoff comeback in 2014 and the victim of the record 33-point loss in 2022.

The playoff and Super Bowl records

Before Minnesota’s 2022 rally, the Bills held the overall record with their 32-point comeback over the Oilers in the January 1993 playoffs, trailing 35-3 before winning 41-38 in overtime. It remains the biggest postseason comeback ever. On the sport’s grandest stage, New England’s recovery from 28-3 down against Atlanta in Super Bowl LI is the largest championship-game comeback, forcing the only overtime in Super Bowl history. Those title-game heroics feed directly into our most Super Bowl wins by team leaderboard.

What makes a comeback possible

Erasing 30 points takes more than a hot quarter. It requires an offense that suddenly cannot be stopped, often producing the kind of yardage seen on our most passing yards in a game list, paired with a defense that forces turnovers and quick stops. The best comebacks combine both, then need the clock and a few bounces to cooperate. It is the flip side of dominance shown by the teams on our best regular-season records in NFL history leaderboard.

Why the record matters

The biggest comeback measures the outer edge of possibility, proof that no NFL lead is ever truly safe. The Vikings’ 33-point rally now sits atop the regular-season list, the Bills own the playoff record, and the Patriots own the Super Bowl mark, three different peaks of the same improbable feat.

The short version: the Minnesota Vikings’ 33-point comeback against the Colts in 2022 is the biggest in NFL history, with the Bills’ 32-point rally over the Oilers (January 1993) the playoff record and New England’s 28-3 Super Bowl LI recovery the championship-game record, as of the 2025 season.