Incredible Comebacks across the History of Sports

The grace of drive will always influence the results of sports. It’s a universal principle that applies from the lowest amateur level to the highest realms of competition.

It magnifies an athlete’s will and places that right in front of a result. Some give up, others refuse to lose, even if fighting back consumes them. It’s a spell that is part of the magic of sports.

In this article, we will discuss some major examples of how this willpower persisted and became the ultimate avenue toward victory. They’re stories from professional sports, but their principles apply to every trickling side of the sports world.

We decided to delve into various leagues and disciplines because each major sport has its own comebacks. There are differences in how the victors reach their triumph, and we wanted to showcase them all.

We will discuss the sports context, the pacing of each game, and will even evaluate the closeness or discrepancy in perceived value. We will do so by using odds sourced from the BetBrain database, giving us an actual sense of how bookmakers saw things.

Let’s move into the nitty-gritty of our fantastic comeback stories!

Why comebacks are so endearing and representative

We make a short, introductory stop to talk about the mass effects and psychology of sports comebacks.

Naturally, the discussion ought to start with the concept of the underdog. It’s a point of attraction for many who believe in the power of surpassing adversity and conquering circumstance. It also helps that it adds a little spice and unpredictability.

A team (or athlete) that rallies back during a game may not be the underdog before the start of the event. Once it falls behind and finds itself facing an insurmountable deficit, the leading party becomes the favorite, which changes the dynamic by default.

This is how each comeback becomes a story of will, discipline, and rising above the status of underdog. Each opportunity is a way to reach our hearts and teach us that we can always tap into our inner resources.

As you will see, there are complex circumstances in each of this list’s entries. We get to learn a lesson from each of them.

Super Bowl LI: The Haunting Presence of 28-3

The fascinating part about Super Bowl LI is that the winner, which were the New England Patriots, were far from being the darlings of the public. They were the ‘evil empire,’ as fan vernacular would say it (apart from their own following).

They even opened as 3-point favorites. Before kick-off, the moneyline saw their odds to win at -150.

However, this victory cemented the unmistakable danger that the Patriots were in every game they played, especially the playoffs. If Bill Belichick installed the defense and Tom Brady had the ball in his hands after a snap, there would always be a chance.

The actually incredible part was the actual deficit that the Pats had to climb out of. The subsequent memes about 28-3 also didn’t help.

Atlanta, led by that year’s MVP, Matt Ryan, was executing the plays from one of the NFL’s premier playcallers in Kyle Shanahan, and was playing under Dan Quinn. They were an ultra-efficient, highly competitive offense that looked poised to win their first ring.

In the 3rd quarter, the Falcons were leading 28-3, but the Patriots still had a lot of ground to cover, despite reducing the deficit to 28-9. Going into the 4th quarter, they only needed to manage their lead and dominate the play-clock.

Enter Tom Brady and his 4th quarter magic. The Patriots scored 19 unanswered points, and the defense clamped down on a hallucinatingly pass-oriented offense. It sent the game into overtime.

What followed is what most of us know: the Patriots vanquished yet another red-hot team and won their 5th Lombardi. This is the ultimate NFL comeback.

2016 NBA Finals: LeBron’s Cavaliers Force a 3-1 Comeback

It’s a bit comically tragic that two of the most important comebacks in major American sports have come during the social media era. It’s also painfully ironic that they both happened in the span of approximately half a year. These happened right in the middle of the meme era.

LeBron James returned home in 2014, but did so with a plan. It was many years in the making, way before his stratospheric rise to the top of the NBA. It happened before his prodigal son-type return.

Secret Base’s ‘CHOSEN’ documentary talks about the serial underachievement of the Cavaliers throughout their history. From the Stepien fiascos to the MJ-led heartbreak, the pre-LeBron Cavs were in much trouble of their own making.

In his first stint as a Cavalier, LeBron James never had a truly strong supporting cast, nor did he try to truly shape it. In his second stint, he was graced by the presence of the incredible talents of Kyrie Irving and the consistent greatness of Kevin Love.

They had to take on the mighty 73-9 Warriors, led by a juggernaut in his MVP season in the mystifying Steph Curry. For as good as they were, the pre-Durant championship teams almost became underrated, and this iteration was incredible.

The Dubs themselves had to climb from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference Finals against the Thunder.

When they started to act like a buzzsaw toward the Cavs, it seemed like a disaster was coming in the rematch between the two teams: the 2nd out of four iterations. This only confirmed the -210 odds that the Warriors had before the start of the series.

Afterward, LeBron put on his sunglasses, his wired earphones, and saw Kyrie land a 4th quarter dagger in Curry’s face. He threw his own chase-down, and the Cavaliers finally reached the promised land in the NBA’s premiere comeback.

As he said, ‘Cleveland, this is for you!’

2005 UEFA Champions League Final: The Miracle of Istanbul

They call it the Miracle of Istanbul because it was simply something that shouldn’t have happened. The underdog was not the disfavoured during the game itself, but very much so before the final began.

AC Milan were one of the best teams in Europe in 2005, as proven by their incredible roster, not to mention their ability to reach the final of the Champions League.

They had to go through Fergie’s United, their cross-town rivals (whom they beat emphatically), but barely scraped by a wondrous side in PSV.

On the other hand, Liverpool had just as hard a gauntlet. They began superbly by beating Leverkusen in both legs.

They beat Juventus’ very strong and talented squad that was assembled before the Italian Calciopoli scandal. They reached the final after narrowly beating an immensely talented and well-oiled machine in Mourinho’s Chelsea.

Liverpool’s 2.20-to-2.80 odds proved correct in the first half, falling behind after Maldini’s opening goal and a double by Hernan Crespo. Eventually, the Reds clawed back in the 2nd half, scoring via Gerrard, Smicer, and Xabi Alonso.

Association football shows that a penalty shootout is the ultimate playing field. This is what the 2005 UCL Final reminded us.

After Shevchenko missed his penalty, Liverpool won an unlikely trophy after a seemingly impossible comeback. Milan would take their revenge two years later,

2008 Wimbledon Men’s Final: The Greatest Game?

How blessed can tennis fans can say they are to have witnessed greats like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic overlap in the same era? How about seeing Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz duke it out as young legends in the making?

Rafa and Federer had plenty of clashes that have represented the peak of tennis. Their mastery of different court types (Nadal’s unmatched prowess on Clay, and Roger’s graceful dominance on grass) is legendary.

However, none of their clashes on any surface or in any event was as historically significant as the final of the 2008 Wimbledon Men’s Single tournament. It proved to be a peak of the sport, a high point in their rivalry. For many, it’s the greatest tennis match ever.

It’s also an unlikely comeback. As we’ve said, Federer was incredibly dominant on the grass and had ruled the Wimbledon court with an iron grip throughout the 2000s.

He even beat Nadal in the previous two editions during the final. That’s why he opened as a slight favorite, with odds as high as 9/4.

Another fascinating point is that we basically had two comebacks within a game, but only one was the ultimate one.

Federer got very much behind, falling into a two-set deficit, both of which he lost 6-4. Nadal looked unbeatable. Until he looked beatable. Rafa lost the next two sets in very close and highly disputed tie-breakers.

This might’ve seemed like the momentum was going away from Nadal, especially given how close he was to winning in each of his lost sets. Federer mounted a furious comeback, leaving Rafael Nadal to climb out of a proverbial mental hole.

The last set was just as dramatic as everyone probably hoped it to be. We saw some of the best individual moments of brilliance from any tennis player. Nadal won the last set 9-7.

To add a magical twist to the story, this closely-matched clash of tennis titans happened in the rain. It was the last Wimbledon final to do so.

2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Setting Off a Championship Run

This may be the only entry in this list that is not a final, but one of the contestants eventual reached the final and won it.

Ice hockey has had many heroes, and some of the most interesting of them led their teams to Stanley Cups. In the case of the Los Angeles Kings, their 2014 championship run had many heroes, and their pathway to absolutely victory began against the Sharks.

San Jose finished second in the Western Conference, trailed by the Kings in third. Both teams, as the -145 pro-Sharks odds suggest, were quite close by, which felt like a strong clash was going to take place.

It was a reasonable expectation considering the Sharks defeated them three years prior, while the Kings won the playoff match-up in the previous series.

The resulting series ended up on knife’s edge, but in quite a roundabout way.

Rather than a real back-and-forth, it turned into a 3-0 deficit for the Kings, who found themselves dominated in the first two games. The third one was a heartbreaking overtime loss, and it seemed like the Kings were about to get swept.

Los Angeles rallied back and won games 6 and 7 in a very convincing fashion, ending up knocking out their North Cali rivals. They became only the 4th team to win a series while coming back from 3-0.

Per the 1941-42 Maple Leafs statistics (and roster), the 2014 Los Angeles Kings are the only other team to come from behind a 3-0 disadvantage and win the Stanley Cup in the process.

Conclusion

As you can see, these stories are beyond inspiring. They have proven to be endearingly significant comebacks that have become historic. Some even defied the odds, which created a sense of shock across the entire world of sports.

However, these events are powerful for many reasons, one of which is their rarity. This is the reason why you shouldn’t always expect inevitable comebacks.

If you also happen to bet on these high-stakes sports events, please gamble responsibly!