Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season was headlined by incredible comebacks — not just for a handful of teams, but for several clutch players who clinched the win.
With the return of football comes the familiarity of a treasured storyline in sports lore: NFL Week 2 is the week of the comeback.
There were the unbelievable comebacks of three NFL teams on Sunday. The New York Jets edged past the Cleveland Browns, the Miami Dolphins rolled their wheelbarrow to vanquish the Baltimore Ravens, and the Arizona Cardinals toppled the Las Vegas Raiders in overtime.
Let’s reflect on these scores for a moment.
30-17 with 1:33 in the fourth quarter?
35-14 at the start of the fourth?
20-0 in the third quarter as Kyler Murray faces a shutout?
Those are some long odds, ones that make 28-3 seem like just another Sunday.
In truth, Week 2 was just another Sunday, one that just so happened to be full of glorious, dramatic, last-minute comebacks. That’s the beauty of football.
But what was also beautiful this week was seeing the renaissance of several individual players, some of which were overlooked in Week 1. Those who rostered Allen Robinson and Aaron Jones in fantasy football leagues were reimbursed for low Week 1 scores. James Robinson is flexing in Jacksonville’s backfield, fully healed after a devastating Achilles injury. And Jimmy Garoppolo is back, leading the 49ers to sweet victory like old times.
The underside to each of these storylines is that there were excruciating losses across the board, as teams were humiliated and players were sidelined.
But today, we’re here to celebrate the bounceback.
10. The unmitigated joy of a Kyler Murray comeback
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 18: Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals celebrates after the game-winning touchdown in overtime against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on September 18, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Getty Images)
Is Kyler Murray pointing and laughing at the fact that his team just recovered a fumble and scored a touchdown in overtime?
Absolutely. And why shouldn’t he?
The way that Murray and his team battled back from a shutout in the third quarter, culminating in the play that Byron Murphy made by scooping up a second Hunter Renfrow fumble, is something that should bring Cards fans delirious joy.
Really, anyone watching this team claw their way out from the jaws of gridiron death should throw their heads back and beam with unbridled enthusiasm.
Run the simulation a thousand times, and it’s unlikely that Murray will execute an 85-yard two-point conversion in 21 seconds even once.
With great losses come even greater wins. The Cardinals were humiliated in Week 1, and Week 2 proved to be more of the same — until it wasn’t.
If Kyler led the entire game, maybe he would have just thrown us a fist pump. But the unbelievable way the pigskin fell, and was scooped, and scored…sometimes Murphy’s Law rules in your favor, and all you can do is laugh.