Patriots didn’t get 9th playoff comeback from Tom Brady in loss to Eagles in Super Bowl 52

The Patriots went into halftime of Super Bowl 52 trailing the Eagles 22-12. To bring home a sixth Lombardi Trophy, Tom Brady needed to pull off another signature comeback playoff win. He didn’t.

He did it in the AFC Championship Game. For three whole quarters, it looked like the Jacksonville Jaguars might pull off an improbable postseason win against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship. The Jaguars, who beat the Steelers 45-42 last week, took a 14-3 lead early at Gillette Stadium. That turned into a 20-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for the Jaguars, the Patriots are no stranger to comeback playoff wins.

Tom Brady led an 85-yard drive that ended with a Danny Amendola score to cut the Jaguars’ lead to three. The Jags held onto their lead by forcing a three-and-out on the Patriots’ next possession. But Brady hit Amendola once more for a touchdown with just under five minutes left to play to complete New England’s comeback for a 24-20 win over Jacksonville.

The Patriots do this more consistently than any other team in the league.

And no other quarterback can touch Brady in this category. He has eight comebacks and three other fourth-quarter or game-winning drives in the postseason. The next-closest quarterback is Eli Manning with five total, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

The win sends Brady and the Patriots to their eighth Super Bowl. They’ve broken a lot of postseason opponents’ hearts with comebacks along the way.

Patriots 34, Falcons 28
Super Bowl LI, Feb. 5, 2017

This is no longer the Patriots’ most recent playoff comeback, but it is by far the most memorable.

The Falcons jumped out to a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI. Then New England scored 25 unanswered points to tie things up and send the game to overtime for the first time in Super Bowl history. James White punched in a two-yard touchdown to get the win and spawn a lifetime of 28-3 jokes at the Falcons’ expense.

Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
Super Bowl XLIX, Feb. 1, 2015

The Patriots have another Super Bowl comeback on their resume. They handed a heartbreaker to the Seahawks after the 2014 season.

The Seahawks carried a 24-14 lead into the fourth quarter. Much like they did against the Jaguars, New England added two fourth-quarter touchdowns to take a 28-24 lead. The Seahawks had a chance to win it with 26 seconds to go, but they opted to pass the ball instead of letting Marshawn Lynch run it in from the 1-yard line. Malcolm Butler picked it off, letting the Patriots hold on for the win.

Patriots 35, Ravens 31
Divisional Round, Jan. 10, 2015

Super Bowl XLIX was the Patriots’ second comeback in the playoffs following the 2014 season. It looked like they might not advance when the Patriots were trailing the Ravens 28-14 in the third quarter.

Tom Brady hit Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola for scores in the third quarter, tying things up 28-28 heading into the final period. Justin Tucker gave the Ravens a three-point edge with a 25-yard field goal. But Brandon LaFell hauled in a 23-yard pass from Brady to seal the win.

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Patriots 23, Ravens 20
AFC Championship, Jan. 22, 2012

The Ravens carried a four-point lead into the fourth quarter against the Patriots with a trip to Super Bowl XLVI on the line. Four points is nothing to Brady. He ran in a one-yard touchdown to take a 23-20 lead in the fourth quarter.

Eli Manning and the Giants turned the tables on the Patriots in that Super Bowl, pulling off a comeback win of their own with a fourth-quarter touchdown from Ahmad Bradshaw to beat the Patriots 21-17.

Patriots 24, Chargers 21
Divisional Round, Jan. 14, 2007

The Chargers and Patriots kept it close into the third quarter. LaDainian Tomlinson ran in a three-yard touchdown to give San Diego a 21-13 lead with 8:35 left in the game. But Tom Brady hit Reche Caldwell for a score, and a successful two-point conversion tied things up with the Chargers. Stephen Gostkowski kicked the game-winner with just over a minute to play.

Patriots 32, Panthers 29
Super Bowl XXXVII, Feb. 1, 2004

Brady had to play some clean-up in the fourth quarter of his second Super Bowl after the Patriots allowed the Panthers to score 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to take a 22-21 lead with just under seven minutes to play.

New England answered with a touchdown and added a two-point conversion to go up 29-22. Then the Panthers tied it up 29-all with just a minute left to play. It took a game-winning drive from Brady and a 41-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal to pull off the win.

Patriots 16, Raiders 13
Divisional Round, Jan. 19, 2002

This one is better known as the Tuck Rule game, but it’s also the first playoff comeback of Tom Brady’s career. The Raiders held the Patriots scoreless in the first half and allowed just three points until the fourth quarter. The Raiders carried a 13-3 lead into the last quarter, but the Patriots came surging back, scoring on a Tom Brady run and two Adam Vinatieri field goals to win 16-13.

The Eagles lost the lead in the fourth quarter, but Foles and Philly rallied to keep Brady from his ninth playoff comeback win.

The Patriots rallied while the Eagles rolled on Sunday