waller.jpg
Getty Images

At seemingly the exact same time on Sunday, two old NFC East rivals staged massive comebacks to snatch victories out of the jaws of defeat. After trailing the Arizona Cardinals 28-7, the New York Giants stormed back to win the game 31-28. And after trailing the Denver Broncos 21-3, the Washington Commanders came all the way back to win 35-33. All of last season there were only three comebacks of 18 or more points.

For the Giants, it tied for the largest comeback in franchise history. The team previously came back from 21 points down twice, but each of those instances occurred in the 1940s. And the most recent of them was against... the Cardinals, when the team was still in Chicago. 

image-1.png
CBS Sports

New York got off to a disastrous start to the game, with the defense getting torn asunder by Josh Dobbs and Daniel Jones throwing another interception. After halftime, though, Jones set a Giants record: He is now the only player in Giants history with 250 passing yards, 50 rushing yards, two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground in the game -- and he did it all in the second half alone. The only previous player since 2000 to do that in any half was Michael Vick, who absolutely lit up Washington for what eventually turned out to be 333 yards and four touchdowns with his arm and 80 yards and two more scores with his legs.

Speaking of Washington, the Commanders survived a near-disaster at the end of the game against the Broncos, as Russell Wilson's miraculous Hail Mary touchdown to Brandon Johnson with no time on the clock was followed by a failed two-point conversion. 

After allowing a touchdown on each of Denver's first three drives, the Broncos went fumble, punt, punt, interception on their next four, and by then the game was tied. Sam Howell threw for a pair of scores (one each to Terry McLaurin and Logan Thomas) during that run, and after the Broncos briefly retook the lead with a field goal, Brian Robinson ran for a couple of touchdowns himself to thrust Washington back into the lead. It looked for a moment like the Commanders were going to squander their come-from-behind win, but a Russell Wilson pass intended for Courtland Sutton on a two-point conversion attempt was broken up (on a play that likely should have been called pass interference), and Washington secured its victory. 

It was the Commanders' largest comeback since 2015 vs. the Buccaneers in Kirk Cousins' "You Like That" game, and their largest road comeback since 1990. On the other side, it was the largest blown lead in Russell Wilson's career and the Broncos' largest at home since 1995 against the Seahawks.

For the Giants, their massive win allowed them to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole, which would have been especially disastrous because the three other teams in the NFC East are all 2-0. Washington's win allowed the Commanders to keep pace (at least in terms of record) with the Eagles and Cowboys. At the moment, the division is the only one in the NFL where every team is .500 or better after two weeks.