Steelers, 49ers stage stunning comebacks in wild card wins
January 6, 2003
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Ticker) - "Blowout Saturday" was followed by "Comeback Sunday," where the NFL wild card playoffs could not have been any wilder.
In the AFC, the Pittsburgh Steelers staged the sixth-largest comeback in postseason history as they rallied from a 17-point deficit behind Tommy Maddox for a thrilling 36-33 home victory over the rival Cleveland Browns.
However, that wasn't even the best comeback of the day. In the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers were led out of a 24-point hole by Jeff Garcia for a stunning 39-38 victory over the New York Giants.
San Francisco's rally was the second-best in playoff annals and came almost 10 years to the day of Buffalo's record-setting 41-38 victory over Houston in which the Bills erased a 32-point second-half deficit.
The Steelers (11-5-1) escaped and advanced to an AFC divisional road matchup with the Tennessee Titans (11-5). The 49ers (11-6) survived and move on to an NFC divisional road game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12-4).
The Browns and Giants saw their seasons come to a painful end and will have eight months to ponder their place in playoff history.
"It's disappointing," Browns coach Butch Davis said. "They continued to bring it to us. In the end, we were unable to stop drives. We knew how tough it was going to be to win here."
"It's just about as bad a loss as any I had in my life," Giants coach Jim Fassel said. "It's just tragic. I'm not getting over this for a while. We have not played well with a lead at times this year and we were tentative in the second half."
Garcia made this his signature game, accounting for 391 yards and four touchdowns. After deciding to go with a no-huddle offense, the Niners scored the game's last 25 points in the final 17 minutes.
Garcia capped the comeback with a 13-yard scoring pass to Tai Streets with one minute left.
"It's just hard to fathom right now. I can't even grasp my emotions," Garcia said. "To play a game like that and put your heart and soul on the field, it leaves you a little zapped afterward, but it's probably the most exciting feeling I've felt in a long time."
Despite the collapse, the Giants had a chance to win the game when rookie Matt Bryant lined up for a 41-yard field goal on third down with six seconds left.
Bryant, who badly missed a 42-yarder with 3:01 left, never got a chance at redemption due to a bad snap by recently signed veteran Trey Junkin and a mental error by holder Matt Allen.
Instead of spiking the ball to stop the clock and give his team another chance, Allen threw a pass, and the Giants were penalized for having an ineligible receiver downfield.
After the referee signaled the penalty on New York, the Niners started a wild celebration on the field while most of the Giants stalked off into the locker room.
"In the end what bit us was what I feared since the start of the season - a snap, kick and a hold," said Fassel, whose team has had problems with special teams all season long.
Kerry Collins passed for 342 yards and four touchdowns - all in the first half - for the Giants (10-7). Amani Toomer caught three of the scoring passes and finished with eight receptions for 136 yards.
Garcia completed 27-of-44 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 60 yards and another score. Owens caught nine passes for 177 yards, including touchdowns of 76 and 26 yards.
Maddox, the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year, engineered Pittsburgh's greatest playoff comeback, passing for 367 yards and three second-half touchdowns.
The Steelers trailed 24-7 in the third quarter and 33-21 with less than four minutes to play. But Maddox, who began the season as a backup and returned from a frightening spinal injury earlier this season, guided them to victory.
"Part of being a quarterback is to lead the team and I wanted them to see in my eyes that we still had a chance," said Maddox, who completed 30-of-48 passes.
Maddox threw three touchdown passes in the final 19 minutes before fullback Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala scored on a three-yard run with 54 seconds left for the winning touchdown. It marked the third time this season the Steelers beat the Browns by three points in come-from-behind fashion.
The comeback overshadowed a brilliant performance by Cleveland's Kelly Holcomb, who started for the injured Tim Couch and threw for 429 yards - the third-highest total in playoff history - and three touchdowns.
"I don't think anybody in the building thought we weren't going to win," Holcomb said. "I think everybody thought we were going to go on (to the next round)."
"I was already in Oakland," said Browns receiver Kevin Johnson.
With Pittsburgh trailing, 33-21, Maddox directed a 10-play, 77-yard drive that was capped by his five-yard TD pass to Hines Ward with 3:06 to go.
Browns receiver Dennis Northcutt dropped a potential first-down pass, forcing his team to punt. Taking possession with 2:35 to go, Maddox put together a 61-yard drive that led to Fuamatu-Ma'afala's winning score.
Rookie receiver Antwaan Randle El then lofted a two-point conversion to Tuman to increase the advantage to 36-33.
"Tommy is the leader of our offense," tight end Jerame Tuman said. "He was the guy who kept everybody calm and made plays."
A desperation drive by Cleveland died at the Pittsburgh 29 as Holcomb threw a 16-yard pass to Andre King, who could not get out of bounds before time expired.
"It's hard putting things in perspective right now," said Browns safety Earl Little. "We preached all year about going to the finish. That's something we didn't do today. We have to keep a team down and not them let them get up. We let them back in it."
Saturday's wild card games were somewhat surprising but not nearly as exciting.
In the AFC, the New York Jets made it look easy in a 41-0 home rout of the Indianapolis Colts, tying the second-biggest postseason shutout in NFL history. The Jets (10-7) visit the top-seeded Oakland Raiders (11-5).
In the NFC, the Atlanta Falcons scored a 27-7 road upset of the Green Bay Packers. Led by Michael Vick, the Falcons will invade Philadelphia to face the top-seeded Eagles (12-4).
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