You know that feeling when the clock is ticking down, your team is down by six, and the quarterback walks onto the field with that weird, calm look in his eyes? It’s the stuff of legend. We call them the "clutch" guys. But when you start digging into who actually has the most 4th quarter comebacks, the conversation gets messy.
Honestly, the "official" stats and the "eye test" rarely agree. You've got guys like Tom Brady who seem to own every record, but then you look at Matthew Stafford—who spent years in Detroit basically living in the 4th quarter—and you realize the numbers tell a much more complicated story about what it actually takes to be a comeback king.
The Mount Rushmore of the Most 4th Quarter Comebacks
If we’re just looking at the raw data as of early 2026, the leaderboard is a "who's who" of Hall of Fame gold jackets. Tom Brady still sits at the top of the mountain with 46 career 4th quarter comebacks in the regular season. If you count the playoffs, that number jumps even higher.
But look at the guys breathing down his neck. Peyton Manning finished his career with 43. Then you have the active legends. Matthew Stafford has been a monster in this category, currently sitting with 38 comebacks. It’s wild because Stafford did most of his heavy lifting on teams that were, frankly, not great.
Here is how the top of the all-time regular season list currently shakes out:
- Tom Brady: 46
- Peyton Manning: 43
- Ben Roethlisberger: 41
- Matt Ryan: 38
- Matthew Stafford: 38 (and counting)
- Drew Brees: 36
It's sorta funny that Matt Ryan is so high on this list despite being the victim of the most famous 4th quarter collapse in history (28-3, never forget). It just goes to show that to get a comeback, you first have to be losing.
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The Matthew Stafford Paradox: Why Bad Teams Make Great Records
There is a huge debate among NFL nerds about whether the most 4th quarter comebacks is a "good" stat to lead. Think about it. To lead this category, your team has to be trailing in the 4th quarter a lot.
Patrick Mahomes, for example, doesn't have as many regular-season comebacks as you’d think (he has about 16-18 depending on the latest weekly update). Why? Because the Chiefs are usually winning by 14 points when the 4th quarter starts. Mahomes doesn't need to be a hero every Sunday.
Stafford is the opposite. During his Detroit Lions days, the defense would give up 30 points, and Stafford would have to go 80 yards in 50 seconds just to stay in the game. In 2016, he actually set the single-season record with 8 fourth-quarter comebacks in one year. That is insane. It’s basically a miracle every week for two months straight.
The Difference Between a Comeback and a Game-Winning Drive
People use these terms interchangeably, but they aren't the same thing.
- 4th Quarter Comeback (4QC): This only counts if your team was actually losing in the 4th quarter and you came back to win or tie.
- Game-Winning Drive (GWD): This counts if the score was tied OR you were losing, and you led the drive that put your team ahead for good.
This is why game-winning drive numbers are always higher. Brady has 58 GWDs, while his comeback number is 46. Basically, if the game is tied at 17-17 and you drive for a field goal, you get a GWD but not a 4QC.
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Is Bo Nix the New King of Clutch?
If you’ve been watching the 2024 and 2025 seasons, you’ve probably seen the "Bo Nix" hype train. It’s actually backed by some pretty weird stats. By late 2025, Nix had already racked up 10 game-winning drives and several 4th quarter comebacks, putting him on a pace that is actually faster than most legends.
Is he better than Brady? Probably not yet. But he plays for a Sean Payton offense that seems designed to keep games close until the very end.
Then you’ve got Caleb Williams in Chicago. In 2025, Williams led the NFL with 6 fourth-quarter comebacks in a single season. The Bears were the fourth team in history to win a playoff game after trailing by 15+ in the final frame. Watching these young guys do it makes you realize that the "clutch gene" isn't just for the old guard anymore.
Why the Postseason Changes Everything
The regular season is one thing. The playoffs are where the most 4th quarter comebacks really define a legacy. In the postseason, the windows are smaller, the hits are harder, and the pressure is suffocating.
Brady has 9 postseason comebacks. Nine! To put that in perspective, Joe Montana—the guy we used to call "Joe Cool"—only had 5. Patrick Mahomes is already at 6.
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The 2025-2026 playoff cycle was actually the "Year of the Comeback." We saw 12 lead changes in the 4th quarter across just the opening weekend. Stafford’s Rams beat Carolina on a Parkinson TD pass that marked the fourth lead change of that quarter alone. It’s getting harder to hold leads because the rules favor the passing game so much now.
What Most People Get Wrong About "Clutch"
We love the narrative of the hero quarterback. But honestly? A 4th quarter comeback is usually about a defense getting a stop or a kicker making a 52-yarder in the rain.
Take Kirk Cousins. He gets a lot of grief for not being a "big game" player. Yet, in 2022, he tied the record with 8 comebacks in a single season. He has 33 career game-winning drives. If you just looked at the stats, you'd think he's as clutch as John Elway. But Elway had that "it" factor that stats can't really capture.
The Hidden Names on the List
You’ll find some surprising names if you go deep into the Pro-Football-Reference archives:
- Vinny Testaverde: 27 comebacks. People forget how long he played and how many messy games he dragged his teams through.
- Jake Plummer: "The Snake" had 21.
- Ryan Tannehill: He has 25, which is more than many Hall of Famers.
Actionable Insights for Football Fans
If you're trying to win an argument at the bar or just understand the game better, keep these points in your back pocket:
- Look at GWD vs 4QC: If someone says a QB is "clutch," ask how many game-winning drives they have. It's a more inclusive stat of how they perform under pressure when the game is on the line, regardless of if they were down by one or tied.
- Strength of Schedule Matters: A comeback against the 2024 Panthers isn't the same as a comeback against the 1985 Bears. Nuance is your friend.
- The "Lions Factor": High comeback numbers often point to a bad defense. Don't punish a QB like Mahomes for having a team that actually lets him rest in the 4th quarter.
- Watch the Young Guns: Keep an eye on the 2024/2025 draft classes. With the way the NFL is officiated now, we are seeing more 4th quarter scoring than ever before, which means these records are probably going to be shattered in the next decade.
The record for the most 4th quarter comebacks is currently a testament to Tom Brady's longevity and Peyton Manning's brilliance. But with guys like Stafford still slinging it and a new generation of "no-panic" rookies entering the league, that 46-win benchmark might not be as safe as it looks.