Sunday's comeback not the biggest for Brady, but it's close

The New England Patriots' comeback from a 24-0 halftime deficit is being lauded by many football experts and lamented by fans of other teams as the greatest comeback in Tom Brady's career, and also as a sign that the Patriots are indeed ready to again assume their rightful position atop the AFC...

...and while the latter appears to be true, the former is overlooking one epic comeback that helped to define their 2012 season.

In the middle of December and playing in a cold, driving rain, the Patriots fell behind the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 17-3 at halftime which ballooned to 31-3 midway through the third quarter - the 28 point deficit erased in less than 15 minutes of play spanning the middle of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth.

Brady caught fire after four turnovers relegated him to air it out - and caused the majority of the fans to abandon Gillette Stadium - leading scoring drives of 73, 86, 66 and 92 yards to tie the 49ers at 31 with still half of the 4th quarter yet to play...

...and while the Patriots ended up losing the game but a count of 41-34, the similarities between that game and Sunday night's comeback are down right eerie - the biggest difference being that this season, the Patriots finished the job.

In the 49ers' game,the New England defense held rising star quarterback Colin Kaepernick to just 208 yards passing while yielding an inordinate number of rushing yards - though not quite the albatross that the Broncos hung on new England last Sunday night - and the 49ers scored 14 points off of turnovers, the last of which provided the 28 point cushion midway through the third quarter.

And just like in the Broncos' game, a special teams' gaffe set up the winning score - 49ers running back LaMichael James returning the kickoff just after the Patriots' tied the score 62 yards to the New England 38, Kaepernick hitting receiver Michael Crabtree on a short hitch pattern that ended up a 38 yard touchdown that the spent Patriots were never able to recover from.

Point being, it's baffling that Patriots' fans turn off their TV's or leave their expensive stadium seats when their team falls behind, because they always come back - the last time they were in a position where they had no chance to win a game was at Cleveland three years ago...

...and in case the fans needed a more recent reminder of their teams' ability to come from behind, all they need to do is to look back to week 6, when Brady led the Patriots to the winning touchdown against the Saints in front of a half-filled stadium, hitting rookie Kenbrell Thompkins with the winning score with five seconds remaining in the game.

Lesson learned, Patriots' fans?  Never doubt your team's ability to make everyone look foolish.