NFL comebacks take many shapes
NEW YORK – Comebacks are the rage in the NFL.
Not overcoming large deficits to win games, although in 2011 that’s happening plenty, too. Players who disappeared from the headlines, from lineups, from the league entirely – those comebacks are especially impressive.
Talk about quarterbacks (Alex Smith, Tony Romo, Matt Hasselbeck) or kickers (Mike Nugent), tight ends (Jermichael Finley) or wideouts (Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith), defensive ends (Elvis Dumervil) or linebackers (DeMeco Ryans) or defensive backs (Carlos Rogers), comebacks are in style.
Finley had the most successful layoff. He missed the final 11 games last season with a right knee injury, so he sat and watched his teammates win the Super Bowl, easing the, uh, pain, but making him even more eager to get back on the field.
For much of this season, in which Green Bay is 13-1, the speedy, powerful Finley has been unstoppable, although a case of the drops hit him recently.
Finley has 45 catches, averaging 15.2 yards, and six touchdowns.
The most difficult hiatus was spent by Burress, who was in prison for 20 months for accidentally shooting himself in a Manhattan nightclub. He signed with the Jets as a free agent once the lockout ended, and his impact has been solid, if not spectacular.
New York leads the league in red-zone touchdown efficiency with 32 in 47 trips, a huge improvement over the previous season. Burress has eight TD catches and has become Mark Sanchez’s go-to receiver near the end zone.
“Personally, I just think I needed a fresh start,” Burress said. “If I wanted to go somewhere and get more money, I could’ve went to a couple more places and signed a two- or three-year deal, different things like that. I just wanted to put myself in a situation to go somewhere fresh and have an opportunity to play for a great organization and for a great head coach in Rex (Ryan) and a great team.
“I feel that I’m in the right place.”
Steve Smith feels that way once again about Carolina, in great part thanks to the arrival of top overall draft pick Cam Newton. Smith was coming off a down year in which Carolina was the league’s worst team, with no quarterbacks who could get him the ball. It was a miserable situation, and Smith has been known to blow a fuse.
Then Newton showed up, and Smith was revitalized. Smith now is over 10,000 yards receiving for his career.
“You know, it doesn’t matter how many articles are written about me – about how I’m a bad character guy, or erratic or moody – no matter how many negative things are written, the power of public opinion doesn’t win on this one,” Smith said. “This is a stat that I’ve earned, with the help of a lot of other people, that can’t be taken away.
“It’s a milestone that I would say really counts. It really matters.”
One thing that really has mattered for Denver has been the return of Dumervil. He missed the entire 2010 season with a torn chest muscle suffered in the preseason. The previous year, his 17 sacks led the league.
It took a while this year for Dumervil to get back to his old form. A left shoulder injury hampered him, but as the Broncos began their surge to the top of the AFC West, Dumervil was one of the leaders.
“Sometimes you just have to get your body right, man,” he said. “That’s been the biggest issue for me.”