Roethlisberger Could Become the NFL's King of Comebacks

Last week the Pro Football Reference blog used some excellent research to show that the Broncos' proclamation that John Elway was the king of comebacks is not exactly accurate.

If you take away the games where Elway led the Broncos to wins in games that were tied in the fourth quarter and rely solely on fourth quarter come-from-behind victories, Dan Marino actually has the most recorded fourth-quarter comebacks with 36 compared to Elway's 34.

But seeing that got me thinking. Ben Roethlisberger has been pretty masterful at coming from behind during his short career, but how good has he been. The answer is very good. He's only five seasons into his career, but right now Ben Roethlisberger is on pace to outdo Elway and Marino.

Only five seasons into his career, Roethlisberger already has 15 come-from-behind fourth-quarter victories -- as many as "Captain Comeback" Roger Staubach, including of course his most famous comeback last January in the Super Bowl. Elway played 15 seasons and Marino played 17 seasons. If Roethlisberger plays as long as Elway did, he's on pace for 45 fourth quarter come-from-behind victories. Peyton Manning could have topped Marino by then; he has 28 in 11 seasons, so the record is in his sights.

To give you a better idea of how remarkable Roethlisberger is at authoring comebacks, he had six in his rookie season. Chad Pennington, a relatively solid quarterback with a nine-year career, has seven. Roethlisberger has only one Pro Bowl appearance right now, but with two Super Bowl rings, he's already edging towards Hall of Fame status. There are 10 quarterbacks who have won two or more Super Bowls. Seven of them are in the Hall of Fame and two (Roethlisberger and Tom Brady) are not eligible yet. But if Roethlisberger can land the comeback "record" as well, it will just add to his Hall of Fame chances.