History Main / MiracleRally

* December 21, 1984. European Championship qualifying match. Spain's only option to enter was to beat Malta by ''11'' or more goals. By half-time, they were winning 3-1. What happened after? Call it perseverance, determination, or as we like to call it, COJONES, but Spain managed to win 12-1 and reach the final (which they lost to France). [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-io74oOSZpA This is how national TV broadcasted the twelfth goal by Juan Señor.]]

* Both Teen Jeopardy tournaments in the 06-07 season had the two-day final with one person down 25K+ dollars, then coming back to win on day two of the final. The first teen tournament showed David Waler beating the runaway victor of day one Ben Schenkel, and the second tournament had Meryl Federman come from third place to beat the day one victor Greg Peterson.

** Topped two weeks later with the 2013 Iron Bowl, one of college football's most storied rivalries as Alabama Crimson Tide came in undefeated, atop the BCS standings, expected to win out and play for a third straight BCS title game. The Tigers play their rivals close up into the 4th quarter, tying it up 28-all. Alabama gets the ball back with little time left, but gets the ball with questionable field goal range as time expires. However, refs note the Tide running back stepped out with 1 second left, so they put the second back up. Coach Nick Saban sends out the kicking unit - which for the night had missed three field goal tries - with a freshman kicker for one more try to win the game. Auburn does the math - the kick would be 57 yards and can possibly fall short - and sends out a return unit in case that happens. The kick does fall short, Auburn's return man is able to outrun Alabama's kicking unit, and the entire nation goes crazy as the "Kick Six" gives Auburn the win and the division title, and knocks hated rival Alabama out of the BCS title outright.

* [[http://www.nba.com/games/20091221/SACCHI/gameinfo.html#nbaGIboxscore Sacramento Kings @ Chicago Bulls (2009/12/21)]] This game. Sacramento is down by 35 points with 8:50 to go in the third quarter and they execute a legendary run in the remaining minutes to win the game. This is the biggest roadgame comeback in NBA history.

* During game 3 of the 2002 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics were trailing the New Jersey Nets by 21 points at the end of the 3rd quarter. After getting a very stern (and apparently colorful) talking-to from point guard Antoine Walker, the Celtics rallied to complete the biggest comeback in NBA Playoff history, beating the Nets by 4 points and taking a 2-1 lead in the series. The Nets proceeded to win the next three games, advancing to the finals and eventual defeat at the hands of the L.A. Lakers.

* During game 3 of the 2002 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics were trailing the New Jersey Nets by 21 points at the end of the 3rd quarter. After getting a very stern talking-to from point guard Antoine Walker the Celtics rallied to complete the biggest comeback in NBA Playoff history, beating the Nets by 4 points and taking a 2-1 lead in the series. The Nets proceeded to win the next three games, advancing to the finals and eventual defeat at the hands of the L.A. Lakers.

* During game 3 of the 2002 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics were trailing the New Jersey Nets by 21 points at the end of the 3rd quarter. After getting a very stern talking-to from point guard Antoine Walker the Celtics rallied to complete the biggest comeback in NBA Playoff history, beating the Nets by 3 points and taking 2-1 lead in the series. The Nets proceeded to win the next three games, advancing to the finals and eventual defeat at the hands of the L.A. Lakers.

* During game 3 of the 2002 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics were trailing the New Jersey Nets by 21 points at the end of the 3rd quarter. After getting a very stern talking-to from point guard Antoine Walker, the Celtics rallied to complete the biggest comeback in NBA Playoff history, beating the Net by 3 points and taking 2-1 lead in the series. The Nets proceeded to win the next three games, advancing to the finals and eventual defeat at the hands of the L.A. Lakers.

* In the 2013 ALCS, the Detroit Tigers pitched dominant performances in Games 1 and 2 against the Boston Red Sox. Only one hit was allowed through all of Game 1, culminating with a 1-0 win by the Tigers. Game 2 started off the same way, with a run in the 2nd for Detroit, no hits through five innings against Boston, and four more runs in the top of the 6th. Dustin Pedroia put one run on the board for the Red Sox, but it seemed to be for nothing. Two innings later, in the bottom of the 8th, the first batter for the Red Sox flied out. The next batter hit a double. The next was walked. The Tigers changed pitchers. The fourth batter struck out, and the fifth batter hit a base hit to load the bases. The runner on third almost went home, but the base coach wisely held him up The Tigers changed pitchers again, bringing in their closer Joaquin Benoit, who had allowed the late hit against Boston the night before, to face David Ortiz, the Red Sox' longtime postseason clutch legend. Ortiz had never hit a home run off of Benoit in his entire career, and on the very first pitch, he hit a grand slam to tie the game 5-5. Koji Uehara silenced the Tiger side in the top of the 9th, the next Red Sox batter hit a double and stole third on a wild pitch. Jarrod Saltalamacchia then hit a base hit to seal the Red Sox win and tie the series 1-1, going to Detroit for Game 3.

* It's possible to pull this off in Creator/WilliamElectronics[='=] ''Pinball/{{Joust}}'' pinball machine; the end of the game started a 30-second scoring frenzy, giving each player received unlimited balls to score as many points as they could.

* It's possible to pull this off in ''Creator/WilliamElectronics''[='=] ''Pinball/{{Joust}}'' pinball machine; the end of the game started a 30-second scoring frenzy, giving each player received unlimited balls to score as many points as they could.

* The famed '[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Ice Miracle on Ice]]', the medal round of the 1980 Winter Olympics Men's Ice Hockey, where an underdog American team of amateurs and college players took on the reigning Soviet champions (some of whom were active-duty military), coming back from a 3-2 deficit with two goals in the final period, winning 4-3. Why yes, we DO believe in miracles!
** They went on to do this again in the final match for gold, beating Finland 4-2 after being down 2-1 at the start of the third period.

* UEFA Champions League final, Istanbul, 2005. (Liverpool were trailing 0-3 at the break before levelling it in the second half and winning on penalties).
* {{Wimbledon}} 2011 Quarter Final pitched Frenchman [[{{Tennis}} Jo-Wilfried Tsonga]] against 6-time winner and arguably the greatest player of all time, [[{{Tennis}} Roger Federer]]. Federer had beaten Tsonga before and built up a convincing 2-set lead. The commentators were already talking as though Federer had won. Then Tsonga took the third set. And the fourth. And then he finished it off, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. This was the first time that Federer had EVER lost a match after going two sets up. It was the shock of the tournament.
** Federer has had his fair share of miracle rallies too, coming back from two sets to love 8 times in his career, notably during {{Wimbledon}} 2012 when he was just ''two points'' from losing the match.
** [[{{Tennis}} Novak Djokovic]] has become well-known for his ability to pull stunning comebacks out of nowhere just when things look hopeless for him. The best example of this is his 2011 US Open semifinal against none other than Roger Federer: Federer won the first two sets only for Djokovic to win the next two sets with relative ease. Federer wasn't quite finished yet, however, and he surged to a 5-3 lead in the fifth set with two match points lined up...only for Djokovic to save both match points and proceed to reel off four straight games to clinch a spot in the finals.
* The NC State basketball team that won the 1983 NCAA men's championship was nicknamed "The Cardiac Pack" because they staged a miracle rally with a last second score almost ''every single game''.
** They won their nine tournament games by the following margins: 1, 7[[labelnote:*]]overtime[[/labelnote]], 3, 2[[labelnote:**]]double-overtime[[/labelnote]], 1, [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers 19]], 1, 7, and 2. That's an average margin of victory of less than five points.
* Julio Cesar Chavez, having been badly outboxed by Meldrick Taylor and needing a knockout to win their bout, manages to knock Taylor down with 15 seconds left in the final round. Taylor gets up, but stares blankly at the ref when twice asked if he was ok and could continue, so the ref stops the bout... with two seconds left.

* The 2007 Colorado Rockies won 13 of their last 14 regular-season games just to force a tie with San Diego for the wild card lead, made even more unbelievable by the fact that the Padres were one strike away from clinching a playoff spot with one game to spare before the all-time saves leader gave up a game-tying triple to ''Tony Gwynn Jr.'' (for those who don't know, Tony Gwynn Sr. ''was'' "Mr. Padre.") Then the Padres took an 8-6 lead in the top of the 13th inning of the one-game playoff. The Rockies won (on an extremely controversial run from Rockies leftfielder Matt Holliday; review appeared to show that he never touched home plate and even Holliday had his doubts that he did-- Padres fans are still pissed about this and it had fueled the fire of their rivalry). Then they swept their first two playoff opponents for an overall 21-1 run from September 16th to October 15th. Repeat: '''from the middle of September to the middle of October, the Rockies had 21 wins ''and only 1 loss.'''''
** Then subverted in the World Series, where the Rockies were blown away by the Boston Red Sox in 4 games by an aggregate score of 29-10.
* Both Teen Jeopardy tournaments in the 06-07 season had the two-day final with one person down 25K+ dollars, then coming back to win on day two of the final. The first teen tournament showed David Waler beating the runaway victor of day one Ben Schenkel, and the second tournament had Meryl Federman come from third place to beat the day one victor Greg Peterson.
* The 2004 ALCS. The Boston Red Sox became the first and only team in baseball history (and only the third team in any North American professional sport) to overcome a three games to none deficit to win a best of seven series. To add to the drama, after being thrashed 19-8 in Game 3 to go down 3-0 in the series, the Red Sox were three outs away from being swept in Game 4, and the Yankees had on the mound arguably the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history, Mariano Rivera. The Red Sox managed to tie and eventually win Game 4, outlasted the Yankees in a 14-inning marathon in Game 5, then went to New York to take Games 6 and 7 and the series. And as if that wasn't brilliant enough, they did this ''on their way to the first Red Sox World Series victory in eighty-six years.'' Why hasn't this movie been made yet?
** And then the city of Boston lost it.
*** Heck, the entire New England region started whooping and hollering. That series made the actual World Series that year (where the Sox swept a lackluster St. Louis Cardinals team) look anticlimactic.
* The aforementioned feat of overturning a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game series has been achieved four times in North American sport, and the remaining three have all been in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup, ice hockey's top prize:
** In 1942, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost the first three games of the Stanley Cup final series against the Detroit Red Wings, only to turn things around in the remaining four games, making the Maple Leafs the only team to overturn a 3-0 deficit in the final series for any major North American sport.
** In 1975, in only their third year as an NHL franchise, and having finished stone dead last in their first two years, the New York Islanders reached their first seven-game playoff series, playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in their conference semi-final series. The Islanders did not so much as take the lead in their first three games, but then turned the tables and prevented the Penguins from so much as taking the lead in the following four games. (They very nearly repeated the feat against the Philadelphia Flyers in the conference final series, losing the first three games but winning the next three before losing the decider.)
** In the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Philadelphia Flyers lost the first three games to the Boston Bruins. The Flyers proceeded to rally back and win the next three games (with their backup goalie, no less, because the regular starter was injured in Game 4) to force a Game 7. The Bruins struck quickly and rallied to a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 7, but then the Flyers' coach called timeout to rally the troops. The Flyers scored a goal before the end of the first period, and then two more in the second to tie the game. In the third period, Boston took a too many men on the ice penalty, putting the Flyers on the power play. The Flyers proceeded to score on the power play and hold on to the 4-3 lead, making them not only the third team to win a playoff series after losing the first three games, but also the third team to rally back from a three goal deficit in Game 7.
** Next year, the Flyers got SPANKED by the Bruins in rout to a Boston Stanley Cup.

* Super Bowl XLIII featured a MiracleRally by both teams in the fourth quarter, both rallies being different types. Trailing 20-7 halfway through the fourth quarter, the Arizona Cardinals scored two touchdowns and a safety to take a 23-20 lead with only two and a half minutes left. Just when it seemed that this was UnderdogsNeverLose at its finest, the Pittsburgh Steelers mounted a single-drive MiracleRally capped off by an amazing catch by Santonio Holmes for the game winning TD.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Manchester The Miracle on Manchester]]. In Game 3 of their best-of-5 division semi-final against the Los Angeles Kings in 1982, the Edmonton Oilers, who were the No.1 seed and were led by such rising stars as Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, rocketed to a 5-0 lead (including two short-handed goals) by the end of the second period. In the final twenty minutes, the Kings pulled level, with three goals coming in the last five and a half minutes and the equalising goal coming with just five seconds left. In overtime, Messier nearly scored a winning goal for the Oilers within seconds thanks to an error of judgement by Kings goaltender Mario Lessard, but it was Daryl Evans who scored the winner for Los Angeles after two and a half minutes. The Kings won the series 3-2 to advance to the division final, [[ShaggyDogStory where they lost to the Vancouver Canucks in five games.]]
* 5-0 scores into 6-5 victories is not just for the NHL. In 2007, the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 after trailing 5-0 entering the bottom of the ninth. In 2008, the Arizona Diamondbacks replicated the feat against the Milwaukee Brewers, but this was largely forgotten because '''A.''' Boston has a larger fan base than Arizona and Milwaukee, and Baltimore probably does, too; '''B.''' Boston's version got a catchy name: "The Mother's Day Miracle", due to being on Mother's Day; and '''C.''' one day after Arizona pulled it off, the Rockies-Marlins game mentioned above happened.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO445W4mtZI Eight points in seventeen seconds]]. And this is before the three-point line.
* The 2006 Monday Night Football game where the Chicago Bears beat the Arizona Cardinals after being behind by 20 points when the second quarter started. And all of the Bears' touchdowns were earned entirely by the defense and the special teams because Rex Grossman had a horrible performance during the game. The Bears finalized their win when the Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers [who, we might add, before this was known for being a damn good kicker] missed a 40 yard field goal that would have given them the lead. The final score was 24-23 for the Chicago Bears, and it was #6 on NFL.coms [[http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-top-ten/09000d5d810a93ac/Top-Ten-Comebacks-Cardinals-blow-it top 10 comebacks of all time]]. It also resulted in Dennis Greens epic "They are who we thought they were" meltdown. It was such an epic collapse by a team with a reputation for disappointment that even if you were a fan of the winning team, you couldn't help feeling a bit bummed.
* In Game 4 of the 2008 Finals Series between the Celtics and the Lakers, the Lakers were trailing the Celtics 2-1 in the best-of-seven series after winning Game 3. In Game 4, the Lakers jumped to a high and early lead, going up to 24 points at one point in the first half and leading by 20 points in the third half. Celtics coach Doc Rivers made defensive adjustments, he told his team to play defense, and the Lakers, who'd had trouble completing third quarters, didn't play with the energy they'd brought to the first half. The Celtics chipped away at the Lakers' lead, despite the Lakers' attempts to keep it back up, and the Celtics ultimately pulled ahead to win 97-91 and take a 3-1 series lead, which was practically a death sentence for the Lakers' season; only eight teams have come back from that deficit, and no one has done it in a Finals series.
* How could anyone forget Tracy [=McGrady=]'s miracle 13 points in 35 seconds? With his team down 8 with 35 to go, everyone (even the Rockets fans at the arena) assumed that the Spurs would win simply by making their free throws. They did, but McGrady did a lot more. He made one heavily contested three to cut the lead to 5. The next trip up, down 7, he faked a 3-point attempt and got Tim Duncan (a great, intelligent defender) to foul him and MADE THE SHOT as well as the resulting free throw, resulting in 4 points, putting the Rockets down 3. The next trip up, in true climactic fashion, the Rockets were just barely able to get the ball inbounds to [=McGrady=] (with no timeouts remaining). He drained ANOTHER three to cut the lead from 5 to 2. On the next trip up for the Spurs, Devin Brown lost the ball and [=McGrady=] was (conveniently to almost an uncanny degree) right there to pick the ball up, travel the length of the court and drain the buzzer-beating three to win the game. Unarguably the quintessential example of this trope.
** Seems like something out of a movie, doesn't it? Each three-pointer [=McGrady=] hit was tougher and/or more heavily contested than the last, then you throw in the drama of the Rockets having to throw him a jump-ball on the inbound AND the highly improbable occurrence of Devin Brown losing the ball and [=McGrady=] being the closest player to it, coming up and burying the game-winner like a cold-blooded assassin. The only thing that could have made it more cinema-like was if [=McGrady=]'s last shot was a buzzer-beater.
* In the 2001 NCAA College Basketball contest between Duke and the University of Maryland, Duke was down 10 points with 54 seconds remaining and came back to win in what is known as the [[http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2007/02/10/dukes-miracle-minute-against-maryland/ Miracle Minute]]
* 1994 [[SeriousBusiness Texas State High School Football Playoffs.]] John Tyler HS has a 41-17 lead over Plano East with ''3 minutes left.'' Plano then throws 4 straight touchdown passes and recovers three straight onside kicks to take the lead. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHkABO0VwCg The Announcers get crazier by the minute and this wild comeback plays out.]] Then subverted at the end, as John Tyler comes back with a MiracleRally of their own, winning the game on the last play.
* Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets were down two runs with nobody on base and were just one out away from being eliminated. Three singles, a wild pitch, and an infamous error later, and the series was tied. Then they trailed 3-0 in Game 7 before rallying to win that one as well.
* Syracuse rallies not once, not twice, not three times, ''not four, but '''FIVE''' times'' [[http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290710041 to send the game into another overtime before pulling away in the sixth]]. The Orange actually led at multiple points during regulation (heck, it was Connecticut that scored the final points ''of'' regulation), but each of the first five overtimes had Connecticut take the lead and 'Cuse unable to do anything but answer.
* You want to see a real-life equivalent of the Racing Game examples in TheComputerIsACheatingBastard? [[http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/4x100-olympic-relay-full/ap-siprHc0hBONuIB0HxWw Watch the 2008 Olympic Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay.]] This was thought to be the toughest obstacle to Michael Phelps's quest for eight gold medals, as the French were favored over the US. While the US had Phelps lead off the race, France saved their best swimmer, world record-holder[[note]]Official individual world records can only be set in the first leg of a relay or in a non-relay. Bernard held the 100m record as of the start of the race, though it was broken in the first leg of this relay by Australia's Eamon Sullivan. Bernard took back the record in the semifinals of the 100m free a few days later only to immediately have Sullivan best him again--with a time of 47.05 seconds[[/note]] Alain Bernard, for the anchor. The French also had a solid lead as Bernard entered the pool. Jason Lezak then put up a performance for the ages, finishing his split in just ''46.06 seconds'', more than a full second better than the 100m world record at the time, to get the USA the win by a mere .08 seconds.
** France would have their revenge in the 2012 Olympics, with USA's Ryan Lochte being handed a lead much like Bernard's and France pulling off the win.
* Subverted in the January 2010 NFL wild-card game between the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals, where the Packers rallied from deficits of 17-0 and 31-10 to tie the game 38-38, and then again at 45-45, only to lose, on all things, a touchdown scored by Arizona's defense.
* During the 2006-2007 NFL season, the Tennessee Titans were at their lowest point. Their record was 2-7, and by the end of the 3rd quarter against the NY Giants, they were down 21-0. All hope for a decent season (let alone a playoff appearance) seemed lost. But in the 4th quarter, the tide shift was so sudden, even the disenchanted fans were thrown back. By the last minute of regulation, The Titans scored three touchdowns total to tie the game. By the 0:30 mark, Adam "Pacman" Jones made an amazing interception to give the Titans possession again. Around the 0:07 mark, 61-yards away, the punter made a perfect kick across the field, and the ball ''barely'' crossed the field goal marker. Even [Titans coach] Jeff Fisher sounded surprised by the comeback during the post game interview. Even more amazingly, that game launched a second MiracleRally of its own, with the team winning FIVE more games, gaining them a positive win-loss record. Unfortunately, despite the results of various AFC centered games working in the Titans' favor for the wild card slot, the New England Patriots ended their playoffs chances early in game 16. Interestingly enough, the 2009-2010 season hearkened back to that year. After a 0-6 deficit (with game six against the Patriots ending with a [[CurbStompBattle brutal 59-0 score]]), the Titans won the next five games straight, and ended their season at 8-8; ''just'' out of playoffs reach.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_at_the_New_Meadowlands The Miracle at the New Meadowlands]]. The Philadelphia Eagles, after trailing the New York Giants 31-10 with 8:17 remaining in the 4th quarter, orchestrate an incredible comeback to tie the game 31-31 with 1:16 remaining. The Eagles defense then forces a 3-and-out by the Giants, who drain the clock down to 0:14 before calling time out. On the ensuing punt the ball is snapped high to rookie punter Matt Dodge. This forces him to rush the punt and is unable to direct the ball away from returner [=DeSean=] Jackson, who takes the punt 65 yards for the game winning touchdown with no time remaining. Final score: Eagles 38 Giants 31. This is, without question, the greatest 4th quarter comeback victory in Eagles history. Jackson's touchdown is the first of its kind in the history of the NFL (game-winning punt return TD with :00 remaining in regulation).
* May 7, 1995. The Indiana Pacers are trailing the New York Knicks by 6 in the final moments of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Then Reggie Miller ''scores 8 points in 8.9 seconds''. Three pointer, steal, three pointer, free throw, free throw. This is a bafflingly incredible feat in and of itself, but teammates, opposing players, coaches, and analysts alike were especially amazed that Reggie had the presence of mind to take two steps back and go for a 3 to tie the game after stealing the ball.
* December 21, 1984. European Championship qualifying match. Spain's only option to enter was to beat Malta by ''11'' or more goals. By half-time, they were winning 3-1. What happened after? Call it perseverance, determination, or as we like to call it, COJONES, but Spain managed to win 12-1 and reach the final (which they lost to France). [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-io74oOSZpA This is how national TV broadcasted the twelfth goal by Juan Señor.]]
** Possibly the only time a CurbStompBattle could be considered a MiracleRally.
* February 5th, 2011. Newcastle vs Arsenal at St James' Park. Arsenal take an early lead and are 4-0 up after 26 minutes. With less than 25 minutes left, Arsenal are still 4-0 up. Newcastle pulled back to 4-4.
* [[http://www.nba.com/games/20091221/SACCHI/gameinfo.html#nbaGIboxscore Sacramento Kings @ Chicago Bulls (2009/12/21)]] This game. Sacramento is down by 35 points with 8:50 to go in the third quarter and they execute a legendary run in the remaining minutes to win the game. This is the biggest roadgame comeback in NBA history.
* September 7th, 2011. Philadelphia Union trail New England Revolution 4-1 in an MLS game. Philadelphia comes back to tie the game 4-4, with the game-tying goal scored during stoppage time.

* October 8, 2011, Nebraska vs Ohio State: Nebraska was down 27-6 midway through the third quarter when Nebraska physically took the ball away from Braxton Miller, and Taylor Martinez ran it in on the very next play, and Nebraska scored 28 unanswered points to win 34-27.

* State of Origin is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between teams representing the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales. Queensland have managed at least two miracle rallies in the tournament's history:
** In Game II in 1989, Queensland lost players to a broken leg, a fractured eye socket, an elbow injury, and a bruised shoulder to completely use up their substitutes for the match; a fifth player, Bob Lindner, played on with a fractured ankle until five minutes before the end, leaving Queensland with 12 men. They still held on for a win.
** In Game I in 1994, New South Wales led 12-4 with five minutes remaining. Willie Carne scored a try for Queensland, and the successful conversion made it 12-10; New South Wales kept Queensland pinned in their own half until an unlikely series of passes on the final set of the game led to a try by Mark Coyne with just 32 seconds left on the clock. Watch Coyne's try [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0YDW-_kIGM here.]] ([[ShaggyDogStory New South Wales recovered from their loss by winning Games II and III to win the series.]])
* In the last 16 of the 2012 Champions League, Chelsea were trailing Napoli 3-1 from the first leg, only to win 4-1 in extra time. Then, in the semifinals, they were 2-0 down against Barcelona and down to ten men, and they salvaged a 2-2 draw with a dramatic stoppage time equaliser. (Although a 2-1 loss would still have seen them through on away goals)

* 13 May 2012, the final day of the Premier League season. Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers. City has a chance to clinch their first title since 1968 with a win. QPR leads 2-1 going into five minutes of stoppage time. Edin Dzeko scores the equaliser in minute 92, but meanwhile, City's crosstown rivals United beat Sunderland to apparently snatch the trophy. Cue Sergio Aguero scoring the winner for City, ''on the very last kick of the season'', to win the championship, in what can only be described as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for the entire sport of football.

* The Monday Night Miracle. On October 23, 2000, fierce rivals New York Jets and Miami Dolphins played on Monday Night Football. At the end of the third quarter with the score 30–7 in Miami's favor, Jets broadcaster Howard David announced, "And with a whole quarter to go, this game is over." The Jets proceeded to stage a furious rally in the fourth quarter, scoring 23 unanswered points to tie the game at 30. The Dolphins went on to score again to go up 37. Improbably, the Jets tied it again with a touchdown pass caught by offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott, playing as a tackle-eligible. Jets kicker John Hall then won the game with a field goal in overtime to complete the miracle with a 40-37 victory. This was the second largest comeback in NFL history and was voted the greatest Monday Night Football game of all time.

* The 2012 San Francisco Giants pulled this off ''twice''. in the playoffs, echoing back to the 2004 Boston Red Sox, although they didn't quite match them. First, in the National League Division Series, the Giants fell behind two games to none against the Cincinnati Reds, with the final three games on the road; no team had fallen behind 0-2 and come back to win in such a scenario. Well, cue the Giants doing it. In the National League Championship Series, the Giants started well, with a 1-1 tie going to St. Louis. However, St. Louis took a 3-1 lead at home. But the Giants rose to the occasion again, winning another three games in a row to clinch a berth to the World Series, where they swept the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series for the second time in three years.
** In the same year, although more in the regular season, the other Bay Area team, the Oakland A's pulled one off. They were down by more than ten games with a little more than a month left to play in the AL West, behind the defending division and league champs, the Texas Rangers. Partly due to the Rangers failing, and the A's rising to the occasion, they managed to tie the Rangers in the division race on the second-to-last day, making the game in Oakland against the Rangers the next day the Division Title game, which they won. However, in their playoff run, they were defeated by the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS.
* Arsenal-Reading, October 30, 2012 in the Fourth Round of the League Cup. Reading puts in four goals in thirty-seven minutes to take a 4-0 lead. At the end of the first half, Walcott puts in a goal to send it to halftime at 4-1. In the 65th, Giroud puts one in, 4-2. Things look over, but in the 89th, Koscielny puts one in. 4-3 at 90. Four minutes of injury time are signaled. Two minutes of extra injury time are allowed, due to Reading taking their sweet time on a sub. This causes some controversy, but at 90+6, Walcott equalizes at literally the last minute, 4-4 and Full Time is blown. The game is sent to extra time. At 103, Chamakh puts in Arsenal's first lead of the day at 4-5. Pogrebnyak manages to equalize for Reading at 115. However, at 120, Walcott puts in his hat trick, putting it up 6-5 for Arsenal. Two minutes of injury time signaled. Then, at 120+2, Chamakh puts in another. Full time blown. Final score, 7-5 Arsenal.
* Division II Lone Star Conference Football Championship. West Texas A&M is up 48-38 with 2:55 left in the game. Midwestern State scores a touchdown in 49 seconds to make the score 45-48. They kick it onside, but West Texas recovers it. However, MSU has a time out to burn, so WTAMU tries to push, but they are forced to punt. The punt snap is over the head of the punter, and MSU return it for a touchdown with 55 seconds left, and it's now 52-48. A field goal will do nothing; WTAMU '''must''' score a touchdown. WTAMU take it to the 28 yard line. The first pass is deflected, the second play, the quarterback is sacked, the third pass is intercepted with 8 seconds left, and a knee is taken to seal the victory.
* In {{Cricket}}, Michael Bevan of Australia made his reputation by doing this repeatedly. The most famous instances were:
** The New Years Day One Day International at the Sydney Cricket Ground against the West Indies in 1996. With the Australians at one stage 6 for 38 chasing 173, his unbeaten 150-minute 78 got the Australians over the line with a four on the last ball of the innings.
** Two matches in the 2003 World Cup: In the final group game against England, he came in with Australia struggling at 48 for 4. He then was joined by Andy Bichel at 135 for 8 with 70 runs still required to win. Bevan finished on 74 not out and Bichel 34 not out as Australia managed to win in the final over. In the Super 6 stage, he made 56 against New Zealand helping Australia recover from 84 for 7, again batting with Bichel, to help Australia win.

* It was the second to last game of the 2011 and the Arizona Diamondbacks were down 6-1 to the Dodgers with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the 10th. Through the sheer luck of an infield single, the snakes managed to string together hits until the the bases were loaded on a 6-3 score. Third baseman Ryan Roberts managed to deposit the first pitch he saw into the stands for a walk-off grandslam. Subverted in that they lost the #2 spot in the playoffs the following night (but not without another near rally)

* Happens on a regular basis in ''Major.'' The main character, Goro, often finds himself involved in (if not leading) a ''MiracleRally'' due to always ending up on underdog teams (usually by his own choice - he thrives on the challenge of playing against the best).

* In both of the first two ''Major League'' movies, the Indians start their MiracleRally when Pedro Cerrano hits a game-changing home run on an 0-2 count when he'd missed the first two pitches by a mile.

* A frequent complaint by players of ''Madden NFL Football'' is that computer teams that the player was beating handily will become nearly unstoppable in the final minutes (see also RubberBandAI).

* You want to see a real-life equivalent of the Racing Game examples in TheComputerIsACheatingBastard? [[http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/4x100-olympic-relay-full/ap-siprHc0hBONuIB0HxWw Watch the 2008 Olympic Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay.]] This was thought to be the toughest obstacle to Michael Phelps's quest for eight gold medals, as the French were favored over the US. While the US had Phelps lead off the race, France saved their best swimmer, world record-holder[[hottip:*:Official individual world records can only be set in the first leg of a relay or in a non-relay. Bernard held the 100m record as of the start of the race, though it was broken in the first leg of this relay by Australia's Eamon Sullivan. Bernard took back the record in the semifinals of the 100m free a few days later only to immediately have Sullivan best him again--with a time of 47.05 seconds]] Alain Bernard, for the anchor. The French also had a solid lead as Bernard entered the pool. Jason Lezak then put up a performance for the ages, finishing his split in just ''46.06 seconds'', more than a full second better than the 100m world record at the time, to get the USA the win by a mere .08 seconds.

* 1994 [[SeriousBusiness Texas State High School Football Playoffs.]] John Tyler HS has a 41-17 lead over Plano East with ''3 minutes left.'' Plano then throws 4 straight touchdown passes and recovers three straight onside kicks to take the lead. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHkABO0VwCg The Announcers get crazier by the minute and this wild comeback plays out.]] Then CRUELLY subverted at the end, as John Tyler comes back with a MiracleRally of their own, winning the game on the last play.

* 1994 [[SeriousBusiness Texas State High School Football Playoffs.]] John Tyler HS has a 41-17 lead over Plano East with ''3 minutes left.'' Plano then throws 4 straight touchdown passes and recovers three straight onside kicks to take the lead. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHkABO0VwCg The Announcers get crazier by the minute and this wild comeback plays out.]] Then CRUELLY subverted at the end, as John Tyler returns the final kickoff for a touchdown of its own. The announcers are so deflated it's practically a TearJerker.

Also see DownToTheLastPlay. When the computer suddenly returns from near-defeat in a game, its RubberBandAI has snapped.

** And then the city of Boston ''exploded''.

* In the first round of the 2013 StanleyCup playoffs, the Boston Bruins had blown a 3 to 1 game lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs. In game seven, they were down 4-1 with just over ten minutes left. They scored three goals to tie it and won in overtime.

* In the first round of the 2013 StanleyCup playoffs, the Boston Bruins had blown a 3 to 1 game lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs. In game seven, they were down 4-1 with just over ten minutes left. They scored three goals to tie it and won in overtime.