Brady leads the Patriots to an epic comeback to win their fifth Super Bowl

The New England Patriots mounted a frantic comeback from trailing 28-3 to ultimately defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime of Super Bowl LI, the first overtime game in Super Bowl history. Prior to this game, no team had come back from as much as fourteen points down to win a Super Bowl, never mind twenty-five.

Tom Brady, winning Super Bowl MVP for a record fourth-time and now the only quarterback in history with five Super Bowl wins, finished 43 for 62, the most attempts in Super Bowl history, for 466 yards, also a record, and two touchdowns.

The Super Bowl started out in a 0-0 first quarter, which was shocking and disappointing, to say the least given how this was set up to be a high-scoring contest. However, there was plenty of scoring in the second quarter, just not by the eventual Super Bowl Champions.

The Falcons got off to a 14-0 lead off of a 5-yard touchdown run by Devonte Freeman and 19-yard pass to rookie Austin Hooper, followed by an 82-yard pick-six by cornerback Robert Alford. But after Tevin Coleman ran in a six-yard touchdown catch from Matt Ryan, everything dramatically shifted to the Patriots favor. Patriots were down 28-3 with less than three minutes left in the third quarter before staging a comeback.

The Patriots responded on their next drive with their first touchdown of the game, a 5-yard run by RB James White. However, they took up a lot of time, eating up 6:25 of the clock and basically doing the Falcons a favor. K Stephen Gostkowski missed the extra point, too, making it a 28-9 game.

After missing an onside kick, the Patriots’ defense got a quick stop to force a punt. New England had to settle for a field goal with 9:44 to go, making it a 28-12 game. With 8:31 to play when Atlanta faced a third-and-one as its own 36-yard line, a first down would have made it very difficult for the Patriots to catch up. Instead of forcing a punt, the Patriots made the biggest play of the game, when linebacker Don’t’a Hightower strip-sacked Matt Ryan to give the Patriots the ball at the Atlanta 25 with 8:24 to play. Brady found WR Danny Amendola for a 6-yard touchdown pass, and then the direct snap to RB James White on the two-point try made it a 28-20 with under six minutes to go.

With 4:40 remaining, Falcons WR Julio Jones made an unbelievable catch to get the ball down to the Patriots’ 22 yard line. Then the sequence that will haunt the Falcons and their fans forever. The Falcons ran on first down for a loss of one yard and then threw on second down but Patriots DE Trey Flowers broke up the play with a sack, third down play was negated by a hold on Falcons LT Jake Matthews, and third down again, where Ryan’s pass fell incomplete under some pressure. If the Falcons just ran it twice more, either the clock goes under three minutes or the Patriots burn two of their timeouts, and the Falcons attempt a game-clinching 47-yard field goal. Instead, the Patriots only used one timeout, and the Falcons punted. Three passes in a row were definitely the wrong call.

New England got the ball back and drove the length of the field on a drive that included a ridiculous catch by Patriots WR Julian Edelman. The drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Patriots RB James White, and then the two point try was converted with a pass to Patriots WR Danny Amendola, tying it at 28-28 with 0:57 to go.

Heading into the first overtime in Super Bowl history, New England won the overtime coin toss, and the worn-out Atlanta defense just couldn’t keep up with Brady and company. New England moved the ball 75 yards in eight plays, and after a pass interference penalty put the ball on the two-yard line, RB James White scored for the third time on the evening on a 2^nd-and-goal from the 2-yard line, and the Patriots won Super Bowl LI by a score of 34-28.

The biggest difference on the evening and what would up dooming the Falcons in the end, was the time of possession difference and the plays ran by each team. New England ran more than twice as many as offensive plays as the Falcons did, Atlanta’s defense was gassed in the fourth quarter and overtime because the Patriots ran 93 plays (40:31 of possession) to the Falcons’ 46 (23:27). In the fourth quarter and overtime, the Patriots ran 35 plays (14:09) to Atlanta’s 13 (4:49). The Patriots ended up scoring on their final five drives of the game, and six of their final seven.

This victory marks the fifth Super Bowl ring for the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick tandem, cementing their legacy as the greatest head coach-quarterback duo in NFL history.

If there was ever any doubt before this game about who is the greatest QB of all-time, Tom Brady just erased it. Tom Brady IS the greatest of all-time. Brady just won his record 5^th Super Bowl while also capturing his fourth Super Bowl MVP. It will be extremely unlikely that another quarterback will best, or even match these accomplishments. And if someone does, it’s safe to assume that he won’t manage it by erasing the biggest deficit in Super Bowl history!

Bill Belichick has now won five championships, passing Chuck Noll for the most of all time. He has appeared in seven Super Bowls, passing Don Shula. Bill Belichick IS the greatest head coach in NFL history!

We just witnessed the fifth-largest comeback in the history of the sport. For that to happen in the final 18 minutes of a Super Bowl is indescribable. Many fans will say that the Falcons gave this game away, and in many ways, they did by poor play calling and brutal time management. Issues that will haunt the Falcons and their fans forever. The Patriots played just as bad in the first half, but the Patriots just played a better closing 30 minutes and made all of the plays in the second half and in overtime. The team with the ball last won. If the Falcons won the overtime toss, they very well might have won the game.

Instead of being crowned Super Bowl Champions, the 2016 Falcons will be nothing more than a footnote in Super Bowl history. If this year’s Falcons squad is remembered, it will be in the same class as the NBA’s 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors and the MLB’s 2016 Cleveland Indians.

The only way to erase the taste of such a devastating loss is bouncing back and playing for another Super Bowl next year. The Falcons definitely have the talent but how will this loss affect them?