Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Pats Shock Falcons in Super Bowl LI

For the fifth time, the New England Patriots are Super Bowl Champions. Led by the greatest quarterback-coaching tandem in NFL history, the Patriots pulled off the unthinkable by completing a 25-point comeback in the first ever Overtime Super Bowl. With the Falcons leading New England by a score of 28-3 midway through the third quarter, the game seemed to be all but over as Atlanta appeared to be on their way to claiming their first ever Lombardi Trophy. So much so that President Trump even reportedly left his Super Bowl party early once the Patriots fell into their 25-point hole. But Tom Brady and company would have none of that as they would soon orchestrate the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, while treating us to an instant classic in the third most watched Super Bowl ever.

Making their record-setting seventh Super Bowl appearance, Brady and coach Bill Belichick would have their fair share of mistakes early on as the tide quickly turned against them following a scoreless first quarter. With New England marching on offense and putting together what appeared to be a promising drive, things would soon go up in flames as running back LaGarrette Blount was stripped of the ball just two plays into the second quarter. The play would ignite a scoring barrage by Atlanta who scored 21 unanswered-points in a span of 12 minutes. After Devonta Freeman began things off with a 5-yard touchdown in which he cut far left and found his way into the end zone untouched, QB Matt Ryan who was named MVP the night before, needed only five plays to extend that lead, ending the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to his tight-end Austin Hooper. Things would only get uglier the rest of the half as the Patriots were plagued by a series of unfortunate firsts.
After failing to score in a quarter for the first time in their last 32 quarters, came Blount's first fumble in 16 games. It would also mark the first time the Patriots would trail in a game since Week 12. Then came an 82-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Robert Alford to make it a 21-0 game. It would be the first return for a touchdown of any kind all year against New England and the first pick-six thrown in Brady's postseason career. It wasn't long before you began seeing coach Belichick on the sidelines, pencil and paper in hand, making early adjustments to address in the locker room come halftime. With only a field goal to show for at the half, the Patriots would watch their deficit climb to 25-points following a second touchdown pass from Matt Ryan on Atlanta's second possession of the third quarter. Leading 28-3 with a quarter and a half remaining, New England would need to pull off the largest comeback in Super Bowl history if they wanted to award their future Hall of Fame coach and quarterback duo with an unprecedented fifth ring. But while most teams would fold under pressure when facing such a deficit, Brady remained calm and poised as ever despite his team having its back against the wall. After a touchdown pass to backup running back James White who had himself a game to remember, the Patriots managed to inch a bit closer before the start of the fourth quarter, despite a missed extra-point by kicker Stephen Gostkowski, his fifth missed PAT of the year.

With Atlanta ahead 28-9 thru 3 quarters, the Falcons seemed destined to win and had the odds in their favor considering teams leading by 19 points thru 3 quarters in the postseason were an unbeaten 93-0 all-time. But if anybody was going to put that record to the test, you knew it would be Brady. Another Gostkowski field goal to start the fourth quarter helped make it a two-score game. And on Atlanta's ensuing possession, the New England defense would step up and put the ball back into their captain's hands. Facing 3rd and 1, the Falcons elected to opt for a pass play as Ryan was blindsided by middle linebacker Dont'a Hightower who made it to the quarterback freely after Devonta Freeman failed to pickup the blitz, resulting in a fumble recovered by New England. With new life and only 25-yards to go, you could feel the momentum shift immediately as Atlanta suffered their first turnover of the postseason. A touchdown pass from Brady to Amendola five plays later and a successful 2-point conversion on a direct-snap up the middle to James White made it an 8-point game.
Pinned back at their own 10-yard line, the Falcons quickly found themselves at mid-field as a wide-open Devonta Freeman gained 39-yards on the first play of the drive. Two plays later Julio Jones would display the type of footwork that would make Super Bowl hero Santonio Holmes proud as Jones somehow contorted his body and got both feet in-bounds to make a spectacular 27-yard catch, despite his momentum falling towards the sideline all while securing the ball. It would be the last positive of the day for Atlanta, however, as they soon found themselves going backwards. With the ball at the 22 and kicker Matt Bryant standing by in case of a field goal attempt to make it a two-score game, the Falcons would be doomed by a 12-yard sack and an offensive holding call which knocked them out of field goal range and allowing Brady and company to pull off a comeback for the ages. Entering the game, the longest drive the Patriots had put together all season was 91-yards, and with the game on the line, New England would need to duplicate that mark in order to tie the game.

With three and a half minutes to go and a pair of timeouts remaining, Brady would march his team into the end zone with time to spare. But not before a miraculous catch that almost wasn't as Atlanta nearly intercepted the ball which would've sealed the win for the Falcons. Instead, receiver Julian Edelman came down with an awe-inspiring reception that rivaled that of David Tyree's helmet catch against Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Surrounded by three defenders, Brady looked for Edelman down the middle but had the pass batted up into the air by Robert Alford. With Alford falling back on the play and landing on his back, the combination of Alford's foot and the hand of safety Ricardo Allen prevented the ball from hitting the ground which then allowed Edelman to get both hands on the ball as all four players hit the ground simultaneously. Though the catch would feature" 70% of luck" according to Edelman himself, it would help gain another 23-yards to keep the drive alive and avert disaster. Four plays later, James White scored his second of three touchdowns with a 1-yard run up the middle. Still needing to tack on the game-tying 2-point conversion, New England would to just that. With WR Danny Amendola in motion, Brady threw a dart to his receiver who was met at the goal-line, barely breaking the plane and knotting the game at a dead-even 28-28.
Heading into overtime, the Patriots seemed destined to win whereas Atlanta was left stunned at the fact that they had squandered a 25-point second half lead. And after winning the coin toss and electing to receive, New England marched their way to the 2-yard line before once again handing the ball to James White who put the finishing touches on the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history by breaking the plane to win it, 34-28. Hoping to get another crack at it and pull off some late-game heroics of his own, the reigning MVP was left watching hopelessly from the sideline as his defense was unable to keep the Patriots out of the end zone. While many have blamed the Falcons collapse on the offense for simply disappearing in the fourth quarter, Atlanta's defense allowed New England to score on each of their last five possessions, including their game-winning touchdown in OT to the tune of 31-unanswered points. Though I agree that they probably should've ran the ball more, if Atlanta stands their ground and stops at least one of New England's two-point conversion attempts, it's Matt Ryan and the Falcons who are the ones celebrating a tinker-tape parade. Instead, the Brady-Belichick regime etches yet another milestone into their legacy, becoming the first-ever QB and coach to hoist five Lombardi Trophies.

As for the Falcons who remain one of 13 NFL franchises yet to win a Super Bowl, the road back to Super Sunday figures to be a much harder task given they'll be without offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan who agreed to take the reigns as the next head coach of the San Francisco 49ers on Monday. Shanahan will be replaced by college offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian after serving in last month's BCS title game with the Alabama Crimson Tide. As for the Patriots, they now trail only the Pittsburgh Steelers' 6 Super Bowl titles and tie the 49ers and Dallas Cowboys with 5. With the loss, Matt Ryan became the eighth MVP since 2000 to make it to the Super Bowl and lose (0-8). Completing 17 of 23 passes, Ryan threw for 284 yards and 2 touchdowns but suffered that pivotal fumble which helped New England turn things around. Brady on the other hand set Super Bowl records for the most pass attempts (62), completions (43) and pass yards (466) to go with his pair of touchdowns and one interception, helping him claim Super Bowl MVP honors for a record 4th time. Many (Brady included) think it was Patriots backup running back James White who deserved the award, as he rushed six times for 29 yards, tallying a record 14 receptions for 110 yards and adding three total touchdowns to become the first player to ever record two rushing touchdowns and one receiving in a Super Bowl.
Now begins the speculation and chatter of whether or not we've seen Tom Brady in uniform for the last time. With a record five Super Bowl's under his belt and a promising young quarterback behind him in Jimmy Garoppolo for the Patriots to fall back on if need be, the man has nothing left to prove having already etched his name alongside his boyhood idol Joe Montana as the game's all-time greats, regardless of how you want to rank them. But with Belichick at his side and no real threat in the AFC to get in the way of yet another title run, why wouldn't he return for No. 6? After sticking it to his critics and redeeming himself from the Deflategate scandal, it's obvious that the fire still burns inside of Brady and that he's not ready to release his grasp on the league just yet.


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