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.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
With both the AFC and NFC Championships in the books and new conference champions crowned, the table is officially set for Super Bowl LI. And with each team coming off of blowout victories, there should be no shortage of fireworks when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots square off against Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons come February 5. But aside from claiming division crowns and dismantling their opponents in the playoffs in blowout fashion, the road these two teams have taken to get this far are very different from one another.
In what will be New England's fourth trip to the Super Bowl in the last decade and an NFL record 9th appearance overall, the Patriots who feature the number one ranked defense in the league, were able to shake off the early distraction of being without their star quarterback for a quarter of the season as Tom Brady served his 4-game suspension due to his connection with the Deflategate scandal. While the team would go 3-1 in his absence to begin the year, they wouldn't skip a beat upon his return either and were near perfect with their leader on the field to the tune of a 14-2 regular season record while ranking tops in the league in Wins and Losses: 11-1 (1st), Point Differential: +208 (1st), Points Per Game: 30.7 (2nd), and Points Per Game Allowed: 15.9 (1st). Even a red-hot team like the Pittsburgh Steelers, winners of nine straight, couldn't get in the way of Brady and company as the Patriots handed Pittsburgh their worst loss in an AFC Championship in their 16 trips -- a 36-17 shellacking on Sunday. Brady would register a near perfect performance by passing for 384 yards and 3 touchdowns in the victory that would send his team to the big game. His go-to target in that game? Undrafted journeyman Chris Hogan who hauled in a career-best 180-yards and two touchdowns on 9 receptions.
As for the Falcons who made it this far under second-year head coach Dan Quinn by way of their high-octane offense which led the league in scoring spearheaded by MVP candidate Matt Ryan, the big game will be only the second trip to the Super Bowl for Atlanta in the franchise's 51 year history. With the Falcons' one and only Super Bowl appearance coming in 1998 -- an eventual loss to the Denver Broncos in the last game of John Elway's Hall of Fame career, the franchise is still seeking its first piece of hardware. Finishing atop the NFC South with an overall record of 11-5 during the regular season, the Falcons were a mediocre 7-5 on the year through their first 12 games before flipping the switch and winning their last four to closeout the season strong and hold off the surging Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the division. And while most teams lacking Super Bowl experience are unable to translate their regular season success to the playoffs, the Falcons offense has been every bit as potent in the postseason as evident of their 44-21 handling of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers who entered Sunday's NFC Championship winners of 8 straight and playing out of this world at the QB position. But in the biggest game of his career and the Falcons' last game at the Georgia Dome, QB Matt Ryan was able to match and out-duel the performance of Rodgers by throwing for 392 yards and 4 touchdowns in a turnover-free game which gave him a passer rating of 139.4, the second-highest ever posted in a conference championship game behind only Kurt Warner's rating of 145.7 in 2009, bidding the perfect farewell to the team's home since 1992 and further solidifying his case for something no Atlanta Falcon has ever won before -- an MVP Award.
Ryan also added a rushing touchdown in Sunday's win over Green Bay to become the first-ever QB in Falcons franchise history as well as the first in playoff history to pass for four touchdowns and rush for another in the same game. He also became the first QB in history to record a passer rating of 120.0 in six consecutive games. Ryan's favorite target and in my opinion the best receiver in the league -- Julio Jones, led the way with a game-high 180-yards and a pair of touchdown grabs on nine receptions, eerily similar to Hogan's stats for the Patriots. Another team performance like that in a winning effort would make the Falcons the highest-scoring team to ever win a Super Bowl. Not to mention a title would do wonders for the city's fan base as Atlanta's only championship in either of the four major sports (NFL, MLB, NBA & NHL) came in 1995 (Atlanta Braves). But as we all know, that last win is always the hardest to get. And with history on New England's side, odds makers have the Patriots as 3-point favorites out of the gates. In case you were wondering the last time the Falcons defeated the Patriots, you'd have to go back to Week 10 of the 1998 season during Atlanta's only other Super Bowl run and before Brady was even drafted. Since then, the Patriots are a perfect 4-0 against Atlanta in the Brady era and are one of six teams the 2-time league MVP has never lost to in his career.
What also makes this match-up intriguing is that it will mark the seventh time the league's No. 1 scoring offense will meet the league's No. 1 scoring defense. A stat that figures to favor New England considering No. 1 offenses are 1-5 all-time versus No. 1 defenses in the Super Bowl. The last team sporting the league's best offense to fall victim to the league's best defense was Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos who set numerous records on offense during the regular season but were no match for the Seattle Seahawks' dominant defense in 2014 at Super Bowl 48. In fact, the only team with the No. 1 scoring offense to defeat a team with the league's No. 1 ranked defense was the 1989 San Francisco 49ers who blew out the Denver Broncos in record fashion with the largest blowout in Super bowl history, 55-10. A win for New England would give them five Lombardi Trophies, tying them with the 49ers and Dallas Cowboys for the second most Super Bowl victories of all-time with five. Brady will be trying just as hard to bring the Patriots their fifth title. Regarded as one of if not the greatest quarterback of all-time, Brady who will be making a record seventh Super Bowl appearance, can silence the critics once and for all if he's able to capture that elusive fifth Super Bowl ring, one for the thumb if you will, to add to his Hall of Fame resume.
But unless you're a Patriots fan, live in New England or just a Tom Brady fanboy, there's no reason you shouldn't be rooting for the Falcons to claim their first ever Super Bowl win. Unless for some odd reason you enjoy seeing the same thing over and over again. That's no diss to Brady and Pats head coach Bill Belichick who are undoubtedly the greatest quarterback-head coaching duo the NFL has ever seen, but the two have long been the commander and chief of the Evil Empire. You know, that team you've grown tired of watching win year in and year out. The Falcons on the other hand are both refreshing (seeing as they've never won it before), and exciting to watch. The Little Engine That Could, if you will. And for what it's worth, a computer simulation of Madden17 predicted back in August that the Falcons would make it to and win Super Bowl LI. With that said, here's to hoping for an exhilarating game (unlike last year's snoozefest) and a Falcons victory. Prediction: Falcons 27, Patriots 24.
Catch Super Bowl LI from Houston - Sun, Feb 5 Live on FOX @ 3:30PM PST.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
