Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Super Bowl blog: Patriots come back from 25-point deficit for fifth Super Bowl

Tom Brady throws for Super Bowl-record 466 yards

Super Bowl 51

New England Patriots’ Tom Brady celebrates with head coach Bill Belichick after winning the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game against the Atlanta Falcons in overtime Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston. The Patriots won 34-28. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Updated Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017 | 8:47 p.m.

Super Bowl 51

New England Patriots' James White, left, breaks a way from Atlanta Falcons' Robert Alford during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Launch slideshow »

Super Bowl 51 Halftime

Lady Gaga performs during the halftime show of the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Launch slideshow »

The greatest player in Super Bowl history pulled off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady fell to his knees and wept as streamers and confetti fell at NRG Stadium upon his team defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime. Brady, and his coach Bill Belichick, won a record fifth championship by overcoming a 25-point third-quarter deficit.

“Coach says you never know what play it’s going to be in the Super Bowl, and there were probably 30 of them tonight, where if one was different, the whole game is different,” Brady said on the postgame podium while holding the Lombardi Trophy.

Brady threw for a record 466 yards, completing 43 of 62 passes, as the Patriots scored the game’s final 31 points. He had to lead two touchdown drives in the final six minutes, including two successful 2-point conversions, just to deliver the Super Bowl to overtime for the first time ever.

Once there, New England won the coin toss and took the ball knowing a touchdown would win the game. That felt inevitable.

Brady was too locked in. He took the Patriots 75 yards on eight plays in less than four minutes in overtime. James White scored the winning points on a 2-yard rush after the Falcons’ De’Vondre Campbell committed a pass interference on Martellus Bennett two plays before.

“We just have great players,” Belichick said. “They play a full 60 minutes — or longer.”

Brady took MVP honors, but White made for an easy runner-up. The third-year running back set a Super Bowl record with 14 receptions, gaining 110 yards on the catches to go with six carries for 27 yards.

In addition to the final touchdown, he scored the Patriots’ first touchdown on a five-yard catch from Brady. Kicker Stephen Gotskowski missed the extra point, which felt apt for the struggling Patriots that still trailed 28-9.

To that point, they had struggled to contain both NFL MVP Matt Ryan and the Falcons’ top running back, Devonta Freeman. Ryan completed 17 of 23 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns, while Freeman had 11 carries for 75 yards.

Freeman scored the first points of the game early as part of a 21-point second quarter for the Falcons. Ryan found tight end Austin Hooper for a 19-yard touchdown four minutes later, as the Falcons successfully converted on two Patriots’ turnovers.

Their third score came when cornerback Robert Alford swiped a Brady pass and went 82 yards for a touchdown, the second-longest interception return in Super Bowl history. The Falcons didn’t commit a turnover the entire playoffs until midway through the fourth quarter, but it was costly.

Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower jarred a fumble from Ryan that defensive lineman Alan Branch recovered at the 25-yard line. Brady found Danny Amendola for a 6-yard touchdown five plays later, and a 2-point plunge by James White made it an 8-point game.

Atlanta earned a first down on a tiptoe catch from star receiver Julio Jones, who had 87 yards on four catches, along the sidelines in New England territory on the next drive. But penalties and a sack from defensive end Trey Flowers helped the Patriots hold.

Brady got the ball back with less than four minutes at the Patriots’ 9-yard own line. He led a 10-play, 91-yard scoring drive that included a batted-down, then double-bobbled catch by Julian Edelman that overshined Jones’ sensational catch.

White got into the end zone on a 1-yard run with less than a minute to go in regulation, setting the stage for his overtime score to give the Patriots their fifth Super Bowl.

“This is unequivocally the sweetest,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said.

Check back to the Sun for more coverage of Super Bowl 51 later, and look below for our live blog from the game.

Third quarter

The Patriots finally found the end zone in the third quarter, and yet they still scored 1 point less than the Falcons.

Atlanta went 85 yards in eight minutes on its second drive of the second half, scoring when Tevin Coleman took a pass from Matt Ryan 6 yards into the end zone. That put the Falcons ahead 28-3, a margin seemingly insurmountable for the Patriots.

New England provided some hope when James White caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady, but the drive took an eternity — 13 players in nearly six and a half minutes. Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski also missed the extra point off of the upright, keeping the Falcons ahead by 19.

Ryan is on his way to pairing his NFL MVP trophy with a Super Bowl trophy. He’s thrown for 202 yards on 13-for-16 passing with two touchdowns.

Halftime

The points showed up in the second quarter — almost all of them to Atlanta.

The Falcons are well on their way to the first Super Bowl in franchise history with a 21-3 halftime lead over the Patriots. Atlanta got its defense on track by sticking with the running game, as Devonta Freeman went for 71 yards on six carries including a 5-yard touchdown rush for the game's first points.

Atlanta's defense set up the first score when Deion Jones pried a fumble from Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount. The Falcons went on a 62-yard drive capped by a 19-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Austin Hooper on another scoring drive before the defense stepped up again.

With the Patriots driving again, Robert Alford stepped in front of a Tom Brady pass and picked it off for an 82-yard touchdown, the second-longest interception return in Super Bowl history. New England managed a 41-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski late, but they have a long way to go.

Updated betting odds give the Patriots, which don't even get the ball to start the second half, approximately a 15 percent chance at victory — and even that might be generous.

First quarter

The expected Super Bowl shootout is instead a shutout through the first quarter.

Neither the Falcons nor the Patriots came anywhere close to scoring in each of their first two possessions. New England has a small yardage edge, 72 to 56, but it’s had the ball for a few more plays.

The Patriots will start the second quarter at their own 40-yard line after two straight LeGarrette Blount rushes set up a 3rd and 1 opportunity. The offenses are a combined 1-for-5 on third downs so far, with each team previously notching a sack.

Defense is the surprising story of the day at NRG Stadium, with both Matt Ryan and Tom Brady going down for a pair of sacks.

•••

Millions of dollars will change hands in Las Vegas sports books while thousands at NRG Stadium watch a select few make history.

Super Bowl 51 between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons is hours away with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 local time. While every Super Bowl is historic, this year’s iteration seems to carry a little extra in the prestige department.

The Patriots are out to win their fifth Lombardi Trophy in the past 15 years in their seventh appearance in the NFL’s championship game. A victory would set Tom Brady apart as the only quarterback with five Super Bowl wins, and do the same for his coach Bill Belichick.

There were high expectations for the Belichick and Brady pairing when they concluded their second season in New England by beating the St. Louis Rams 20-17 in Super Bowl 36 at New Orleans. But few called for them to go on a run that ranks among the most dominant in NFL history.

On the Falcons’ side, they’ll be looking to erase what’s mostly been 51 years of futility as a franchise. Atlanta was more than 100 games under .500 all-time before this season, and its only previous Super Bowl appearance was a 34-19 loss to Denver at Super Bowl 33.

That reputation didn’t weigh them down this season, where quarterback Matt Ryan and receiver Julio Jones led an offense that scored 109 more points than any other team in the league. But the Patriots have one of the best defenses the Falcons have faced all season, including in the secondary where the likes Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung have thrived.

Can they slow the Falcons? And do the Falcons have any chance of doing the same against Brady?

Money is being bet both ways. Fans from each side are entering the stadium. Super Bowl 51 is here.

Follow along with the Sun’s Super Bowl 51 live blog here all afternoon.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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