If there was any doubt before the New England Patriots’ 34-28 win in Super Bowl LI that Tom Brady was the greatest to ever play the game, it was erased by the time running back James White forced his way through the scrum to secure his team’s fifth championship in franchise history—all in the last sixteen years. With a furious second-half comeback led by a vintage Brady, the Patriots snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the Atlanta Falcons for the first overtime win in Super Bowl history.
After being down by 25 points in the third quarter, the Patriots took advantage of every opportunity presented to even the score at 28 late in regulation, aided by a fumble by Atlanta quarterback and 2016 NFL MVP Matt Ryan and a miraculous catch by wide receiver Julian Edelman.
“A lot has transpired during the last two years,” said Patriots owner Robert Kraft, referring to allegations of cheating in or around two of the last three conference championship games. “This is unequivocally the sweetest,” he continued, a subtle reference to the various setbacks his team overcame throughout the season—Brady spent the first four games of the season suspended due to his involvement in the 2015 AFC Championship Game’s ‘Deflategate’ scandal, and four-time Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski was lost for the season after a Week 12 back injury ultimately required surgery.
In each year of this decade, the Patriots have won at least 12 games. That trend continued in 2016, despite playing their first four games without their surefire Hall of Fame QB. While many expected the Patriots to win a maximum of two games out of their first four, backup and third-string quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett managed to put together three wins in Brady’s absence to give the eventual Super Bowl MVP a 3-1 record upon his return. With only one more loss in the remainder of the regular season, the Patriots rolled to secure the top seed in their conference, took down the upstart Houston Texans, and tore apart the rival Pittsburgh Steelers to win their second conference championship in three seasons.
In their journey to Super Bowl LI, the Falcons used a vast network of offensive firepower to lead the NFL in scoring, led by Ryan, Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman. After playing to an 11-5 record, the Falcons secured the second seed in the NFC, behind the resurgent Dallas Cowboys. Following gargantuan victories over the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers (outscoring their opponents 70-41), Atlanta secured its place in its second Super Bowl—with an opportunity to win its first.
The game remained scoreless after the first quarter, with each team punting twice. Atlanta ran two successful touchdown drives in the second, split by an interception returned for a touchdown, to give them a three-score lead. A Stephen Gostkowski field goal with seconds left in the half put New England on the board, trailing 21-3.
The Falcons put their fourth touchdown of the night on the board early in the third, extending their lead to its largest margin. The Patriots returned the favor, adding a touchdown with a missed extra-point attempt by Gostkowski to close the gap to 19 at 28-9 with a quarter to go in regulation. A field goal by a redeemed Gostkowski moved the score to 28-12, putting the Patriots within two possessions of tying the game. Brady led two more drives, including one lasting into the final minute of regulation, each culminating in a touchdown and two-point conversion. With the score tied 28-28, Ryan couldn’t get his team into field goal range as the seconds wound down to end regulation.
The Patriots, fazed by nothing in their monumental comeback, won the coin toss to begin the first overtime in the fifty-one-year history of the Super Bowl. Brady led a 75-yard drive to set up White’s heroic two-yard dash to secure the championship. Following a questionable review, the call on the field was confirmed, and the Patriots had their fifth championship.
A number of NFL records were set during the game, the most notable of which was head coach/QB duo Bill Belichick and Brady appearing in their seventh Super Bowl together. The Patriots also played in their ninth Super Bowl, breaking a tie with the Steelers, Cowboys and Denver Broncos for the most appearances of all time. The surmounting of a 25-point deficit obliterated the previous record of 10, and the 37 first downs recorded by the Patriots set a league record for a single Super Bowl.
However, the real record-setter of the day was Brady. He established new Super Bowl highs of SB MVP awards (4), total passing attempts in a single game (62), total completions in a single game (43), passing yards in a single game (466), career passing attempts (309), career completions (207), career passing yards (2071), career touchdowns (15) and wins as a QB (5). With all these Super Bowl records in hand (to go along with his many regular season and playoff records), the twelve-time Pro Bowler cemented his place in history as the greatest quarterback of all time.
