HOUSTON, TX — The Atlanta Falcons (13-6, 5-1) walked off the field at the halftime break holding a commanding, and a surprising, 21-3 advantage over the New England Patriots (17-2, 5-1). When the second half started, the Patriots slowly but surely started to make their comeback and brought the game within eight points in the middle of the fourth quarter. 

Julian Edelman did the unthinkable around the two minute mark of the fourth quarter when he caught a remarkable pass from Tom Brady to give the Patriots and their fans even more hope. From there, the Patriots were able to locate the end zone on a James White one yard run and a successful two point conversion pass from Brady to Danny Amendola tied the game at 28 with less than a minute to go in the game.

The score remained tied at the end of regulation to force the first ever overtime period in Super Bowl history. 

The Patriots took possession of the ball to start the overtime period and charged towards the end zone where after two attempts, the Patriots finally found the end zone to defeat the Falcons 34-28 on a James White two yard rush.  

The victory marks the fifth Super Bowl victory for Brady, the most ever Super Bowl victories for a quarterback. Brady was also named the game’s most valuable player. 

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick now has five Super Bowl victories as a head coach, an NFL record. 

Regulation Recap

The Falcons and Patriots went scoreless in the first quarter of the contest being played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. 

Early in the second quarter, the Falcons took a 7-0 advantage over the Patriots when Freeman found in the end zone on a six yard rush. Atlanta then tacked on another seven points in the middle of the quarter when Ryan connected with Austin Hooper for a 19 yard pass to take a 14-0 advantage. 

New England threatened to score in the final couple of minutes of the first half when three defensive penalties on Atlanta continued to push the Patriots closer to the end zone but Robert Alford dashed those dreams by intercepting Brady’s pass and returning it for an 82 yard touchdown to put the Falcons up 21-0. 

In the waning seconds of the first half, Brady was determined to get the Patriots in the end zone, but New England had to settle for a 41 yard field goal setting up a 21-3 contest heading into the half. 

The third quarter of the game saw Trevor Coleman catch a six yard pass from Ryan to put Atlanta up 28-3 in the middle of the quarter while the Patriots finally got a touchdown as Brady connected with White, but the extra point attempt bounced off the up-rights making it a 28-9 contest. 

Early in the fourth quarter, the Patriots threatened to find the end zone, but had to settle for a field goal to cut the Falcons’ lead down to 28-12 thanks to Atlanta sacking Brady twice. Then in the middle of the quarter, the Patriots were able to sack Ryan and recover his fumble to push their way towards the end zone where Brady found Danny Amendola for a six yard touchdown and a two point conversion run by James White made it 28-20. 

Pre-Game Facts

The Falcons represented the NFC against the Patriots of the AFC. The Falcons play in the NFC South division while the Patriots play in the AFC East division.

New England entered the contest with four Super Bowls victories (2001, 2003, 2004 and 2014) while making 24 playoff appearances. The team has won 19 division titles with one coming as a member of the AFL East (1963) and the rest coming as members of the AFC East (1978, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and this season) and nine conference championships (1985, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2014 and this season). The team has appeared in nine Super Bowls, including this season’s.

Meanwhile, Atlanta entered the game having never won a Super Bowl, having only made it once before in 1998, but they have claimed two conference championships: the first in 1998 and the second being this season. As for division championships, the Falcons won the NFC West in 1980 and 1998 before claiming NFC South division championships in 2004, 2010, 2012 and this season. The organization has appeared in the NFL playoffs 13 times.

Quarterbacks Highlight Super Bowl LI Headlines

The quarterback is the backbone of any good football team and this is true of both the Falcons and the Patriots as both team’s star quarterbacks have been the highlight of Super Bowl LI headlines. Matt Ryan, the Falcons quarterback, was awarded the 2016 NFL Most Valuable Player award on the eve of the Super Bowl and became the first player in the Falcons history to win the award, according to ESPN. Meanwhile, New England’s Tom Brady started the season off by reluctantly serving a four game suspension as a fallout of Deflategate. 

New England’s Road to the Super Bowl

The Patriots opened the season with a three game winning streak thanks to victories over the Arizona Cardinals (23-21), Miami Dolphins (31-24) and Houston Texans (27-0). New England then suffered a 16-0 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills before embarking on a four game win streak with wins over the Cleveland Browns (33-13), Cincinnati Bengals (35-17), Pittsburgh Steelers (27-16) and Buffalo Bills (41-25).

Coming off a bye week, the Patriots fell to the Seattle Seahwaks (31-24), but rebounded with wins over the San Francisco 49ers (30-17), New York Jets (22-17), Los Angeles Rams (26-10), Baltimore Ravens (30-23), Denver Broncos (16-3), New York Jets (41-3) and Miami Dolphins (35-14).

In the AFC Divisional Round, the Patriots knocked off the Houston Texans (34-16). In the AFC Championship, New England defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers (36-17).

Atlanta’s Road to the Super Bowl

The Falcons season opened the year with a home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (31-24) before starting a four game win streak with wins over the Oakland Raiders (35-28), New Orleans Saints (45-32), Carolina Panthers (48-33) and Denver Broncos (23-16). The Falcons then dropped two in a row, with both losses being nail-biters: 26-24 on the West Coast against the Seattle Seahawks and the second being at home against the San Diego Chargers 33-30 in overtime. 

Atlanta rebounded and claimed wins over the Green Bay Packers (33-32) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (43-28) before falling on the road to the Philadelphia Eagles (24-15). After a bye week, the team knocked off the Arizona Cardinals (38-19), fell to the Kansas City Chiefs (29-28), and then embarked on a long winning streak with wins over the Los Angeles Rams (42-14), San Francisco 49ers (41-13), Carolina Panthers (33-16) and New Orleans Saints (38-32) to close out the regular season.

The Falcons opened the NFC Divisional Round with a 36-20 victory over the Seattle Seahawks before knocking off the Green Bay Packers 44-21 in the NFC Championship Game. 

Reach George Harvey and the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.