The Greatest Superbowl of All time - Patriots vs Falcons: Superbowl LI
The Greatest Superbowl of All-time: The New England Patriots vs. The Atlanta Falcons - Superbowl 51
Sporting News, Athalon, USA Today and even Ticketmaster all agree that there is one definitive Greatest Super Bowl of All Time.
It included the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, the only overtime quarter in Super Bowl history, a dynasty and the greatest quarterback and coach of all time.
We are talking about Super Bowl 51 played in 2017 between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons in Houston, Texas.
The Patriots were just two years removed from winning a thrilling Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks that came down to the very last second and will remain the darling of NFL trivia quiz masters for years to come.
The Falcons had not been in a Super Bowl since 1998 when they lost to John Elway’s Denver Broncos.
To begin the NFL season, the Patriots were without their star quarterback Tom Brady for four games as a result of “Deflategate.” Brady would have to sit out the first four, although the Patriots were unphased by his absence as they went 3-1.
During the regular season, the Patriots went 14-2 with losses to only the Seahawks and Buffalo Bills. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons went 11-5, good enough for first place in the NFC South.
Let’s take a look at some of the key players of Superbowl LI:
The New England Patriots Key Players
Tom Brady
The greatest Super Bowl-era quarterback to ever live and he was going for Super Bowl win number five.
Brady had a horrendous first half of the Super Bowl, putting up just three points at halftime and doing almost nothing on offense.
But Tom Brady turned things around, and the guy who threw just two interceptions the whole season charged his team back.
Julian Edelman
Edelman was Brady’s right-hand man with Rob Gronkowski.
It was Edelman who bailed out Brady with one of the most impressive catches in Super Bowl history. In 2016, Edelman caught 98 passes for over 1,110 yards receiving.
Bill Belichick
He is the greatest NFL coach of all time. Belichick owns the greatest dynasty that the National Football League has ever seen.
Losing at this point, only to his former team, the New York Giants, in Super Bowls, Belichick didn’t want to add another team to the list.
He currently ranks third all-time in most wins by an NFL head coach.
The Atlanta Falcons
Matt Ryan
Matt Ryan has always been a solid NFL quarterback but in 2016 he had his best season yet.
He threw for over 4,900 yards, 38 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.
Ryan was masterful during the regular season and then had impressive playoff wins against the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers, putting up 36 and 44 points, respectively in two games that weren’t even close.
Julio Jones
Julio Jones has been etching his name into the NFL history books for some time now, making himself one of the top wide receivers to ever play the game of football.
On 83 receptions, Jones caught for over 1,400 yards during the 2016 campaign. He added 87 yards in that year’s Super Bowl.
Jones has been to seven Pro Bowls and has two First-Team All-Pro honours under his belt.
Devonta Freeman
Devonta Freeman looked like he was going to be one of the most dominating backs in the league for a long time to come after his 2016 campaign.
He rushed for 1,079 yards and 11 touchdowns to go along with over 400 receiving yards in a season where he was selected to the Pro Bowl.
Freeman had 75 rushing yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl 51.
Heading into Superbowl LI
The Patriots were coming into Super Bowl 51 as a three-point betting favourite, favoured to win at -150 odds.
Of course they were, this is a dynastic team going up against a franchise that hadn’t sniffed the Super Bowl or legitimate playoff runs in over a decade.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have made regular appearances in Super Bowls so it was truly no surprise to see them there again.
That is why the start of this game was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, unprecedented and unpredictable by even the football gods themselves.
After no scoring in the first quarter, Atlanta scored 21 points before New England made a field goal with two seconds left in the second quarter, to make it a 21–3 halftime lead.
The Falcons then took a 28–3 midway through the third quarter, with quarterback Matt Ryan completing his second touchdown pass.
There was a complete shock that the Falcons were manhandling the best Super Bowl team to ever exist. With a 25-point lead, this is where things got exciting.
“At halftime, I would say we weren’t down at all,” Brady said. “We were disappointed in the way we played, and we knew that we could go out and do a lot better in the second half.”
Brady didn’t feel out of it because he rejuvenated his team when they needed him most.
He found James White and Danny Amendola for short touchdowns and a field goal from kicker Stephen Gostowski made it a 28-20 game with little time left in the fourth quarter.
Then, with a drive that took just over two minutes and 10 plays that drove the Patriots down the field, James White found the end-zone from one yard out to make it a two-point game with just 57 seconds remaining.
Brady then found Danny Amendola to convert the two-point conversion and the game was tied at 28 points a piece.
They scored 25 unanswered points to force an overtime, the first ever in Super Bowl history.
“You know, we all brought each other back,” Tom Brady said. “We never felt out of it. It was a tough battle. They have a great team. I give them a lot of credit. We just made a few more plays than them.”
Overtime
In overtime, it took the Patriots almost no time at all.
The hero of the game, James White, took a hand-off from the two-yard line after 7 plays got him there and scored the winning touchdown.
It was Tom Brady’s fifth Super Bowl win and fifth for owner Robert Kraft, but it was the most impressive and as they describe it, the sweetest ever.
“This is unequivocally the sweetest,’’ said team owner Robert Kraft after that long-awaited, awkward moment when commissioner Roger Goodell handed him the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“Yeah, they’re all sweet,’’ said Brady, when asked if this was the best, considering the Deflategate saga of the past two seasons.
“They’re all different and this was just an incredible team and I’m just happy to be a part of it. It’s just a great group of coaches and teammates and we overcame a lot of different things and it’s all worth it.’’
The Falcons had blown the biggest lead in Super Bowl history. At the height of their lead, they were given a 99.6 %chance to be Super Bowl Champions.
The Patriots were able to put up 446 yards, with almost all of them coming in the second half to pull off the miracle and complete the story of the best Superbowl of all time.
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