HOUSTON — The story of the greatest rally in Super Bowl history and one of the greatest comebacks in the championship of a major sport cannot be told without the story of a remarkable collapse.
There’s no kind way to put it. No sugarcoating. No silver lining in Super Bowl LI. This was an epic collapse by the Falcons, a professional franchise with little in the way of postseason history since entering the NFL in 1966. They’d made one previous Super Bowl appearance 18 years ago, a championship best remembered as John Elway’s final game.
Tom Brady’s fifth Super Bowl championship in concert with coach Bill Belichick added another chapter to the greatest dynasty of the modern NFL.
But it also will be recalled for the unbelievable meltdown by the Falcons, who disintegrated with a 28-3 lead in the third quarter to lose 34-28 in overtime Sunday night when James White scored on a 2-yard run 4 minutes, 58 seconds into the first overtime period in Super Bowl history.
“No doubt that was a tough one for us,” said Falcons coach Dan Quinn, who took over the team just two years ago and did a remarkable job of leading it here. “That’s a hard one in the locker room. No place to put that one mentally for us.”
What began as a shockingly dominating effort by the Falcons turned on them and they could only watch as the Patriots ran away with another trophy and more history. The Falcons were gassed well before the end of the game. The Patriots ran a total of 93 offensive plays, more than double the Falcons’ 46 and that left even the young and speedy Atlanta defense without juice or answers.
The Falcons harassed Brady early and sacked him five times, with Grady Jarrett tying a Super Bowl record with three. That was remarkable considering Brady was sacked just 15 times in the regular season. Brady missed a handful of throws early, Julian Edelman had a couple of drops and the offense was reduced to flares and checkdowns that were making it difficult to move the ball. Heck, in the third quarter the Patriots dialed up a pass by Edelman, a converted college quarterback, who threw an incomplete cross-field wobbler.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Falcons built a 21-0 lead as LeGarrette Blount fumbled and Robert Alford intercepted Brady and returned it 82 yards for a touchdown. It looked like a rout was on and certainly no team had ever recovered from a deficit greater than 10 points in Super Bowl history.
The Falcons defense, which had made real strides in the second half of the season, didn’t have any answers as suddenly Brady was finding his quick receivers open downfield for chunk plays and the Patriots scored on their final five possessions. In overtime, the Patriots needed six plays and a pass-interference call on rookie linebacker De’Vondre Campbell to reach the 2-yard line, where White punched it in.
The Falcons offense was just as culpable. In its final four possessions, the NFL’s highest-scoring offense went three-and-out, three-and-turnover and reached the Patriots’ 22-yard line before going in reverse and mounted no threat on a possession that began in the final 52 seconds of regulation.
“We made a few mistakes,” said quarterback Matt Ryan, who completed 13 of 16 passes for 202 yards through the first three quarters. “Those mistakes cost us.”
The Falcons didn’t play with poise. Patriots linebacker Don’t’a Hightower sacked Ryan and knocked the ball out with Alan Branch recovering to set up Brady’s touchdown pass to Danny Amendola, which brought the Patriots within 28-20 with 5:56 remaining.
Atlanta had a chance to make it a two-possession game and needed three plays to gain 68 yards and reach New England’s 22. It looked like the knockout blow was about to be delivered. But that is when Devonta Freeman was stopped for a 1-yard loss, Trey Flowers sacked Ryan for a 12-yard loss, left tackle Jake Matthews was called for holding and all of a sudden the Falcons were back at the 45-yard line. The worst part? They were wasting no time snapping the ball, leaving more than 20 seconds on the play clock multiple times with a chance to grind out the clock.
“We felt we should have come away with some points,” Ryan said. “We always play aggressive. I’d like to have a few back. I think everyone across the board would like to have a few back. There’s nothing you can really say — tough loss.”
A shocking loss in all regards as it was the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in NFL history.
“We absolutely, positively made history,” Patriots defensive end Chris Long said.
So did the Falcons.
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