Super Bowl LI Recap: Patriots Rally Past Falcons, 34-28, in OT
James White scored on a 2-yard run in overtime, and the New England Patriots came back to beat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28, in Super Bowl LI in Houston on Sunday night. Rallying his team from a huge deficit, game MVP Tom Brady became the first quarterback to win five Super Bowls and four most valuable player awards in the NFL’s biggest game.
New England (17-2) rallied from a 25-point second half deficit - the largest comeback in the game’s history - to claim its fifth Lombardi Trophy in the NFL championship’s first ever overtime game. The Patriots tallied 19 points in the fourth quarter, including two 2-point conversions that allowed them to force the extra session.
Thanks to two first-half turnovers by the Pats, including a pick-six thrown by Brady, Atlanta (13-6) led 21-0 in the first half and 21-3 at halftime. The Falcons extended the lead to 28-3 early in the third quarter when Matt Ryan hit Tevin Coleman with a six-yard TD pass.
Brady then led New England to an epic comeback, helped by a fading Atlanta defense and a Ryan fumble with 8:31 left to play that aided the rally.
Up 28-20, the Falcons were deep in Patriots territory with under three minutes to play, but a sack and a holding penalty took Atlanta out of field goal range and gave New England a chance to tie.
Brady completed a 6-yard TD pass to Danny Amendola with 57 seconds left in regulation, with the Patriots tying the game on a 1-yard run by White for the conversion to make it 28-28. Julian Edelman made an amazing catch that extended the drive that led to the game-tying score.
New England won the coin toss in overtime and elected to take the ball on its way to its fifth Super Bowl title. Brady finished 43 for 62 for a game record-466 yards and two touchdowns. White had 14 receptions for 110 yards, and he scored three times.
Ryan completed 17 of 23 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns for Atlanta. Devonta Freeman carried 11 times for 75 yards and a score. Julio Jones caught four passes for 87 yards.
With the victory, Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick became the first NFL coach with five Super Bowl titles.