Tom Brady Becomes A Legend As Falcons Collapse

Patriots Down 25 Points, Win It In Overtime!

As the clock in the 3rd quarter was approaching 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the scoreboard read 28-3. With just 17 and a half minutes of football left, it would be impossible for any team to score 25 points unanswered in the Super Bowl. Many were even surprised it was the Falcons holding a 28-3 lead, and not a blowout the other way around. Matt Ryan was accurate and making big throws, Devonte Freeman was running hard, and the fast defense was coming up with huge plays. Then Brady threw a touchdown pass to James White as the 3rd was coming to a close, but the Patriots missed the extra point. What else could go wrong tonight after Brady threw a pick-six, the running game was stopped, and multiple throws to Edelman were overthrown. Everything was going wrong for New England as they were heading into the 4th quarter down 28-9. Brady is often compared to Joe Montana, John Elway, and other legends when it comes to his clutch factor, but surely no QB can overcome such a huge deficit in the Super Bowl.

Breaking Down The Historic Collapse

After such a fast-paced first half in which Atlanta’s offense kept making big plays, the second half seemed like an entirely different team. Freeman was no longer able to find space outside the corners. Ryan wasn’t finding Julio Jones at all, or any other receiver on 3rd down for that matter. The defense became sluggish and incapable of slowing down the passing game, allowing Brady to set a Super Bowl record of 466 passing yards. Although Ryan didn’t make any mistakes, he just simply didn’t throw enough in the second half. New England had 93 offensive plays compared to Atlanta’s 46 plays. Atlanta was 1 for 8 on 3rd down conversions, while New England was 7 for 14. Jones was only targeted 4 times, the fewest since his rookie season. It seemed like every time Atlanta made a huge stop on defense, there was a holding call that would give Brady a new set of downs. You simply cannot do that against a QB like Tom Brady. Then there were the two opportunities that the Falcons had great field position in the 4th quarter, and on one of them, got kicked out of field goal range. Once the game went into overtime for the first time in Super Bowl history, everyone knew there was no denying the Patriots. They had complete momentum on their side. Even the faces on the young Falcons defense knew they couldn’t contain the Pats.

What Does This Mean In Terms Of Legacy

New England now has a record 9 appearances in the Super Bowl. Tom Brady now has a 5-2 All-Time Record at the Super Bowl. He broke out of a three-way tie with Joe Montana & Terry Bradshaw, who had 4 apiece. As much fun as it is to hate on the Patriots and Tom Brady, we simply cannot deny the obvious fact. Tom Brady is the greatest QB that ever played football. Considering that throughout most of his career he has had mediocre wide receivers and average running backs, this man has an outstanding resume. Even throughout this playoff run without Rob Gronkowski, he managed to make stars out of Julius Edelman, James White, and Chris Hogan. Let’s be honest with ourselves, these players probably couldn’t even get any snaps on other teams. Yet in New England, they are capable of having multi-touchdown games with tons of yardage. That’s when you have to give credit to Bill Belichick, who has also cemented himself as the greatest coach in the history of the NFL. Sure you’ve had amazing combos throughout NFL history who racked up a lot of seasons wins like Dan Marino and Don Shula, but championships are the most important thing. These guys are winners, and that’s what they seem to always do. They win and win often without any hesitation. We can choose to hate on them, but deep down inside we all know that they rule the NFL until one of them retires many seasons from now. Until then, we can expect to see them in the championship chase every year.