BY JOSH HAGANS
After falling behind 28-3 the patriots rattled off 31 unanswered points to win in the first ever overtime in Super Bowl history. Despite history being made the game was not exciting from the beginning. At one point it looked like the Falcons were going to run away with the win in blowout fashion, but little did we know that it was only the beginning.
“For all Falcons fans, I take full responsibility for that game. I already named Atlanta as Super Bowl 51 champs and then the comeback happened. I am sorry,” said Carl Pennington, 10.
Although the falcons were already up 14-0 the key play of the half came with under three minutes left. The Patriots were driving down the field trying to cut the deficit in half until, quarterback Tom Brady’s third down pass was intercepted and returned for an 82 yard touchdown by Cornerback Robert Alford, making it a 21-0. New England tacked on a field goal before half making it an 21-3.
Atlanta’s second drive after half was set up by some key catches that led to a 6-yard touchdown by running back Tevin Colemen to go up 28-3. Many people thought it was surely impossible for the Patriots to even make a comeback. The biggest deficit to be overcome in Super Bowl era was 10, until Sunday night when Tom Brady and the Patriots pulled off the unthinkable.
“Originally I was rooting for the Falcons just because who doesn’t love an underdog and then after they blew a 25 point lead and the Patriots won I was not mad because I love a close football game,” said Andrew McNutt, 12.
Tom Brady and the Patriots were not going away without a fight. Brady drove down the field and responded with a 5-yard touchdown run by Running back James White. The Patriots failed to convert on the extra point and trailed by 28-9.
The Patriots were down 16 points with less than 10 minutes left, it was only a two-score game, but the comeback still seemed far out of reach. Fortunately on the next drive quarterback Matt Ryan fumbled on third and one setting up short field for the patriots. Brady ended up finding wide receiver Danny Amendola for the touchdown and was followed up by running back James White for the two point conversion to make the game 28-20 with under six minutes to go.
It seemed as if Atlanta had sealed the game with them in field goal range until Matt Ryan took a sack followed up by a holding call on the offensive line, pushing them out of field goal range and forced them to punt.
“It seemed as if everything that could go wrong was going wrong for Atlanta on that drive,” said Derek Kraft, 11.
And then it happened, Tom Brady and the Patriots drove down the length of the field that included a catch from wide receiver Julian Edelman that will go down as one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl History. The drive ended in with a 1-yard touchdown run from White and then sealed the greatest comeback with the two point conversion to Amendola sending it to the first overtime in Super Bowl history.
New England won the coin toss in overtime and marched down the field. On 2nd-and-goal from the two yard line, White punched the game winner for the Patriots with the final 34-28.
“After the comeback was complete I came to the realization that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are some of the greatest of all time,” said Andrew McNutt, 12.
No team had ever made up more than a 10-point deficit to win a Super Bowl. Brady led the Patriots on five straight scoring drives that equaled 31 straight points. The last touchdown wrapped up a 34-28 victory, yet felt inevitable despite coming in the first-ever overtime in the Super Bowl’s 51-year history and led to Brady fifth super bowl victory.
