Tom Brady, Patriots erase 25-point deficit to win Super Bowl in OT

HOUSTON — They looked old and outmanned. Their star quarterback was frazzled, their stingy defense was a sieve.

So what? Tom Brady and the New England Patriots shrugged and did what they always seem to do: Win the Super Bowl.

Brady led one of the greatest comebacks in sports history highlighted by a Julian Edelman catch that was almost beyond belief. The Patriots pulled themselves out of a 25-point hole against the Atlanta Falcons to a 34-28 win for New England’s fifth NFL championship. It was the first Super Bowl decided in overtime.

“There were a lot of plays that coach talks about, you never know which one is going to be the Super Bowl winner,” said Brady, who earned a record fourth MVP award and a fifth Super Bowl ring, the most for a quarterback. “There were probably 30 of those plays tonight and (if) any one of those were different, the outcome could have been different.”

But down 28-3 in the third quarter, Tom?

“It’s hard to imagine us winning,” the 39-year-old Brady said. “It took a lot of great plays and that’s why you play to the end.”

The Patriots scored 19 points in the final quarter, including a pair of two-point conversions, then marched relentlessly to James White’s 2-yard touchdown run in overtime after winning the coin toss. White (14 catches for 110 yards) scored three touchdowns and a two-pointer.

“We knew we had a shot the whole game,” White said. “It was an amazing comeback by our team. It’s surreal right now. You couldn’t write this script.”

Brady guided the Patriots (17-2) through a tiring Atlanta defense for fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 6-yard pass to Danny Amendola and a 1-yard run by White, which came with 57 seconds remaining in regulation.

Brady finished 43 for 62, the most attempts in Super Bowl history, for 466 yards, also a record, and two touchdowns.

Before the stunning rally, the Falcons (13-6) appeared poised to take their first NFL championship in 51 seasons. Having never been in such a pressurized environment, their previously staunch pass rush disappeared, they stumbled on offense and Brady tore them apart.

“There’s nothing you can really say,” Matt Ryan said. “That’s a tough loss, obviously very disappointing, very close to getting done what we wanted to get done.”

It wasn’t difficult for Patriots owner Robert Kraft as he accepted the Lombardi Trophy from Commissioner Roger Goodell, who naturally drew a flood of boos from New England fans on hand. Yes, “Deflategate” might be far behind Kraft and Brady, but it’s not forgotten.

“Two years ago, we won our fourth Super Bowl down in Arizona and I told our fans that was the sweetest one of all,” Kraft said. “But a lot has transpired over the last two years and I don’t think that needs any explanation.

“I want to say to our fans, our brilliant coaching staff, our amazing players who were so spectacular, this is unequivocally the sweetest.”

Belichick became the first coach with five Super Bowl crowns.

The Patriots won the coin toss for overtime, and by then it was no contest. Brady completed six passes against an overmatched Falcons secondary. A pass-interference call took the ball to the 2, and White scooted to his right and barely over the goal line.

The comeback included dozens of huge plays, including Ryan’s fumble on a sack and Edelman’s gravity-defying catch.

Edelman somehow got his red-gloved hands pinned up against, and then underneath, a Brady pass that bounced off Atlanta cornerback Robert Alford’s hands, hit off his knee, his shin. It almost fell to the turf.

Only it didn’t.

“I knew I caught it,” Edelman said. “I felt like I had it. I didn’t know if maybe a piece of the ball was touching. I don’t know what the dang rule is. Nobody knows what the rule is for a catch. I was like, ‘I’m pretty sure I caught it.’ ”

Review upheld the 23-yard reception, the video clearly showing Edelman first pinning the ball against Alford’s foot, then getting his hands underneath the pigskin as it bounced off the defender.

The Patriots, who trailed 28-3 in the third quarter, scored the last five times they had the ball, including White’s winning run to cap an easy 75-yard drive on the first possession of overtime.

All that transformed Alford from a possible Super Bowl MVP into possibly the most unlucky guy on the Falcons. Late in the first half, he had a pick-6 on Brady that went 82 yards and gave Atlanta a 21-0 lead.

“At the end of the day, all you can control is what you can control,” Alford said. “I saw he made the play. I saw him come down with it. I saw my foot and the ball when he got his hands underneath it. Sometimes, there’s nothing more you can do.”

Never out of it
The five biggest comebacks in Super Bowl history:
Game	Deficit	Final score
LI (2017)	25 (Falcons 28, Patriots 3)	Patriots 34, Falcons 28 (OT)
XLIX (2015)	10 (Seahawks 24, Patriots 14)	Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
XLIV (2010)	10 (Colts 10, Saints 0)	Saints 31, Colts 17
XXII (1988)	10 (Broncos 10, Washington 0)	Washington 42, Broncos 10
XXV (1991)	9 (Bills 12, Giants 3)	Giants 20, Bills 19
Source: Sports Illustrated