Cue the duck boats. They did it, again. Today, most New England Patriots’ fans are waking up in awe, questioning whether or not last night was a dream. Did the Patriots come back from a 28-3 deficit to defeat Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51? You bet they did. In historic fashion, the New England Patriots rallied in the fourth quarter like no team has done before, sending the game into a thrilling overtime where they would eventually win 34-28. Sunday night, with Tom Brady leading the charge, the Patriots’ organization did their job and won one more.
Scoring only a field goal in their first seven drives, the Patriots struggled throughout the first half, unable to capitalize on opportunities and pressured on offense by the Falcon’s ability to halt their running game. With a fumble by running back, Legarette Blount, an interception by Brady and with other miscues, the Patriots failed to execute their game plan on several fronts, allowing the Falcons to score 21 points in the second quarter. While they headed into the locker room down by 25 points at half, one thing was certainly not down—their attitudes.
“At halftime, I would say we weren’t down at all,” Brady said to reporters. “We were disappointed in the way we played, and we knew that we could go out and do a lot better in the second half.”
Both the huge strip-sack by linebacker Dont’a Hightower in the fourth quarter and Julian Edelman’s astonishing 23-yard fingertip snatch shifted the momentum to New England, propelling them to score on their final five possessions—despite being down by 19 with less than ten minutes left in regulation. New England fans were revamped with hope after two necessary touchdowns, followed by two, even bigger 2-point conversions; the Patriots were finally back in business.
Able to shutdown the MVP of the National Football League, Matt Ryan, the Pats benefited from a holding penalty against the Falcons, which prevented a potential Falcon field goal attempt with little time left on the clock. On the Fox broadcast following the victory, Brady said “We all brought each other back.” With a tie game of 28-28 at the final whistle, the Super Bowl went into overtime for the first time ever. What was not unfamiliar to players, coaches and fans alike though: Tom Brady’s ability to thrive on the biggest stage at the most vital time in arguably, one of the most challenging and important seasons of his career.
Kick starting the 2016 season was Brady’s four-game Deflategate suspension, which forced backup, Jimmy Garoppolo to step in before an injury required rookie, Jacoby Brissett, to take over the quarterback role. Then, losing star tight end, Rob Gronkowski to a back injury proved this season to be more obstacle-filled than ever. At the same time, for Brady personally, this season has been more challenging than others, as his mother, Gaylnn, has been battling an illness. Yet, head coach, Bill Belichick, denied any insinuations that Brady competed harder this season than any other, saying it is “insulting to the tremendous effort and leadership and competitiveness that he’s shown for the 17 years that I have coached him.”
Nonetheless, with evident composure and mental toughness in the comeback win, both characteristic of the New England Patriots’ Organization, the entire team rallied in a combined effort to defy any doubts stemming from the challenges that surrounded this season. Accepting the Vince Lombardi Trophy from NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, who was confronted with loud booing from the Houston crowd, Patriots’ owner, Robert Kraft, said that this comeback victory was “unequivocally the sweetest.”
With confetti falling and the crowd roaring last night at the NGR stadium, emotions were at a high for not only Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichick and the entire organization, but also for Pats’ Nation. In a game that made fans feel just about every human emotion in the span of one football game, the Patriots won their fifth Super Bowl Title. Celebrations erupted throughout New England, specifically at Boston University, Boston College and Umass Amherst among the many college campuses and households alike—celebrations that will only continue into tomorrow at the 11 a.m. parade on the streets of Boston. While James White’s winning touchdown in overtime perhaps won him Brady’s MVP vehicle and secured the team’s fifth title and Brady’s fourth MVP award, the touchdown, for all those watching or playing, determined a game that will never be forgotten, Patriots fan or not.