WGL Sports Performer of the Day (2/5/17)
New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady (43/62, 466 yards, 2 TDs)
With 8:36 left in the third quarter, the outcome of Super Bowl LI seemed to be a formality. The Falcons had just scored another touchdown to take a 28-3 lead to go up by 25. Keep in mind that no team had overcome a deficit of more than 10 points in the history of the Super Bowl. Don’t tell the Patriots that. They got the ball back and methodically moved down the field on a 13 play, 75-yard drive that took over six minutes and was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to James White. Still, the Patriots would go into the fourth quarter down 28-9. Never mind scoring three times. The Pats’ defense would have to get three consecutive stops against the seventh highest scoring offense in NFL history to even have a chance.
The Patriots got the first stop, and it led to a 33-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. The score made it a two-possession game, but the Patriots still had to make up a 16-point deficit in under 10 minutes. On the ensuing Atlanta possession, the Patriots forced a fumble of Matt Ryan, giving the Patriots the short field they needed to make things interesting. Brady quickly drove his team down the field, finding Danny Amendola in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown. A successful two-point conversion made it 28-20. The Falcons then had a chance to put the game away for good on their next drive. An insane catch by Julio Jones put the ball at the New England 22-yard line, but from that point, the Falcons moved backwards. A crippling sack followed by a holding penalty took the team out of field goal range, giving Brady three minutes and change to do the unthinkable.
On that final drive of regulation, Brady showed why, even at 39 years of age, he is still as good as any quarterback in the game. Starting at their own 9-yard line, Brady marched the team all the way down the field, throwing for 90 yards before the drive was capped with a 1-yard run by James White. Brady was a bit fortuitous though. On a pass that was tipped and could have been intercepted, Julian Edelman was able to make a miraculous 23-yard catch to keep the drive alive. Still, even after the White touchdown, the Patriots needed a two-point conversion or everything else would be a moot point. Brady came through yet again, throwing a wide receiver screen to Amendola, who fought his way across the goal line to tie the score at 28-28.
For the first time in Super Bowl history, and against all odds, there would be an overtime period to decide the champion. The Patriots won the coin toss, meaning an exhausted Falcons defense would be left with the near impossible task of slowing a legend down and preventing what now seemed to be inevitable. On that overtime drive, the Patriots took the ball 73 yards down the field to the 2-yard line with Brady throwing for 50 of those yards. On 1st and goal, the Patriots nearly made the same disastrous mistake that the Seahawks made in Super Bowl XLIX, which gifted New England the title. Brady floated a pass to the corner of the end zone for Martellus Bennett, and it was almost picked off by Vic Beasley. On 2nd and goal, the Patriots took no chances, with White punching it in from two yards out. Improbably, the Patriots had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, overcoming the Falcons by the score of 34-28 and winning the fifth Super Bowl in their franchise’s history.
If there was any doubt coming into this game, there can be no more room for debate. Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback, no, GREATEST PLAYER in NFL history. With his team down 28-3 in the second half, he refused to mail it in. He and his team kept believing, taking things one play at a time, and he methodically made the impossible look probable. Brady engineered the greatest comeback in the history of the Super Bowl, his team outscoring the Falcons 19-0 in the fourth quarter before winning it in overtime. Brady was 43/62 and threw for 466 yards and 2 touchdowns. He set single game Super Bowl records for completions, attempts, and yards. And most importantly, Brady became the first quarterback in the history of the game to win five Super Bowl rings. The stats, the longevity, the playoff success, the rings. It all adds up to one thing: Brady is the GOAT, and as his career winds down, there is nothing he or anyone else can do to change that fact.
