No.3 Biggest comeback in a Super Bowl ever

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Brady winning his 5th Super Bowl

Number 3 well it has to be the only game that went to overtime. The Patriots were returning to Houston. Meanwhile their opponents the Atlanta Falcons were looking to end successive failing seasons. It was also Atlanta's second Super Bowl appearance the last was when they lost Super Bowl 33 to John Elway's Denver Broncos.

The Patriot's 2016 season started off with Tom Brady missing 4 games because of the 2014 deflate-gate scandal. However, despite that, they still made it to the playoffs with a 12-4 record and the Number 1 seed in the AFC. The one difference for the Patriots in this Super Bowl compared to last time was that they were without Gronkowski because he was out with a season-ending back injury. They also traded Jamie Collins in the regular season, and Vince Wilfork left the team after the Super Bowl victory 2 years earlier. However, despite that, the team went back after defeating the Houston Texans in the divisional round 34-16 and then in the AFC Championship they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17.
RB Devonta Freeman with a diving touchdown

The Atlanta Falcons finished second in the NFC with an 11-5 record. Matt Ryan was the league MVP that season throwing for nearly 5,00 yards and 38 touchdowns with only 373 completions. His favourite target was Julio Jones, who had been there since 2011 and worked well with Ryan. His other targets were Mohamed Sanu and Tyler Gabriel. Their running back corps was also something to keep an eye on with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman providing a dual running back threat and taking some pressure off Matt Ryan's shoulders. Their defence was full of superstars in Dwight Freeney, Keanu Neal, Vic Beasley and Ricardo Allen. However, they finished 27th in points allowed. Their road to the Super Bowl began with a 36-20 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, and then they defeated the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship 44-21 in what turned out to be their final game in their old stadium the Georgia Dome.

Austin Hooper with the touchdown
The first quarter of the game was a scoreless quarter with both defences holding firm against each other. Then at the start of the 2nd quarter, the Falcons jumped the game to life with a 5 play 71-yard touchdown drive with Freeman scoring on a 5 yard run in less than 2 minutes. They made it 14-0 just a couple of minutes later as they did the same formula however Matt Ryan threw the touchdown pass to Austin Hooper. New England knew they had to score quick and take time off the clock. However, on 3rd and 6 in Atlanta territory Robert Alford intercepted the pass thrown by Brady and returned it 82 yards even evading a Brady tackle to make it 21-0. Brady went back out and drove the Patriots to the 20-yard line in Atlanta's half when they were stalled, and Stephen Gostowski kicked a field goal to make it 21-3 Falcons at halftime.
Lady Gaga doing the halftime show for that year.

After Lady Gaga performed the halftime show. The Patriots wanted to get a touchdown to settle their fans' nerves down. However, they didn't score first Atlanta did. Coleman scored a 6-yard touchdown catch to make it 28-3. The feeling was that it would be impossible for the Patriots to come back. The largest a team has ever come back from a deficit in the Super Bowl was 10 points. New England was down by 25. They then started to make it happen with a 13 play 75-yard drive capped off with James White catching a 5-yard touchdown pass however Gostowski missed the extra point which made it 28-9 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
One of the craziest catches ever


They still had it all to play for in the 4th quarter. The Patriots made a quick start going 12 plays for 72 yards for Gostowski to kick a field go to make it 28-12 with less than 10 minutes to go. After Donta Hightower forced a fumble and recovered the ball on the Atlanta 25 yard line, the Patriots scored their second touchdown and White ran in the 2 point conversion which made it 28-20. After Atlanta punted the ball to pin the Patriots deep in their own territory, Brady just said let's finish the job and drove the ball downfield 91 yards in 10 plays, and Amendola caught the 2 point conversion to make it 28-28. The game then went into overtime, and the Patriots completed the come back with White running the ball in after the Patriots went 75 yards in 8 plays.
James White sealing the win.

Brady was the MVP again with 43 completions for 466 yards and 2 touchdowns. James White could also have won the MVP with 132 combined yards and 3 touchdowns. Meanwhile, for the Falcons Matt Ryan went for 284 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 completions. Freeman was the highest rusher with 75 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries. Jones was their leading receiver with 87 yards on 4 completions.

Only 2 more to go.

KRO Mark

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