New England Patriots Revenge Tour 2016-17 NFL Champions

The 25 point deficit is the largest in Super Bowl history, before that it was 10 points. With this win Tom Brady has earned five Super Bowl wins the most for a starting quarterback along with four Super Bowl MVP awards while head coach Bill Belichick also with 5 as a head coach all three are an NFL record. Brady and Hall of Famer defensive end Charles Haley are the only two players in NFL history with five Super Bowl wins. Tom Brady is not only the greatest quarterback in NFL history but I think the greatest player I have ever seen. Bill Belichick greatest Head Coach I have ever seen, they are the best duo in NFL history. Oh my goodness what a game.I had the feeling we were going to have a really fun Super Bowl at NRG Stadium in Houston Texas with the Falcons and Patriots. The night before the Super Bowl Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Matt Ryan won his first MVP award. The last 8 players to win an MVP and play in the Super Bowl all have gone on to lose the Super Bowl. The last player to win an MVP and Super Bowl in the same season was quarterback Kurt Warner of the 1999 St Louis Rams who was just recently elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame over the weekend.

I think the biggest match up in the Super Bowl would be this high flying Falcons offense which was number one in scoring offense against the Patriots defense which was number one in scoring defense. This is the sixth Super Bowl to feature the number one scoring offense against the number one scoring defense, the top scoring defensive team has won four out of the last 5 Super Bowls. I was also very interested in seeing how the Patriots would defend against probably the best receiver in football in Julio Jones who is a match up nightmare because of his size, speed, hands and blocking skills.

I was really impressed with the Falcons young defense which featured a lot of rookies and some second year players. Falcons head coach Dan Quinn was the Seahawks former defensive coordinator this is his third Super Bowl in the last four years. They showed they are a fast defense by swarming to the ball and putting pressure on Tom Brady. I really like a lot of their young players like Vic Beasley, Grady Jarrett who tied a Super Bowl single game record of 3 sacks, Jalen Collins, Keanu Neal, Deion Jones and many other players on that defense. They knew they had a big challenge going up against the best quarterback ever in Tom Brady.

The first quarter ended scoreless. Near the beginning of the second quarter the Patriots were driving towards a score but Pats running back LeGarrette Blount fumbled which the Falcons recovered. Matt Ryan led the Falcons powerful offense on a 5 play 71 yard drive which included two key catches by the unstoppable Julio Jones capped off by a Devonta Freeman run from 5 yards out to put the up Falcons 7-0. After the Falcons forced the Patriots to punt they scored another touchdown Ryan to tight end Austin Hooper to make it 14-0 on a 5 play 62 yard drive. On the next Patriots drive the Falcons defense committed some holding penalties to keep the drive alive but as the Patriots were driving again Brady threw an interception in which Falcons cornerback Robert Alford the same guy who recovered the Blount fumble earlier in the second quarter returned 82 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0 Falcons, this was the first pick six that Tom Brady has thrown ever in a post season game. The Patriots were able to get a field goal right before halftime to make it 21-3. Lady Gaga had an amazing performance at halftime.

When Matt Ryan led the Falcons on a touchdown drive which was highlighted by a Ryan to Taylor Gabriel for 35 yards which ended with a Matt Ryan flare pass to running back Tevin Coleman to make it Falcons 28 Patriots 3, I was asking myself can the Patriots really make this comeback in a Super Bowl. I have said this many times before never count out Tom Brady and the Patriots. Tom Brady did lead a touchdown drive down the field when he connected with his running back James White to make it 28-9, but then the Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed the extra point to keep it at 28-9. On the drive Brady was able to keep the drive alive with a 4th down conversion throw to Danny Amendola and a 15 yard scramble by Tom Brady when he was feeling the pass rush.

In the fourth quarter the Patriots were able to force the Falcons to punt and then Brady led his team to a field goal to make it 28-12. As the Falcons were facing a third and one from their own 36 yard line Matt Ryan dropped back to pass and was sacked by Patriots stud linebacker Dont’a Hightower who came on a blitz and I don’t know how Falcons running back Devonta Freeman wasn’t able to pick up that blitz which led to Hightower forcing a fumble on Matt Ryan where Alan Branch of the Patriots recovered it giving the Patriots excellent field position at the Falcons 25 yard line. Why not run the ball with Freeman who was having an excellent night for the Falcons? Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan made some questionable play calls in this Super Bowl. Tom Brady led his team on a 5 play 25 yard drive which was capped off by a Brady to Danny Amendola touchdown pass which was followed by an James White two point conversion where he took the direct snap into the end zone to make it a 28-20 Falcons lead, oh my gosh we have a ball game here.

Matt Ryan hit running back Devonta Freeman for a 39 yard gain to start this drive, two plays later when Matt Ryan hit stud wide out Julio Jones for an amazing 27 yard catch to the Patriots 22 yard line where he was able to grab the ball up high with amazing coverage by Patriots cornerback Eric Rowe along the sidelines as he was able to hang onto the ball and keep his feet inbounds which was amazing that was the catch of the Super Bowl until the next drive of the game. After Devonta Freeman was stopped for an one yard loss on a run the Falcons offense started going backwards, Trey Flowers who had 2.5 sacks on Matt Ryan sacks him for an -12 yard loss and then Matt Ryan throws a pass to Mohamed Sanu for 9 yards but their was holding by Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews making it an 3rd and 33 and then Ryan throws an incomplete pass. These mistakes cost the Falcons for a shot at a field goal and once again questionable play calling by Kyle Shanahan, if they had run the ball and gain some yardage I think their kicker Matt Bryant would make the field to give to push the lead to an 11 point game and give the Falcons breathing room but oops. When you play Tom Brady and the Patriots you must run the ball and keep him on the sidelines as much as possible and burn the clock down.

Tom Brady then started his game tying drive from his own 9 yard line with key completions to guys like Chris Hogan, rookie Malcolm Mitchell Danny Amendola and James White but I want to talk about the best Super Bowl catch from Julian Edelman. Facing a first and 10 from their own 36 yard line Brady threw the ball where Robert Alford tipped the ball up in the air and as the ball was about to hit the ground and rolled off the leg of Alford and Edelman with amazing concentration dived and caught that ball. I was saying to myself this was like the David Tyree catch in Super Bowl 42 where he caught the ball and pinned his helmet on the Giants game winning drive against the Patriots but this was the Patriots version of a Tyree catch where it was amazing. Brady then hit key completions to Amendola and White to setup the James White one yard touchdown which was followed by Brady to Amendola for the game tying two point conversion to tie the game at 28. Brady marched his team on an 10 play 91 yard drive to tie the game. Oh my goodness, are you kidding me the Patriots were down 28-3 and were able to force overtime in a Super Bowl??????

For the first time in Super Bowl history we have overtime. As the Patriots won the coin toss I knew they were going to win the game, remember in overtime a touchdown or a safety wins the game, if they get a field goal then the Falcons have a chance to tie or win the game. Brady led his team on an 8 play 75 yard drive to win the Super Bowl. The key plays on the drive were a Brady pass to Amendola for 14 yards, Brady to Hogan for 18 yards, Brady to Edelman for 15 yards and when Brady was going for tight end Martellus Bennett in the end zone pass inference on the defense where the Falcons defender clearly interfered with Bennett which put the ball on the Falcons two yard line. After Brady tried to throw a fade pass to Bennett which was broken up by Vic Beasley I was saying remember in Super Bowl 49 right near the goal line Seahawks Quarterback Russell Wilson threw the killer interception which the Seahawks a chance to repeat. On a pitch to James White as he was being tackled he was able to stretch out the ball for the game winning touchdown as the Patriots completes the amazing comeback.

Tom Brady was very emotional after the game as he said he wanted to win this game for his mom who is currently batting chemo which is a type of cancer which is such an amazing story. Tom Brady was asked by someone earlier in the week who is his hero was and he said his dad which is an amazing story as well. The Tom Brady revenge tour is complete it was so cool seeing commissioner Roger Goodell hand the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Patriots owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick and Tom Brady after that deflategate saga. He was booed so loudly by all the Patriot fans at the stadium. On Monday Morning it was so cool as well seeing Roger Goodell hand the Super Bowl MVP trophy to Tom Brady where they posed together for a picture. I personally think this was a mixture of a Falcons collapse and a Patriots comeback. I do feel bad for the Atlanta Falcons for blowing this game.

Super Bowl 51 MVP Tom Brady set a Super Bowl single game record with 43 completions in 62 attempts for 466 yards. Brady had 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Meanwhile Matt Ryan went 17/23 for 284 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions for a quarterback rating of 144.1 which is the highest for a Super Bowl losing quarterback. Both Brady and Ryan got sacked five times. James White set a Super Bowl record with 14 receptions and 20 points in a single game which was three touchdowns and a two point conversion. The Patriots ran 93 plays from scrimmage a Super Bowl record and I think the Falcons defense got tired at the end while the Falcons only ran 46 plays. I don’t understand how Devonta Freeman only had 11 carries for 75 yards. Julio Jones only had 4 catches for 87 yards with one catch in the second half. Brady got plenty of help from James White 14 catches for 110 yards along with 31 yards on the ground with 3 total touchdowns along with Julian Edelman five catches for 87 yards, Danny Amendola eight catches for 78 yards and a touchdown, Malcolm Mitchell a rookie six catches for 70 yards , Chris Hogan a former lacrosse player at Monmouth had four catches for 57 yards and tight end Martellus Bennett five catches for 62 yards while star tight end Rob Gronkowski didn’t even play because of a season ending back injury suffered during the mid season point.

The Patriots first lead of the game came at the very end of the game which was mind boggling. So many records were shattered or tied in this Super Bowl. I personally think this was the best Super Bowl I have ever seen even though it included a comeback from a huge deficit. From the Villanova buzzer beater to beat North Carolina in the College Basketball National Championship to LeBron James leading his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA Championship over the Golden State Warriors who won 73 games during the regular season to my hometown Chicago Cubs finally winning the World Series in 10 thrilling innings at the Cleveland Indians to Clemson beating Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship with one second left to this incredible Super Bowl. These last 12 months have been amazing as a die hard sports fan.