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HOUSTON >> As soon as New England won the toss it was all over but the booing of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as he hastily handed off the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LI.
From midway through the second period until the end of one of the more entertaining football games in professional playoff history, the Atlanta defense spent so much time on the field, the offense didn’t even need to take a shower by game’s end.
Down by 21 in the first half and 28-3 in the third quarter with 8:31 remaining, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick sealed their fate as the best quarterback-coach combo in NFL history by coming back to win a fifth Super Bowl since 2001. Granted, Atlanta helped with some of the most boneheaded calls anyone can imagine to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by James White in the overtime period to give New England a 34-28 victory that will be remembered long after the 70,000-plus fans gathered Sunday in NRG Stadium are dead and buried.
Brady engineered one masterful drive after another, never believing the Patriots were DOA themselves as the Falcons figured they had Vince Lombardi’s hardware locked away in the trophy case.
Oh, coach Dan Quinn, you figured wrong.
31 unanswered points
Running 93 offensive plays to the Falcons’ 46, New England scored 31 unanswered points in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history to secure the improbable victory. Well, maybe not so improbable when you consider Atlanta lost five games this year leading in the fourth quarter. These guys just can’t stand prosperity.
Brady completed 43 of 66 passes for 466 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked five times, threw a pick-six, but competed the way Charles Barkley believes LeBron James should. White not only scored the game-winning touchdown, he caught 14 passes for 110 yards and another score to help seal the deal.
A little luck
Oh, there were some fortunate bounces for the Patriots along the way, some incredible catches and even more definable moments for Brady and particularly Danny Amendola on his 20-yard snag on the game-tying drive that will go down in Super Bowl lore as the one that convinced those watching the game that the Patriots were destiny’s child after all.
When they won the OT toss, there was no way Atlanta’s running-on-empty defense was going to stop New England. Brady engineered touchdown drives of 75, 72, 25, 91 and 75 yards in the second half against a hapless Falcons defense that couldn’t get out of its own way.
It didn’t hurt that Atlanta’s offensive play-calling was so bad that it allowed New England time to get back in it. Holding penalties and incomplete passes kept time on the clock to give Brady all he needed to track down the NFC champions.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan didn’t play that badly, completing 17 of 23 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns, but he had a costly turnover and was sacked five times to allow Brady to complete the greatest fourth- quarter comeback in postseason play.
The Patriots won the game without ever leading in regulation. There have been 17 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or later in Super Bowl history and Brady has executed five of them. Brady and Belichick have won 25 playoff games together since the 2002 AFC Divisional win over Oakland, also in OT.
New England is the fourth team in NFL history with five Super Bowl wins, joining Dallas and San Francisco. Pittsburgh leads the way with six. Strange as it may seem, this six-point victory was the largest winning margin in Super Bowl games for New England. The five wins have come by a total of 19 points. But the best moment of the night was when Goodell handed over the Lombardi Trophy to owner Robert Kraft.
Voices of disapproval
The den of boos was so loud, you could barely hear what Goodell said. But when Kraft spoke, he conceded this was the sweetest Super Bowl win of them all and said it with such passion, Goodell should find an Academy Award to give Kraft as well.
Goodell couldn’t get his congratulatory speech said fast enough and will never be welcome again in New England no matter how long he holds the keys to the kingdom. Belichick insisted this one was all about the team that won 14 times during the regular season, but you can bet there will be a night in the not-so-distant future when Brady, Belichick and Kraft will toast one for all those who booed Goodell off the grandest stage of them all.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser sports editor Paul Arnett is reporting on the Super Bowl from Houston.
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