The GOAT Tom Brady, James White and the Atlanta Falcons' game-plan all feature
Tuesday 7 February 2017 06:51, UK
Neil Reynolds picks his favourite moments from Super Bowl LI, including Tom Brady's finest hour for New England Patriots as James White shines bright.
Wow! What a game! After a relatively tepid play-off series in the NFL this January, Tom Brady and his New England Patriots delivered arguably the most incredible Super Bowl in history.
Trailing by a 28-3 scoreline in the second half, the Patriots dug deep and delivered a 34-28 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons, scoring the last 31 points in the game.
Here are six headlines that caught my eye on Super Bowl Sunday.
When he is grey and old, Tom Brady will sit around the fireplace and tell stories of his five Super Bowl wins. He might very well have even more by that time. And he will talk about how he loves each of them the same.
But surely this was his finest hour and his greatest achievement, snatching victory from the almost-clenched-shut jaws of defeat. Down by 25 points and running out of time… already sacked five times in the game, no problem.
Brady kept slinging the rock and eventually wore down the tired Falcons' defence. He threw the ball 62 times, completing 43 of them for 466 yards and two touchdowns. And when the game went into overtime with the ball in his hands, the result was hardly in doubt.
What an absolute legend. More on Tom Terrific later.
The Atlanta Falcons do indeed have a very exciting young defence (seven starters are in their first or second NFL seasons) and they were, as they promised all week long in Houston, playing fast and physical. They flew to the football and broke up passes, harried, harassed and hit Brady, sacking him five times and they generally looked capable of closing out the second half.
But Brady and the Patriots picked up the tempo and Atlanta could not stay on the field on offence, going one of eight on third downs. That meant the Falcons defence spent way too much time on the field and by the last few New England drives, they were puffing and spent.
Losing the coin toss in overtime was a death knell for a tiring defence and so it proved to be. New England ran 93 plays to Atlanta's 46 and that greatest disparity in play-off history proved too much for the Falcons to overcome.
This game was not all about Brady, the genius of Belichick and a second half implosion from the Falcons. There was another unsung hero who stepped to the fore for the Patriots, as so many have done this season.
James White caught a Super Bowl record 14 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, he added six runs for 29 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner, and he added an all-important two-point conversion.
Brady was rightly named the game's Most Valuable Player for bringing his team back from the dead, but White would have been in with a little bit of a shout after his game for the ages that deserves to be remembered and noted.
Back in the 2007 NFL season and that year's Super Bowl, the New England Patriots were undone by a miracle catch from New York Giants wide receiver David Tyree, who trapped a pass against his helmet on the Big Blue's game-winning drive.
On Sunday, it was New England's turn and it came on the game-tying march with Julian Edelman ridiculously snaring a batted pass that he had already bobbled about one inch from the turf.
There are very few words to describe the greatness of a catch that looked difficult enough to make in high definition slow motion, let alone at full speed. But it was one of the key plays of the night and was enough to make you think New England's name was destined to be on the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
There were a couple of times late in the game that I felt Atlanta played too aggressively on offence. The first time resulted in a Matt Ryan sack and fumble that sparked the New England comeback.
And the second time - after an astonishing sideline catch by the awesome Julio Jones - Ryan was sacked again and then Atlanta gave up a holding penalty. They were in field goal range on that one and had the chance to take an 11-point lead with approximately four minutes left in the game.
The guys in the studio had no problem with being aggressive because that was Atlanta's style all year long. I don't agree and even if their runner had been stuffed on either possession, the clock continues to move and, especially the second time around, they were already in field goal range and three points was going to be enough to secure the win.
Kyle Shanahan was described to me during Super Bowl week as a genius and a guru by his players. I still maintain he might have been too cute with his play-calling late in the game and you have to wonder how the crushed Falcons will rebound in 2017.
I am a big Joe Montana fan and he never lost a Super Bowl, lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy four times and being named the game's MVP on three occasions. Brady has won five, lost two and even his last two victories could very well have been losses - remember Seattle's ill-fated throw from the one-yard line?
But, for me, Brady has ended the debate and is the greatest quarterback of all-time, especially with four MVP titles also in his trophy cabinet. Greatness is living among us and we should appreciate witnessing NFL history being written. Never has a quarterback or a team had to dig so deep to win a Super Bowl.
Like Rocky Balboa taking on Clubber Lang in Rocky III, Brady let the Falcons defence punch themselves out - and then he struck time and again to take home the silverware and break Georgia's hearts.
Legends are made in the Super Bowl and Brady and his head coach Bill Belichick can rightly take their place at the top of their respective mountains. And all the rest of us should do is send an admiring nod their way and be glad that we are living through such historic times.
Thanks to all who have read this column during the season or watched our shows on Sky Sports. British NFL fans are the best in the world and the reason we have four more live games coming to our shores in 2017. Thanks again and enjoy the off-season!
