New England Patriots turned the tides on the fourth quarter to claim victory against the Atlanta Falcons at the Super Bowl 51 championship game on Sunday, Feb. 1 at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Patriots were on an 18-point deficit at halftime, 3-21. But, it seems like ‘giving up’ was thrown out of Tom Brady and the rest of the Patriots’ dictionary. The team claimed a 34-28 victory in the first-ever overtime in Super Bowl history.
The first and second quarter of Super Bowl 51 was like a nightmare for Patriots. The team failed to score consecutive times against the Falcons’ stingy defense. Tom Brady didn’t seem like his usual self, missing several passes due to pressure from Falcons’ defensive line.
Robert Alford intercepted Brady’s pass running 82 yards for a touchdown. The Falcons dominated the game with 0-21 lead three minutes before the second quarter ends. New England narrowly avoided a complete shutdown with Stephen Gostkowski’s field goal before Lady Gaga took the stage.
The Patriots managed to stall the Falcons at the beginning of first half with a three-and-out. However, Falcons’ quarterback Matt Ryan seems to be unstoppable throwing his second touchdown pass Tevin Coleman increasing the lead to 3-28. Late in the third quarter, New England finally got their first touchdown with Tom Brady’s five-yard pass to James White.
New England is in full-throttle, trying to catch up fast with the Falcons in the last quarter. After Stephen Gostkowski's 33-yard field goal, the team found an opportunity on a six-yard Tom Brady pass to Danny Amendola. The Patriots narrowed the gap to eight points with a touchdown plus two-point conversion with 5:56 remaining in the game, 20-28.
With 53 seconds on the clock, New England tied the score to 28-28 with another touchdown and two-point conversion thanks to Brady and White. The Patriots got the ball first and didn’t even give a chance to the Falcons in the Super Bowl 51 overtime, winning with game with White’s 2-yard touchdown run on a 75-yard, 8-play drive, 34-28
