SUPER BOWL BLITZ
HERO
Epic is too tame a word to describe what Tom Brady (above) did to the Falcons. The Patriots should have been dead and buried when they were down 25 points, but Brady brought them back by completing 27-of-36 passes for 282 yards in the second half. He finished 43-of-62 for a Super Bowl record 466 yards. He came back from the first picksix of his postseason career to earn his fifth Super Bowl victory the hard way.
ZERO
There were so many Falcons fingerprints on this all-time choke so it is not easy to single out just one offender. Left tackle Jake Matthews was called for a holding penalty late in the third quarter on the New England 32-yard line, wasting great field position. Late in the fourth quarter, a pass to Mohamed Sanu got the Falcons in fieldgoal position to make it a two-score game, but the reception was wiped out by another Matthews holding penalty, forcing the Falcons to punt.
UNSUNG HERO
Patriots LB Dont’a Hightower made what might have been the play of the game when he came in clean on a blitz — where was RB Devonta Freeman to block him? — and nailed Matt Ryan with a blind-side hit, causing a fourth-quarter fumble and turnover with the Patriots trailing 28-12. It gave the Patriots the ball on the Atlanta 25-yard line, setting up the game-tying TD.
KEY STAT
40:31 Time of possession for the Patriots, who did not completely stop Ryan and the Falcons on offense as much as they played keep-away virtually all night. The Falcons only had it for 23:24, and New England ran twice as many plays (93-46).
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
“Down 25 points, I mean, it’s hard to imagine us winning. It took a lot of great plays and that’s why you play to the end.” — Patriots quarterback Tom Brady