Breaking it down quarter by quarter,
USA TODAY Sports’ Jason Wolf provides quarter-by-quarter analysis of Super Bowl LI
FIRST QUARTER Falcons 0, Patriots 0
The Patriots never have scored in the first quarter of any of their seven Super Bowls in the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era, a trend that continued Sunday. Defense dominated the opening stanza, which featured four sacks, two by each team.
The Patriots went three-and-out on the first series, with RB LeGarrette Blount stuffed for no gain on third-and-1 at the New England 34-yard line.
The Falcons, who had scored on their opening possession in each of the last eight games, appeared poised for another strong start despite beginning on their 8-yard line. Running back Devonta Freeman raced 37 yards on their first play.
But with the Falcons at midfield and facing third down, NFL MVP Matt Ryan was sacked by defensive end Trey Flowers and lost the ball as he was slammed to the turf. Fortunately for the Falcons, Ryan was ruled down, preventing the Patriots from scoring a defensive touchdown.
New England crossed midfield on its second possession, but defensive tackles Courtney Upshaw and Grady Jarrett sacked Brady on first and third downs to short-circuit the drive.
Ryan was sacked by Jabaal Sheard to put an end to the Falcons’ short-lived second possession. The Patriots faced third-and-1 at their 40 as the quarter came to an end.