Palladino: Patriots Earned G.O.A.T. Label In Breathtaking Fashion
By Ernie Palladino
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The terms of greatness aren't always defined by how much one blows out an opponent.
It often comes from beating the odds.
For three quarters of Super Bowl LI, the odds couldn't have gotten much longer for the New England Patriots. Only a sucker who had spent the first two and a half quarters relieving a saloon of its stock would have bet on a comeback.
Yet, when the first overtime Super Bowl in history ended in Houston's NRG Stadium, it was Bill Belichick and Tom Brady holding their record fifth Lombardi Trophy together after a 34-28 win over the Falcons.
Let us brand them now, definitively and absolutely. On Sunday night, the Patriots became THE GREATEST franchise in the history of the NFL.
Not solely because of that fifth piece of hardware that goes into the trophy case in Foxboro, but because of how they accomplished it.
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Nobody -- repeat -- NOBODY had ever come back from never like the Pats. Nobody -- repeat -- NOBODY, had ever put together a 31-point spurt like the Patriots did in their return from 28-3. That the trek back started with just a little less than half of the third quarter gone and ended with James White barely getting into the end zone from the 2 on the first and only drive of overtime simply added to the Pats' aura of greatness.
"We never felt out of it," Brady said after passing Joe Montana with his fourth Super Bowl MVP award.
Of course not. They are the Patriots. They don't get blown out, even though it looked for all intents and purposes like the Falcons, up 21-0 in the first half, were going to run away from the Pats just as efficiently as they did the Packers in the NFC championship game two weeks ago.
The Falcons had done everything right to that point. Their young, fast defense did Brady just like they did Aaron Rodgers, knocking the heck out of him and forcing two second-quarter turnovers, the first of which Devonta Freeman turned into a 5-yard touchdown run. Just under 10 minutes later, cornerback Robert Alford returned an interception 82 yards for 21-0.
If the Patriots saw their chances for history flying out the roof of NRG Stadium at that point, imagine how they could have felt when Matt Ryan sliced up their secondary on a third-quarter march that ended with Tevin Coleman's 6-yard touchdown catch that followed safety Malcolm Butler's pass interference call.
If there was any despair as the Falcons marched toward their own drop-the-mike moment minutes after halftime queen Lady Gaga flew and flipped to hers, they weren't telling anyone.
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They wouldn't have dared. Belichick doesn't coach them to give up. And it's simply not part of Brady's DNA. A little cheating here and there, maybe. But give up? Never.
So here they came. White ran it in from the 6 with 2:06 remaining, which wasn't as encouraging as it may have sounded. Not only did Steve Gostkowski clang the extra point off the right upright, the Pats had run off more than six precious minutes just to get to 28-9. And then, after a solid fourth-quarter drive, they had to settle for a 33-yard field goal when Grady Jarrett sacked Brady for the second time on that drive.
But great teams eventually make their big break. That came shortly after the field goal when Alan Branch's strip sack of Ryan gave Brady the ball at the Atlanta 25. Danny Amendola finished that key drive with a 6-yard catch, and a short snap to White for the deuce put them firmly in the game at 28-20 with 5:56 remaining.
Still, a field goal would have doomed them. And Ryan had moved his team into great position at the 22 on his next possession. But Freeman got stopped for a loss of one, and Trey Flowers sacked Ryan for 12 yards. A holding call after that put the Falcons out of field goal range and forced a punt.
History will remember what happened next. Starting from his 8, Brady found Chris Hogan and rookie Malcolm Mitchell for completions before Julian Edelman made a ridiculous 23-yard catch off a deflection, barely controlling it as he fell atop a pile of enemy arms and legs.
Amendola grabbed one for 20 to the 21, and then it was all White on two catches and a 1-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds left. A tidy throw to Amendola brought the Pats all the way back to a tie.
It was as if they had started the game over. Once into overtime, they had little doubt as to how this one would turn out.
They'd come too far to lose.
White for 6. Amendola for 14. Hogan for 18 and a first down at the Atlanta 37. A slight hiccup with a 3-yard loss on White's catch. Edelman again for 15. White for 10 to the 14.
And then an incomplete throw to Martellus Bennett just in front of the goal line. But, oh, no, a pass interference call on De'Vondre Campbell for a first down at the 2.
Does anyone stop greatness at the 2? Anyone?
Well, not the Falcons, anyway. They had one slight hopeful glimmer as Brady's throw to Bennett fell incomplete. But White, the third wheel in a backfield headlined by LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis, took a toss play, made a little cut at the line, and broke the plane of the goal line a split second before his knee came down short.
Game over.
Greatness preserved.
The brand of Greatest Ever applied.
We can ask the question now. Will there ever be a franchise to equal what the Patriots achieved Sunday night in Houston?
They answered that in the most convincing, albeit nerve-wracking way imaginable.
Probably not in our lifetime.
Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
