Okay. I went on too long. I have to save the top 3 for their own post.
3) 2018 AFC Championship vs Kansas City Chiefs (Final Score: 37-31, OT)
This is a classic. Brady in classic form. Patriots in classic form. Mahomes during his rise to power. An absolute thriller.
After trouncing the Chargers in convincing fashion, the Patriots had to go to Arrowhead Stadium to face the red-hot first seed Kansas City Chiefs, helmed by sophomore quarterback and regular season MVP Patrick Mahomes. Going into the matchup, the teams had recent history and growing beef.
In 2013, the Chiefs brought in Andy Reid to be the team’s head coach. Reid had faced the Patriots prior as the Eagles head coach in Super Bowl XXXIX. In his first rematch against the Patriots in their 2014 Week 4 matchup, a Chiefs domination led to the aforementioned infamous “We’re on to Cincinnati” press conference. Their next meeting was in the 2015 postseason where the Patriots hung on to win 27-21 in the divisional round. They next met in the 2017 Kickoff game where the Chiefs embarrassed the defending champions at home 42-27 while amassing a whopping 537 total yards, the most Belichick had ever given up to an opponent (I remember rage-quitting this game in the fourth quarter after the Chiefs blew it open). Then, earlier in the 2018 season, the 3-2 Patriots faced a then-undefeated Chiefs team, where despite managing only field goals in the first half, the Chiefs stormed back to tie the game at 40, only for Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski to end it on his own field goal on the final play.
The Patriots proceeded to open the first half by suffocating the high-powered Chiefs offense, holding them scoreless while the Patriots managed to score two touchdowns, including one that came near the end of the half. Going into the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were behind 17-3. However, much like Super Bowl XXXVIII, the fourth quarter featured an explosion of points (38 total!) where the Chiefs managed to climb back into the game.
To open the fourth quarter, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce drew a pass interference call that set the Chiefs up at the Patriots 1, which Mahomes would cash in on by finding running back Damien Williams in the end zone (Point scored: 7). Brady responded by marching to the Chiefs 25, but running back Rex Burkhead got stuffed on a 4th-and-1 and the Chiefs had the ball again. However, a three-and-out for the Chiefs led to an odd punt: the ball bounced awkardly in front of Edelman who moved to try and return it, but it seemed to hit his hands and bounced out (a muffed punt), which gunner Gehrig Dieter cashed in on by scooping it and going unopposed for a touchdown. However, the play went under a long video review, and the call was overturned (the ball barely missed touching Edelman’s hands). Two plays later, however, Brady’s pass for Edelman bounced off the receiver’s fingers into the hands of Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen who returned it for 24 yards. Karma? Mahomes then cashed in two players later by finding Williams again (Points scored: 14). Karma?
On the fifth play of the next Patriot drive, Chris Hogan (remember him?) hauled in an awkward catch for 11 yards. Reid would attempt a challenge, only for it to fail. Brady then brought the Patriots back into the end zone after handing it off to Sony Michel (Points scored: 21). Mahomes then responded with another drive that ended with a Williams 2-yard rush (Points scored: 28). With the Chiefs now ahead 28-24 and just over 2 minutes left, Brady marched down the field to a 3rd-and-10 at the Chiefs 34. Brady attempted a pass to Gronkowski, but the ball was high and it bounced off of Gronkowski’s giant hands, and Chavarius Ward caught the deflection and ran it back six yards. Game over? Turns out defensive end Dee Ford was offside. Patriots drive remained alive. Brady connected with Gronk on the ensuing 3rd-and-5 for 25, then Burkhead ran into the end zone for another touchdown (Points scored: 35). Brady led yet another comeback.
…or so most of us thought. Mahomes being the magic that he was (and still is, might I mention), any time left was his to capitalize on. 39 seconds? Piece of cake. Mahomes needed just two plays to get to the Patriots 21 from his own 31, and kicker Harrison Butker successfully nailed a 39-yarder (Points scored: 38). Tie game.
This led to overtime. By NFL overtime rules, the visiting team gets to call a coin toss, and should they call it correctly, they determine who gets to receive the kickoff. As he had done just two years prior (I’ll get to that later), longtime special teamer and team co-captain Matt Slater called Heads. The coin indeed landed on heads. As referee Clete Blakeman made the announcement, Slater forcefully stated, “We want the ball!”, and thus, the Patriots were to start with their own drive to start overtime. Then, as if just like two years ago (have I talked about that yet?), Brady never left the field, converting on all pass attempts from third down (all 3rd-and-10s) to go with Burkhead rushing on the third- and second-to last plays for a total of 13 yards. What was crazy? Color commentator Tony Romo, as he had throughout the season, eerily called the plays correctly. Then, on 2nd-and-goal, Romo predicted a run from the Chiefs 2. Burkhead then ran into the end zone. 37-31. Game over.
Brady’s euphoric scream as Burkhead rammed into the end zone summarized what every Patriots fan felt: it was back to the Super Bowl for a chance to win an unprecedented sixth ring and exact revenge from the prior year’s heartbreak. After a tumultuous season where it seemed like Brady had lost some of his magic, he turned back the clock to turn in a stellar performance to lead his team to victory.
What’s even crazier? Brady’s taking on Mahomes in Super Bowl LV. Mahomes himself is a defending championship. Who will come out? The man with six rings or the rising superstar who will soon usher in his own era of dominance?
2) 2001 Divisional Round vs Oakland Raiders (Final Score: 16-13, OT)
As I’ve stated before, the 2001 Patriots season was a Cinderella story. Multiple games during the regular season amounted to Brady mounting comebacks to win, and he managed a 10-3 record as a starter to go with the Patriots’ 11-5 record. In fact, his first start was against none other than his future rival Peyton Manning, although Brady wasn’t a real headliner for that game (it was the Patriots defense crushing Manning and his red-hot offense instead, sound familiar?). Alas, the Patriots found themselves in a position to win a first round bye of the playoffs in Week 17, which they would ultimately get. Their matchup was against the Oakland Raiders, who had managed to beat out the Jets in convincing fashion in the Wild Card round.
The Patriots and Raiders had dubious history prior to this matchup. In the 1976 season, the Patriots handed the Raiders their only regular season loss, yet they managed to meet in the first round of the playoffs. With the Patriots leading 21-17 late in the fourth quarter, Patriots defensive tackle Ray “Sugar Bear” Hamilton appeared to come down with a sack on Oakland quarterback Ken Stabler on third down to end the Raiders season, but referee Ben Dreith called a penalty for roughing the passer, which put the Raiders deep in Patriots territory. The ruling proved controversial as replays showed no illegal contact that even Stabler conceded years later. Stabler would score on a short run with less than a minute left for the game winning score, and the score would stand at 24-21 with the Raiders moving on, where they went on to win it all in Super Bowl XI. Dreith would also never officiate another Patriots game, which is something to keep in mind for later. During a preseason game two seasons later, the Patriots suffered a monumental loss when wideout Darryl Stingley suffered a career-ending and life-changing hit by Jack Tatum: Tatum’s shoulder pad made contact with Stingley’s helmet, which fractured the latter’s fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae. Although Stingley would regain limited movement in his right arm, he remained quadriplegic for the rest of his life. These types of hits would usher in change for banning defenses to launch at defenseless players, in addition to hits to the head and neck of defenseless players. Raiders coach John Madden (remember him?) rushed to the hospital following the game, but upon finding himself to be the lone visitor, he hastily called the Patriots charter plane to have them return from taking off back to New England. While Stingley and Madden would become close friends, Tatum never apologized for the hit and both he and Stingley would never reconcile.
As for the 2001 divisional round, the game was to be played in the aging Foxboro Stadium, which the Patriots had thought they’d said goodbye to after a Week 15 win against the Miami Dolphins. However, the first round bye meant they were playing at home to open their postseason, meaning another showdown at Foxboro Stadium.
Ahead of the game, a snowstorm plowed into the New England region, and the game was now to be played in very unfavorable conditions for either team. Adam Vinatieri said that Belichick would use any kind of advantage that he sees fit, and sometimes it means crappy field conditions for the kicker. Brady himself got stuck in traffic and had to get rescued by team personnel. 20 minutes after arriving and changing into uniform, the Bay-area native and self-admitted knucklehead Brady walked onto the field in a mere T-shirt and exchanged pleasantries with his former college teammate Charles Woodson, who was now playing for the Raiders.
The snowstorm wound up weighing on both teams, as no one scored in the first quarter, while in the first half overall, both teams exchanged the same amount of punts and as they did first downs (11), while converting on just one of 13 third downs. However, Raiders quarterback completed 10 of 14 passes for 87 yards, and managed a 13-yard pass to wideout James Jett to take the lead, the only score in the first half.
For the second half, New England went away from their running game and instead relied on their passing game from Brady. On the opening drive, Brady managed to get to the Raiders 5 but couldn’t get to the end zone, leading to a Vinatieri field goal for 23 (keep that in mind for later). The Raiders responded with a field goal of their own by Sebastian Janikowski, whom coach Jon Gruden drafted a year prior in the first round (remember who got drafted 199th overall that same draft? :3) A Patriot three-and-out led to another Janikowski field goal. The Patriots failed to do anything on the ensuing drive that went into the fourth quarter, although a Raiders three-and-out gave Brady another chance to try to shorten the lead.
Starting from his own 33, Brady connected on all 9 of his pass attempts to get to the Raiders 6, with David Patten and Jermaine Wiggins being his primary receivers (along with one that he threw to Troy Brown). In fact, on the seventh pass play, a pass to Patten deflected off his hands, but the East Boston-native Wiggins made the heads-up play by hauling it in before the ball landed on the ground. With six yards to go on 2nd down, Brady attempted to find his receivers, but all wound up covered. However, a lane opened in front of him and he ran it in for six. I should also mention here that Brady is not known for being a mobile quarterback and has garnered laughs for his slow running speed. So consider the fact that under heavy snowfall, Brady was able to outrun two defenders and dive into the end zone. Thus, it was Brady who would score the first postseason touchdown of the Brady-Belichick era.
The Raiders managed little on their next drive, although they managed to chew nearly four minutes of game clock. With just over three and a half minutes remaining with the score 13-10, the Raiders forced a three-and-out. However, the Patriots defense forced their own three-and-out, although on each play, the Patriots burned all three of their timeouts. On the punt return, Troy Brown fumbled, and for a second the season was over, but special teamer Larry Izzo recovered, keeping the Patriots hopes alive.
The ensuing drive is where the game earned its other name, “The Tuck Rule Game”. On 1st-and-1o from the Oakland 42, Charles Woodson (remember him from earlier?) came in clean for a corner blitz and strip-sacked Brady and Raiders linebacker Greg Biekert fell on the ball. Once more, the Patriots’ hopes seemed dashed.
Referee Walt Coleman and his crew were unsure of what to call on the play. Coleman didn’t even see Brady lose the ball, so he and his crew ruled the play a fumble as opposed to an incomplete pass as the former can be video-reviewed while the latter can not. Coleman spent some time studying the video-replay, but upon returning, he announced, “The quarterback’s arm was going forward, it’s an incomplete pass. 2nd-and-10 on the 42.” By modern standards, the play would have been ruled a fumble. I look at the play and say it’s a fumble. But there was this odd obscure rule that Coleman invoked that allowed him to make what he dubbed an “easy” call.
In 1999, the NFL introduced NFL Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2, which would come to be known as “The Tuck Rule”: When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble.
Earlier in the season in Week 2 (the same game that knocked out Drew Bledsoe and threw Brady into the fold), Patriot defensive end Anthony Pleasant appeared to strip-sack Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde, but the call was overturned to an incomplete pass following review: the tuck rule was invoked then as well. Bill Belichick later said, “I knew what the ruling should have been because we had dealt with that play little bit earlier in the year on the other side of it.”
Again, as I said before, I think the play’s a fumble, but because of the rule, it’s an incomplete pass. Correct ruling, dumb rule.
With the drive alive, Brady led his team to the Oakland 28, which set up for Adam Vinatieri to try and tie it with a 45-yard field goal in the middle of a heavy snowstorm with a crosswind. Vinatieri would later state that if he tried 100 kicks in the same condition, he would have made 10 at best. With the Patriots season on the line, Vinatieri made his kick, and the ball barely made it over the crossbar. As PA announcer John Rooke would jubilantly shout: “THE KICK… IS… GOOD!!!”
Now faced with sudden-death overtime, the Patriots won the coin toss (shocker!) and took the ball to start. Brady drove the Patriots down to the Raiders 5 in 15 plays, completing all 8 pass attempts for 45 yards, including a 4th-and-4 to Patten for six yards. As this was prior to the rule changes in 2010, the first team that scored would win, regardless of the manner, meaning a kick would suffice. Brady’s 4th-and-4 to Patten would be Brady’s final pass attempt before Antowain Smith drove ahead for another 15 on four attempts. In an attempt to get even closer as they were now fighting the wind, Brady drove ahead another two. Vinatieri then came on for a 23-yard attempt to get the Patriots to the Championship.
As Vinatieri began to set up for his kick, the Patriots linesmen hastily moved in to help and try to clear out the snow on the field near where punter Ken Walter would spot (Walter himself frantically was trying to kick away the snow as well) for Vinatieri to gain good footing for the kick. Then Gruden called a timeout in attempt to “ice” the kicker, which gave more time to clear more snow (something Vinatieri is quite thankful for). With the path even larger, Lonie Paxton made the snap. Walter with the spot and hold. Vinatieri’s kick went virtually right down the middle. Paxton sprinted to the end zone and started making snow angels (he would replicate this two weeks later). John Rooke exploded over the PA (“THE KICK… IS… GOOD!!!”). The Foxboro Stadium crowd erupted. The Patriots swarmed Vinatieri. New England was moving on.
In the second half alone, Brady completed 26 of 39 pass attempts for 238 yards, while Patten and Wiggins made all their receptions for 107 and 68 yards, respectively. Vinatieri made his lone extra point and made all three field goal attempts, each one with significance: the first to get the Patriots on the board (also the first points scored in the postseason for the Brady-Belichick era), the second to tie the game to send it to overtime, the third to win the game.
The Raiders remained bitter over the loss. While quarterback Rich Gannon felt otherwise, many felt the league had a vendetta against the team and thus invoked the tuck rule against them. Owner Al Davis was also furious over Gruden not protesting the call enough, to which Gruden was quite dismissive over Davis’s handling of the controversy. The deteriorating relationship between owner and coach lead to the latter’s trade to Tampa, where he proceeded to win Super Bowl XXXVII AGAINST the Raiders in convincing fashion, beginning a playoff drought that lasted until 2016. Although Gruden later returned to coaching the Raiders in 2018, it was long after Davis had passed away.
Similar to how Ben Dreith never officiated another Patriots game following the 1976 divisional, Walt Coleman never officiated another Raiders game for the remainder of his career through his retirement at the end of the 2018 season.
As for the tuck rule, it was abolished by a vote of 29-1 from the league’s team owners, with New England abstaining with Washington (Pittsburgh interestingly voted against it). Again, a good move. The rule was dumb.
And thus, with the Patriots not stopping, their comebacks continued, and the championships came. Oh how sweet this game was and what it meant for the budding franchise.
1) Super Bowl LI vs Atlanta Falcons (Final Score: 34-28, OT)
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game finer than this, and I say this across all the sports games I’ve watched.
I didn’t make mention of this before, but I didn’t really watch the Patriots seriously until the 2016 season. I remember seeing the 2015 Patriots slowly crumble in the regular season until the heartbreak from the 2015 AFC Championship loss to the eventual champion Denver Broncos. Then there was Brady accepting his suspension to open the regular season. Regardless, I followed every game starting with Game 1 on the road in Arizona. I remember watching how that unfolded: Jimmy G somehow scored on his first drive, then the Patriots lucked out on a late bad field goal miss from the Cardinals to win. Then Jimmy gets hurt the following week during a thrashing of the Dolphins, yet they clawed back within 7 only to get picked in the end zone by Duron Harmon. Third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett found himself in the starter the following week in a dominant 27-0 shutout of the Texans, but he injured his thumb and it threw the quarterback situation into chaos. Against the Bills, the Patriots failed to muster anything as they got shut out 16-0.
Then Brady was back. The team went 11-1 with Brady back at the helm, although he himself played through a knee ailment that was quite apparent in Week 12 against the Jets: In his attempt to try and block for his tailback LeGarrette Blount, he ran quite gingerly up the field, yet he was ironically still standing when Blount got tackled on the gain (the play itself was featured in the 2016 Worst Plays videos on the NFL YouTube account, funnily enough). The defense, despite some questions over their performance through the first 10 weeks, wound up leading the league in fewest points allowed. Overall, I don’t think I’ve seen a team more dominant than the 2016 team. I’d say their performance is on par with the teams from 2003 and 2004. An efficient offense (remember how I said Brady only threw TWO picks during the regular season?) along with a potent defense that grew more powerful over time.
Their opponents? The Atlanta Falcons, helmed by regular season MVP Matt Ryan along with one of the most potent offenses ever seen (on par with the 2007 Patriots). With wideouts Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, and Taylor Gabriel, along with tight end Austin Hooper, Ryan had a deadly passing attack. However, the ground game led by Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman was just as formidable. That offense was something I knew I couldn’t ignore. I saw them tear up Seattle and Green Bay en route to the Super Bowl. They were terrifying. Although the Texans put up a fair challenge, the game itself was still won rather convincingly, while the Steelers failed to really put up anything at all. The Falcons more or less served as the first true challenge the Patriots had to face all post season. The final boss was one to be respected.
During this time, I was in New York for graduate school. Watching the games wasn’t easy since I didn’t have access to a television, but I was able to get around this (I refuse to divulge on how). Then my school announced a Super Bowl watch party in the Student Lounge on campus. With my Brady jersey, I went hoping to see more. Unfortunately, I was the only one. Most were there just to watch the game (many of whom were international students), while towards the front on the couches near the projector screens were a mass of Patriots haters. They wanted to see Tom Brady lose. I was one of just two people wearing any Patriots memorabilia (the other guy was wearing a Flutie jersey). In the bathroom, one of the guys near the front was also there and groaned over me wearing a Brady jersey. I said that I was from Boston, to which he sighed, “yea, that’s fair…”
Game starts and for the first quarter, no one scores. Punts. Brady and Belichick don’t score in the first again. Then the second quarter comes and after Brady found Edelman for 27, the Patriots were in Atlanta territory. But Blount fumbled the ball on the rush afterwards and Atlanta cornerback Robert Alford recovered. The Atlanta offense then did their thing. First drive of the quarter? 5 plays, 71 yards. Freeman rushes for 5 into the end zone. Patriots response? A three-and-out. Then another 5-play drive ended with a 19-yard pass to Hooper. Brady responded with a long drive that ate nearly 5 minutes of game clock. At the Atlanta 27, running back Dion Lewis attempted two rushes but only mustered four yards, all coming from his first attempt. Brady then dropped back to pass on third down looking for Amendola, but the ball wound up in the hands of Alford who took it to the house for 82 yards. Not good.
I should also mention just how the Falcons defense frustrated Brady for much of the game thus far. The Falcons head coach happened to be Dan Quinn, who was previously the Seahawks defensive coordinator who led the Legion of Boom on their reign of terror. In his first year, that historic defense led the league in fewest points allowed, fewest yards allowed, and takeaways en route to a Super Bowl championship. Then there was the heartbreak at Malcolm Butler’s hands the following year. Still, that earned Quinn a nod to become Atlanta’s head coach the following season. On the note of that Super Bowl, Belichick and the offensive coaching staff made their game plan rely primarily on horizontal routes by having wide receivers cut to the middle of the field, which had long been the Patriots’ bread-and-butter but was effective given that Seattle’s secondary feasted on outside routes near the sideline. Knowing what happened before, Quinn had his defense swarm the middle of the field which clogged New England’s passing lanes, and the Patriots were slow to adapt.
Anyway, that debilitating pick-six was a stab in the hearts of Patriots fans, myself included. The student lounge went wild. I just stared in disbelief. No way could the Patriots look THIS bad.
With just over two minutes in the half, Brady bravely led his team down field but could only manage a field goal. At the half, it was 21-3 in favor of the Falcons. After the halftime show, much of the crowd had left. I figured that a lot of the international students felt there wasn’t much left to watch.
The Falcons received for the second half, but went three-and-out. The Patriots then went three-and-out as well. But then, the Falcons marched down the field in 8 plays covering 85 yards which ended with Ryan making a short toss to Coleman for six yards. The score was now 28-3.
28-3. This score is something that has since become part of gridiron football lore. With the Falcons now ahead by 25, sports analysts and statisticians gave an estimate of Atlanta’s chances of winning at 99.8%. No team had ever overcome that large of a deficit in the Super Bowl.
I remember texting one of my good friends from college. I told him I was going to continue watching. I remembered what happened against Baltimore two years ago. I remembered the random plays two weeks prior. If anyone could muster some odd gadget play, it was offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. I wanted to see what we could do to see if we could at least show some fight.
Yet from the Patriots sideline, the team wasn’t too worried. Belichick would comment, “I felt like we had control of the game. I didn’t feel like we had control of the score.” Brady kept telling his teammates that they had been in worse situations. The objective now was to simply score. Devin McCourty also quipped, “Now, there’s no room for error.”
One key thing regarding the Patriots strategy was to control the clock and to minimize the time of possession for the Atlanta offense. As I mentioned before, the Falcons were effective and clogging the lanes in the middle of the field, so the offense began relying on the perimeter to gain yardage. Additionally, they also began to employ another one of their bread-and-butter strategies: screen passes. The beneficiary of this strategy was third-year running back James White.
Oh, boy. James Calvin “Sweet Feet” White. Just turned 29 two days ago. After getting minimal playing time in his rookie season, White began seeing more time following Dion Lewis’s injury in 2015, and he saw heavy time in the AFC Championship against Denver. After the game, many pundits wondered why Brady was trying to feed it to White in any capacity, whether it be a screen pass or a deep pass. Regardless, White put together a solid 2016 season, catching 60 passes for 551 yards, most often on 3rd-down.
Following Atlanta’s scoring drive, Brady led the offense on a 13-play, 75-yard drive which culminated in a 5-yard toss to White. What complicated matters, however, was that Stephen Gostkowski hit the upright on his extra point attempt, continuing his yips throughout the season that dated from, you guessed it, the 2015 AFC Championship. Thus, the score was 28-9 as opposed to 28-10.
To wrap up the third quarter, the Patriots defense held Atlanta to another three-and-out, and it was Brady’s time again to try and put together a scoring drive to start the fourth. Indeed, he managed 72 yards on 12 plays, largely on outside passes to rookie Malcolm Mitchell. However, at the Atlanta 7, Atlanta defensive tackle Grady Jarrett sacked Brady for five. After a short screen pass to White for two, Jarrett sacked Brady for another five, forcing Gostkowski to come on for a field goal, which he barely made. The score was now 28-12.
With Atlanta back on the field, it was already under 10 minutes to play, and Ryan managed to advance to a 3rd-and-1 to open the drive. Then came a pivotal play: Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia called for Dont’a Hightower to blitz, telling his linebacker, “This is scoop and score. You got this.” At this point in the game, Coleman was injured and it left Freeman in for all plays with a running back. According to scouting reports, Freeman was considered the weaker between him and Coleman with regards to blitz pickup, where the back stays in the backfield to guard against additional pass rushers. Knowing they could exploit a weakness, they had Hightower disguise himself at the end of the defensive line to confuse Freeman. As the players began to line up, Freeman could be seen looking from end to end trying to figure out who his matchup was, and on the snap, Hightower charged forward and literally turnstiled a confused Freeman. By the time Freeman realized that Hightower was his matchup, the latter was already within a foot of his target. As Hightower would later quip, it was “See ball, get ball.” Strip sack. Ball loose. Alan Branch falls on it. New England possession at the Atlanta 25.
And just like that, Brady and the offense was on the doorstep of scoring again. On the fifth play, Amendola cut out toward the end zone pylon and Brady found him for six yards. Score goes to 28-18. Knowing they needed points, the Patriots went for two, and called for a direct snap to James White, replicating Kevin Faulk’s own 13 years prior in the SAME STADIUM. 28-20.
The defense was called upon again to try and to get a stop. Didn’t seem that way when Freeman caught a short screen pass and went up 39 yards. After another Freeman rush for two yards, there was yet another crazy pass that New England was unable to stop.
New England’s secondary thus far had put together a fantastic season. Corners Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, and Eric Rowe put up admirable seasons to go with safeties Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung, and Duron Harmon. For the matchup against the Falcons and their potent pass attack, Chung most often got to cover Hooper as the strong safety, leaving Butler, Ryan, and Rowe to try and stop Ryan’s wideouts, and they were matched up based on their attributes and strength: Butler with Gabriel and Ryan with Sanu, with Rowe, the general speed corner, getting the tall task of covering the near-unstoppable Pro-Bowler Julio Jones, albeit with safety help from McCourty and/or Harmon.
On first-and-10 from the Patriot 49, Ryan threw a bomb toward the right sideline towards Jones with Rowe in tight coverage. Then Jones, with his freak athleticism, was able to extend his arms to reach for the ball and plant both feet in bounds before falling out. Just like with Tyree, Manningham, and Kearse, another freakish catch. When will it end (hint-hint remember it didn’t happen two years later, although it almost did twice)?
What can happen after getting stunned YET AGAIN? You could tackle Freeman for a one-yard loss, but that isn’t much, right? Enter sophomore defensive end Trey Flowers. After missing practically his entire rookie year, Flowers experienced a breakout season by compiling 7.0 sacks which led the team. On 2nd-and-11, Flowers came up with his second sack by busting through the potent Atlanta offensive line, grabbing Matt Ryan, and chucking him to the ground for a loss of 12, capping off his 2.5 sack performance. New England proceeded to take their first timeout.
On the next play, Mohamed Sanu hauled in a 9-yard pass, but a flag was thrown. Chris Long charged at left tackle Jake Matthews and drew a holding call. The defense knew Matthews was susceptible to the calls and also knew the officiating crew (led by Carl Cheffers) had made a near-identical call that ended the Chiefs’ season against Pittsburgh in the divisional round, hence the play call (Want to learn more about it? Watch Do Your Job 2!). Facing a 3rd-and-33, Butler smothered Gabriel on the sideline and Ryan’s pass fell incomplete. No choice but to punt for Atlanta.
Three and a half minutes. 91 yards. Could they do it?
Didn’t seem that way. 1st-and-10. 2nd-and-10. 3rd-and-10. Hogan hauls one in for 16. That’s a start. 1st-and-10. 2nd-and-10. Mitchell again for 11! We’re getting somewhere!
Then the replay. Alford knocked it loose, and then Edelman along with Alford and two other Falcons defensive backs swarmed on the ball. The ball landed on Alford’s cleat and Edelman had his two hands on it. In an effort to get a better grip on the ball, Edelman let go for a split second, but it was short enough for him to pull it back in, just inches above the ground, in what I have since dubbed “The Incredelman Catch”. Suck it, David Tyree. You said you’d trade the Helmet Catch to keep marriage between a man and a woman? KEEP YOUR GODDAMN CATCH. I’LL TAKE THIS. THIS IS BETTER. OBJECTIVELY BETTER. RIP HELMET CATCH. LONG LIVE INCREDELMAN CATCH.
With the drive alive, Brady found Amendola for 20, White for 13, and then White again for 7. It was 2nd-and-goal just a yard out from the end zone. Hand off to White. He jumps over everyone and plows in. 28-26. Then on the ensuing two-point-play, Brady tossed to Amendola who barely broke the plane as two defensive backs swarmed on him. Tie game.
Meanwhile on the Upper West Side, as the Patriots made their comeback, I was contorting my body as I silently fist-pumped in the back of the lounge. They were doing what the Patriots did best: outplaying their opponent when they needed to. All they needed to do now was cap off the comeback. However, Atlanta had just under a minute to get the ball down field. Was it too much time?
Well, from his own 11, Ryan connected with Sanu for 12, then Hooper for 4. However, the clock was ticking and Ryan had to spike the ball to stop it. With 18 left, Ryan attempted a heave for Hooper but it fell incomplete. Try to settle for overtime I guess? Well I see Brady kneeling… wait it’s a fake? Oh Dion bounces out after 13. Tried something there but oh well.
On to overtime. Coin toss. Patriots are technically the visiting team. Doc Slater calls heads. It is heads. “We’ll take the ball!”
At that point, Patriots president Jonathan Kraft said, “Game over.”
Brady to White for six. Brady to Amendola for 14. Brady to Hogan for 18. Brady to White for -3. Brady to Edelman for 15. White rush for 10. Red Zone. Brady looks to Martellus Bennett for it all. Deion Jones gets called for pass interference on the drop. To the Atlanta 2. Brady is nearly picked on a pass to Bennett by Vic Beasley. Who do you call? Call Sweet Feet. In fact, why don’t you use the third two-point conversion play you practiced? Back toss to White. Then it happened. White gets tackled and his knee is down, but by that point, he had already broke the plane. Game over. The greatest comeback in Super Bowl history was finally complete.
Who was the Super Bowl MVP? Brady. I mean after leading another ridiculous comeback after all he went through from the offseason through this game? Completing 43 passes for 466 yards? Wow. But then there was a case to be made for White, who set the new Super Bowl reception record with 14. He compiled 110 receiving yards, another record for most yardage by a running back. To top it off, he scored 20 of the Patriots’ 34 points, another record. Brady believed White should have earned the award instead, and gave his prize (this time a pick-up truck) to White just as he did with Malcolm Butler two years prior, which White accepted.
After this win, the Patriots went back to the Super Bowl only to have their porous defense let down Brady in his third MVP season, but then climbed back AGAIN to win it all for his sixth. After a disappointing 2019, Brady left for Tampa and is now going for his seventh. Meanwhile, the Patriots finished out of the playoffs in 2020 with a 7-9 record. As for the Falcons, they more or less went into free-fall mode and have yet to recover. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan left for San Francisco the following season and managed to get to Super Bowl LIV but choked away a fourth quarter lead once more. Dan Quinn, on the other hand, was fired mid-way through the 2020 season.
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced as much euphoria watching a sports game as I did with this one. I quietly stood victorious fist-pumping as the front of the room groaned. I GLADLY DRANK THOSE SALTY TEARS. Then, I get a phone call. My brother, who was in Atlanta studying business, called me from a Patriot-friendly bar. He was in hysterics, and when I talked to him about it after, he doesn’t even remember making the call.
As I went back to my dorm, the guy I met in the bathroom walked up to me and offered a handshake and said, “Good game.” I reciprocated. Still have a lot of respect for him.
One last thing: today marks four years since that fateful night. I’ll never forget it.
Unless Brady does his shenanigans in Super Bowl LV in a back-and-forth shootout, I don’t see any game topping this one. Ever.
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