Super Bowl 2017: Score and Twitter Reaction from Patriots vs. Falcons

Tom Brady started his season on the couch serving a four-game suspension.

On Sunday, he capped it off with the most memorable comeback in Super Bowl history when he helped erase a 25-point deficit to hand the New England Patriots their fifth Lombardi Trophy with a 34-28 Super Bowl 51 win over the Atlanta Falcons at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Brady—who completed 43 of 62 passes for 446 yards and two touchdowns en route to Super Bowl MVP honors—became the winningest quarterback in Super Bowl history with five rings after James White (20 touches, 139 yards, three scores) rushed for a game-winning two-yard touchdown on the first possession of the extra session, as the NFL documented on Twitter:

Although the Patriots looked listless while facing a massive hole, Brady put New England on his back and chipped away at Atlanta's lead throughout the second half before tying things with 57 seconds remaining in regulation.

The clutch drive spanned 91 yards in 10 plays, and it was capped off by a one-yard White touchdown run and Danny Amendola two-point conversion to knot things at 28.

Julian Edelman, who finished the night with five receptions for 87 yards, made a spectacular juggling catch earlier in the drive that set up the game-tying heroics, via the NFL:

But as the deficit indicated, the title tilt was a tale of two halves after Atlanta imposed its will throughout the first 30 minutes.

A LeGarrette Blount fumble two plays into the second quarter gave possession to the Falcons, who capped off a five-play, 71-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run from Devonta Freeman (11 carries, 75 yards), as the NFL showed:

According to CSNNE.com's Phil Perry, the Patriots didn't have an answer for the shifty back who dominated by gashing New England on stretch running plays throughout the first half: 

The Falcons followed up that scoring jaunt with another five-play possession that spanned 62 yards and resulted in a 19-yard touchdown strike from Matt Ryan (17-of-23, 284 yards, two touchdowns) to Austin Hooper, via the NFL:

While the Patriots appeared to be primed to strike after holding penalties on three straight third downs kept a late second-quarter drive alive, those calls enabled the Falcons to seize control in a strange twist of fate.  

Just as New England inched toward the red zone, Robert Alford stepped in front of a Brady pass intended for Amendola and scampered 82 yards the other way to help give the Falcons a 21-0 lead, via the NFL: 

As the Patriots appeared to spiral out of control, The Ringer's Michael Lombardi and NFL.com's Marc Sessler broke down the schematic concepts that allowed the Falcons to make Brady look mortal:

The Pats got on the board with a field goal just before Lady Gaga hit the field at halftime, but they didn't have enough speed to contain Atlanta in any phase as the Falcons took a 28-3 lead early in the third quarter, per the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane: 

White notched a five-yard touchdown reception with 2:06 to go in the third quarter, which represented the first time New England found the end zone in the title clash.

It wouldn't be the last.

The floodgates started to open bit by bit, and Brady hit Amendola for a touchdown before White's two-point conversion cut the deficit to eight with 5:56 remaining in the fourth.

At that point, the pressure was on the Falcons—and the Patriots took advantage.

New England's defense stood tall when it had to, and Brady did what Brady has so often done, tying the game with a 91-yard drive for the ages.

The rest, then, was history.

Brady got the ball to start overtime, and there was never a doubt the Patriots would score a touchdown to complete the drive for five. 

Ryan and the Falcons will be left to wonder what went wrong after shoddy play-calling hindered their ability to slam the door shut, but for now, all they can do is marvel at the Patriots' resilience and tip their caps to a quarterback who has cemented his place among the game's greats.

Postgame Reaction

Shortly after the Patriots’ celebration ensued, Brady and Commissioner Roger Goodell shook hands: 

Here’s a look at what that conversation could have sounded like: 

On the postgame stage, Patriots owner Robert Kraft didn’t mince words. 

Speaking to Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw, Kraft said this year’s Super Bowl was "unequivocally the sweetest," according to the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin. 

"You've been with us all year," Brady said, speaking to Patriots fans, per USA Today’s Nancy Armour. “We're bringing this sucker home!"

The NFL’s Twitter account later posted video of Brady hoisting the Lombardi Trophy: 

"We're going to remember this for the rest of our lives," Brady added, per the Providence Journal’s Mark Daniels. 

On the losing side, Ryan appeared dejected speaking to assembled media. 

"There's nothing you can really say...It's hard to find words tonight," the league MVP said, per Perry. 

Head coach Dan Quinn, meanwhile, refused to blame play-calling for the Falcons’ collapse. 

"I don't second-guess the calls or wanting to throw it," he said, per ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano. "Those are things we do well."

As for Edelman's game-saving catch, Alford was in utter disbelief, as Bleacher Report’s Tyler Dunne documented: 

"We've been on the other end of a few of those catches," Brady noted, per Daniels. 

And if you want any idea of how confident the Patriots were once the game was tied, look no further than Logan Ryan’s comments. 

"When we got to overtime, I basically untied my cleats and watched Tom like you guys did," he said, per the Boston Herald's Jeff Howe.