Patriots vs. Falcons: Twitter Reacts to NE's 21-3 Super Bowl 51 Halftime Deficit

Well, nobody saw that first half coming.

The Atlanta Falcons raced to a 21-3 first-half lead over the New England Patriots at Super Bowl 51, an opening 30 minutes highlighted by two New England turnovers—including a Tom Brady pick-six—and a near-flawless performance from the Falcons.

That left the Patriots with quite the deficit to overcome:

As Albert Breer of The MMBQ shared, the Falcons simply appeared to be the more talented team:

The Falcons pass rush was relentless in the first half, sacking Brady twice and pressuring him constantly. That forced a number of poor throws from the normally unflappable veteran. 

The performance of Atlanta's defense wasn't lost on Bonnie Bernstein of Campus Insiders:

Brady was given a pretty poor review by Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post as well:

Surely, the New England quarterback was feeling a bit down after his first-half performance:

Even Siri was dumping on the Patriots, as Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch pointed out:

Rich Eisen of the NFL Network was less inclined to suggest that Brady was playing incredibly poorly and more inclined to praise Atlanta's defense, however:

Meanwhile, Matt Ryan finished the first half 7-of-8 for 115 yards and a score, Julio Jones caught three passes for 60 yards, Devonta Freeman rushed six times for 71 yards and a score and Robert Alford recovered a fumble and took an interception to the house.

The Falcons balled in the first half. But Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area jokingly warned the Falcons to guard against any momentum-shifting accidents:

Hey, it wouldn't be the first time the Patriots bent the rules to their own advantage, right?

No matter how the game ends, the first half between the Falcons and Patriots was a shocker. Regardless of how talented the Falcons are and how good they've been throughout the year, seeing Brady look legitimately flustered has been arguably the rarest occurrence in the NFL since he's joined the league.

It's rare a Brady and Bill Belichick team is outplayed and outcoached. But that was the case as the Falcons stomped their way to a dominant 21-3 lead.