Tom Brady Discusses Super Bowl 51 Comeback vs. Falcons in MMQB Exclusive

Tom Brady may have pulled off the greatest comeback in NFL playoff history in Super Bowl LI. Just don't call it his best individual performance ever.

"I don't really think that is necessarily the case," Brady told Peter King of The MMQB. "I think it was one of the greatest games I have ever played in, but when I think of an interception return for a touchdown, some other missed opportunities in the first 37, 38 minutes of the game, I don't really consider playing a good quarter-and-a-half plus overtime as one of the 'best games ever.'"

Brady and King sat down at the former's Montana getaway cabin, where the New England Patriots quarterback discussed his team's 34-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons. The game marked the largest comeback in Super Bowl history and saw Brady and coach Bill Belichick break a number of single-game and career marks.

Brady threw for a record 466 yards while setting all-time Super Bowl marks for completions (43) and pass attempts (62). He spearheaded a comeback from 28-3 down in the second half, winning a record fourth Super Bowl MVP in the process.

Speaking to King about his thoughts as time was dwindling away—the Falcons led by 16 with under 10 minutes remaining—Brady said his past Super Bowl experience gave him faith New England could execute a comeback.

"There were still a lot of calls on the call sheet that we liked, based on the style that they were playing," Brady said. "The Super Bowl is a strange game. I've been in a lot of them, and it may go one way and then it may go the other way, and I know at the end of all those games that I've played in the Super Bowls, the defenses have a hard time stopping the offense at the end, in every game."

Super Bowl LI was Brady's seventh appearance, a record for a player.

The Patriots' comeback, however, was not without hitches. Brady spoke at length about Julio Jones' brilliant fourth-quarter catch, which put the Falcons in position for a field goal—a score that all but would have ended the game:

"I saw Matt [Ryan] step up; it was right on our sideline … I kind of looked through a bunch of bodies and I saw him make the catch, and I saw both refs run in and signal catch and I said, 'There's no way!' I looked up on those screens, and then they showed it once or twice, and I was like, 'He frickin' caught it!' When you actually see the replay, I didn't realize how close [Patriots cornerback] Eric Rowe was. Then I saw a picture in Sports Illustrated of the catch, in the early pages. It was insane. The height that he had to jump and the concentration to get two feet down … Fingertips. Sideline. Toe touch."

Atlanta wound up not scoring on the drive, thanks to a Patriots sack and a penalty that took it out of field-goal range. Brady would engineer a game-tying drive on New England's next possession.

It was the culmination of Brady's second Super Bowl victory in the last three seasons, perhaps the sweetest yet. He was borderline flawless in the fourth quarter and overtime of those victories over the Falcons and Seattle Seahawks, completing 34 of 42 passes for 370 yards and three touchdowns.

"I always feel like I'm the same. Sometimes the stats don't show that, but that's how I feel … I felt the same in both of those games. I felt like I just go out there and do my job," Brady told King.

For Brady, doing his job means cementing his legacy as (perhaps) the greatest quarterback in NFL history.