Patriots put together greatest rally in Super Bowl history, beat Falcons 34-28

Words fail when you witness a miracle.

So how about this for Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots?

The. Greatest. Of. All. Time.

Greatest quarterback. Greatest coach.

And greatest dynasty.

Super Bowl 51 was history books stuff, friends.

The Patriots didn’t just so much win the world title as they snatched the Falcons’ soul here Sunday night.

The final score: New England 34. Atlanta 28.

Where to begin?

How about the single greatest Super Bowl comeback -- ever.

No team had ever rallied from 14 points down to win.

The Patriots were down 28-3 with 23 and a half minutes to play.

They were done. Finished. The game was over. And maybe New England’s incredible run was too.

And then, it happened. It was epic.

“Unbelievable,” was the word Commissioner Roger Goodell used to describe it.

That didn’t do it justice.

“This is unequivocally the sweetest,” said Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who battled Goodell for two years over the Deflategate saga.

The Patriots scored 31 unanswered points.

The last six? On a two-yard touchdown plunge by James White, who was stopped at the line of scrimmage, but willed his way into the end zone.

Of course, there’s a South Florida angle. There always is.

White played his high school ball at Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas.

On Sunday, he teamed with South Florida’s greatest sports villain -- Brady -- for perhaps the best Super Bowl yet.

Brady shattered record after record along the way.

His 466 passing yards? Most ever in a Super Bowl (the old mark was 414). Same for his 43 completions (Brady owned the record at 37).

But the record he cares about the most?

Five -- as in Super Bowl rings. No other starting quarterback had that many.

“I’m so proud of our guys, our coaches, our team, it’s unbelievable,” said Brady, holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy. “We’re bringing this sucker home!”

Belichick? He’s the best all-time now, too.

No coach has ever had five rings, either.

And his latest was the hardest. The Patriots always play Super Bowl thrillers, but this was in a class all its own.

They had to overcome a near-perfect game from Matt Ryan, who completed 17 of 23 passes for 284 yards, two scores and no interceptions, to do it.

It was you-had-to-see-it-to-believe it stuff.

And it was a perfect storm of ineptitude by the Falcons.

Like giving up a strip-sack up 16 in the fourth quarter, deep in their own territory.

Like having first-and-10 at the Patriots 22, with an eight-point lead and under five minutes to play -- and settling for a punt.

Like surrendering a 91-yard touchdown drive when a stop would give your city its first world championship -- ever.

Like letting the Patriots receivers run so free, it almost seemed as it was by design.

Like giving up not one, but two two-point conversions in the fourth quarter.

This was bad. Really bad.

Like, “maybe this franchise is cursed,” bad.

And when you saw Julian Edelman make a catch a pass that made David Tyree’s helmet grab look routine, you knew it wasn’t Atlanta’s night.

The pass, on New England’s final overtime drive, rattled around the Falcons defenders’ cleats before Edelman snatched it away.

Miracles do happen. You saw one Sunday night.

This story was originally published February 5, 2017 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Patriots put together greatest rally in Super Bowl history, beat Falcons 34-28."