Brady caps comeback for the ages

At 39, Pats QB rallies troops to win historic fifth championship

The New England Patriots looked old and outmanned on Sunday.

Their 39-year-old superstar quarterback was frazzled and their stingy defense was coming apart at the seams.

Big deal.

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots simply shrugged and did what they always seem to do: Win the Super Bowl.

Brady led one of the greatest comebacks in sports history - highlighted by a Julian Edelman catch that was almost beyond belief (see sidebar) - as the Patriots pulled themselves out of a 25-point hole to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in the first NFL championship decided in overtime.

"There were a lot of plays coach talks about ... you never know which one is going to be the Super Bowl winner," said Brady, who earned a record fourth MVP award and a fifth Super Bowl ring, the most for a quarterback.

"There were probably 30 of those plays tonight and if any one of those were different, the outcome could have been different."

Even trailing 28-3 in the third quarter?

"It's hard to imagine us winning," Brady said. "It took a lot of great plays ... and that's why you play to the end."

The Patriots scored 19 points in the final 15 minutes, including a pair of 2-point conversions, then marched relentlessly to James White's two-yard touchdown run in OT after winning the coin toss.

White scored three TDs and a 2-pointer.

Brady guided the Patriots through a punishing Atlanta defense for fourth-quarter touchdowns on a six-yard pass to Danny Amendola and a one-yard run by White, which came with 57 seconds remaining in regulation.

Brady finished 43 for 62, the most attempts in Super Bowl history, for 466 yards, also a record, and two touchdowns.

Before the stunning rally - New England already held the record for the biggest comeback in the final period when it turned around a 10-point deficit to beat Seattle two years ago - the Falcons looked set to take their first NFL championship in 51 seasons. But having never been in such a pressurized environment, their previously staunch pass rush disappeared, they stumbled on offense - and Brady tore them apart.

"There's nothing you can really say," said Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan. "It's a tough loss, obviously very disappointing because we were very close to getting done what we wanted to get done."

It was deja vu for Patriots owner Robert Kraft as he accepted the Lombardi Trophy from commissioner Roger Goodell, who naturally drew a flood of boos from New England fans.

"Two years ago, after we won our fourth Super Bowl down in Arizona, I told our fans that was the sweetest one of all," Kraft said.

"But a lot has transpired over the last two years and I don't think that needs any explanation.

"I want to say to our fans, our brilliant coaching staff, our amazing players who were so spectacular, this is unequivocally the sweetest."

Brady and coach Bill Belichick each won their 25th postseason game, by far a record, and Belichick became the first coach with five Super Bowls.

The Patriots won the coin toss for overtime, and elected to receive. Brady completed six straight passes against an overmatched Falcons secondary, and an interference call took the ball to the two-yard line, where White scooted to his right and barely over the goal line.

In a game that started as a defensive struggle, the Falcons went sack-happy, getting two on the Patriots' second drive in what would be a scoreless opening quarter.

It looked as if the Patriots would get on the board immediately in the second period as Brady and Edelman connected twice for 40 yards, but LeGarrette Blount's fumble turned the momentum to the Falcons, who grabbed a 14-0 lead.

Then Brady was victimized by his own poor decision, a rarity for him on the big stage. From the Falcons' 23, he tried to squeeze a throw to Danny Amendola. Robert Alford stepped in and sprinted 82 yards for the second-longest pick-6 in Super Bowl history - and Brady's first.

Shockingly, it was 21-0.

The Pats gathered their wits for a 52-yard drive to Stephen Gostkowski's 41-yard field goal, but it was 21-3 when Lady Gaga took the stage to lead the halftime show.

There was still smoke hanging over the field when both teams had three-and-outs to open the third quarter. The Falcons looked in control when they marched 85 yards for another touchdown, but New England kept coming and the Falcons started to sputter.

It took less than 20 minutes of playing time for Brady and his buddies to complete the comeback and sew up their fifth Super Bowl title.

"We just played every play," Edelman said. "We never quit."

Edelman's grab defies gravity

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman stands only 5-foot-10 and weighs just 200 pounds, but on Sunday he was a giant.

The feisty 30-year-old made a catch for both the highlight reels and the history books - a once-in-a-lifetime grab that pushed New England's record-setting Super Bowl comeback into overdrive.

Edelman's catch was the key play on New England's 91-yard drive that tied the game near the end of regulation time en route to a 34-28 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons.

The diminutive Kent State alumnus somehow got his red-gloved hands pinned up against, and then underneath, a Tom Brady pass that bounced off Atlanta cornerback Robert Alford's hands, then deflected off his knee and shin as it dropped to the turf.

But it never got that far.

"I knew I caught it," Edelman said. "I felt like I had it. I didn't know if may be a piece of the ball was touching (the turf). I don't know what the dang rule is. Nobody knows what the rule is for a catch. I was like, 'I'm pretty sure I caught it.'"

Review upheld the 23-yard reception, the video clearly showing Edelman first pinning the ball against Alford's foot, then getting his hands underneath the pigskin as it bounces off the defender.

It gave New England the ball at the Atlanta 41 with 2:03 left in regulation. The rest of the game almost felt academic.

"Quite a competitor," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said of his do-everything receiver, who catches, runs, returns punts and even threw one (incomplete) pass against Atlanta.

"I think to win a game like that after falling behind by so much, you need a few plays like that."

Alford was resigned.

"At the end of the day, all you can control is what you can control," he said. "I saw he made the play. I saw him come down with it. I saw my foot and the ball when he got his hands underneath it. Sometimes, there's nothing you can do." Edelman finished with five catches for 87 yards - including the one nobody will ever forget.

"One of the greatest catches I've ever seen," Brady said. "We've been on the other side of that a few times before, and Julian came up huge on the other end of it. He had a helluva game."

Super Bowl MVPs

(Since 1991)

2017: Tom Brady, QB, New England

2016: Von Miller, LB, Denver

2015: Tom Brady, QB, New England

2014: Malcolm Smith, LB, Seattle

2013: Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore

2012: Eli Manning, QB, N.Y. Giants

2011: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay

2010: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans

2009: Santonio Holmes, WR, Pittsburgh

2008: Eli Manning, QB, N.Y. Giants

2007: Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis

2006: Hines Ward, WR, Pittsburgh

2005: Deion Branch, WR, New England

2004: Tom Brady, QB, New England

2003: Dexter Jackson, FS, Tampa Bay

2002: Tom Brady, QB, New England

2001: Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore

2000: Kurt Warner, QB, St. Louis

1999: John Elway, QB, Denver

1998: Terrell Davis, RB, Denver

1997: Desmond Howard, KR, Green Bay

1996: Larry Brown, CB, Dallas

1995: Steve Young, QB, San Francisco

1994: Emmitt Smith, RB, Dallas

1993: Troy Aikman, QB, Dallas

1992: Mark Rypien, QB, Washington

1991: Ottis Anderson, RB, N.Y. Giants

Winningest coaches

5: Bill Belichick, New England, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017

4: Chuck Noll, Pittsburgh, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980

3: Bill Walsh, San Francisco, 1982, 1985, 1989

3: Joe Gibbs, Washington, 1983, 1988, 1992

2: Vince Lombardi, Green Bay, 1967, 1968

2: Don Shula, Miami, 1973, 1974

2: Tom Landry, Dallas, 1972, 1978

2: Tom Flores, Oakland-L.A. Raiders, 1981, 1984

2: Bill Parcells, NY Giants, 1987, 1991

2: Jimmy Johnson, Dallas, 1993, 1994

2: George Seifert, San Francisco, 1990, 1995

2: Mike Shanahan, Denver, 1998, 1999

2: Tom Coughlin, NY Giants, 2007, 2011

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman is gang tackled by a trio of Atlanta Falcons as he hauls in the ball just before it hits the turf late in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' 34-28 overtime victory in Super Bowl LI in Houston on Sunday. Patrick Semansky / Ap