New England Patriots: Super Bowl LIII Champions

ATLANTA -- Tom Brady led a fourth-quarter touchdown drive to lift New England over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, with the 13-3 final standing as the lowest outcome in Super Bowl history. Here's what we learned as the Patriots tied the Pittsburgh Steelers for most ever Lombardi Trophies (6):

1. With apologies to connoisseurs of prodigious punting displays, nobody tunes into the biggest stage in American sports to watch defensive coordinators locked in a battle of gridiron chess for three hours. Both quarterbacks struggled from the outset, with Tom Brady's perennial first-quarter Super Bowl woes growing infectious. The Rams were shut out at halftime for the first time in the Sean McVay era. The six points combined were the fewest after three quarters in Super Bowl history.

Pining for points with just under 10 minutes remaining, a crowd heavily slanted toward the Patriots began a "Brady, Brady, Brady" chant as their hero took the field at the 31-yard line. The greatest quarterback of all time proceeded to unfurl his two best throws of the night, dialing up a Canton connection with Rob Gronkowski for gorgeous plays of 18 and 29 yards. The latter of the two gems put New England on the doorstep of the end zone, giving Sony Michel an easy scoring opportunity and the go-ahead touchdown. The Rams were driving for the answer when Stephon Gilmore stepped in front of Brandin Cooks near the right pylon to intercept the potential tying score.


"You know it was an unbelievable year," Brady told CBS after the game. "We just fought through it more so than anything. It's unbelievable to win this game. They played so well, the Rams' defense they played their butts off. What a great defense, they had a great plan. They made it tough on every play. We just kept fighting and finally got a touchdown. The [Patriots] defense played the best game of the year."

2. Awarded Super Bowl LIII Most Valuable Player honors, slot receiver Julian Edelman is starting to inspire Hall of Fame discussions himself. A chain-moving machine, Edelman bedeviled Wade Phillips' otherwise impressive defense with eight first downs en route to 141 yards on 10 receptions. For the first 50 minutes of game time, he was the only weapon firing on either offense. It's a credit not only to his mind meld with Brady on option routes, but also to his rare mix of agility, toughness and run-after-catch elusiveness. After passing Hall of Famer Michael Irvin in the second quarter, Edelman now stands second only to San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice with 1,412 receiving yards in the postseason. Gronkowski, meanwhile, ranks first among tight ends in postseason receptions (81), yards (1,163) and touchdowns (12).

3. Miami Dolphins faithful must be excited at the prospect of stealing linebackers coach Brian Flores away from the AFC East end boss. Teaming with defensive mastermind Bill Belichick, Flores put on a game-planning and play-calling clinic in the postseason, confusing opposing passers with line stunts, timely blitzes and an interchangeable cadre of pass rushers. The Patriots are the first team since the iconic 1985 Chicago Bears to hold their opponents to a total of seven points or fewer in the first halves of three consecutive playoff games.

New England Patriots: Super Bowl LI Champions

HOUSTON -- The greatest quarterback of all time capped off the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, leading an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of the first Super Bowl overtime ever played. Here's what we learned in Super Bowl LI:

1. After throwing a second-quarter pick-six to put his team in a seemingly insurmountable 21-0 hole, Tom Brady bounced back in the most dramatic fashion possible, earning Super Bowl MVP honors for an unprecedented fourth time. En route to a Super Bowl-record 466 passing yards, Brady erased a 25-point second-half deficit by orchestrating four touchdown drives and a field goal in New England's final five series. Thumbing his nose at Father Time in the last game of his thirties, Brady completed 27 of 34 passes (79.4 percent) for 302 yards (8.9 YPA), two touchdowns and a 123.3 passer rating on those five legacy-cementing possessions from the middle of the third quarter through James White's game-ending touchdown run.


"There were a lot of plays," Brady told Terry Bradshaw during the presentation of the Lombardi Trophy. "Coach talks about how you never know which play it's going to be in the Super Bowl. There were probably 30 of them tonight. Any one of those would have been different, the outcome would have been different."

2. If the quarterback position wasn't the most uniquely important in all of professional sports, White would have been the runaway choice as MVP. The shifty scatback authored the most brilliant performance of his career on the game's brightest stage, hauling in a Super Bowl-record 14 receptions for 110 yards while adding three touchdowns and a clutch two-point conversion. From Kevin Faulk to Danny Woodhead to Shane Vereen and, now, to White, no quarterback utilizes pass-catching "satellite" backs to greater effect than Brady.

3. Nine years later, the Patriots extracted a decent payback for David Tyree's miraculous "Helmet Catch," instrumental in the Giants' Super Bowl XLII upset. Facing an eight-point deficit with 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, Brady unfurled an ill-advised pass over the middle into double coverage. Although the ball was tipped by Robert Alford as two other defenders arrived, the cornerback's leg prevented it from falling incomplete. Julian Edelman plucked the ball off of Alford's ankle, bobbled it for a second and somehow hung on without allowing it to hit the turf. Edelman's "Ankle Catch" is New England's answer to the circus-catch antics of Tyree and Seahawks wideout Jermaine Kearse.

"I couldn't believe it," Brady said after the game. "One of the greatest catches. You know we've been on the other end of a few of those catches."

4. If the prolate spheroid had bounced differently in the second half, the Falcons could have turned Super Bowl LI into a lopsided laugher. Reminiscent of the Seahawks' lopsided Super Bowl XLVIII victory, when Dan Quinn's Seattle defense dominated Denver's record-breaking offense, the Falcons simply outclassed the Patriots in terms of speed and athleticism for the first 40 minutes of Sunday's ultimate affair. Atlanta jumped out to a forbidding 28-3 lead, with fleet-footed middle linebacker Deion Jones setting the tone as a true sideline-to-sideline force on defense and big-play tailback Devonta Freeman shredding New England's defense on the other side of the ball.


Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff cut his teeth in the Patriots front office, learning how to construct a successful organization from team-building master Bill Belichick. When Dimitroff was afforded the chance to run his own operation in Atlanta, he parted ways with his mentor in one key area: Whereas Belichick emphasized size and power, Dimitroff coined the phrase "urgent athleticism" to describe his own draft philosophy. That difference played out in stark terms for one half at NRG Stadium Sunday evening. Despite the heartbreaking loss, the talented young roster compiled by Dimitroff, Quinn and Scott Pioli is poised to remain an NFC powerhouse for the next few years.

5. That said, Quinn and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will battle persistent nightmares over an ultimately decisive sequence in the middle of the fourth quarter. After Julio Jones tight-roped the sideline for one of the most acrobatic catches in postseason history, the Falcons simply had to call three straight runs that would have forced the Patriots to use their timeouts. They would then have the opportunity for a field-goal attempt of roughly 40 yards, extending the lead to 31-20 with less than four minutes remaining. Instead, Trey Flowers sacked Matt Ryan for a third time, turning a three-point opportunity into a punting situation. It's hard to crush play-callers for remaining aggressive, but this was a costly miscalculation for the Falcons.

6. Atlanta's epic second-half collapse will effectively circumvent wall-to-wall post-Super Bowl coverage of an offense that ranks among the greatest in NFL history. Had the Falcons held on for the win, they would have recorded the most points in a season by a Super Bowl champion, featuring an MVP quarterback fresh off the hottest playoff streak of all time. Extending his own record of 120-plus passer ratings to seven games, Ryan finished the postseason completing 70 of 98 passes (71.4) for 1,014 yards (10.4 YPA), nine touchdowns and a staggering 135.3 passer rating. His eight completions of 15 or more yards tied Carolina's Jake Delhomme (Super Bowl XXXVIII, also in Houston versus the Patriots) for the most in one Super Bowl game.


Considering the inflated, offense-friendly environment in which they shined, the 2016 Falcons won't quite stack up to the era-adjusted dominance of the 2007 Patriots, 2000 Rams, 1998 Vikings, 1994 49ers, 1983 Redskins and 1950 Rams.

7. When Julio Jones' Hall of Fame bust is unveiled in Canton 10-15 years from now, they will run a loop of highlights from his spectacular 2017 postseason run, played through a painful toe injury. Double- and even triple-teamed at times, Jones made the most of his four targets, hauling in all four for 87 yards. His balletic, leaping sideline grab over Eric Rowe is perhaps the best example of aerial acrobatics since the Flying Wallendas made big-top magic -- or at least since Lynn Swann's sensational Super Bowl X leap.

8. Flowers, linebacker Dont'a Hightower and defensive end Chris Long were the standouts for a Patriots defense that buckled down in the second half. After going 20 consecutive possessions without a three-and-out sequence this postseason, the Falcons were forced into a pair of quick punts twice in three third-quarter sequences as New England chipped away at the lead. Hightower hit Ryan's arm in motion, forcing and recovering a fumble that put the ball in Brady's hands at Atlanta's 25-yard line. Brady found Danny Amendola for a six-yard touchdown five plays later, trimming the lead to one score in the middle of the fourth quarter.

9. Dwight Freeney isn't ready to make a decision on retirement after a fantastic performance in which he and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett dominated the Patriots' offensive line for three quarters. "I don't know what the story will be for me after this," Freeney told reporters after the game. "I don't know if I'll return next year." Freeney, 36, is no stranger to languishing on the open market until he finds the right fit with a Super Bowl contender.

New England Patriots: Super Bowl XLIX Champions

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Ten years removed from his last Super Bowl win, Tom Brady wasn't letting this one slip away.

Sure, the brilliant Brady needed a huge play by an undrafted rookie to preserve New England's 28-24 Super Bowl victory over Seattle on Sunday night. But Brady's imprint was all over the Patriots' sensational fourth-quarter rally for their fourth NFL championship of the Brady-Bill Belichick era.

"You know, whatever it takes," the record-setting Brady said after throwing for four touchdowns, including a 3-yarder to Julian Edelman with 2:02 remaining as New England rallied from a 10-point deficit. "Every team has a journey and a lot of people lost faith in us ... but we held strong, we held together, and it's a great feeling."

The Patriots (15-4) had to survive a last-ditch drive by the Seahawks (14-5), who got to the 1, helped by a spectacular juggling catch by Jermaine Kearse. Then Malcolm Butler stepped in front of Ricardo Lockette to pick off Russell Wilson's pass and complete one of the wildest Super Bowl finishes.

Brady leaped for joy on the Patriots sideline after Butler's first career interception.

"It wasn't the way we drew it up," said Brady, who won his third Super Bowl MVP award. "It was a lot of mental toughness. Our team has had it all year. We never doubted each other, so that's what it took."

Brady surpassed Joe Montana's mark of 11 Super Bowl touchdown passes with a 4-yarder to Danny Amendola to bring the Patriots within three points.

Seattle, seeking to become the first repeat NFL champion since New England a decade ago, was outplayed for the first half, yet tied at 14. The Seahawks scored the only 10 points of the third period, but the NFL-leading defense couldn't slow the brilliant Brady when it counted most.

"He's Tom Brady," Edelman said. "He's the greatest quarterback on the planet."

It didn't matter how much air was in the balls, Brady was unstoppable when the pressure was strongest. While pushing aside the controversy over air pressure in the footballs stemming from the AFC title game, the Patriots moved the ball easily in the final 12 minutes.

Seattle didn't quit -- it never does -- and Kearse's 33-yard catch with 1:06 remaining got it to the 5. Marshawn Lynch rushed for 4 yards, then backup cornerback Butler, who was victimized on Kearse's reception, made the biggest play of his first NFL season with 20 seconds remaining.

"I just had a vision that I was going to make a big play and it came true," Butler said. "I'm just blessed. I can't explain it right now. It's crazy."

Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin was ejected in the final seconds for instigating a near-brawl, delaying the celebration for the Patriots.

Soon they were mobbing one another on the same field where their 2007 unbeaten season was ruined in the Super Bowl by the Giants. They also fell to the Giants for the 2011 title.

But thanks to superstar Brady and the obscure Butler, they are champions again.

"Malcolm, what a play," Brady said. "I mean, for a rookie to make a play like that in a Super Bowl and win us the game, it was unbelievable."

Brady has equaled Montana with four Lombardi Trophies and three Super Bowl MVPs. He stands alone with 13 Super Bowl touchdown passes. He was 37 for 50 for 328 yards against the NFL's top-ranked defense.

He also was picked off twice; Brady was intercepted a total of two times in his previous five Super Bowls.

Yet, he picked apart the Seahawks on fourth-quarter drives of 68 and 64 yards, solidifying his championship legacy.

His heroics offset those of Chris Matthews, one of Seattle's least-used players before the postseason. Matthews recovered the onside kick that helped the Seahawks beat Green Bay in overtime for the NFC crown, and had a breakout performance Sunday.

Having never caught a pass in the NFL, Matthews grabbed four for 109 yards and a touchdown. Lynch ran for 102 yards, but didn't get the ball at the 1 on the decisive play -- a decision the Seahawks will rue forever.

"For it to come down to a play like that, I hate that we have to live with that," coach Pete Carroll said, "because we did everything right to win the football game."

The teams got down to football under the open retractable roof at University of Phoenix Stadium -- the first venue to host an indoor and an outdoor Super Bowl -- after dealing with distractions far beyond the typical Super Bowl hype. The Patriots are still being investigated for using under-inflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game.

It was a game of spurts by both teams before a crowd of 70,288 that was clearly pro-Seattle.

Jeremy Lane made the first big play to negate a nearly eight-minute drive by the Patriots with a leaping interception at the goal line late in the first quarter. Lane made his first pro interception, but left with a wrist injury after being tackled by Julian Edelman.

His replacement, Tharold Simon, got torched by Brady the rest of the way.

Wilson didn't get off a pass in the first quarter. When Brady completed his record 50th postseason TD throw, 11 yards to Brandon LaFell against Simon, it was 7-0.

Seattle went to its bench to help tie it.

Matthews' first career catch, a reaching 44-yarder over Kyle Arrington and by far the longest first-half play for Seattle, led to Lynch's bruising 3-yard TD run to make it 7-7.

But Brady to Rob Gronkowski made it 14-7 and seemed to finish off a dominant first half for the Patriots. Except no one told the resilient Seahawks.

A dormant offense turned dangerous in a span of 29 seconds, covering 80 yards in five plays, including a late gamble. Lockette caught a 23-yard pass and Arrington was flagged for a facemask, putting Seattle at the 10 with :06 remaining. Carroll went for it and the new Seahawks star, Matthews, grabbed Wilson's pass in the left corner of the end zone.

It was the most lopsided halftime tie imaginable.

Then Seattle stormed to a 24-14 lead in the third quarter on Steven Hauschka's 27-yard field goal and Doug Baldwin's 3-yard TD reception. New England was stumbling -- until Brady once again stepped up.

"I've been at it for 15 years and we've had a couple of tough losses in this game," Brady said. "This one came down to the end, and this time, we made the plays."

Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press

Super Bowl XLVI

Giants Beat Patriots in Final Rally

By JUDY BATTISTA

INDIANAPOLIS — Four years ago, the Giants were the charming underdogs who took the New England Patriots’ perfect season and turned it into a game of what-if.

This season, however, having survived summer injuries and free-agent defections, a four-game losing streak, calls for the coach’s job and six late-game comebacks, the Giants arrived at their Super Bowl rematch with the Patriots as something that seemed more formidable: a team prepared to face tension and overcome it.

Just as they did four years ago, the Giants prevailed in the final minute against the Patriots, beating New England, 21-17, to give the franchise its fourth Super Bowl championship — one more than the Patriots — and its second in four years over this generation’s greatest coach-quarterback combination, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

The Giants are the first team to finish the regular season 9-7 and win the Super Bowl. And in Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning, they have a coach-quarterback duo to match with any other in today’s N.F.L.

For the Patriots, who were 13-3 in the regular season, it was another bitter loss, a devastating repeat of the loss that ended their undefeated 2007 season.

The victory came, fittingly for a season with so many strange twists, in the oddest fashion. Trailing by 2 points with 3 minutes 46 seconds remaining, the Giants started the winning drive. Manning — who now has one more championship than his brother Peyton — lofted a perfect pass down the left sideline to Mario Manningham, who kept his feet inbounds by inches with two defenders on his back. The pass went for 38 yards, a pointed answer to the yearlong question of whether Eli was elite.

With a minute remaining, running back Ahmad Bradshaw rushed through a wide-open hole — Belichick said the Patriots allowed him to score — and tried to fall down short of the end zone. That would have kept the Patriots from having substantial time to mount a comeback of their own.

But his momentum carried him into the end zone, the 6-yard touchdown run giving the Giants a 4-point lead with 57 seconds left. The Giants’ sideline did not even celebrate because the players knew that meant: Brady had nearly a minute and one timeout to score a touchdown.

But the Giants’ defense, maligned early in the season, had pulled itself together for critical victories in the final weeks of the regular season against the Jets and Cowboys, then for the playoff run. And starting with 57 seconds remaining, they thwarted Brady one last time, forcing incompletions and sacks and finally an incomplete pass in the end zone as the final second ticked away.

Manning, who completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown, was named the game’s most valuable player for the second time.

The Patriots’ offense suffered with the star tight end Rob Gronkowski seemingly at less than full strength after injuring his left ankle in the A.F.C. championship game two weeks ago. Brady was 27 of 41 for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns and an interception. Gronkowski, who had the most productive season by a tight end in N.F.L. history, was held to two catches for 26 yards.

The Giants dominated most of the first two quarters, looking sharper and more focused than the gaffe-laden Patriots. But it was one critical decision — to play prevent defense on the Patriots’ final drive of the half — that cost the Giants a lead they had constructed on the back of those Patriots errors and their own stout defense.

The Giants held a 9-3 lead late in the second quarter, helped by a safety on the Patriots’ first offensive play of the game. Taking over after a Giants punt on their opening series, Brady, under pressure in the end zone by Justin Tuck, threw the ball deep downfield, with no receiver near the ball. He was called for intentional grounding, worth a safety and the game’s first 2 points. It was just the sixth safety in Super Bowl history, but the first mistake in a cascade of New England lapses.

When the Giants got the ball back, the Patriots were penalized for having 12 men on the field, negating a fumble by Giants receiver Victor Cruz. Two plays later, Manning rifled a 2-yard pass to Cruz in the end zone just as Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo hurtled past the play, failing to break it up. That gave the Giants a 9-0 lead that seemed greater than it was.

When the Patriots finally got the ball back — for just their second play, with 3:24 remaining in the first quarter — they drove deep into Giants territory. But Jason Pierre-Paul, the fearsome defensive lineman with a wingspan seemingly as wide as the field, batted down a Brady pass on third-and-4 from the 11, forcing the Patriots to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski.

But it was a mistake by the Giants that ended another drive. With Manning driving them again with less than five minutes to play in the second quarter, guard Kevin Boothe was called for holding the Patriots’ mammoth defensive tackle, Vince Wilfork, negating a 10-yard gain on third-and-1 and effectively ending the drive.

That put the ball in Brady’s hands with 4:03 left before halftime. The Patriots deferred the opening kickoff the way they usually do because they crave the opportunity to double up an opponent: to score on the final drive of the first half, then again on the first drive of the second.

In this case, the Patriots got a significant assist from the Giants, who decided to play deep, taking away the big play but allowing an accurate Brady to chew up the field. The Patriots’ drive began on the Giants’ 4, and was pushed back another 2 yards on a holding call.

With Brady unleashing quick pass after quick pass to nullify the Giants’ pass rush — the safety was the only significant pressure of the first half — he shredded the defense, completing 10 of 10 attempts for 98 yards. A 4-yard touchdown pass to Danny Woodhead with eight seconds remaining was a gut punch, a reminder that the Patriots are rarely out of a game, no matter how poorly they start, as long as Brady is on the field.

Then, Belichick’s strategy worked perfectly when the Patriots went on a surgical 79-yard touchdown drive to open the second half.

Throughout, the Giants had no pressure on Brady. After Brady completed a 12-yard scoring pass to Aaron Hernandez that put the Patriots ahead, 17-9, he tapped the MHK patch on his jersey and pointed to the heavens, a revealing reminder that Brady and the Patriots were playing the season in memory of Myra Kraft, the wife of the team’s owner, Robert K. Kraft. Myra Kraft died last summer after a long struggle with cancer just as the lockout ended.

The Patriots’ defense was maligned all season, ranking 31st in the league in yards allowed, but it was merely in the middle of the pack in points allowed, the barometer that coaches care most about. When the Giants got the ball again, the Patriots proved why scoring defense is more critical.

The Giants drove down the field, but they could not finish the drive, settling for a 38-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal that barely sneaked inside the left upright.

The Patriots’ lead then was 17-12, but it felt as if the Patriots and Brady had taken over the game. Brady completed 16 passes in a row, a Super Bowl record. And even when the Giants finally put pressure on him again — their first sack of the game came with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter — they could not capitalize.

The Patriots’ defense held again, this time on a Giants drive that started with their best field position, at the New England 48. The Giants managed another field goal, this one from 33 yards, allowing the Patriots to hold on to a 17-15 lead going into the fourth quarter. And just as it was four years ago, the fourth quarter decided the game, and defined the legacies of Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning and the Giants.

The Miami Dolphins undefeated streak extends to 36 years!

The Miami Dolphins undefeated streak extends to 36 years!

By Jo-Ryan Salazar
Bedlam on Baltic Avenue
February 4, 2008

Move aside, De La Salle Spartans, and make way for a real undefeated streak.

Patience pays off. That’s an old maxim quoted by an anonymous sage. For the 1972 Miami Dolphins, their patience could have paid off any better. Led by Mercury Morris, Garo Yepremian, Larry Little and Jim Kiick, the Dolphins used a balance of watching and waiting to defeat the 2007 New England Patriots, 17-14, before a crowd of senior citizens with walkers at their house in Miami.

Their unbeaten streak lasting for 36 commercial-infested seasons and counting, the Dolphins, in spite of being physically unable to play American football the way it is played in the NFL today, continue to defy conventional wisdom by throwing two crucial passes to David Tyree and Plaxico Burress, who are capable of playing football at this level.

“”Obviously, we’re proud to still have to longest undefeated streak in the League, more than those scumbags from New England,” Kiick said. “Is New England even a city? There isn’t any place in the map called New England. The way they played, Matsushita Denko Impulse would have ran them out of town.”

The remark was met with a loud roar from the old farts, as well as some octogenarians with Alzheimer’s who scratched their heads in confusion as to what a “…Matsushahahwahsawasha Dengo Impulse ish,” one said. “Well, I knows what’s deh Impulse part is, but I don’t know hossfeathers about the other stuff the chap was saying. Actually…I want to ask you a question, young man…what’s an Impulse?”

“They rplayed a fabulous game and I really thought they deserved to win,” tight end Jim Mandich said. “I really feel the better team won…As for the 1972 Miami Dolphins, I don’t take joy in the fact that the Patriots lost…wait a minute, I do! Ha Ha Ha, Tom Brady got screwed by Tyree~~~~~! Ahahahahahah! <3>

Brady, QB for the Patriots, was seen heading on the team bus with a noose and a wakazashi (hara-kiri blade) in his left hand, and a death poem in unrecognizable weeaboo kanji in the other.

“Thanks for supporting us,” New York Giants guard Chris Snee said. “You are our masters, and we must fulfill our duty to our masters, because had Tyree dropped that pass from Eli [Manning, Archie’s bastard child], all of us would have hung ourselves.”

The Flying Elvis was unable to comment.