Super Bowl LI

Super Bowl LI took place on Sunday, February 5, 2017. The two teams involved in the spectacular game were the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. The Atlanta Falcons had only appeared in one Super Bowl (Super Bowl XXXIII) prior to the one that took place this past Sunday.  This left them with two appearances and two losses. Although the Atlanta Falcons had an outstanding regular season, which gave them a first round bye in the post-season, they were unable to finish out against the New England Patriots. The Patriots are one of the best known franchises in football history. They have appeared in the most number of Super Bowls with nine appearances. The Falcons gave them their fifth Super Bowl championship in Super Bowl LI. Something to note is that prior to the Super Bowl merge that took place in 1970, the "Super Bowl" was known as the APFA/NFL Championship game. During this era, the Falcons still did not win a single championship. Needless to say that the two franchises were not comparable.

Focusing more on the game itself, it was a very intense game near the end. For the first half of the game, it was a complete blowout. The Falcons were up 21-3 at the end of the first half. The Atlanta defense was showing tremendous pressure against the arguably greatest quarterback of all time Tom Brady. Patriots running back, LeGarrette Blount, was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by the Falcons. With the offense scoring touchdowns and the defense completely shutting down the Patriots, everything was looking great for the Atlanta Falcons. The halftime show was irrelevant. As the second half began the Patriots were looking for a way to get back into the game but they could not, as the Falcons scored once again. The score was then 28-3. As the second half progressed, the Patriots would pull off the unbelievable and take the game into overtime. For those that do not know what overtime is, basically the Patriots were able to pull a comeback and tie up the game at the end of the final quarter of regulation. Since the score was 28-28, the victor must be decided in overtime. The Patriots would receive the ball first in overtime and they would march down the field, where running back James White would score the game winning touchdown.