You know the numbers. They’ve become a meme, a punchline, and a painful scar for anyone who calls Atlanta home. 28-3. But when you actually sit down and look at the patriots falcons super bowl box score from that night in February 2017, the story is way more than just a blown lead. It’s a statistical anomaly that defies how football is supposed to work.
Honestly, it shouldn't have happened. If you run that game 1,000 times in a simulator, the Falcons win 999 of them. But we don't live in a simulator. We live in a world where Tom Brady decides he isn't losing.
The Box Score That Makes No Sense
When you look at the raw data, the first thing that jumps out is the sheer volume of plays. New England ran 93 offensive plays. Atlanta ran 46. That is a staggering gap. Basically, the Patriots played two full games of offense while the Falcons' defense stayed on the field until their legs turned to jelly.
Tom Brady’s individual line is a monster: 43 completions on 62 attempts for 466 yards. Those were all Super Bowl records at the time. But look closer at the Atlanta side. Matt Ryan was nearly perfect for three quarters. He finished with a passer rating of 144.1. In almost any other game in NFL history, a 144.1 rating is an automatic "W."
The scoring summary is a mountain range. Atlanta owned the second quarter, putting up 21 points. Then they added another seven in the third. It was 28-3 with 8:31 left in the third quarter. The Patriots didn't just need a comeback; they needed a miracle. And they got one, scoring 31 unanswered points to end the game.
🔗 Read more: South Dakota State Football vs NDSU Football Matches: Why the Border Battle Just Changed Forever
A Tale of Two Halves (And One Very Long Overtime)
The first half was a clinic by Dan Quinn’s defense. Robert Alford’s 82-yard pick-six off Brady felt like the dagger. It was the first time Brady had ever thrown a pick-six in a Super Bowl. People were literally leaving their watch parties.
But then the fourth quarter hit.
New England put up 19 points in that final frame alone. Think about that. They needed two touchdowns, two 2-point conversions, and a field goal just to force overtime. James White, the unsung hero of this entire ordeal, caught 14 passes. That’s a record. He scored three touchdowns. Everyone talks about Brady, but White was the engine that kept the chains moving when the deep ball wasn't there.
Why the Patriots Falcons Super Bowl Box Score Still Stings
The "why" is what haunts Falcons fans. It’s in the sacks. Grady Jarrett was a man possessed, tying a record with 3 sacks on Brady. But the Patriots' defense answered back when it mattered most.
💡 You might also like: Shedeur Sanders Draft Room: What Really Happened Behind the Scenes
Dont'a Hightower’s strip-sack on Matt Ryan with 8:31 left in the fourth is the play that changed everything. Atlanta was at their own 36. If they just run the ball, they probably win. Instead, Ryan drops back, Hightower gets home, and the ball hits the turf. New England recovered at the Atlanta 25. That was the crack in the dam.
The Efficiency Gap
- First Downs: New England had 37. Atlanta had 17.
- Time of Possession: Patriots held the ball for over 40 minutes. Falcons had it for 23.
- Total Yards: 546 for the Pats, 344 for the Falcons.
It’s easy to blame the Falcons' offense for not running the ball more late in the game. But the box score shows a defense that simply collapsed under the weight of 93 plays. By the time overtime started, the Falcons' pass rush was nonexistent.
The coin toss in overtime was essentially the end of the game. New England won the toss, took the ball, and marched 75 yards in eight plays. James White punched it in from the two-yard line. Game over. 34-28. No one even got to see if Matt Ryan could answer because of the rules at the time.
Breaking Down the "28-3" Anatomy
If you’re looking at the patriots falcons super bowl box score to settle a bet or just to relive the trauma, pay attention to the third-down conversions. New England was 7-for-14. Not amazing, but they were 1-for-1 on fourth down. They were desperate, and they played like it.
📖 Related: Seattle Seahawks Offense Rank: Why the Top-Three Scoring Unit Still Changed Everything
Atlanta’s penalties were also a quiet killer. They had 9 penalties for 65 yards. Some of those were holding calls that knocked them out of field goal range in the fourth quarter. If Matt Bryant gets a chance to kick just one more field goal, the comeback is mathematically impossible.
The Julian Edelman catch is the highlight everyone remembers, and for good reason. It was a 23-yard gain on 1st and 10 during the game-tying drive. The ball was tipped, bobbled, and somehow pinned against a defender's leg inches from the grass. It’s the kind of play that only happens when the universe has already decided who’s winning.
Actionable Insights for Football Fans
Watching this game back or studying the stats offers some real lessons for the modern era of the NFL:
- Snap Counts Matter: If your defense is on the field for 90+ plays, they will fail in the fourth quarter regardless of how "elite" they are.
- The 2-Point Conversion is King: The Patriots went 2-for-2 on 2-point tries. Without both, they lose. Coaches are way more aggressive now because of this specific game.
- Running Backs in the Passing Game: James White proved that a pass-catching back is more valuable than a traditional "bell-cow" runner in a comeback scenario.
To really understand the legacy of Super Bowl LI, you have to look past the final score. It was a game of extreme endurance versus extreme efficiency. Atlanta was efficient; New England endured.
If you want to dive deeper into the play-by-play, check out the official NFL Gamebook for Super Bowl LI. It’s a 40-page document that tracks every breath taken on that field. You can also compare this box score to Super Bowl LVIII to see how overtime rules have changed specifically because people hated how this game ended without Matt Ryan touching the ball in OT.
The stats tell you what happened, but they don't tell you how it felt. For that, you just have to watch the highlights and see the look on Bill Belichick's face when they finally hoisted the trophy. It was a night when the box score lied for three quarters and then told the brutal truth in the fourth.