It was 28 to 3. Honestly, if you follow football even a little bit, those two numbers are burned into your brain forever. When people search for super bowl who won 2017, they aren't just looking for a score. They’re looking for the moment the impossible became reality.
The New England Patriots won. But that doesn’t even begin to cover the insanity of what happened on February 5, 2017, at NRG Stadium in Houston.
The Atlanta Falcons were absolutely humming. Matt Ryan, the season's MVP, was carving up the Patriots' secondary like it was a high school JV team. By the middle of the third quarter, the score sat at 28-3. The win probability for the Falcons was north of 99%. Most of the world—myself included—was ready to turn off the TV and go to bed. It felt over. It felt like the end of the Brady-Belichick era.
But it wasn't.
The Night the Falcons Stopped Flying
The first half was a total disaster for New England. Tom Brady looked old. He looked rattled. Robert Alford’s 82-yard pick-six made the GOAT look like a guy who had finally stayed at the party too long. Atlanta’s defense, led by Dan Quinn, was playing fast, aggressive, and frankly, better than anyone expected. Devonta Freeman was gashing them on the ground. Julio Jones was catching everything in sight, including a sideline grab that should have been the dagger.
Then, the momentum shifted. It didn't happen all at once. It was a slow, agonizing crawl.
The comeback started with a James White touchdown late in the third quarter. Stephen Gostkowski missed the extra point. Of course he did. It felt like one of those nights where even when New England did something right, they did it wrong. But that missed kick actually set the stage for the weirdest math in Super Bowl history. Because they were down by so much, the Patriots were forced to go for two-point conversions repeatedly. And they kept getting them.
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Why Super Bowl LI Is the Only One That Matters
When people ask about super bowl who won 2017, they often forget how many "miracles" had to align for the Patriots to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Think about the Julian Edelman catch. You know the one. The ball gets tipped in the air, bounces off a Falcons defender’s shoe, and Edelman somehow—by some literal defiance of physics—gets his fingers under it an inch from the grass. It was the kind of play that makes you believe in destiny, or at least in the idea that Atlanta was cursed.
Basically, the Falcons' play-calling went into a tailspin. Kyle Shanahan, the offensive coordinator at the time, has taken a lot of heat for not running the ball more to burn the clock. They were in field goal range. A simple three points would have ended the game. Instead, Ryan took a sack, they got a holding penalty, and they were knocked out of range.
New England scored 25 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
The game went into overtime. It was the first time a Super Bowl had ever gone to an extra period. At that point, the outcome felt inevitable. New England won the coin toss, marched down the field, and James White punched it in for the win. 34-28.
The Statistical Madness of the 2017 Win
Let's look at the raw data because it’s frankly stupid.
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Tom Brady threw the ball 62 times. That is an absurd volume for a championship game. He finished with 466 passing yards, which at the time was a record. James White, who is arguably the unsung hero of the night, had 14 catches and three touchdowns. He scored 20 points by himself.
Atlanta's defense played 93 snaps. To put that in perspective, a normal game usually sees a defense on the field for about 60 to 65 snaps. By the fourth quarter, the Falcons were gassed. They couldn't rush the passer. They couldn't cover the flats. They were standing in quicksand while Brady operated with surgical precision.
The Legacy of Super Bowl 51
This game changed how we talk about Tom Brady. Before 2017, the "Greatest of All Time" debate was still a debate. Joe Montana had four rings and zero interceptions in Super Bowls. Brady had four, but he’d lost two to the Giants.
Winning this game gave Brady his fifth ring. It moved him past Montana and Terry Bradshaw. It solidified the Patriots as a dynasty that refused to die. But for Atlanta, it was the beginning of a heartbreak that arguably the franchise hasn't recovered from yet. The "28-3" meme became a cultural shorthand for "it’s never over until it’s over."
If you’re looking at the super bowl who won 2017 through a betting lens or a historical lens, it remains the largest comeback in the game’s history. The previous record was a measly 10 points. New England overcame a 25-point deficit in less than 20 minutes of game time.
What You Should Take Away From This Game
Whether you love the Patriots or hate them, there are actual lessons here that apply beyond the football field.
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- Process over Panic: New England didn't start throwing 80-yard bombs. They dinked and dunked. They took what the defense gave them. They stayed "on schedule" even when the schedule looked like a nightmare.
- Conditioning is King: The Falcons' youth and speed were their greatest assets in the first half, but their lack of depth and endurance killed them in the second.
- The Math of Risk: Going for two-point conversions isn't just about the points; it's about the psychological pressure it puts on the opponent.
If you find yourself in a situation where you're down "28-3" in your own life—maybe a failing project or a massive setback—remember Houston. The Patriots didn't win because they were more talented that day; they won because they were more resilient.
To dig deeper into the specific play-by-play or to see how this win influenced the next five years of NFL roster building, you can look at the official NFL Films "Sound FX" of the game. It captures the exact moment the Falcons' sideline went from celebrating to realizing they were in trouble.
Check the injury reports from that season too. People forget Rob Gronkowski didn't even play in this game. He was on IR. The fact that Brady did this with Chris Hogan, Malcolm Mitchell, and Danny Amendola makes the 2017 victory even more statistically improbable.
Keep this in mind: next time you see a team down by three scores in the fourth quarter, don't change the channel. 2017 proved that the scoreboard is a liar until the clock hits zero.
Next Steps for Deep Diving:
- Watch the "Secret Base" Dorktown documentary on the Atlanta Falcons for a statistical breakdown of how the collapse happened.
- Analyze the EPA (Expected Points Added) of the third-down conversions in the fourth quarter to see how New England exploited the Falcons' "man" coverage.
- Compare the defensive schemes of Matt Patricia (NE) and Dan Quinn (ATL) during the final two drives to understand the "prevent defense" fallacy.