28-3: Five Years Later

Hard to believe that five years have passed since the biggest embarrassment in the history of the Super Bowl. On February 5, 2017, the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons faced off in Super Bowl LI, the final chapter of a very intriguing season and playoffs. The Patriots were attempting to win their fifth Super Bowl and their second in a three year span, while the Falcons were in the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history. To the surprise (and delight) to many watching, this was all Falcons to start. It was scoreless after one quarter, but the Falcons exploded on offense; putting up three touchdowns while their defense held the Patriots to a single field goal, which came at the end of the half.

It was 21-3 at the half, and a long Falcons drive actually made it 28-3 midway in the third quarter. As the quarter winded down, a feeling overcame many fans who watched this game: this was it. This was the end. The Patriots were done. Finished. Kaput! They were down by 25 points with time winding down in the third quarter, but we saw each tick as the countdown to a Falcons championship, and more importantly, the dismantling of a suffocating and arrogant franchise and fanbase, all on a worldwide stage.

So with all of those factors, what went wrong? The answer can be summed up in one word: EVERYTHING!!!

The Patriots' drive after that Falcons' TD ended with a touchdown of their own; James White (remember that name) catching the pass from Tom Brady with barely over two minutes left. That made it 28-9, and it would remain that way after Stephen Gostkowski missed the extra point. The mentality there, "It's just one meaningless touchdown, Atlanta's still in control. Just get in FG range (at least) and it can be put away." They did get in FG range, but a holding penalty pushed them back. QB Matt Ryan was later sacked, and as a result, the Falcons punted. Patriots moved the ball early in the fourth, but Brady being sacked forced them to settle for a FG, making it 28-12.

Atlanta was still in good shape, but had one timeout left with nearly ten minutes left in regulation. However, Ryan ended up sacked and lost the ball due to Devonta Freeman missing his blocking assignment, giving New England the ball on the opposing 25. It didn't take long for the Pats to cash in; Danny Amendola scored, White picked up the two-point conversion, and just like that, New England's 25-point deficit was down to just eight. Under six minutes remained, and the Falcons again managed to get into field goal range, but again, a sack and a penalty pushed them out, and they had to punt once again.

The Pats started on their own nine, but they moved down the field, with the centerpiece being a crazy catch from Julian Edelman that could have (or should have) been intercepted. It went off the hands of Robert Alford, and Edelman managed to catch it and narrowly prevent the ball from hitting the ground. The Falcons challenged, it failed, and as a result, their final timeout was gone and the Patriots' drive continued. After the two-minute warning, Brady tossed two more passes to White to put them in the 1-yard line, and it was followed by White running it in for the score. Amendola caught the two-point conversion, and in a span of barely over 16 minutes of game time, the Patriots went from being down 25 to being dead even with the Falcons. Oh my goodness.

After what would be the Falcons' final drive fizzled, the game ended up going to overtime. That's right. For the first time in NFL history, we received overtime in the Super Bowl, but that fact is lost for the obvious reason. The Patriots won the toss and took the opening possession, and they easily made their way down the field and into the red zone. Brady's attempted TD pass to Martellus Bennett went incomplete, but De'Vondre Campbell was called for pass interference, putting the ball at the Falcons 2-yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, White received the pitch on 2nd down, and in spite of Atlanta's efforts, White got in the end zone.

Final score: Patriots 34, Falcons 28, in overtime.

The New England Patriots were down by 25 points with barely over two minutes left in the 3rd quarter, yet they outscored the Falcons, 31-0, to win their fifth Super Bowl in franchise history. They became the fourth team to reach five Super Bowls, joining the Pittsburgh Steelers (6), Dallas Cowboys (5), and San Francisco 49ers (5) on that list. The Patriots would add a sixth championship two years later, and Brady would add a seventh of his own with the Buccaneers in 2020. While the Patriots were celebrating, those of us who were pulling for their embarrassing downfall were immensely disappointed. The only thing worse than an entitled franchise and fanbase is when they have merit. Coming back from 25 points down is enough merit to fill the entire New England region.

Two things are lost in the Atlanta Falcons' embarrassing collapse. One, again, this was the very first Super Bowl to reach overtime. None of the previous Super Bowls went to OT, and none have since; in fact, you have to go all the way before the Super Bowl era for the last OT in a league championship game: the 1958 NFL Championship between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants. Two, while this was the biggest collapse in Super Bowl history, it was not the biggest collapse in playoff history. That still belongs to the Houston Oilers blowing a 35-3 lead against the Buffalo Bills in the 1992 AFC Wild Card Playoff; the Bills won 41-38 in overtime.

In spite of that last fact, the reason why the Falcons' collapse gets all the attention even now? It was in the Super Bowl. Also, it was against Tom Brady's Patriots. In the five years that have passed, "28-3" became a meme among NFL fans, and it also became a cursed score, as fans of teams who went up 28-3 in games feared seeing their team blow the lead. Even worse, the following years would see the Falcons continue to blow double digits leads late in games, especially during the 2020 season. It took me a long time to forgive the Falcons for that collapse; I was very upset with that choke job. To me, and most likely a lot of other fans, the Falcons had this won. The fact that they blew that big lead in such a grand stage is absolutely inexcusable.

The Falcons still haven't recovered from the Super Bowl LI collapse. They returned to the playoffs in the following year, but were eliminated in the Divisional Playoff by the Philadelphia Eagles, who went on to win Super Bowl LII. The Falcons haven't made the playoffs since then. "28-3" also served as the beginning of Atlanta sports teams being labeled as choke artists, with the Atlanta Braves blowing a 3-1 series lead in the 2020 NLCS. The Braves did win the World Series in 2021, but as for the Falcons, time will tell when their proverbial demon will be finally exorcised.