The New England Patriots and their stunning Super Bowl recovery
Everything went wrong, and then it all went right, as the team’s remarkable turnaround brought a fifth Super Bowl victory.
By Chad Finn, Globe Staff December 13, 2017
Back in February 2002, in the Patriots’ first Super Bowl appearance of the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era, the players forsook the usual individual introductions to take the field as a group. It enhanced the likability of a team perceived as the scrappy underdog against the heavily favored St. Louis Rams. After the Patriots’ stunning 20-17 victory, when owner Robert Kraft told the Superdome crowd, “We are all Patriots,” the magnitude of their accomplishment made it feel true. They took the field as a team. They won as a team. They represented what happens when hope and determination prevail over preconceived expectations.
Today, the scrappy underdogs have become chronic favorites. So there was a kind of shock when, with 2 minutes 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI, the Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons, 28-3. Even the most ardent Pats fan could do the math and see a comeback was much closer to impossible than improbable.
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We all know what happened. Everything went right for the Patriots. When Atlanta was in range of a likely game-clinching field goal with 8 minutes 31 seconds remaining, Dont’a Hightower forced a fumble that Alan Branch recovered. The Patriots had two 2-point conversions after touchdowns, including one with less than a minute left in the game to tie the score.
In overtime, the Patriots got the ball first, and James White’s 2-yard touchdown run completed the most incredible comeback in Super Bowl history.
