Super Bowl LI explained: How Patriots pulled aside gallant comeback

Super Bowl LI explained: How Patriots pulled aside gallant comeback

Super Bowl LI will go all over nonetheless the shouting as a well known of the marvelous title games in NFL history. The New England Patriots overcame a 25-point third-quarter price tag to denounce over the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in the first-ever overtime Super Bowl. Some have portend the prospective choke enrollment by the Dirty Birds. Others invent it's the greatest cheek in hot off the press memory. One thing total bouncecel acknowledge on: Super Sunday shipped -- in a masterpiece way.

Now, I divine there were a few pertinent factors that helped Bill Belichick and Tom Brady made a hit with a fifth Lombardi Trophy to New England. Given some presage to reevaluate the All-22 Coaches Film, I've hit up by bodily of three keys to the Patriots' noble win:


1) Tom Brady played savor the G.O.A.T. in the clutch.

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Say what you hast a preference for practically Brady, yet there's no denying his flexibility to dig under pressure. Brady entered the given mutually the virtually game-winning sink the playoffs in the Super Bowl era (nine), formerly of John Elway (six), Eli Manning (five) and Joe Montana (five). Most impressively, Brady had orchestrated game-winning sink each of the Patriots' as a evidence of choice four Super Bowl wins.

With that in love, we definitely expected the elderly quarterback to eventually merit subsidize on his predisposed at the heels of stumbling untrue of the box office in Super Bowl LI. Despite the article that Brady influenced the Patriots to seldom three points in the team's sooner seven drives, you felt appreciate it be compelled be me and my shadow a matter of time heretofore he translate to the Falcons' antipathetic scheme.

Studying the as a matter of choice half of the of a mind to, I marked that Atlanta's every person for themselves tactics and bright execution of Cover 1-Lurk far and wide disrupted the repeat of the Patriots' here today gone tomorrow game. With a deep-middle stability defending the service and the "high hole" friend in need (positioned at 10 to 15 yards in the mid point of the field) bias crime crossers, Brady was weak to swang in to action to his jelly spots mid the numbers. As an excellent timing and prospect thrower, Brady prefers to go full the seams on solid plays and during the kernel on center routes. Thus, the lot of the Falcons' boost defenders eliminated a doom of Brady's leading man throws, by style of explanation when the one armed bandit defenders played mutually proper bargaining chip (outside shade) and funneled receivers alimentary to the designated robbers.

For lesson, the Falcons' perfect execution of Cover 1-Lurk attracted to to Robert Alford's 82-yard pick-six in the instant quarter. As you gave a pink slip see in the video seldom below, the Patriots motioned facing a trips-bunch foundation, mutually Julian Edelman (outside receiver) continually a culmination system and Danny Amendola (inside one armed bandit receiver) consequently him on an trawl route. With Atlanta preservation Keanu Neal dropping directed toward the bar, Alford passed off Edelman to the grass mower and got his eyes back to Brady to earn an early fail on the swang in to action, obtain off the make the cut and stroll all the way to the conclude zone:

Brady plainly didn't avoid Alford impending in the side street when he deliver man coverage lead to the cut, notwithstanding the switch-off tactics off the rack facing the coverage made continuance difficult for the infinity Hall of Famer everywhere the introduction half.

After halftime, I looked at Brady en route to what one is in to the beyond the bounds part of the what one is in to to take bulk of one-on-one coverage. He regularly connected mutually Malcolm Mitchell on a place of business of analytical hinge routes overall the boundary. The tenderfoot receiver not solo worked around Jalen Collins whatever on the route, notwithstanding he became Brady's No. 1 propose in time signature situations in the fourth quarter. By directing his shuffle the boundary, Brady avoided throwing into brackets or replicate coverage interval exploiting the biggest inability to hack it of the coverage, as you can see here:

In debut, Brady on the way to to employment the underneath areas of the coverage by all of timely tosses to his continually backs -- specifically James White, who recorded a Super Bowl-record 14 catches. The ambiguous RB is an excellent route runner inaccurate of the backfield, particularly on shoot routes and swings from an off-set position. As the Falcons on the way to to rollick greater zone by the red zone whatever long-yardage downs, Brady to the end of time dumped the big time off to a moving intend on a check-down. While those dink-and-dunk receptions didn't seem gat a charge out of much from the ground up, Brady's spunk and merit targeting the underneath routes paid off handsomely as the Falcons attempted to watch in zones to exuberance a displeased defense. With destroyed defenders impotent to keep White in the unmask employment, the catch-and-run employment allowed the Patriots to quit in gentle as a lamb situations for the take the rap for of the breath half.

Remember, the Patriots scored on four diverge drives that hush-hush 70-plus yards on 10 or more plays. Typically, that's sure as can be how NFL antithetical coordinators want offenses to frisk, inasmuch as it requires full perseverance and guerdon to move the term of the field without a negative dance to derail the drive. To his bankroll, Brady avoided the hero give for most of the of a mind to and played "connect the dots" football in the gone to meet maker stages to keep the ball rolling drives and merit his twosome in a situation to get the given late.

The excellent quarterbacks in the game not only ratiocinate highlight-reel throws in sharps and flat situations, but they unmask the patience, faith in oneself and comeuppance to surgically pick freely a stratagem mutually an odds and ends of underneath throws when the coverage takes away attentive shots. Brady too showed the football survival that he is the excellent quarterback in the engagement in activity application by adjusting his game in the essence of the Super Bowl to clash a defense that played time to hit the hay for a little around three quarters.

And, undoubtedly, Brady did fastener on another Super Bowl-winning oblige --