Super Bowl LI — 2016 Season
February 5, 2017 · Houston, TX (NRG Stadium)
Super Bowl LI result: NEPNew England Patriots def. AFAtlanta Falcons, 34-28 (OT), February 5, 2017, at Houston, TX (NRG Stadium).
Result
| Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | NEPNew England Patriots | 34-28 (OT) |
| Runner-up | AFAtlanta Falcons |
Super Bowl MVP
Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
Starting lineups
Starting offense
| New England Patriots | Atlanta Falcons |
|---|---|
| Tom Brady (QB) | Matt Ryan (QB) |
| Dion Lewis (RB) | Devonta Freeman (RB) |
| Chris Hogan (WR) | Patrick DiMarco (FB) |
| Julian Edelman (WR) | Julio Jones (WR) |
| Malcolm Mitchell (WR) | Mohamed Sanu (WR) |
| Martellus Bennett (TE) | Levine Toilolo (TE) |
| Nate Solder (LT) | Jake Matthews (LT) |
| Joe Thuney (LG) | Andy Levitre (LG) |
| David Andrews (C) | Alex Mack (C) |
| Shaq Mason (RG) | Chris Chester (RG) |
| Marcus Cannon (RT) | Ryan Schraeder (RT) |
Starting defense
| New England Patriots | Atlanta Falcons |
|---|---|
| Trey Flowers (DE) | Grady Jarrett (DE) |
| Alan Branch (DT) | Dwight Freeney (DE) |
| Malcom Brown (DT) | Ra'Shede Hageman (DT) |
| Shea McClellin (LB) | Vic Beasley (LB) |
| Dont'a Hightower (LB) | Deion Jones (LB) |
| Rob Ninkovich (LB) | De'Vondre Campbell (LB) |
| Logan Ryan (CB) | Robert Alford (CB) |
| Malcolm Butler (CB) | Jalen Collins (CB) |
| Patrick Chung (S) | Ricardo Allen (S) |
| Devin McCourty (S) | Keanu Neal (S) |
| Duron Harmon (DB) | Brian Poole (DB) |
Note: Malcolm Mitchell is listed among New England's offensive starters per Wikipedia's lineup table despite being primarily a wide receiver, not a running back — reported as sourced rather than reassigned.
Box score
Passing
| Team | Player | Comp/Att | Yds | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England Patriots | Tom Brady | 43/62 | 466 | 2 | 1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | Matt Ryan | 17/23 | 284 | 2 | 0 |
Rushing
| Team | Player | Car | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | Devonta Freeman | 11 | 75 | 1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | Tevin Coleman | 7 | 29 | 0 |
| New England Patriots | LeGarrette Blount | 11 | 31 | 0 |
| New England Patriots | James White | 6 | 29 | 2 |
| New England Patriots | Dion Lewis | 6 | 27 | 0 |
Receiving
| Team | Player | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England Patriots | James White | 14 | 110 | 1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | Julio Jones | 4 | 87 | 0 |
| New England Patriots | Julian Edelman | 5 | 87 | 0 |
| New England Patriots | Danny Amendola | 8 | 78 | 1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | Taylor Gabriel | 3 | 76 | 0 |
| New England Patriots | Malcolm Mitchell | 6 | 70 | 0 |
Game context
Super Bowl LI produced the single greatest comeback in Super Bowl history and remains, for many, the greatest Super Bowl ever played. The Atlanta Falcons, riding the NFL's top-scoring offense under MVP quarterback Matt Ryan and coordinator Kyle Shanahan, dominated the first half and much of the third quarter, building a 28-3 lead behind three touchdown drives, including a Robert Alford 82-yard interception-return touchdown off Tom Brady. Every reasonable win-probability model had New England's championship chances at well under 1 percent midway through the third quarter; it appeared to be a rout in the making, and Atlanta was on the verge of the first championship in franchise history. What followed has become one of the sport's defining narratives. New England scored 25 unanswered points, an avalanche that unfolded methodically rather than in one sudden burst. Brady, who finished with Super Bowl records of 43 completions and 466 passing yards, led touchdown drives capped by James White (who scored three total touchdowns and caught a Super Bowl-record 14 passes) and a two-point conversion, while Atlanta's offense, playing conservatively to protect a big lead, went scoreless over the final quarter-plus of regulation. New England tied the game 28-28 with 57 seconds left in regulation on a two-point conversion, forcing overtime for the first time in Super Bowl history. New England won the coin toss, elected to receive, and Brady drove the Patriots 75 yards, with James White's 2-yard touchdown run ending the game at 34-28. Brady, who overcame two interceptions of his own, was named Super Bowl MVP for a record fourth time, extending an already unprecedented resume and doing so at age 39 in a game widely regarded as a signature achievement of his career. For Atlanta, the collapse — dubbed "28-3" and instantly turned into a cultural shorthand for epic chokes across all of sports — became a painful and inescapable part of the franchise's identity; the Falcons have not returned to a Super Bowl since, and Shanahan departed for the San Francisco head-coaching job that offseason under a cloud of second-guessing over his fourth-quarter play-calling, which many felt abandoned the running game too early while nursing the big lead. The game also arrived amid the backdrop of the "Deflategate" saga, with Brady having served a four-game suspension to open the season, making the championship feel like vindication for the Patriots' locker room. Played before 70,807 fans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Super Bowl LI stands as the benchmark against which subsequent Super Bowl comebacks and collapses are measured.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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