Numbers usually tell a story, but sometimes they just feel like a lie. If you looked at the Super Bowl 51 box score at the end of the third quarter on February 5, 2017, you would have bet your house that the Atlanta Falcons were about to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. They led 28-3. It’s a scoreline that has since become a meme, a taunt, and a permanent scar for anyone living in Georgia. But the box score is a living document. It shifted. It breathed. By the time the clock hit zero in the first-ever overtime in Super Bowl history, those stats told the tale of a clinical, relentless dismantling of a defense that simply ran out of gas.
Let’s be real. The Atlanta Falcons didn't just lose; they evaporated. Meanwhile, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots orchestrated a statistical anomaly. This wasn't just a win. It was a 31-point unanswered tidal wave.
The First Half: Atlanta's Total Dominance
The early box score was a nightmare for New England. For the first twenty-some minutes, the Patriots looked old. Slow. Confused. After a scoreless first quarter where both teams were basically just feeling each other out, the Falcons exploded. Devonta Freeman broke the seal with a 5-yard touchdown run early in the second. Then, Matt Ryan found Austin Hooper for a 19-yard score.
The dagger—or what we thought was the dagger—came when Robert Alford jumped a route and took a Tom Brady pass 82 yards back for a pick-six. 21-0.
Honestly, looking at the halftime stats, the game felt over. Brady was being hit constantly. Grady Jarrett was living in the Patriots' backfield. New England managed a lonely field goal before the half, making it 21-3. Most people were already switching the channel to see if the commercials were any good.
Breaking Down the Super Bowl 51 Box Score
To understand how this flipped, you have to look at the volume. The final Super Bowl 51 box score shows a staggering disparity in offensive plays. New England ran 93 plays. Atlanta ran 46. That is insane. You cannot expect a defense to stay fast when they are on the field for nearly double the amount of time as the opposition.
Passing Leaders
Tom Brady finished the night with 43 completions on 62 attempts. Both were Super Bowl records at the time. He racked up 466 passing yards and two touchdowns. On the other side, Matt Ryan's stat line actually looks remarkably efficient—he went 17 for 23 for 284 yards and two scores. He finished with a passer rating of 144.1. In almost any other universe, a 144.1 rating wins you the MVP and a ring. But he took five sacks. Those sacks, specifically the ones in the fourth quarter, were the hidden killers in the box score.
Rushing Totals
James White was the unsung hero. While LeGarrette Blount struggled to find lanes (31 yards on 11 carries), White was the engine. He only had 29 rushing yards, but he scored two rushing touchdowns, including the game-winner. Devonta Freeman was the spark for Atlanta, gaining 75 yards on just 11 carries. He averaged 6.8 yards per carry. Why the Falcons stopped handing him the ball in the fourth quarter is a question that will haunt offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan forever.
Receiving Stats
This is where the box score gets busy.
- James White: 14 catches, 110 yards, 1 TD (A Super Bowl record for receptions).
- Danny Amendola: 8 catches, 78 yards, 1 TD.
- Julian Edelman: 5 catches, 87 yards (including that catch).
- Julio Jones: 4 catches, 87 yards.
Julio’s numbers are deceptive. He made a catch along the sideline in the fourth quarter that was so acrobatic it should have ended the game. It put Atlanta in field goal range. A field goal would have made it an 11-point game with less than four minutes left. Instead, a sack and a holding penalty pushed them out of range. They punted. The rest is history.
The Turning Point: 28-3 to 28-28
The third quarter started poorly for the Patriots. Tevin Coleman caught a 6-yard pass from Ryan to make it 28-3. That’s the moment. The peak of the mountain.
New England started the climb with a 5-yard pass to James White, though Gostkowski missed the extra point. 28-9. Then a field goal. 28-12.
The play that doesn't show up as a "scoring play" but defined the Super Bowl 51 box score was Dont'a Hightower’s strip-sack of Matt Ryan with 8:31 left in the game. New England recovered at the Atlanta 25-yard line. Suddenly, the math changed. Brady hit Amendola for a touchdown, followed by a direct snap to White for the two-point conversion. 28-20.
Atlanta had one last chance to ice it. They got to the New England 22-yard line. Then came the collapse: a sack, a penalty, and an incomplete pass. They punted. Brady went 91 yards in 13 plays. James White punched it in. Amendola caught the two-point conversion to tie it. 28-28.
The Falcons looked like they had seen a ghost.
Overtime: The First and Only
The overtime period was almost a formality. The Patriots won the toss. In the Super Bowl, that’s basically a death sentence for the team without the ball if Tom Brady is on the other side.
New England went 75 yards in eight plays. Atlanta's defense was moving in slow motion. They were gassed, broken, and demoralized. James White took a pitch to the right, hit the corner, and muscled his way across the goal line.
Final score: 34-28.
Defensive Impact and Key Stops
While the offense gets the glory, the defensive side of the box score reveals why Atlanta crumbled. Grady Jarrett had 3 sacks, tying a Super Bowl record. He was a monster. But as a unit, the Falcons' defense was on the field for over 40 minutes of game time.
New England’s Trey Flowers also had 2.5 sacks, including a massive one that pushed Atlanta out of field goal range late in the fourth. The Patriots' defense didn't necessarily "shut down" the Falcons' high-flying offense—Atlanta still averaged 7.5 yards per play—but they forced the stops when the margin for error was zero.
Why This Box Score Still Matters
This game changed the legacy of everyone involved. It cemented Tom Brady as the undisputed GOAT in the eyes of most fans. It gave Bill Belichick his fifth ring as a head coach.
For the Falcons, it became a cautionary tale about aggression versus game management. If you look at the Super Bowl 51 box score, you see a team that was too efficient for their own good early on. They scored too fast. They didn't sustain drives. They left their defense exposed to a high-volume passing attack that eventually wore them down to nothing.
Actionable Takeaways from Super Bowl 51
If you're looking back at this game to understand football strategy or just to settle a debate, keep these points in mind:
- Time of Possession is King: New England held the ball for 40:31 compared to Atlanta's 23:27. In a high-stakes game, the defense that stays on the field that long will eventually break.
- The Power of the Two-Point Conversion: The Patriots are one of the few teams to successfully execute two 2-point conversions in a single Super Bowl, a necessity for erasing an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit.
- Efficiency vs. Volume: Matt Ryan had a near-perfect passer rating, but Brady’s 62 attempts allowed the Patriots to stay in rhythm and eventually overwhelm a tired secondary.
- Study the Sack Locations: Not all sacks are equal. The sacks taken by Atlanta in the fourth quarter cost them roughly 23 yards of field position and, ultimately, the championship.
To truly understand the game, watch the fourth quarter again with the play-by-play sheet in front of you. Focus on the down-and-distance during Atlanta's final two drives; it is a masterclass in how losing the "hidden yardage" battle results in the greatest collapse in professional sports.