On Feb. 5, the Atlanta Falcons met the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Both teams earned a “bye” for the first round because they finished first and second in their division, respectfully. In the second round, the Falcons dispatched the Seattle Seahawks 36-20. In the same round, the Patriots rolled over the Houston Texans 34-16.

In the AFC Championship game, the Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 36-17. In the NFC Championship game, the Falcons knocked out the Green Bay Packers 44-21. Going into the game, the Patriots were looking to capture their fifth Super Bowl championship, while the Falcons returned for the first time since 1998, still looking for a title.

The game began with special guests appearing for the coin toss, including former President George H. W. Bush and his wife, former first lady, Barbara. The Patriots chose heads and the coin, flipped by President Bush, landed on tails. The Falcons chose to kick off first, so they would get the ball at the start of the second half. Kicker Matt Bosher kicked the ball off to begin Super Bowl LI.

New England started out slow, punting the ball on their first offensive drive. The Falcons started off big, with running back Devonta Freeman rushing for 37 yards on the Falcon’s first offensive play, but the first quarter ended like it had the prior six Super Bowls: Scoreless. Early in the second quarter, the Falcon’s defense came through when linebacker Deion Jones forced the Patriot’s offense to fumble the ball, which was recovered by the Falcons. Then, quarterback Matt Ryan and Atlanta’s offense capitalized when Freeman ran for a six-yard touchdown, the first points of the game. The extra point attempt was good, and the score was 7-0 Atlanta with 12:15 to go in the first half.

Minutes later, the Falcon’s offense came through again, with tight end Austin Hooper making a 19-yard touchdown catch, and kicker Matt Bryant was successful in the extra point attempt, putting the Falcons ahead 14-0. The Patriots were looking to get at least six points on the board before halftime, but their attempt was cut short by cornerback Robert Alford, who intercepted Tom Brady’s pass and returned it 82 yards to make it 20-0 Atlanta. The Patriots did add a Stephen Gostkowski field goal but, at the half, the score was 21-3, and all of the momentum was in Atlanta’s hands.

The halftime show featured Lady Gaga standing on top of the superdome and singing “God Bless America, This Land is Your Land” and saying we are
”One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
This much was pre-recorded. She then proceeded to jump off the roof of the stadium and, with the help of some cables, landed on stage and sang some of her songs, such as: “Born This Way,” “Poker Face,” “Edge of Glory,” “Million Reasons” and “Bad Romance.” After the performance, Gaga and her crew left the field, and millions of fans awaited the return of the Falcons and Patriots.

The Falcons got the ball at the start of the third quarter, which was very uneventful, until running back Tevin Coleman caught a pass and ran for a six-yard touchdown and, after a successful extra point attempt, the Falcons led 28-3. Then, it was the Patriot’s turn. A touchdown pass to running back James White six minutes later made it 28-9. Gostkowski missed the extra point.

A few minutes later, in the fourth quarter, Gostkowski made the score 28-12. The game began to shift in favor of the Patriots when the Falcons fumbled the ball at their own 25-yard line and then, a few plays later, Brady’s pass to wide receiver Danny Amendola was completed in the end zone for another Patriots touchdown. The two-point conversion was good, and the Falcons were only up by eight points. As time ran down, New England put in everything they had and a pass to wide receiver Julian Edelman with just over a minute left set up a White touchdown run with 57 seconds left. The two-point conversion attempt was good, and the game was tied 28-28.

New England called heads for the overtime coin toss, the first in Super Bowl history. The coin landed on heads. The Patriots wasted no time at all, getting down the field in less than four minutes. Then, with 11:02 remaining in overtime, Brady tossed the ball to White and he ran around the outside and just passed the goal line, clinching the Super Bowl championship for the Patriots.

This championship was the fifth in Patriots history and Brady was named Super Bowl MVP, winning his fifth title as well. The Patriots are Super Bowl LI champions.