B-Side Sports
When you're losing 21-3 just before halftime within the Super Bowl, it's comprehensible if doubts or fears arise that perhaps it's just not the best day. Not if you happen to're the Patriots, though.
Even despite an eventual 28-3 deficit within the second half, New England refused to give up Super Bowl LI to the Atlanta Falcons and ultimately pulled off the best turnaround in championship history.
According to David Andrews, it began when then-offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels got here into the locker room and hit them with a silver lining.
“I'll never forget it: Josh came to the board and wrote '45' – it was either 44 or 45 plays, a specific time of possession [in the first half]Andrews said The Quick Snap Podcast this week.
Accordingly ESPN's play-by-play recap During the game, the Patriots ran 43 offensive plays, compared to Atlanta's 19 plays in the first half of the Super Bowl. In other words, New England played far better (aside from a LeGarrette Blount fumble and Tom Brady's pick-six) than indicated on the scoreboard.
“We had control of this game. It just wasn’t on the scoreboard,” said Andrews, then a sophomore, playing in his first of two Super Bowls with the Patriots. “There was no panic. There was never any sense of panic from Tom or any other executive on our football team. We knew this was more about us than about them. Everyone was quiet. There was no big rah-rah speech at halftime.
“…You can't score 25 points in a game. So let's just start hacking. We scored points. All right, we scored again. And when you look up there, you think this thing is coming to an end and we're getting to work on it.”
Of course, Andrews acknowledged that his heart rate wasn't at all times completely consistent in the sport's crucial moments. One play that caused him stress was the primary of New England's crucial two-point conversions with 5:56 left within the fourth quarter: a direct snap to James White, which the middle had struggled with in practice this week.
“We made that play in practice on Friday and I launched the ball. I sent that ball to fucking Jupiter,” he said. “…I won’t lie. That was a bit in the back of my mind. I thought, for heaven’s sake, don’t send that to Mars.”
However, McDaniels reportedly didn't panic when Andrews struggled with the play in practice and didn't hesitate to call on him when New England needed him most. It worked.
Then the Pats veteran admitted he was slightly dismayed when Julio Jones limped made an incredible sideline catch Even the Patriots didn't consider it was possible to place the Falcons in scoring position later in the sport.
“Julio Jones had a foot injury this week and they thought, look, [he] “I can't run an out route to the right because it's his left foot,” Andrews said, “and this Joker ran an out route, landed on that foot and made one of the best catches I've ever seen on the sideline in front of our bank. That was the only time I had a little life taken away from me.”
But the Pats kept the Falcons off the scoreboard, tied the game with less than a minute left in regulation and immediately marched the ball down the field to secure the winning points on the first possession of overtime.
This is how you pull off the most cold-blooded comeback in the history of sports.
image credit : www.boston.com