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Look away Atlanta Falcons fans. Tom Brady's win with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI is what we are here to discuss, and it will not make for pleasant reading for any dirty bird. However, anyone who is a Foxborough fanatic will have plenty of reason to cheer.
To recap, the Atlanta Falcons were ahead 28-3 in the third quarter. They somehow lost 34-28 in overtime as Tom Brady and the New England Patriots engineered a miraculous comeback. It remains the biggest deficit overcome in Super Bowl history and the first championship game decided in overtime.
Now, Tom Brady won seven Super Bowl rings in his career, six of them with the New England Patriots. Is Super Bowl LI his greatest win as a Patriot? Let's find out.
Case for Super Bowl LI being Tom Brady's greatest victory as Patriot
We have already highlighted the comeback, but beyond that, it's instructive to see who they were facing.
The Atlanta Falcons were led by Matt Ryan, who was the MVP that season, and were ahead by 25 points in the third quarter. To put that into perspective, in NFL playoff history, a 17-point lead in the third quarter had never been overcome before. Teams with a lead of 17 points were 133-0 heading into that game.
Brady's individual numbers were no less impressive on the night. He threw for 43 completions in 62 pass attempts and two touchdowns. He was named the MVP for the game, and he did that at the age of 39.
It also took him to six Super Bowl wins, which eclipsed the previous record held by Charles Haley. The game propelled Tom Brady to a pantheon he occupied alone, and that made Super Bowl LI his greatest achievement as a Patriot.
Case against Super Bowl LI being Tom Brady's greatest victory as a Patriot
For every story told, it's the beginning that captivates us. Tom Brady won many titles but even he had to start somewhere. There is a revisionism of history when people say that Bill Belichick recognized the quarterback's greatness and drafted him. In his first season in 2000, he was a fourth-string rookie.
Opportunity beconed when regular starter Drew Bledsoe was injured against the New York Jets. No one had high expectations of Brady, and yet he took them all the way.
Starting the season 0-2 and 1-3, he led them all the way to the Super Bowl. Let us recount at this point that the New England Patriots had never hoisted the Lombardi Trophy before that. Brady was replacing a starting quarterback who would become a Patriot Hall of Famer. The previous season had seen them finish fifth in the AFC East.
What Brady achieved that season just to get to the postseason was phenomenal. They beat the St. Louis Rams, led by 1999 MVP Kurt Warner, who were known as "The Greatest Show on Turf".
The Rams were 14-point favorites going into the game, coming with Super Bowl XXXIV winner credentials and experience, and the result was an upset of unimaginable proportions.
Brady won the MVP award and established a dynasty that would see the Patriots become the most successful franchise of all time. For its significance and how the odds were stacked both against the team and player, Super Bowl XXXVI must rank as Tom Brady's greatest achievement as a Patriot.
Most players are lucky to win one Super Bowl ring, never mind seven in total. That we are debating two different wins in as many different decades shows how great Tom Brady was. Wherever one lies in the debate of his greatest win as a Patriot, there are few who will dispute that he's the GOAT.
