When Matt Ryan connected on a six-yard touchdown pass to Tevin Coleman with 8:31 remaining in the third quarter, it felt inevitable: The Atlanta Falcons, leading 28-3, were going to win Super Bowl LI. They were going to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in franchise history. Enter Tom Brady… And well, history played out differently that day, February 5, 2017.
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By the third quarter, it seemed that Ryan, already a Falcons legend, was going to cement himself as one of the premier pocket passers of his generation. But from that point, Brady — channeling his inner Thanos — led the New England Patriots on five unanswered scoring drives.
James White’s 2-yard overtime scamper immortalized Brady as the GOAT and ripped hearts from the chests of Falcons’ faithful across the globe. In his 15 years in the NFL, Ryan was sacked 488 times in the regular season and another 25 times in postseason play. Five of his playoff sacks came against the Patriots. And one of those is the sack that sticks with him the most.
“They kind of all run together… But I’d say the sack-fumble in the Super Bowl is probably the one… I would like to have not been sacked on,” Ryan revealed during Thursday’s episode of The Dan Patrick Show.
The sack Ryan named may have been the most critical play of Super Bowl LI. Facing 3rd-and-1 from his own 36-yard line, Ryan dropped back in the shotgun. As he was preparing to throw, Dont’a Hightower drilled him and knocked the ball out of his hand.
Alan Branch recovered to give the Patriots possession at Atlanta’s 25-yard line, trailing 28-12, with 8:24 remaining in regulation. New England scored a touchdown five plays later.
STRIP SACK
Dont’a Hightower with one of the biggest plays of Super Bowl LI for the @Patriots#LiveOnFOX pic.twitter.com/d0xm2sbp3a
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) March 29, 2020
Without that fumble, Ryan likely would have been wearing a Super Bowl ring while sitting on set with Patrick. He believes if he had one more second, he’d have completed the pass.
“We had Aldrick Robinson running a corner that was coming out [of] the top. He was going to be open… [I] was trying to hang on for that extra second [and] give him a chance… it would have been a chunk play for sure,” described Ryan.
Game footage appears to confirm Ryan’s take. In the clip above, you can see Robinson (near midfield logo at 0:33) gain a step on his man as Ryan loads up his pass. The snippet below (0:11-1:15) shows Robinson getting behind the deepest Patriots defender right as Hightower reaches Ryan. With an extra second, Ryan could have delivered the ball.
The Patriots don’t win 3 of their rings without Dont’a Hightower’s clutch goal line tackle on Marshawn Lynch, his strip sack on Matt Ryan, or his relentless pass rush vs LA
Boomtower’s a lock for a red jacket at the very least, and I wish him all the best in retirement pic.twitter.com/fXZ95bJI8a
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) March 21, 2023
Ryan’s sack-fumble was the Falcons’ only turnover in Super Bowl LI. It unfortunately overshadows what was otherwise a tremendous individual performance.
Ryan completed 73.9% of his passes (17/23) for 284 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions in the contest. His 114.1 passer rating is the highest by any quarterback in a Super Bowl since 1990 and the fourth-best in NFL history.
Atlanta has never truly recovered from the crushing defeat. They’re currently mired in a seven-year playoff drought that second-year pro Michael Penix Jr. could end in 2025.
Defeating the arch-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers — who have won the NFC South four straight seasons — in Week 1 would go a long way toward making that happen. Their divisional tussle will kick off at 1:00 p.m. E.T. on Sunday, Sept. 7.
