HOUSTON -- After leading his team to the greatest comeback win in the greatest Super Bowl ever played, it seems like now is the time that we can all agree on one thing: Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
On the NFL's biggest stage, the Patriots quarterback showed off his greatness by leading New England to a 34-28 overtime win over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
Not only was the 25-point comeback the biggest in Super Bowl history, but it was also the biggest comeback win of Brady's career. Before Sunday, the biggest deficit Brady had overcome to win a game was 24 points, but that changed against the Falcons.
To put the Patriots' comeback in perspective, the previous Super Bowl record for largest comeback was just 10 points. Before Sunday, no team in NFL history had ever come back to win a playoff game after trailing by 16 or more points in the fourth quarter. The Patriots trailed by 19 at one point.
Another thing to keep in mind: The Patriots won this game despite the fact that they didn't hold a single lead during regulation.
Brady and the Patriots had to overcome a four-score deficit to complete their miraculous comeback against the Falcons.
When you're down 28-3 in the second half, you need perfect play from your quarterback, and that's exactly what the Patriots got from Brady. In the fourth quarter alone, Brady went 16 of 21 for 196 yards. He then followed that up with an even more impressive showing in overtime by going 5 of 6 for 50 yards. Over the fourth quarter and overtime combined, Brady went 21 of 27 for 246 yards and a touchdown.
The ageless wonder finished 43 of 62 for 466 yards overall and smashed several Super Bowl records in the win.
Brady's completion total broke his own record of 37, which he set in Super Bowl XLIX. Brady's 62 passing attempts broke Jim Kelly's previous record of 58, which is a mark that had stood since Super Bowl XXVI.
Also, let's not forget about that yardage total: Brady's mark of 466 yards smashed Kurt Warner's old record of 414 yards, which was set against the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Of course, there were also some records that Brady couldn't break -- because he already had them.
The quarterback's two touchdown passes against the Falcons gave him 15 for his career in the Super Bowl, which is four more than second-place Joe Montana.
Going into Super Bowl LI, Brady held the record for most career passes, most career completions and most career passing yards.
By tacking on 43 completions, 62 pass attempts and 466 passing yards to those records, Brady probably put them far out of reach. The Patriots quarterback is now at 309 pass attempts, 207 completions and 2,071 yards for his Super Bowl career.
Brady also won his fourth Super Bowl MVP award, which moves him past Montana on the list for most awards won. The Super Bowl win was the fifth of Brady's career, which ties him with Charles Haley for the most Super Bowl wins by one player.
Basically, someone needs to convince Roger Goodell that starting next year, the Super Bowl record book should probably just have a picture of Brady on it.
