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There is so much to breakdown in regards to Super Bowl LI and the New England Patriots’ 34-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons. It was a game for the ages that produced the first overtime in Super Bowl history.

A good place to start the recap is after another scoreless first quarter, the seventh in the Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady era. On the second play of the second quarter, New England running back LeGarrette Blount fumbled trying to fight for extra yards.

Atlanta took the game’s first turnover and scored on a drive that took just five plays and less than two minutes. After a Patriots punt, the Falcons added to their lead with a drive ending in a pass from Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan to tight end Austin Hooper for a touchdown.

It is important to note that no team had ever come back from a deficit of more than 10 points in Super Bowl history. Only three teams—the Patriots being one—had rallied from being 10 points down to win the Lombardi Trophy.

In desperate need of points, New England drove to the Falcons 23-yard line and faced third down and six yards. Brady got fooled in pass coverage and watched Atlanta cornerback Robert Alford pick him off and score on the interception to give the Falcons a huge 21-0 lead. No team had ever lost the Super Bowl after returning an interception for a touchdown.

New England received the ball after the pick-six and drove to Atlanta’s 15-yard line with 23 seconds left before halftime. A holding penalty and bad play-calling forced the Patriots to kick a field goal to make it 21-3 at the break.

The Patriots’ first half drives went punt, punt, fumble, punt, interception for a touchdown, and field goal. Even with just three points, New England ran 41 plays, which meant more later in the game.

Atlanta was able to get pressure on Brady for most of the first half to make him feel uncomfortable in the pocket, and Brady himself was not his sharp self. Add two turnovers and dropped passes from the New England receivers, and it is easy to see why the Falcons were up big on the scoreboard.

The Falcon’s 18-point lead at the half felt even bigger with the way that the Patriots were playing on offense and defense. It seemed the second half would be just a 30-minute wait until the coronation of Atlanta’s first Super Bowl win.

Both teams traded punts to start the third quarter before Atlanta got on track for an eight-play drive that ended with a touchdown. The Falcons led 28-3 with 8 minutes and 31 seconds left in the third quarter.

Those were the last points Atlanta scored, but they were up 25 points with a quarter and half to play. It still seemed impossible for New England to have a chance since no team had ever mounted a comeback this large in Super Bowl history.

The Patriots scored a touchdown after the final Falcons score to make it 28-9 after converting on a fourth-down play. New England missed the extra point and followed that up with a horrible onside kick try to give Atlanta great field position.

Atlanta squandered the excellent field position but led by 19 points heading into the final quarter. The Falcons forced New England to kick a field goal again after they sacked Brady.

The Falcons still were up 16 points on their next drive, but the Patriots’ defense sacked Ryan and forced a fumble. New England recovered the ball and needed two touchdowns and two two-point conversions just to tie the game.

After the fumble, New England scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to make it a close game for the first time since early second quarter.

Atlanta had a chance to put the game away after star wide receiver Julio Jones made another spectacular catch. Instead, a sack and a holding penalty pushed them out of field-goal range. New England took over at its own nine-yard line with 3 minutes and 30 seconds left to play.

Brady and wide receiver Julian Edelman led New England down the field, getting the Patriots into Falcons territory. The drive ended with another Patriots touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game at 28-28 and force overtime.

New England won the coin toss and started overtime with the ball. The Patriots marched down the field for the game-winning touchdown, completing their epic comeback. Ryan and the Falcons’ offense never stepped on the field in overtime.

So what went wrong for the Falcons? There were several things that contributed to their loss.

Remember the 41 plays that the Patriots ran in the first half? New England ended up running 52 plays in the second half, making for 93 plays in the game. Atlanta ran just 46 plays. New England won the time of possession 40:31 to 23:47, as the Falcons’ defense ran out of gas after being left on the field for so long.

Atlanta gashed the Patriots with their running game in the first half but ended up calling 18 rushing plays for the win. Instead of eating the clock, the Falcons were still throwing the ball in the fourth quarter instead of shortening the game.

Both teams rushed for 104 yards, but it took New England 25 attempts to get the same yards as the Falcons. Atlanta stayed too aggressive in a game where it needed to keep the ball away from Brady.

New England went seven for 14 on third down, and Atlanta ended the game one for eight on third down. The Falcons couldn’t keep drives alive, especially in the second half, where they punted five times.

Injuries hurt Atlanta, as well. Running back Tevin Coleman and offensive tackle Ryan Schraeder left the game in the second half, and the Falcons offense sputtered late in the game.

The Falcons also wasted timeouts in the second half. It is easy to say now that Atlanta needed to be more careful with its timeouts, but they were up 25 points at the time. The Falcons ran out of timeouts to save time and try to get a game-winning field goal on their final drive before overtime.

Atlanta didn’t close the door. Yes, the Falcons were up big, but they could have made a field goal to end any chance of a New England rally. Instead, the Falcons had a fumble, sacks and holding penalties, killing drives that could have put the game out of reach.

In the end, this loss was the perfect storm for New England. Atlanta made every mistake necessary for the Patriots to come back. Instead of raising their first Lombardi Trophy, the Falcons had to watch Brady and Belichick win their fifth.

Brady enters the subjective conversation of best quarterback of all time, and Belichick now stands alone in the most Super Bowl wins for a coach. Brady set the record for most passing yards, and New England running back James White, who scored the winning touchdown, set the record for most catches in the Super Bowl.

Overall, the Falcons join a growing list of teams that have blown leads in championship games or series. The Cleveland Indians blew a 3-1 lead to the Chicago Cubs, the Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the University of Alabama blew a 17-7 lead over Clemson University, and the University of North Carolina lost a five-point halftime lead to Villanova University in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game.

The debate will be about which championship loss is the most soul-crushing. These recent losses prove the cliché that a game isn’t over until every second is gone.