Football is at its best when we have close, competitive contests. Nothing can be closer than a game that goes into overtime. Has there ever been a Super Bowl that went to overtime in playoff history?
Has the Super Bowl ever gone to overtime?
The Rams and Bengals are set to face off in the Super Bowl this evening. If they were to go to overtime, it would be just the second time in the game’s 56-year history that it happened.
When was the first and only Super Bowl that went overtime? Who played in it, and what was the eventual outcome?
Super Bowl 51: The only overtime game in history
Five years ago, the Patriots and Falcons met in Super Bowl 51. Yep. It’s that Super Bowl. The one known simply by a score: 28-3.
The odds of any Super Bowl going to overtime are slim. You can bet the game to go to overtime for around +1000. As a quick aside, do not bet the game to go to overtime. It’s happened once in 56 years, yet the odds suggest it happens once every 10 years.
Alright, back to the game. With just 2:08 remaining in the third quarter, the Falcons led 28-3. If a Super Bowl were to ultimately go to overtime, it certainly didn’t look like it would be this one.
Of course, we all know what happened. Tevin Coleman’s touchdown reception with 8:31 remaining in the third quarter would end up being the Falcons’ final score of the evening.
The comeback
With 2:06 left in the third quarter, Tom Brady hit James White for a 5-yard touchdown. The Patriots’ next score was a Stephen Gostkowski field goal. At 9:44 in the fourth quarter, the Patriots were still down by two touchdowns, and they needed both 2-point conversions.
At 5:56 on the clock, Brady hit Danny Amendola for another score. White punched in the 2-point conversion. Then, with 57 seconds remaining, the two flipped roles. White punched in a 1-yard TD, and Amendola caught the game-tying conversion.
What happened in the only overtime in Super Bowl history?
The Patriots won the coin toss. Under current NFL overtime rules, any touchdown ends the game. The other team only gets a chance to answer if the team that gets the ball first kicks a field goal on its first possession.
As is typical in overtime playoff games, the offense on the team that loses the coin toss gets to sit on the sidelines and watch the remainder of the game, never getting a chance to touch the ball.
All Matt Ryan could do was helplessly watch as Brady marched his team down and handed the ball to White for a Super Bowl-winning 2-yard touchdown.
The Patriots won Super Bowl 51, the first Super Bowl to ever go to overtime, with a score of 34-28.