RESULTS – Super Bowl LI and Free-For-All Contest

Last night’s Super Bowl delivered to us one of the greatest comebacks of all time!

There was no script, but it felt as though the story was already written.

The New England Patriots were the favorites. They were the franchise with the dynasty. They had the legendary coach and the soon-to-be Hall of Fame quarterback. They had a team of many unknown, discarded, and re-positioned players. They overcome adversity. They were grinders. They were experienced. They were winners.

Their leader was controversially suspended for the first four games of the year. He came back with a vengeance, putting on a clinic week after week. Then the team lost its most dominant passing target. They made the adjustments and their perennial star quarterback took his team to the final show.

They were met by the newcomers – the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons were the hot team. They didn’t make mistakes. They had an offense that couldn’t be stopped. They just beat two of the league’s elite teams in back-to-back weeks. They had the newly-named league MVP at quarterback.

But they were the underdogs. Their defense was questionable. They didn’t have the playoff experience. They weren’t proven winners. They didn’t have “the pedigree.”

So, it came as a shock to most viewers when the Patriots found themselves in a 28-3 hole half-way through the third quarter. The Patriots looked deflated. Their defense was struggling to keep all of the Atlanta weapons in check and their offense was making mistakes that they normally don’t make – a costly fumble, an interception returned for a touchdown, and some dropped passes.

However, Tom Brady was not to be deterred. After falling behind by 25 points, Brady put the team on his back and engineered a 75-yard touchdown drive. But as luck would have it, the extra point was missed. The team just couldn’t catch a break. Perhaps this just wasn’t their year after all.

On their next possession, the Patriots drove the ball all the way down to the Atlanta 15 yard-line. But the drive stalled and they settled for only three points. Time was running out and it seemed as though the victory was just too far out of reach for the favorites. There was less than 10 minutes left in the game and they were still down 16 points. They would need to stop the Falcons offense from scoring any more points and they would need two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions just to tie the game. The odds seemed insurmountable.

On the following Atlanta possession, their MVP quarterback, Matt Ryan, was set in the shotgun on a third down with one yard to go at their own 36 yard-line. The ball was snapped. He dropped back. The pressure came. He was sacked.

The ball was out...

It was a fumble. The Patriots had it!

On New England’s first down, Brady was sacked for a 5-yard loss. Not again. No breaks. It just wasn’t meant to be.

But then Tom Brady went to work. He hit four consecutive passes, the last for a touchdown. They lined up for a two-point conversion. It was good. Now there were six minutes left in the game and they trailed by only eight points.

Atlanta received the kickoff and was only able to return it to their own 10 yard-line. But they marched down the field in three plays and found themselves at the New England 22. A field goal would have put them two scores ahead with less than five minutes to play.

On first-and-ten, they lost a yard. No big deal. Time was coming off the clock and they were still in field goal range.

Second-and-eleven, and Ryan is sacked. It was a 12-yard loss. That hurt a little, but the field goal was still makeable.

Third-and-23 from the New England 35. Ryan completes a pass to Mohamed Sanu for a nine-yard gain. But there was a holding penalty. The ball came back to the 45 yard-line.

On the next play, Ryan threw an incomplete pass and the Falcons were forced to punt.

With 3:30 left on the game clock and 91 yards to go, the Patriots took the field. This was likely their last chance to score. They had only two timeouts remaining and a long field. They needed a touchdown and the two-point conversion to take the game into overtime.

Brady went back to work. He threw a couple of incomplete passes. They converted a couple of first downs. Two minutes and 34 seconds remained. Brady took the snap and looked downfield for Julian Edelman. He was crossing the field. Brady threw. There were three Atlanta defenders closing in. The ball was tipped and almost intercepted. It fell to the ground...

No, wait...

It didn’t! It was caught by Edelman!

It was a 23-yard miraculous catch putting the Patriots at the Atlanta 41 yard-line. Three pass completions later, and the Patriots were on the one yard-line. Running back James White punched it in for the touchdown. It was now 28-26. The comeback was almost complete. The only thing New England needed was the two-point conversion. If they missed it, the game would likely be over. The hopes of Brady and head coach Bill Belichick of becoming 5-time Super Bowl champions together would be over. Their season would end just a couple of yards short.

But they made it. A quick pass to Danny Amendola tied the game at 28 with 57 seconds remaining.

Atlanta received the ball again and couldn’t move past their own 27 yard-line. They punted with eleven seconds left and New England ended the fourth quarter with a run play. They were heading to overtime. The first in Super Bowl history.

The story had to have been written. The Patriots were down and out. The celebrating in Atlanta had nearly begun. The smiling Falcons owners made their way down to the field and were all but congratulatory to everyone on the sidelines. But Brady and Belichick were not to be denied. Their team completed the comeback. They bought some extra time. They won the coin toss for overtime. They opted to receive the ball first.

Brady marched down the field, completing five passes in a row. He made it look easy, as he usually does. The final drive – and Super Bowl LI – ended with a two-yard touchdown run by James White.

Game over. The Patriots win, 34-28. It was the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history – maybe in NFL history.

Brady did it again. He’s now the all-time record holder for Super Bowl victories at quarterback with five. He was named the Super Bowl MVP for a record fourth time.

He cemented his legacy – but not with stats. We won’t remember his record 62 pass attempts. We won’t remember that he completed a record of 43 passes. We won’t remember his record 466 passing yards.

This game will be remembered for the comeback. It was a tremendous comeback. The greatest comeback. It was big league. It was huge. People from all over the world will know how truly amazing it was.

Believe me.

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Free-for-All Rewards, Winners, and Payouts

We had a total of 51 eligible contestants this week – a new record for these posts. The totals earned from the Preview post were 71.566 SD and 197.871 STEEM. I “converted” the SD to STEEM at a price of $0.16 per STEEM, which gave me an additional 447.288 STEEM, bringing the total to 645.159. I also added 77.327 that had been carried over from previous Free-for-All contests, which brought the grand total to 722.486 STEEM. I removed 2.486 STEEM to make payouts and transfers easier, so 722 STEEM was used for the pot.

The payout for each of the five statistical categories was 144 STEEM. These were the final stats and the winners for each category:

Statistics are from NFL.com

Winners of the Total Combined Touchdowns category:

@kingscrown
@steemcollator
@wynandroberts
@richq11
@starline
@ace108
@freebornangel
@bacchist
@dolov
@unhorsepower777
@sharingeverybite
@seth-krings
@titusfrost
@generation.easy
@ntomaino
@bosrad

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The following contestant has received 288 STEEM:

@jp17

The following contestant has received 144 STEEM:

@scaredycatguide

The following contestants have each received 57 STEEM:

@wynandroberts
@kingscrown

The following contestant has received 48 STEEM:

@shla-rafia

The following contestants have each received 9 STEEM:

@steemcollator
@richq11
@starline
@ace108
@freebornangel
@bacchist
@dolov
@unhorsepower777
@sharingeverybite
@seth-krings
@titusfrost
@generation.easy
@ntomaino
@bosrad

All transfers have been made and here is the proof of payout:

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Thank you to everyone who made these contests successful!

We had 51 eligible contestants and 19 individual winners this week, giving us a 37% distribution to the contestants. Congratulations to all of the winners and thanks to everyone for playing and supporting these posts throughout the season!

Without the help of many contestants and sponsors, these contests would have been harder to pull off, so I truly appreciate the community’s response and support. Throughout the football season, we have given away thousands of STEEM and SBDs to contestants, and I would like to specifically thank @bacchist and @nextgencrypto for donating STEEM and SBDs to the various contests. To all other whales, dolphins, and minnows who showed their support by upvoting the posts: Thank you!

There is a huge market for sports content and contests and I intend to keep that market growing on Steemit. I will have an announcement this week for future contest plans and a collaborative development project with @bacchist to create a fantasy sports platform using the STEEM blockchain. So, please watch for those announcements!

As always – please share these posts with your followers, friends, and family, especially those who have not yet joined Steemit! Bring them here, get them involved, and let’s grow the platform, all while having some fun doing it!

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Special thanks to @blocktrades for supporting and sponsoring this Steemit community event!

Please show him support in return with a witness vote and by using the BlockTrades services.

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Follow me: @ats-david