Super Bowl 2017 halftime score: Falcons hold 21-3 lead after dominant 2nd quarter

After a slow start to Super Bowl 51, the Atlanta Falcons turned on the jets in the second quarter and put the New England Patriots in a huge hole, holding a 21-3 lead at halftime.

The first quarter was largely uneventful, with both teams trading punts and struggling to get much going on offense. The Patriots started the second quarter driving into field goal range, but LeGarrette Blount coughed up the ball and the Falcons recovered it for the first turnover of the game. Deion Jones forced the fumble, making himself an early front-runner for Super Bowl MVP.

Matt Ryan hit Julio Jones at midfield for Jones’ first catch of the game. He followed that up with another deep reception down at the Patriots’ 29-yard line. Devonta Freeman got the Falcons inside the red zone with two big runs, and scored the game’s first points one play later. Freeman made a sick cut to get to the outside and dive into the end zone on a 5-yard touchdown. The extra point gave Atlanta the 7-0 lead.

The Patriots started their next possession with poor field position, which has been a running theme of their performance in this game. Tom Brady still didn’t have many answers for the Falcons’ swarming defense, which forced another three-and-out.

Atlanta’s passing offense started to open up, with Ryan hitting Taylor Gabriel and Jones on deep passes. Jones in particular had a spectacular toe-tapping catch on the sidelines, putting the Falcons in field goal range. Austin Hooper then hauled in a 19-yard touchdown pass to put the Patriots in deep trouble. Atlanta took a 14-0 lead with under nine minutes left in the second quarter.

Brady kept struggling to get much going, but had a lucky break when a Falcons defensive penalty gave the Patriots a free first down. Another holding penalty bailed out the Patriots on third down and put them in Falcons territory. A third holding penalty gave the Patriots a third first down, and Martellus Bennett got New England into field goal range with a 13-yard catch.

However, the tide suddenly shifted when Robert Alford picked off Brady and ran it back 82 yards for a touchdown. Just like that, the rout was on with Atlanta up, 21-0.

With the clock winding down, New England went into its two-minute drill. James White used a 28-yard catch-and-run to get his team back in field goal range, and another catch got the Pats to the 15-yard line with 23 seconds left. A Bennett hold wiped out another big gain by White, backing up the Pats to the 20. Bennett made yet another costly gaffe, losing yards on a screen pass and staying in bounds, forcing Bill Belichick to burn his timeout.

A 41-yard field goal got the Patriots on the board, but it’s little consolation after the Falcons opened up such a big lead. Brady now has to engineer the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history if he hopes to capture his fifth ring.