The New England Patriots were down 21-3 at the half and they ended up setting two Super Bowl records.
The first quarter ended scoreless and with Tom Brady getting sacked, twice. The second quarter ended with the Pats down 21-3. In the third, things didn’t look any better after a missed a field goal kick cost them the extra point. It wasn't until the fourth where things got interesting. The fourth started with the Pats facing a 28-9 deficit. A successful field goal and touchdown brought the score up to 28-20.

With more than three minutes left in play, the Patriots were making their way down the field in an attempt to tie the game. The Falcons had the ball just out of their fingertips a few times but they could not successfully stop the drive. At the end of the fourth it was all tied up 28-28 and for the first time in Super Bowl history there would be overtime played.

As if the past 30 minutes weren’t exciting enough, the Patriots almost clinched the win when Tom Brady passed to Martellus Bennett in the end zone only to have a flag on the play. They would have to do it again, but could they get it done? The answer was yes. Though not in a flashy, catch the pass from Brady way. James White willed the upper half of his body across the end zone just as his knees dropped and with that, touchdown, 34-28 Patriots win. Also for the first time in Super Bowl history, a team came back from more than a 10 point deficit to win the game. Roger Goodell was on hand to present the trophy to Robert Kraft, through boos, and Tom Brady was named MVP.

If you weren’t watching for the game, chances are you paid more attention during the commercial breaks. There were a few familiar faces; Justin Bieber talked about the history of a touchdown dance for T-Mobile and in a double whammy, T-Mobile hit big again with Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart. In this tongue and cheek ad, Stewart tries to finish Snoop’s sentences only to fail miserably in pun heaven. The best pop music commercial moment? Has to be Christopher Walken giving a dramatic reading of one of the biggest pop songs of the 2000s, “Bye Bye Bye” for the fitting product, Bai, only to have the man himself, Justin Timberlake sitting next to him. Hashtag, BaiBaiBai.

The game, the commercials, what else makes a great Super Bowl? Oh that’s right, the halftime performance and for Lady Gaga, this was a performance more than 20 years in the making. The superstar has said she had been planning her Super Bowl halftime performance since she was 4 years old and leading up to the night there were many questions surrounding her performance. Will she make a political statement? Will she be joined on stage by anyone? Will she actually sing on top of the NRG stadium?  

Never one to disappoint, Lady Gaga did just as she said she would. She opened her 13 minute solo performance with a medley of “America the Beautiful”, “This Land is Your Land” and recited “One nation, under God, indivisible for liberty, and justice for all” from the top of NRG stadium along with 300 drones (powered by Intel). Then, she was gone. Gaga propelled down from the roof top, Mission Impossible style and landed on a waiting pillar where she teased “Edge of Glory” then broke out into “Poker Face”. She then played her 2011 hit, “Born this Way” ending the song with, "I was born to be brave". Next up was “Telephone” and no Beyoncé did not show up. Lady Gaga filled the stage on her own. To prove she is not a one trick pony, Gaga played the keytar for “Just Dance” before maneuvering through the crowd to sing her new song “Million Reasons” at the piano. It was during this moment where she also gave a shout out to her mom and dad, Gaga’s new album Joanne is named after her late aunt. Gaga then closed with “Bad Romance”. When she was done she didn’t just have a mic-drop moment, she threw the microphone down and caught a football before jumping off of the stage into an unknown abyss.

Her political statements were subtle, not overt digs at one side or another but focused on bringing everyone together. Prior to her performance Gaga talked about the possibility of making a statement to which she said, “The only statements that’ll be making during the halftime show are the ones that I have been consistently making throughout my career”.  Staying true to her word, herself and her fans Lady Gaga put on a performance that will no doubt fall on the side of “best” when halftime performances are ranked in years to come.

Written by Kristen

​Saturday, January 14th:
First up, the Seattle Seahawks took on the Atlanta Falcons and for the second year in a row, the Seattle Seahawks couldn’t make it past the divisional round. They fell to the Atlanta Falcons 36-20. The question that was on everyone’s mind after this game is, can an entire game’s momentum really shift in one penalty? The answer seems to be a resounding, yes. It came in the second quarter, holding on Kevin Pierre-Louis, all while Devin Hester took a punt 80 yards for nothing. If there was no penalty could the Seahawks have scored again going up double digits in the 2nd? The world may never know. After the call, Atlanta scored 17 unanswered points and the Seahawks never had the momentum again. It may not be fair to pin an entire loss on one play since there were two whole quarters left after the call but if you believe in the power of momentum than you may just believe that this penalty was a game changer.

Next, the Houston Texans faced off against the New England Patriots Saturday night, doing their best to shake Tom Brady in their 34-16 loss. The Patriots started off strong, Dion Lewis had a 98-yard kickoff return, the first ever by the Patriots in the post season. But then the Texans started to show a little force of their own. They were able to intercept Brady, twice and their defense kept pressure on the Patriots forcing them to kick a field goal two yard from the goal line. After their strong showing in the first, things sort of unraveled. The Texans suffered from three interceptions and could only come up with a field goal. The Texans fell victim to the Patriots in Foxborough, a story there were only all too familiar with already.

Sunday, January 15th:
First game of the day, Dallas Cowboys took on the Green Bay Packers coming up shy in a 34-31 loss. Rookie quarterback, Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes, more touchdown passes than Tony Romo has thrown in a single playoff game. He kept his cool to the end, throwing an 11 yard to pass to Jason Witten with 1:07 left on the clock. After that, things, well they got interesting. In an effort to save their final time out, the Cowboys spiked the ball with 48 seconds left, kicking a 52-yard field goal to tie. What did spiking the ball do? It exchanges one down for 10 to 15 seconds additional game play.  It could have worked, but it didn’t. After the Dallas’ field goal the Packers got the ball and scored their own 50+ field goal for the win.
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Next, Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Kansas City Chiefs in an 18-16 win. Much like the Seahawks the day prior, The Chiefs’ season came to a close and it might just be pinned to a holding call. The Chiefs were down by two when quarterback, Alex Smith completed a pass to Demetrius Harris for what should have been a tie game, if only Eric Fisher didn’t get called for holding. The penalty took the two point conversion off the board and pushed the Chiefs back 10 yards. The Steelers were then able to pull out a win with star quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger running a passing play. 

Next week's match ups are: Green Bay vs. Atlanta and New England vs. Pittsburgh. 

Written by Kristen