Julio Jones, Dont’a Hightower Make Two of Super Bowl LI’s Biggest Plays
The country witnessed one of the greatest Super Bowls of all-time on Sunday night, and two former Alabama players made two of the biggest plays in the game.
The first impact play came from New England linebacker Dont'a Hightower. With the Patriots down 16 points midway through the fourth quarter, Hightower came free on the edge and sacked Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan, causing a fumble and turnover to set up a Patriots touchdown.
Head coach Bill Belichick called it the turning point in the comeback win during his postgame press conference.
With New England down just eight points, Atlanta needed a long drive and a score to cement its first Super Bowl victory in franchise history. It looked like they were in line to do it after Julio Jones made this spectacular reception on the sideline.
With the degree of difficulty and the pressure of the moment, that 26-yard catch might have gone down as one of the greatest in Super Bowl history had Atlanta capitalized. But the Falcons allowed a sack, got called for holding, and had to punt after having the ball at the New England 22-yard line.
The Patriots would go on to score a touchdown and convert the two-point conversion to force overtime. Then Tom Brady led the game-winning drive on his team's first possession to complete the 25-point comeback.