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With Super Bowl LI complete, 2017 NFL draft order is set
12:08 AM ET

  • Kevin SeifertNFL Nation

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    • ESPN.com national NFL writer
    • ESPN.com NFC North reporter, 2008-2013
    • Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008

The New England Patriots orchestrated a historic comeback to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 and win Super Bowl LI on Sunday night in Houston. With the victory, we can now fill in the final two of 32 slots in the first round of the NFL’s draft order.

The Falcons will select No. 31 in the draft and the Patriots will have the No. 32 pick.

The first round of the draft, to be held in Philadelphia, will be on April 27 at 8 p.m. ET. For more information, including mock drafts, scouting profiles and more, check out ESPN’s full draft coverage.

NFL

How the Patriots converted both two-point tries

The New England Patriots’ pair of two-point conversion attempts in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LI proved to be critical in their comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Let’s go back to the two play calls to draw up how each went down. From the direct snap to James White to the wide receiver screen to beat man coverage, here’s how the Patriots used creativity and smart game-planning to win their fifth Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night in Houston.

Inside “Duo” (Direct Snap)

New England trailed the Falcons 28-18 after Tom Brady’s touchdown pass to Danny Amendola on a classic Patriots concept (a flat route paired with an outside clear-out). This was when offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels brought three-WR personnel onto the field and aligned the Patriots in an empty set before shifting White (H) into the backfield.

The play? It’s an inside “duo” run scheme. That’s a straight downhill run with the two double-teams against the Falcons’ four-man front. The right tackle, Marcus Cannon, blocks down on the strongside defensive tackle and doubles with the playside guard Shaq Mason. Move the defender off the ball. Big boy stuff.

With Martellus Bennett (Y) kicking out on defensive end Vic Beasley (E) and wide receiver Chris Hogan (Z) digging out the strongside linebacker, the Patriots can wash-out the strong side of the formation as the center, David Andrews, chips off the inside double-team to pick up linebacker Deion Jones (B).

However, McDaniels adds the wrinkle of the direct snap to White. For starters, it allows White to hit the line quicker, but this is where Brady also simulates the poor snap over his head. Why? To draw the eyes of the second-level defenders (linebacker and strong safety) before White drops his pads and follows the double-team block of Cannon and Mason. Get small in the hole and find some daylight as the strong safety, Keanu Neal, gets caught up in the mess of bodies.

Put the ball across the goal line and cut the lead to 28-20.

Wide receiver screen

This was a great call by McDaniels after White’s 1-yard touchdown run cut the Falcons’ lead to 28-26 late in the fourth quarter. Bring 10 or “Jet” personnel into the huddle (four wide receivers) and spread the field. Go empty versus the Falcons’ dime package (six defensive backs).

This is a classic man-coverage beater. And with the Falcons’ playing zero-man (no safety in the middle of the field), the Patriots can create some traffic at the point of attack.

With Amendola (No. 80) coming in motion to the core of the formation, and nickel back Brian Poole (N) giving ground — or gaining depth — to play for a possible pick route, both Julian Edelman (Z) and Hogan (W) block the two cornerbacks in coverage (C). This creates a clear lane for Brady to take one step and target Amendola (long hand-off) on the screen concept, called a “tunnel screen.”

Catch the ball and square the pads to the line of scrimmage, and with Poole stuck in the trash off the blocks from Edelman and Hogan, the Falcons defensive back can’t recover in time to keep Amendola out of the end zone. Even with the collision at the goal line, Amendola’s ability to immediately get up the field after the catch puts two points on the board.

That’s a great example of playing the defensive tendencies against four-WR personnel (zero-man) and calling a route scheme that beats the coverage based on the alignment of the defensive backs. This allowed the Patriots to tie the game 28-28 before winning another ring in overtime.

NFL

Source: Falcons OC Shanahan will take 49ers job

HOUSTON — Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will become the next head coach of the San Francisco 49ers once a contract is placed in front of him, a source told ESPN.com following the Falcons’ 34-28 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

Shanahan was not able to accept a contract offer from the 49ers until after the Falcons’ postseason run concluded. He interviewed with the 49ers twice during the postseason and had a conversation with newly named 49ers general manager John Lynch, who called Shanahan and volunteered for the job without any previous front-office experience. Shanahan, 37, is expected to sign a six-year deal to run concurrent with Lynch’s contract.

In two seasons with the Falcons, Shanahan helped transform quarterback Matt Ryan into the league MVP. He was the playcaller behind the NFL’s top scoring offense in 2016, as the Falcons averaged 33.8 points per game.

But Shanahan will leave Atlanta with criticism following him. He answered questions about not running the ball in the latter stages of the Super Bowl. One was a third-and-1 pass play with 8:31 left in the fourth quarter and the Falcons leading 28-12. Ryan was sacked by Donta Hightower on the play and lost the ball, which was recovered by Alan Branch. The Patriots grabbed the momentum with a touchdown and two-point conversion immediately after the turnover, closing the gap to 28-20.

Kyle Shanahan, who faced criticism for not running the ball in the latter stages of the Super Bowl to push the Falcons into field goal range, said after the game that “we tried our best to get back in but couldn’t get it done.” Jason Getz/USA TODAY Sports

On the next drive, Ryan again was sacked on a second-and-11 run play from the Patriots’ 23-yard line. That set up a third-and-23 play from the 35, and then a holding call on left tackle Jake Matthews pushed the Falcons out of field goal range.

“The thought is to get as many yards as you can,” Shanahan said of not running while in field goal range. “And we were right there on the fringe. It was by no means an easy field goal. From what I remember, we ran in on first-and-10 and lost yards. Got into second-and-11, so we try to get a pass to get us back into a manageable third down, closer to the field goal, and we took a sack. Taking a sack … got us into a third-and-20, so we threw a quick pass trying to get back into field goal range, which we did. But there was a holding call on the play. And when you get a holding call on third-and-20, it goes back that far. We were way out of field goal range. We tried our best to get back in but couldn’t get it done.”

Shanahan was then asked about the fine line between being aggressive with the pass and being mindful of clock management.

“It’s not really the run-pass ratio that I look at,” Shanahan said. “It’s you stay on the field, and you run your offense. When went three-and-out two times, which was huge. I think we had second-and-1 on both of those. To not convert on second-and-1 and then third, it was tough. That’s why we let them get back into the game.”

It’s unclear how the Falcons plan to address the offensive coordinator position once Shanahan officially leaves. The Falcons also are likely to lose quarterback coach Matt LaFleur, who is expected to be interviewed by the Los Angeles Rams. Offensive line coach Chris Morgan said it’s only natural to want to take the next step and become an offensive coordinator. Wide receivers coach Raheem Morris believed he was capable of calling plays on offense or defense when he was the head coach at Tampa Bay.

Falcons coach Dan Quinn said last week that the offensive system is “100 percent” in place, which would indicate that he wants to keep Shanahan’s scheme even if Shanahan is not around.

Asked if he could confirm that Shanahan was set to leave the Falcons, Quinn said simply, “It’s not my story to tell.”

NFL

Falcons' Ryan on loss: 'There are no words'

HOUSTON — In a season when so much went right for Matt Ryan, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback was at a loss Sunday night to describe what went wrong in a soul-crushing 34-28 overtime loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

Ryan, who won the league’s MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards for his work in the regular season, saw the Falcons let a 28-3 lead slip away.

“There’s nothing you can really say,” a somber Ryan said following the game. ” … There are no words.”

The Falcons, who led the league in scoring this season at 33.8 points per game, did not score on their last four possessions of the game and had just three first downs in the pivotal fourth quarter.

“There’s nothing you can really say,” Ryan said. “That’s a tough loss. Obviously, very disappointed. [The Falcons] were very close to getting done what we wanted to get done, but it’s hard to find the words.”

Ryan had six 300-yard passing games and seven games with at least three touchdown passes this season. On Sunday, he finished 17-of-23 passing for 284 yards and two touchdowns. He did not throw an interception, but he was sacked five times and lost a key fumble.

The Patriots ran 47 more offensive plays than the Falcons (93 to 46) for the biggest play disparity in NFL postseason history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“We ran out of gas,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.

Ryan became the eighth consecutive league MVP to have played in and lost the Super Bowl. In his postgame review, Ryan pointed to two possessions on which things got away.

“We just made some mistakes, and against a team like New England, those mistakes ended up costing us,” Ryan said.

The first came with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter and the Falcons holding a 28-9 lead when the Patriots tried an onside kick. Falcons linebacker LaRoy Reynolds recovered the ball at the Patriots’ 46-yard line.

A penalty tacked on moved it to the Patriots’ 41 because New England kicker Stephen Gostkowski had touched the ball before it traveled 10 yards. Ryan hit tight end Austin Hooper for 9 yards on first down to open the drive, but Tevin Coleman lost a yard on the next play before Jake Matthews had a holding penalty.

Ryan threw an incompletion, and then on third-and-11, Ryan took a sack for a 9-yard loss. Suddenly, after being on the edge of field goal range, the Falcons had to punt.

“After the onside kick, the short field opportunity, felt like we should have come away with points there and didn’t,” Ryan said.

Ryan also pointed to the Falcons’ possession in the fourth quarter when, with a 28-20 lead, the team had moved the ball to the New England 22-yard line with 4 minutes, 40 seconds remaining in regulation. At that point, if the Falcons simply kept themselves in field goal range, they would have made it a two-score game. But Ryan was sacked for a 12-yard loss, Matthews was flagged for holding again two plays later, and the Falcons were again forced to punt.

“We were in field-goal range [in the fourth quarter], and then we got pushed back out of field goal range,” Ryan said. “We knew we had to come away with points in both of those.”

Ryan fumbled on a sack in the fourth quarter as well. The Patriots scored following all of those failed Falcons possessions.

“Sure, we did some good things … just made some mistakes in certain situations that put us behind the chains,” Ryan said. “And we were not able to overcome that, and that part was disappointing.”

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