[Super Bowl LI] - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons

I feel bad for Atlanta as they are basically the Houston of sports teams.

Also, it must be nice to be from Boston in terms of sports wins. They keep winning decade after decade.

 

Get off your knees for Drumpf.

 

You want to know why a defense is important? A good defense holds a 28-3 late 3rd quarter lead.

 

Pats scored 31 straight after this guy showed up. Cancer i tell ya

 

The used the exact same script of the Oilers - Bills
Get a strong first half lead . .. . even a early third quarter TD . . . .
come back to tie .. . then lose in overtime

#WWNFL

Rocket River

 

Didn't watch even 2 minutes of this overhyped super eggball with 25 stone fatties but glad Atlanta Choked and glad Patriots won. The latter deserves the W after knocking off the Texans and the former deserves the L and the choke after the Rockets lost against the Hawks.

Will continue to never watch.

 

Totally irrelevant, but I had a friend of a friend who is a Titans fan (grew up in Tennessee) show up to my Superbowl party last night in an Earl Campbell jersey.

I wanted to crane kick him through a f***ing window.

 

Did I say not to bet against the evil emperor?

 

That was simply an amazing experience live. I wasn't sure if it could live up to the hype of what you're told attending a Super Bowl is...but it sure as hell did and then some. Having passes to the NFL Tailgate in the NRG Center didn't hurt the experience either with free food, free drinks and getting to meet Michael Fitzpatrick of Fitz and the Tantrums. I'm no Lady Gaga fan. I didn't recognize a single song she sang (other than America the Beautiful and This Land, of course). That was pretty cool to watch, though.

The game, though...that was just awesome. Seemed like it was spiraling out of control and was going to be a blow out. I was sitting with my cousin's wife who knows just about nothing about football. When it was 28-3, she asked me if the Pats had a chance to come back. I said very little but if anyone could do it, it was them.

It was also my first chance to see Tom Brady in person. I was sitting in the end zone so you could really see what he was doing. He doesn't throw the ball particularly hard but it's just on the money time after time. At the moment of many of his throws, I looked like the missed badly or was throwing it away...only for it to end up being a pass only his receiver can catch. When Julio Jones made that sideline catch, even the Pats fans behind me said that was one of the best catches ever. Then Julian Edelman had to top it. I just stood there with my hand over my mouth in complete disbelief. I don't know how that ball didn't hit the ground. I got to see the largest comeback in history and the first OT game in Super Bowl History.

Houston put on a hell of a show and the city should be very proud today.

Also...this was the weirdest thing from the day, by far...

Spoiler

 

Teams with a Pick-6 are now 12-1 in SBs.

 

Wow, I'm just so glad that wasn't my team that blew that lead. Felt like something one of my teams would have done.

 

Is this the greatest choke job in NFL history? Since this is the super bowl, I think it surpass the Houston Oiler choke.

 

I agree...it's all about context. This is a franchise that made the Super Bowl for the 2nd time in its existence...that had never won a Super Bowl....and gave up 31 straight points to blow a 25 point lead.

The Oilers still had to win 2 more games....this was RIGHT THERE for the Falcons. I'd be a mess today if I was a Falcons fan.

 

If they just kick a field goal which they were in range to they win.

 

Yes, the coach should have made sure no matter what do not get out of field goal range, they were inside 25, which is an 85% chance of making the field goal.

 

Felt like a Cowboys choke job.But, I was also an Oilers fan so felt like an Oilers choke job as well. Just goes to show that teams can have the mantra and say "finish" all season long. There's a big difference between saying it and doing it. It took a series of gaffes for Atlanta to lose this game and that is where they fell into line with what the Cowboys would do as far as shooting themselves in the feet. I mean...really...all they had to do was kick a FG when they were in position even if on first down...and that would likely do it. And, certainly, for them to be passing in that situation is a terrible call akin a gaffe the Cowboys would definitely do and then you get sacked and/or a holding call. RUN THE BALL ONLY IN THAT SITUATION!!! RUN TIME OFF THE CLOCK!!! DO NOT PASS!!! YOU ARE ALREADY IN FG RANGE!!! To think all it would take was just one FG in the second half to likely seal this game...and Atlanta couldn't do anything after that dominating first half. That holding call...was he trying to kill him with a head lock? Yea...you lost that battle.

But, was a great game and maybe the best ever. I don't feel sorry for Atlanta. There is just a subset of teams in the league that have bad histories like that. Being a fan of one of those teams, I say welcome to the club. Almost.

Brady was phenomenal but the wide receiver performances between the first half and the second half were night and day. It doesn't happen if they don't start catching the ball. They didn't drop much in the second half. The first half...was horrible all around for NE.

And, of course, it took a phenomenal catch near the end to make it happen. Reminds me of NY and that catch.

Some teams just get breaks (most of which they create) and it's usually do to coming through in the clutch when all things go right in the clutch because of things like coaching, mental toughness and leadership. Some teams will just never have what NE has, including Tom Brady. But, it was way more than Tom Brady that pulled that off. At some point, NE has to come back down to Earth. I assume that won't happen until Brady is retired at a minimum.

Don't worry, Atlanta. Dwight Howard is going to bring you a NBA championship. (Snicker)

 

Up 8 with 5 minutes to go and in field goal range...

2 pass plays in a row. Sack and a penalty. Field goal range lost.

Amazingly poor decision-making there.

 

Am an NFL illiterate.
Can someone please frame this in NBA terms, particularly the biggest lead. All I know is there has never been a superbowl overtime, so it's like a 6 or 7 NBA overtime? TIA.

 

Like most people not in the NE area, I tend to root against them. Spygate, deflategate, etc. They seem to have a smarminess about them that rubs people wrong, I think. So, was enjoying ATL kicking the snot out of them...until they weren't.

Have to give NE props on this, though. They just kept believing they were going to win, and went out and made the plays they needed to to make that happen. Atlanta defense looked tired...they'd been on the field too many plays. I think they had some bad play calling at the end of their last drive, throwing the ball when all they needed was a couple runs, eat some clock, and kick the field goal. But NE does that to teams...just like Peyton made Belichek go for it on fourth down deep in his own territory.

Outside of Brady, there isn't a single star player on their team, yet they keep winning. They seem to have a really easy schedule almost every year, but they still win in the playoffs. It's become so routine, people forget how good they are (I didn't realize they'd been in the AFC championship 6 years in a row, and 11 of the last 16, for example).

So, props to them. The Patriot Way seems to have something to it.

 

Yes. Would have to wonder what SF was thinking about that....

But have been on the other side of that, too...actually even in games against NE. Jason Garrett is uber conservative, killing clock when there was way too much time left, and what was needed was first downs and hopefully another score.