Even as a roughly 50 year fan of Boston sports teams, I can honestly say I feel bad for Ryan as well. I have followed his career since the BC days and have always liked him. I really didn't want to see him escape the "not in the clutch" tag against the Pats, but wouldn't have been severely bummed if he had. This one needs to be laid at the ATL coaching staff's feet, not Ryan's. They gambled on the pass and lost in a few situations that smart money said to run the ball and take what you can get. The Pats weren't exactly stellar about sealing the edge on Freeman... For all the accolades Brady and the offense have received for the comeback - albeit well deserved - the Pats D really won this game, shutting the birds out over the last 23 minutes, and getting the huge turnover that was desperately needed. Even one field goal would have likely put the game out of reach, as time dictated a limited amount of possessions for Brady and Company. Ryan played great, even with the Pats far exceeding expectations on containing Jones - just 4 catches, two of which were spectacular. He has nothing to be ashamed of. The Falcons should be the class of the NFC along with Dallas for the next few years. In this game they just ran into a much more seasoned team and staff on a mission.
Completely agree that the blame for the loss should go to the coaching staff and not Ryan. Most egregious example of poor play-calling (a series you mentioned): on the series before NE drove to tie the game, Ryan completed an amazing pass to Julio Jones (throw was perfect, the catch was unbelievable) that put Atlanta within easy field goal range. Then the offensive coordinator (who will thankfully be with the 49ers next year) called a pass play that resulted in a sack, followed by another pass play that resulted in a holding penalty, and they were suddenly out of field goal range. All the Falcons needed to do was call a couple running plays, get a few yards closer and then kick a field goal to put the game out of reach with a few minutes to go.
Bellichick deserves credit for his half-time adjustments. Falcons just stuck with the same game plan.
Even the Boston Globe had given up. This was their actual early edition.
Howie Carr—a columnist at the Boston Herald who lost whatever relevance he had back in the 90s—churned out a whole piece on this goof and how it showed that the Globe was worthless. Didn't have much to say about the Pats' win, you understand...
And when the Celtics won the championship against the hated Lakers in '08, Howie spent a good chunk of his column clucking about the supposedly out-of-control fans, going at lengths to sneer at one woman who yelled on TV (according to Howie), "They pumbled them!"
So yeah: The Globe blew it. Collect that edition, folks: it's a Boston version of "Dewey Beats Truman." But the Globe doesn't employ bitter old fossils like Howie.
Smart to avoid getting stressed out by not watching the games. I should stop watching teams I care about in big games like this. It really has become too painful. I'm speaking as a Bills fan (still my #1 team, and I'm sure you know their SB history) and now as a Falcons fan (having lived in Atlanta for several years). This loss was particularly tough to swallow because the Falcons seemingly had it wrapped up with a 28-3 lead. It was surreal watching the game turn into a horror show.
I feel bad for Matt Ryan. He played a flawless first half, looking like a younger Tom Brady, and it would have been nice to see him get a ring. Fans here have been tough on him over the years for supposedly not being clutch and then this happens... the biggest collapse in SB history. Oh well, as you mentioned, the Falcons seem to have a bright future. Thanks for the commiseration
Even as a roughly 50 year fan of Boston sports teams, I can honestly say I feel bad for Ryan as well. I have followed his career since the BC days and have always liked him. I really didn't want to see him escape the "not in the clutch" tag against the Pats, but wouldn't have been severely bummed if he had. This one needs to be laid at the ATL coaching staff's feet, not Ryan's. They gambled on the pass and lost in a few situations that smart money said to run the ball and take what you can get. The Pats weren't exactly stellar about sealing the edge on Freeman... For all the accolades Brady and the offense have received for the comeback - albeit well deserved - the Pats D really won this game, shutting the birds out over the last 23 minutes, and getting the huge turnover that was desperately needed. Even one field goal would have likely put the game out of reach, as time dictated a limited amount of possessions for Brady and Company. Ryan played great, even with the Pats far exceeding expectations on containing Jones - just 4 catches, two of which were spectacular. He has nothing to be ashamed of. The Falcons should be the class of the NFC along with Dallas for the next few years. In this game they just ran into a much more seasoned team and staff on a mission.
Lissen: a lot of Red Sox fans masochistically bought into "The Curse of the Bambino" BS and turned their fandom into an exercise of bitter self-flagellation. It didn't help, I think, that Irish-American culture can have that celebration of victimhood. A lot of that evaporated when the Sox, after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory for so many years, came back from 0-3 in the 2004 ALCS series to beat the hated Yankees.
Kevin Millar was a popular Sox player from that era. He once said something like "Once you step off the playing field and hit the top step of the dugout, you just wash the pain of losing away and move on."
Falcons players will have put the pain away by the beginning of next season. Falcons fans should realize that the 2017 will be a fresh start. The players and coaches will learn from that game and likely emerge stronger for it. The Falcons will pull someday off their own "miracle" victory and build from that, I'm sure.
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.
Friedrich Nietzsche, "Twilight of the Idols" "Lighten up, Sandy baby."
Redskins running back John Riggins, to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor after she chided him for being so drunk at a private dinner in Georgetown. Riggo eventually wound up under the dinner table, passed out cold.
Thanks, I'm getting over it. I thought I'd post the melodramatic Bee Gees song for fun.
I have decided to forgo watching any sports on TV indefinitely. Who needs it! I'm reading books and watching movies instead.
Lissen: a lot of Red Sox fans masochistically bought into "The Curse of the Bambino" BS and turned their fandom into an exercise of bitter self-flagellation. It didn't help, I think, that Irish-American culture can have that celebration of victimhood. A lot of that evaporated when the Sox, after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory for so many years, came back from 0-3 in the 2004 ALCS series to beat the hated Yankees.
Kevin Millar was a popular Sox player from that era. He once said something like "Once you step off the playing field and hit the top step of the dugout, you just wash the pain of losing away and move on."
Falcons players will have put the pain away by the beginning of next season. Falcons fans should realize that the 2017 will be a fresh start. The players and coaches will learn from that game and likely emerge stronger for it. The Falcons will pull someday off their own "miracle" victory and build from that, I'm sure.
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.
Friedrich Nietzsche, "Twilight of the Idols" "Lighten up, Sandy baby."
Redskins running back John Riggins, to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor after she chided him for being so drunk at a private dinner in Georgetown. Riggo eventually wound up under the dinner table, passed out cold.
I'm a huge Pats fan, but I didn't watch the game because I get so wound up. (Didn't watch their prior 2 SB appearances either, for the same reason). I probably would have jumped out of a window before the end of the first half had I tuned in. As you or someone else mentioned, that game had a very strange flow. The whole thing of one team dominating a half and then the other team taking over is very unusual; the SB between the Ravens and the Niners was like that. Amazing that the Falcons ran only 46 offensive plays; the Pats ran 93.
To Falcons fans: I'm sorry your team lost. I know it f#@ckin' burns. I remember when the Pats got blown out by the Bears in '85 and I didn't look at the sports section for two weeks after the Giants won in '07. The Falcons are a great, great team and as far as I can tell are now the team to beat in the NFC. They have the potential to be great for a long, long time. They will be back to the Big Show.
Smart to avoid getting stressed out by not watching the games. I should stop watching teams I care about in big games like this. It really has become too painful. I'm speaking as a Bills fan (still my #1 team, and I'm sure you know their SB history) and now as a Falcons fan (having lived in Atlanta for several years). This loss was particularly tough to swallow because the Falcons seemingly had it wrapped up with a 28-3 lead. It was surreal watching the game turn into a horror show.
I feel bad for Matt Ryan. He played a flawless first half, looking like a younger Tom Brady, and it would have been nice to see him get a ring. Fans here have been tough on him over the years for supposedly not being clutch and then this happens... the biggest collapse in SB history. Oh well, as you mentioned, the Falcons seem to have a bright future. Thanks for the commiseration
Yeah, good points. And Shannahan's play-calling was a strange mix of conservative, particularly on first down (he didn't really start getting Julio Jones involved until the second quarter) and too bold (why oh why drop back to pass on a third and one when you're in easy field goal range to go up by 11 with a few minutes to go?). I'm not exactly disappointed that he's moving on to San Francisco.
To top off all the things that went right for the Patriots and wrong for the Falcons — NE wins the coin toss going into overtime. I knew it was officially over then.
I'm a huge Pats fan, but I didn't watch the game because I get so wound up. (Didn't watch their prior 2 SB appearances either, for the same reason). I probably would have jumped out of a window before the end of the first half had I tuned in. As you or someone else mentioned, that game had a very strange flow. The whole thing of one team dominating a half and then the other team taking over is very unusual; the SB between the Ravens and the Niners was like that. Amazing that the Falcons ran only 46 offensive plays; the Pats ran 93.
To Falcons fans: I'm sorry your team lost. I know it f#@ckin' burns. I remember when the Pats got blown out by the Bears in '85 and I didn't look at the sports section for two weeks after the Giants won in '07. The Falcons are a great, great team and as far as I can tell are now the team to beat in the NFC. They have the potential to be great for a long, long time. They will be back to the Big Show.
Location: Perched on the precipice of the cauldron of truth
Posted:
Feb 6, 2017 - 9:10am
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Slowly? That bloodletting was femoral.
If it had been nothing but mistakes on the part of the Falcons, that's one thing. And there were mistakes... but also some amazing adjustments by the Patriots, as well as some Super-Bowl-Legend caliber plays.
That catch! No the other one. Two two-point conversions? Both of them would have ended the game if they failed?
Monday Morning Quarterbacking: When the brain trust calling the game are hyping the fact that the Falcons had only run 30-some plays by the end of the 3rd quarter, that should have pointed out to someone that the Atlanta defense had been out there a lot. Maybe some fresh legs could have been the difference? There were a few blown plays that looked like the D just said "I just can't."
New England had the ball a little more than 40 minutes. And New England was throwing (62 passes). Atlanta defense had to be gassed.
Well, at least it's better than it was when just a field goal ended the game; still, as you said, both teams should get at least one O.T. offensive possession in the Super Bowl. Anyhow, the way the flow of the game had changed by then and the Patriots being so revved up, it didn't seem like Atlanta had it in them to drive down the field and respond with a touchdown of their own.
Yeah, it seems unfair, especially in the Super Bowl — "OK, you get the ball back if you can hold the team to a field goal, but if they score a TD, that's it."
The game did have a bit of a strange flow. As ScottW pointed out, Atlanta only had a total of 30 or so offensive plays by the fourth quarter. It seemed like their offense wasn't on the field enough, and the defense got worn down.
I agree, it's unlikely that Atlanta had it in them to score a TD in OT even if they got the ball back. The whole team was drained of energy by then.
I think the NFL should change the OT rules in the Super Bowl so that the team that loses the coin toss gets an offensive possession even if the opponent scores a TD on the first drive.
Well, at least it's better than it was when just a field goal ended the game; still, as you said, both teams should get at least one O.T. offensive possession in the Super Bowl. Anyhow, the way the flow of the game had changed by then and the Patriots being so revved up, it didn't seem like Atlanta had it in them to drive down the field and respond with a touchdown of their own.
Slowly? That bloodletting was femoral.
