‘I couldn’t sle3p for a whole month after that game, NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!’
28-3: Terrifying nightmare – Magnificent Feat – the Super Bowl clash between the Patriots and Falcons – an Unforgettable Scar in NFL history.
HOUSTON – Super Bowl LI might have been the best championship game in NFL history, given the Patriots’ 25-point comeback, the overtime and what it meant for the legacies of quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick.
Years from now, the highlights of the Patriots’ victory will be easy to recall, including Brady’s 466 yards passing, Julian Edelman’s incredible double-clutch catch in the fourth quarter, the timely sacks of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and Patriots running back James White’s three touchdowns.
But there were so many other important moments, decisions, miscues and big plays, some are bound to be glossed over whenever we see highlights or discuss that great night of football at NRG Stadium.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10129031/633954072.jpg.jpg)
In no particular order, here are a few:
1. In overcoming a mid-third quarter, 25-point deficit, the Patriots had to convert only once on fourth down and didn’t recover the only onside kick attempted.
That’s hard to fathom. Needing four scores to tie or win, the Patriots needed possessions. And when they had the ball, there was little doubt they were going to go for a first down on most fourth-down situations.
The Patriots offense executed with precision. It helped that the Falcons defense was worn down from its 58 plays in the first three quarters.
It also helped that the Falcons offense, the best in the NFL during the regular season, failed miserably late in the game. When it needed to consume time and yards, it did neither.
2. The Falcons ran the ball four times for 10 yards after taking a 25-point lead. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, soon to be the 49ers head coach, is taking considerable heat for it, but coach Dan Quinn shouldn’t be absolved of blame. He wears a headset for a reason, so he can talk to all of his coaches.
The Falcons’ play-calling late in the game was reminiscent of Cardinals coach Bruce Arians’ “no risk-it, no biscuit” philosophy. Go win the game instead of trying to avoid losing it. It’s worked for Arians the majority of the time.
The downside of that axiom was obvious Sunday night. Ahead by eight points, the Falcons had a first down at the Patriots’ 22-yard line with 4:40 remaining.
On first down, a running play lost a yard. Critics will argue that Shanahan then lost his mind by calling for a pass. Ryan was sacked for a 12-yard loss, though he did have time to throw the ball away.
On third down, offensive tackle Jake Matthews was called for holding, effectively ending a chance at a field goal that may well have put away the Patriots.
3. The Patriots played without their second-best player, tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Gronk was placed on injured reserve nearly two months ago, so the Patriots have had time to adjust. Still, that they could win a championship, the franchise’s fifth, without Gronkowski, is amazing.
4. Edelman’s catch will go down with the Giants’ David Tyree’s in Super Bowl XLII in Glendale as one of the best in Super Bowl history.
So should Julio Jones’ 27-yard grab on the sideline in the fourth quarter. The Falcons ended up blowing the possession, but if they had won, Jones’ catch is one that would be talked about, and shown, for years.
5. Matthews, Atlanta’s left tackle, had a miserable second half and was called for holding twice. Both penalties came when the Falcons were in Patriots territory.
The first turned a third-and-2 situation into second-and-11 and took the Falcons out of field-goal range. It’s the main reason the Falcons didn’t score after recovering the onside kick.
The second took the Falcons from the Patriots’ 35-yard line, within kicker Matt Bryant’s range, to the 45 with less than four minutes to play.
MORE: Falcons latest Super Bowl victim of overthinking
6. Do your job. It’s another mantra in the NFL, especially with the Patriots. Falcons running back Devonta Freeman, who was brilliant in the first half, missed a blitz pickup that flipped the game.
Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower blitzed off the Falcons’ right side, but Freeman somehow didn’t see him. Hightower stripped the ball from Ryan and former Cardinals defensive lineman Alan Branch recovered at the Falcons’ 25.
The Patriots scored five plays later to pull within 28-20 with 5:56 left.
News
My Parents Humiliated Me at My Father’s Retirement Dinner Then My Husband Revealed Who He Really Was
Chapter 1: The Nobody My name is Diana Parker. I was thirty-two years old when my mother stood in front of 150 people at my father’s retirement party, leaned into a microphone, and made my marriage the punchline of the…
MY MOTHER TOLD ME NOT TO BRING MY SON TO EASTER AGAIN—THEN MY 13-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER STOOD UP AND SAID WHAT NONE OF THE ADULTS WOULD
Chapter 1: Don’t Bring Him It happened at a rented folding table covered in deviled egg crumbs, pastel napkins, plastic forks, and the shiny foil wrappers from Easter chocolate. The April wind moved through the dogwood trees behind my aunt’s…
MY FAMILY USED ME AS AN ATM, Until They Sold My Anniversary Gift and Learned I Was Done Paying
Chapter 1: The Good Daughter The smell of peppermint rinse and sterile latex was the permanent weather of my life. As a dentist, I spent my days working inside the smallest rooms of other people’s fear. I knew the exact…
MY HUSBAND GAVE ME AN “ALLOWANCE,” HIS MOTHER AUDITED MY GROCERY RECEIPTS—THEN THEY DROVE TO MOCK MY “TRAILER PARK” HOUSEWARMING
Chapter 1: The $3 Receipt Friday night in the Miller house always felt like a trial. Not dinner. Not family time. A trial. The kitchen table, a scuffed pine monster Linda insisted was “perfectly good,” was covered in crumpled receipts,…
MY NEWBORN WAS TURNING BLUE—MY HUSBAND LEFT FOR HAWAII AND SAID I WAS “JUST DRAMATIC”
Chapter 1: Blue Lips “Stop being so dramatic, Elena. He’s just coughing.” My mother-in-law said it like I had interrupted her breakfast, not like my three-day-old son was turning blue in my arms. Beatrice Vance stood in the middle of…
MY BILLIONAIRE FATHER DISOWNED ME AT MY OWN WEDDING—HE HAD NO IDEA THE “TRASH” HE MOCKED WAS ABOUT TO BECOME HIS BIGGEST REGRE
Chapter 1: Disowned Have you ever wondered what it feels like to have a billionaire father? Trust me, it is not the fairy tale people imagine. My name is Fiona Ashford. I was twenty-eight years old when my father stood…
End of content
No more pages to load
