Super Bowl post mortem

[Valuist]

The biggest key of all? Obviously the 93 to 46 edge in offensive plays. Atlanta D competely worn down. Minutes led? Atlanta 51 NE O (last play of game). If someone told me before the game that team A would have a 93-46 edge in plays over team B, I would've thought team A would've won by over 30 points. Amazing Atlanta was in it to the end.

Biggest play: Hightower strip sack of Ryan which caused a fumble that the Patriots recovered deep in Falcon territory. It was 28-12 at the time. For all the big plays the Pats had, none of them would've mattered without this play. This was the turning point.

Several key points missed by the media; Atlanta had inexplicably burned all 3 timeouts well before the late part of the 4th quarter. Secondly, I believe the injury to Coleman was big. Freeman had a big first half, but only 4 rush yards in the second half. I believe the dual RB attack was because Freeman wasn't capable of a 20 carry plus workload, and when Coleman got hurt, they became one dimensional.

Glad to see Brady acknowledged James White could've/should've gotten game MVP. Where did that effort come from? Record 14 receptions, 3 touchdowns and a two point conversion. Blount fumbled in 2nd quarter and didn't see much action after that. Deion Lewis got hurt in 4th quarter. Without White, New England doesn't win that game.

[MutuelClerk]

Originally Posted by Valuist

Biggest play: Hightower strip sack of Ryan which caused a fumble that the Patriots recovered deep in Falcon territory. It was 28-12 at the time. For all the big plays the Pats had, none of them would've mattered without this play. This was the turning point.

Several key points missed by the media; Atlanta had inexplicably burned all 3 timeouts well before the late part of the 4th quarter. Secondly, I believe the injury to Coleman was big. Freeman had a big first half, but only 4 rush yards in the second half. I believe the dual RB attack was because Freeman wasn't capable of a 20 carry plus workload, and when Coleman got hurt, they became one dimensional.

100% agree on Coleman. The sack was the big play. Freeman threw a lookout block. Costly. Like you said the turning point. I don't believe Coleman does that. Maybe he gets run over on the play but at least that slows down Hightower.

That being said clock mismanagement and play calling was their downfall. After Julio made that amazing catch I'm still stunned how they lost.

[lamboguy]

no disagreement coming from me on this one.

before the game started i didn't think the Pats would make the mistakes and stick themselves down 18 at the half. i never expected them to be ahead against a very talented team like the Falcons at the half, but did expect them to wear them down. they got stopped the first drive of the 2nd half and thought it was all over for them right then and there.

i can tell you that the Falcons were great on the field and will be back soon and win the superbowl unlike the Panthers who were a basic gutless team.

[NJ Stinks]

My thoughts are similar about the number of plays each team had. A couple Pats fans told me Brady and the offense simply wore down the Falcon defense and the better team finally won in the end. If your defense holds the other team down to 12 points after the Pats ran about 70 plays, it is clear that the Atlanta defense was tremendous long past the normal expiration date. This loss is on Ryan. He came up empty time after time in the last 20+ minutes of the game. Meanwhile, Brady showed Ryan how the game is won.

Blowing the late field goal position was bad enough but how about the failed onside kick that the Falcons did nothing with? You don't win Super Bowls without some kind of winning instincts unless your team is night and day better than the other side.

Guys like Ryan, Palmer, and Dalton might win a Super Bowl if they don't have to do the heavy lifting.

[Valuist]

The NFL has become an old boys club with charter members New England, Pittsburgh, Denver, Seattle, Green Bay, and its newest member, Dallas. Parity is gone.

An outsider can crash this party, but only for a year and then they get kicked out. Usually when an outsider gets this far, they've had good fortune in either winning close games, or remaining injury free. Then the injury gods even things out the next season, and they regress (see Carolina this past year).

So don't be surprised to see Atlanta regress next year. That isn't meant as a criticism of them; they were legit this year. They should've won the damned SB. But a loss like this will be tough to get over. And let's see how that offense performs with Shanahan in the Bay area.

[lamboguy]

i would be in complete shock not to see the Falcons in the playoffs next year. as i said before they are nothing like the Panthers of a year ago. they have a lot of heart and basically over achieved in yesterday's game even though they didn't win.

i never listen to the media or everyone else, i know they called them choker's, i say they have big hearts and will be right back.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Valuist

Without White, New England doesn't win that game.

Without DAN QUINN, New England doesn't win the game. His decision-making during the last 4 minutes of regulation was beyond explanation. When Julio Jones made that last catch...the game should have been over. No way do you throw the ball at that stage of the game.

[Valuist]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

Without DAN QUINN, New England doesn't win the game. His decision-making during the last 4 minutes of regulation was beyond explanation. When Julio Jones made that last catch...the game should have been over. No way do you throw the ball at that stage of the game.

I can't disagree. Quinn and Shanahan deserve plenty of blame.

Ultimately, New England needed a number of different factors to fall exactly into place, and they all did.

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

Without DAN QUINN, New England doesn't win the game. His decision-making during the last 4 minutes of regulation was beyond explanation. When Julio Jones made that last catch...the game should have been over. No way do you throw the ball at that stage of the game.

give me a break with all that nonsense already. before the game i had New England as a living lock, just like i had Trump to win the election.

life is all about learning different methods. i think i need to do a webinar here to teach people how to make better choices ahead of time and stop making excuses why things didn't turn out the way they expected them to.

its probably going to take me about 3 months to get my material together and i am going to charge a lot of money for smart people that want to learn something. i think i will do a segment about taking care of your health and how to deal with physical and mental problems. that alone will be well worth the price of the webinar. i think i am going to limit participation to under 10 people, only because i don't have the time to do the job right with more.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

give me a break with all that nonsense already. before the game i had New England as a living lock, just like i had Trump to win the election.

life is all about learning different methods. i think i need to do a webinar here to teach people how to make better choices ahead of time and stop making excuses why things didn't turn out the way they expected them to.

its probably going to take me about 3 months to get my material together and i am going to charge a lot of money for smart people that want to learn something. i think i will do a segment about taking care of your health and how to deal with physical and mental problems. that alone will be well worth the price of the webinar. i think i am going to limit participation to under 10 people, only because i don't have the time to do the job right with more.

What a difference a day makes.

You've spent the last couple of years here telling us that you are a "terrible handicapper", and that you "lose money every year betting horses"...but, after this game, you are now getting ready to give a webinar on "how to make better choices".

[barahona44]

Originally Posted by Valuist

The biggest key of all? Obviously the 93 to 46 edge in offensive plays. Atlanta D competely worn down. Minutes led? Atlanta 51 NE O (last play of game). If someone told me before the game that team A would have a 93-46 edge in plays over team B, I would've thought team A would've won by over 30 points. Amazing Atlanta was in it to the end.

Biggest play: Hightower strip sack of Ryan which caused a fumble that the Patriots recovered deep in Falcon territory. It was 28-12 at the time. For all the big plays the Pats had, none of them would've mattered without this play. This was the turning point.

Several key points missed by the media; Atlanta had inexplicably burned all 3 timeouts well before the late part of the 4th quarter. Secondly, I believe the injury to Coleman was big. Freeman had a big first half, but only 4 rush yards in the second half. I believe the dual RB attack was because Freeman wasn't capable of a 20 carry plus workload, and when Coleman got hurt, they became one dimensional.

Glad to see Brady acknowledged James White could've/should've gotten game MVP. Where did that effort come from? Record 14 receptions, 3 touchdowns and a two point conversion. Blount fumbled in 2nd quarter and didn't see much action after that. Deion Lewis got hurt in 4th quarter. Without White, New England doesn't win that game.

Yes Hightower's strip sack was the turning point.

The bigger issue is why are the Falcons , with a 16 point lead in the the 4th period, calling a PASS PLAY on third and one? And from the way Ryan was in the pocket,it looked like he wanted to go a medium to deep non-high % pass.

Very few NFL coaches trust their run game anymore. Assuming no turnovers (and I know you can't make assumptions about 'what if') , even if the run attempt failed, you get to burn another 40 seconds off the clock.The ball is punted and chances are the Patriots are starting from around their own 20-25 yard line.

Granted Brady could have tossed an 80 yard TD right away, so we will never know.But the NFL is pass nuts.I'd love to see the percentage of run plays on 3rd and 2 or 3. I'm betting in non blowout situations, it's in the 10 to 15 % range.

[thaskalos]

My final say on this game:

The Falcons deserved to lose...but the Falcon bettors DIDN'T.

[Robert Fischer]

(including Super Bowl LI) I picked 8 games against the spread this NFL season on my Facebook page, and had 7 wins and a 'push'.
While I know that I'm an excellent NFL handicapper, the Super Bowl result did nothing to fuel my confidence, and in fact felt somewhere between 'fortunate' and 'random'.

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by barahona44

Yes Hightower's strip sack was the turning point.

The bigger issue is why are the Falcons , with a 16 point lead in the the 4th period, calling a PASS PLAY on third and one? And from the way Ryan was in the pocket,it looked like he wanted to go a medium to deep non-high % pass.

Very few NFL coaches trust their run game anymore. Assuming no turnovers (and I know you can't make assumptions about 'what if') , even if the run attempt failed, you get to burn another 40 seconds off the clock.The ball is punted and chances are the Patriots are starting from around their own 20-25 yard line.

Granted Brady could have tossed an 80 yard TD right away, so we will never know.But the NFL is pass nuts.I'd love to see the percentage of run plays on 3rd and 2 or 3. I'm betting in non blowout situations, it's in the 10 to 15 % range.

It's amazing how often NFL teams make suboptimal decisions when it comes to situational, and clock management.

My favorite team, the Steelers, are probably one of the worst offenders.

[barahona44]

With all the problems the NFL has has the past couple of years this game will help restore a little lustre.