Re: Re:
100% Correct / Spot On. I took great joy to see the tears of Falcon's Fans and the prognosticators. Nothing could ever make up for the childhood pain I had to endure from those last second losses / hail marry's etc.
on3m@n@rmy said:True that was a great play by JE. What concentration. I think we will be seeing replays of that for a long, long time.The Hitch said:Alpe d'Huez said:Feel sorry for those who missed it. I have to say that was maybe the best game I've ever seen, and to me cemented Brady as the best QB ever, maybe best player ever. To come that far back, from that far down, that late in the game, two 2-pt conversions. I mean, at the start of the 4th quarter they were down 28-9.
I wish I had missed it. My only request from the football gods every season is that the pats don't win. Actually going into this game I didn't hate the pats that much (don't feel too strongly about any sporting team anymore these days). But I did want Atlanta to win. And from the moment they did that turnover on Ryan, it was just Destiny that nep would win. Something supernatural had decided it would happen. I was just overcome with a moment of clarity, patriots were going to win, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Atlanta I think had the same thing. Anytime an New England player would do a mistake from that moment on, the football would just happen to fall into their hands and away from Atlanta any way. The Edelman catch is the perfect example of this. Potentially the greatest wr play of all time from Edelman. Take nothing away from him. But that tip could have gone anywhere. There were 3 Atlanta players there. It just so happened to fall in the 1 spot where it was easier for Je to get than the others.
Only patriots ever get this kind of luck. After this, patriots could not win a game for the next 50 seasons and it wouldn't pay off this victory.
As for the ball being tipped, things like that happen often enough. That's just football. The Falcons obviously did not practice their tipped ball drill enough. :razz: Remember Seattle in 2014 (actually played Jan 2015) coming back from a 16–0 halftime deficit to beat the Packers in the NFC Championship game, where Seattle was helped by a bobble by Packer's Brandon Bostick of a Seattle onside kick? Or the 2013 NFC Championship game (SF in Seattle) where Seattle CB Richard Sherman tipped the ball away from 9ers WR Crabtree and into the hands of Seattle LB Malcolm Smith (now that was a well placed tip)?
And as for being luck on the Edelman catch, lets say the ball fell to the carpet and it was ruled incomplete. The play was a 1st and 10 at NE 36 (2:28 of the 4th quarter). An incompletion on that play would have made it 2nd and 10 from the NE 36. At that point NE was on a roll. Is there any doubt about NE converting the first down? They had Big Mo (MoJo for momentum) going for them at that point and there seemed to be nothing Atlanta could do to stop NE from advancing the ball downfield even though they were still getting some pressure on Brady. So for me, I will say f**k to the luck crap and only remember that play as being one helluva football play.
Then, if you think that JE catch was the only game-altering play, there were probably a dozen plays by each team, where, had they gone just a bit different, could have affected the outcome. It usually does not make sense to get hung up on one play, even if it does make for good discussion.
The one effect of the JE catch nobody seems to be talking about is how that affected Atlanta. Atlanta HC Dan Quinn challenged the pass completion ruling, the play was upheld as the ruling on the field was confirmed. As a result, Atlanta lost their third and final timeout. Oh how Atlanta could have used that later in the game.
Not just that. The game was really Atlanta's to lose in the second half. And that they did by failing to score in the second half. They even got a turnover in field goal range and proceeded to make mistakes and bad play calls that sent them backwards out of field goal range. So they ended up punting. If Atlanta had just scored a field goal on that series it could have put they game out of reach for NE.
Alpe submitted a one-word post a page or so back: "LEGEND (singular)". Of course referring to Brady.
I want to add "S" (for the plural or Superman, whatever) to that and say: LEGENDS, referring to both Brady and Belichick. This game for me cemented them both as all-time GOATs, surpassing all persons who have either gone before them or are still active. Especially for Belichick, who has remarkably done this in the era of free agency.
I partly understand HOW Bill does this. But being ABLE to do it consistently year after year is a tribute in this era. Just one example, trading MLB Jamie Collins to the Browns for picks at mid-season this year. Collins is a top 15 MLB (some would say even top 10) who would have commanded a bigger contract than NE wanted considering how he played with his teammates in NE. Collins is kind of a star, or star in the making, but Bill does not need all stars. Just guys who he can put together and play well as a unit. And that is how Bill says he assesses things like the Collins trade.
Back to the SB game, other than legendary performances by Brady and Bill, I really have to give big props to NE DC Matt Patricia for adjustments made that really messed up what Ryan and Atlanta had been doing in the first half. I won't be surprised if Patricia ends up on some team's radar for a HC position.
Nice try by Atlanta though. And for all the Saints fans out there, N.O.L.A. (No One Likes Atlanta - right?).
100% Correct / Spot On. I took great joy to see the tears of Falcon's Fans and the prognosticators. Nothing could ever make up for the childhood pain I had to endure from those last second losses / hail marry's etc.