You have to question, and the
Falcons and Atlanta fans will forever question, the play calling and play in
general in the second half of the game.
With 2:06 left in the third the Patriots scored to make it a 28-9 game
and tried a failed onside kick. The
Falcons had the ball at the New England 41 and promptly got it to the 32 yard
line. A holding penalty and sack later
they were back to the Atlanta 49 and out of field goal position. FAIL
After a Patriots field goal Matt
Ryan fumbles on a 3rd and 1 play from the shotgun. Why don’t you run the ball? Your running game has been excellent all day
and you only need one yard. Not committing
a turnover and keeping the clock running should be the number one
priority. FAIL
New England got withing eight points
late in the game but Atlanta had managed to get to the Patriot twenty-two yard
line thanks to a spectacular catch by Julio Jones. After a rush for a loss of one Matt Ryan is
sacked on the next play. Then a
penalty on the next play moves the ball to the NE 45 before Matt Ryan throws an
incomplete pass on third down. There was
4:40 left in the game when Jones made his catch. Why don’t you just run three times, kick the
field goal and win the game? Their
running game had been great and even if you don’t get any positive yards you
have a very makeable field goal chance and have either forced New England to
use timeouts or you burn time off the clock.
Heck, just take a knee three times.
Yes a touchdown is great and you want to run your game plan but passing
the ball provides more opportunity for bad things to happen. Know the situation. FAIL
Again second guessing will haunt
the franchise forever. For a team who
had played so well in the playoffs up until the third quarter they did
everything wrong after that to allow New England back into that game. One talking head after the game stated it
best by saying (paraphrasing) Atlanta had “horrible game situational awareness”
late in the game. It really was
horrible. You have to look at the play
calling and Matt Ryan’s inability to get rid of the ball, taking sacks and his
fumble. In a vacuum those aren’t the
only reasons they lost but those are the ones Falcons’ fans are getting ulcers
over today.
The defense had a very good pass
rush in the first half rushing just four as the announcers pointed out. So when the pass rush disappeared in the
second half and Brady was shredding their secondary why didn’t Atlanta
blitz? You have to try something right? They weren’t able to stop the passing game
late. Again you have to look at the
coaches to help here. The defense was on
the field a ton and I would think they were tired. So at least try something different scheme
wise. Why just watch them fail time and
time again?
New England, to their credit, did
everything they had to mount their historic comeback which was not easy mind you. In doing so they had 93 plays in this game
compared to the Falcons 46 while dominating the time of possession with
40:31. Reference: teams average between 59 and 75 per
game. While the offense faltered early
in the game it came on with a vengeance in the latter stages. The defense also came through and were able to get to Matt Ryan and
held Atlanta to seven points in the second half. New England deserved to win this game. They were the better team and should get all the credit coming their way. Brady deserves his title of greatest of
all-time and Bill Belichick deserves to be looked at in the same light. And that Edelman catch? How?
What?
I had to type this all out. It is my therapy. I have always told folks that if my team
makes it to the championship game I’d prefer a blowout no matter what the
outcome. Why suffer? And last night was the worst case scenario. The mental terrorism that was that fourth
quarter can never be forgotten. I’ll be
fine. I’m an adult and can deal with
this stuff but man why did the Falcons have to make it this tough? And that Julio Jones catch should be the one seen over and over for years to come but will not be largely forgotten.