A Non-Classic Super Bowl Won by the Wrong Team

Evil prevailed last night in the Super Bowl.

I know that I picked the Patriots to win, but when the Falcon went up 28-3, I was very, very happy. They had dominated that whole game up to that point. They could not be stopped on offense, going short burst drive after short burst drive, and their defense was more than up to the task of shutting down the Patriots offense. Hell, they pick sixed Tom Brady, which barely ever happens, especially in a Super Bowl. Julio Jones ended up with only 4 catches, but they were four of the greatest catches I had ever seen. Devonta Freeman and, up until he got hurt, Tevin Coleman were gashing the Patriots defense for 5 or 6 yards a carry. I mean, how on Earth could they lose, I, and I bet almost everyone else watching thought.

Then, the Falcons went into a prevent on defense. I do not know if this is from being worn out, the Patriots ran 93 plays to the Falcons 46, or the Patriots just figured it out. The Falcons also decided that they needed to keep throwing the ball instead of utilizing their extremely effective run game. This was one of the biggest brain farts in the history of pro sports that I have ever witnessed. Dan Quinn, who is a defensive guy, who had his defense playing man all game and getting pressure routinely in the first half, decided with a 25 point lead that he had to go to a prevent. This was a fine idea at the time it seemed, but when the Patriots scored a TD and a field goal to cut it to a 16 point lead, I would have applied the pressure again. But, he stuck with the prevent, much to his dismay. I was baffled why he did not go back to putting the pressure on. That is how you beat the Patriots. But, he decided that he needed to back off and play the pass. I just don't get it.

On the other side of the ball, I know that you have the MVP, Matt Ryan, and maybe the best receiver in the game in Julio Jones, but why not lean on that running game up 25 points. It had worked for them all game, but they came out and passed like they were in a shootout. The Patriots defense clamped down in the second half, but I think it would have been moot had Atlanta stuck with the run game. I only saw a few carries that went for 0 or negative yards. But Atlanta Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers about to be named new coach decided that he needed his MVP quarterback to throw the ball a bit more. All this passing led to the biggest momentum turnaround I have ever seen in a Super Bowl in my lifetime. The Patriots, down 16, blitzed a linebacker on 3rd and 1, the Falcons inexplicably put Ryan in shotgun and called a long pass play. The linebacker got through the O line with ease and strip sacked Matt Ryan, to set his team up with great field position with about 6 and a half minutes left. The Patriots turned it into a quick TD, converted the 2 point play and then we had a game.

Down 8, I was pretty sure the Falcons could still salt away the game, but they went back to throwing the ball and making stupid mistakes. First off, on that last drive of the Falcons entire season, Julio Jones made one of the greatest catches on the sideline in Super Bowl history to set his team up at the 23 yard line with less than 4 minutes left and a field goal would ice the game for them. But, the Falcons proceeded to get sacked, called for a holding penalty, never mind the fact that the refs missed a blatant face mask on the Patriots, and they were all the way back near mid field, way out of field goal range. They had to punt the ball, and they gave the Patriots a chance with over 3 minutes left. The Patriots proceeded to drive the ball 91 yards for the game tying TD and 2 point conversion. During this drive, Julian Edelman made one of the best Super Bowl catches ever, for those keeping track at home, that is 2 classic catches in one game, Tom Brady scrambled for 19 yards, which he never does, and the Falcons just could not get a break and they gave up that TD with relative ease.

With the 2 point play being so easy for them I knew then that the Patriots were gong to win, if they won the coin toss in overtime. They, of course, won the toss and Brady and James White drove that team down the field and White scored the game winning TD in overtime. The Falcons offense never got another shot with the ball. I do not know if they would have done anything with it, but they never had a chance, which makes the NFL's overtime a travesty.

Lots of people are saying that this was one of the greatest Super Bowl's ever, but I do not know if I agree. As our head editor and owner of the site told me on a call earlier today, this was a game where one team was hot in one half, and the other was hot in the second half. I totally agree with him. It was exciting, but frustrating as well. I could not believe what the Patriots were doing in the first half, and I could not believe what the Falcons did late in the second half. It was an exciting game, but I do not know if I will remember it like I remember the Broncos beating the Packers, Malcom Butler's interception 2 years ago, the 49ers crushing the Chargers, the Rams beating the Titans, the Patriots beating the Rams, all those games seem, at the moment, more important and better, in my opinion. Yes, this game cements Tom Brady as the greatest QB ever, but he was really awful in the first half. Do not forget that. He was really, really bad in that first half.

Also, do not forget that the Falcons blew this game. This is, quite possibly, the worst loss in the history of pro sports ever. The Patriots did not win, the Falcons lost. I feel real bad for my friends that are Falcons fans today. I also feel for anyone that is not a Patriots fan, which is about 95 percent of the country. This is just another sign that, sometimes, evil prevails. We got evil being dethroned when Clemson beat Alabama, but the Patriots comeback restored the Goliath in sports. I almost always root for the underdog, and the underdog looked great for 40 minutes last night, but Goliath only needed 20 minutes to comeback and win.

I guess, congrats Patriots, but I wish that the Falcons had pulled out that win. They blew it, and I felt gross after watching all the post game stuff. I felt like the wrong team won last night, but hey, that is the way it goes. But I do not think by any means that this was a "classic" game. I thought it was a game where the wrong team ended up winning.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He did thoughourly enjoy seeing Tom Brady, Robert Kraft, and and Bill Belichick having a good time while NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looked like the odd man out. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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