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No, this isn't about Brett Favre's cell phone pictures.
Re-watching all the specials, you realize just how close we came to losing this game dozens of times. And we will obviously remember the Hightower sack, the Edelman catch, James White's monster game, but there were a lot of under-rated plays that may be overlooked or forgotten. But they were just as important because without them, we still lose.
- After the failed onside kick, the Falcons picked up 9 yards on 1st down, setting up 2nd and 1 at the Patriots 32 and right on the edge of FG range. Flowers stops Coleman for -1, but Matthews gets called for holding on Hightower, setting up a 2nd and 11 at the Patriots 42 instead.
This gets overlooked because instead of 3rd and 2 and a chance to kick a FG, it's 2nd and long which leads to 2 straight pass attempts, the second of which leads to a sack, forcing the Falcons to punt despite great field position from the failed onside kick. Everyone looks at the missed FG opportunity later from the 22, but this one much earlier in the game was also huge.
- After kicking a FG, the Falcons get the ball at their 27, and immediately pick up 8 yards on the ground, setting up 2nd and 2 from their 35. The Falcons run the ball up the middle with Coleman, and Flowers stones it for a 1-yard gain, but what gets overlooked is Coleman was injured on the play. In comes Freeman, who misses the block on the Hightower forced fumble on the very next play. I wonder if Coleman picks up that block, or if Freeman wasn't ready to jump into the game just yet.
- The first Patriots offensive play after the fumble recovery was a loss of 5 on a Freeney sack. A short pass to White on 2nd down sets up 3rd and 11. At this point, they need a TD. Mitchell, who had a huge second half for us, catches a pass for 12 yards. Huge conversion there, or else we're kicking a FG or potentially going for it on 4th and long. Instead, 2 plays later we score.
- Right after the ridiculous Julio catch to the Patriots 22, they run Freeman for a loss of 1. McCourty makes the tackle here, and at the time it didn't seem to matter, but it set up the Flowers sack on the next play, then the holding penalty which would push the Falcons out of FG range. It reminded me of the Hightower tackle near the goal line against the Seahawks, a ridiculously stupid catch, looks like they're going to clinch the game, then a small little play which doesn't seem like it's going to matter, only it sets up a huge play in the game.
People are killing the Falcons for not running, but in the heat of the moment, not calling timeout to talk about it, I understand why. Here are the Falcons runs in the second half:
-3
5
0
9
-3
-1 (no play due to holding penalty)
8
1
-1
9 runs, 4 negative plays, 2 additional for 0 or 1 yard, so at some point, Shanahan has to lose confidence in the run game. I don't know exactly when that happened, but maybe it was that McCourty tackle for a loss.
- The Flowers sack came on the next play, and obviously that was huge, pushing it to 3rd and 23 at the New England 35. But at that point, it's still a 52-yard FG attempt, and Matt Bryant was 6 of 8 on 50+ attempts during the season so I think they would have gone for the FG if that play ends in nothing, especially considering how aggressive the Falcons were throughout the game.
But instead, Chris Long forces a holding call which pushes them back another 10 yards, ending thoughts of a FG and forcing the Falcons to try and throw for some of those yards. Long doesn't get credit for anything in the box score, but a huge huge play.
- After catching the punt at the 9-yard line, the Patriots offense starts out cold, missing their first two passes to set up 3rd and 10 from their own 9. 1st down, Brady gets hit when throwing and the ball flutters and lands harmlessly between two Falcons. 2nd down is a miss, setting up 3rd and 10. Then Brady hits Hogan to convert. Brady would miss his next pass, then complete his next 6 to tie the game up, but none of it is possible without that 3rd down conversion to Hogan.
- Speaking of that one missed pass, it was a deflection to Edelman that pops up in the air, and lands...harmlessly. Thankfully.
- The Challenge. Yes, the Edelman catch was incredible. But an under-rated aspect was the refs calling it a catch, forcing Atlanta to challenge and burn it's last timeout. After Brady would tie things up, the Falcons would get the ball back with 57 seconds, but 0 timeouts. This changed the tone of that entire last drive for them, as they started out quite tentative, and they were also forced to spike the ball because they didn't have a timeout.
- Ghost's kickoff. After tying the game, he floats this to the 0, where it is only returned for 11 yards. Combined with the loss of timeout on the earlier challenge, this leaves Atlanta very defensive for the first time in the game. They throw a few short passes, then are forced to spike the ball on 2nd and 6, then try a long throw because they were so far away with too little time left. Good field position set up by Ghost.
And watching some of the plays and completions, how close they were, how contested they were. 3rd and 1, they throw deep to Bennett who catches it for 25 yards, but the defender got his hand on the ball at the top and easily could have knocked it away. The Chris Hogan catch in OT where he comes back and Brady drills it perfectly. The 2nd and 13 conversion to Jules where the ball is perfectly placed to let him run for the first down. Anything less and that's 3rd and 6 and setting up a looooooong Ghost FG attempt in OT potentially. Or the pass to Bennett on 1st and goal that gets deflected by Beasley.
If Long doesn't draw the hold, the Falcons still might kick the game-winning FG even after the Flowers sack. Or if Ghost doesn't pin them back deep and they still have that timeout, that last drive could end in a Matt Ryan drive ending in a game-winning field goal. The truth is when you're down 25 points, you need so many things to go right. Some of them are unforgettable plays, but many more are these under-rated, under-appreciated plays that are just as important to winning.
Some links for those who love reading about this kind of stuff:
Anatomy of a miracle: How the Patriots came back from the dead
After film review, impact of James White, Dont'a Hightower even greater
Re-watching all the specials, you realize just how close we came to losing this game dozens of times. And we will obviously remember the Hightower sack, the Edelman catch, James White's monster game, but there were a lot of under-rated plays that may be overlooked or forgotten. But they were just as important because without them, we still lose.
- After the failed onside kick, the Falcons picked up 9 yards on 1st down, setting up 2nd and 1 at the Patriots 32 and right on the edge of FG range. Flowers stops Coleman for -1, but Matthews gets called for holding on Hightower, setting up a 2nd and 11 at the Patriots 42 instead.
This gets overlooked because instead of 3rd and 2 and a chance to kick a FG, it's 2nd and long which leads to 2 straight pass attempts, the second of which leads to a sack, forcing the Falcons to punt despite great field position from the failed onside kick. Everyone looks at the missed FG opportunity later from the 22, but this one much earlier in the game was also huge.
- After kicking a FG, the Falcons get the ball at their 27, and immediately pick up 8 yards on the ground, setting up 2nd and 2 from their 35. The Falcons run the ball up the middle with Coleman, and Flowers stones it for a 1-yard gain, but what gets overlooked is Coleman was injured on the play. In comes Freeman, who misses the block on the Hightower forced fumble on the very next play. I wonder if Coleman picks up that block, or if Freeman wasn't ready to jump into the game just yet.
- The first Patriots offensive play after the fumble recovery was a loss of 5 on a Freeney sack. A short pass to White on 2nd down sets up 3rd and 11. At this point, they need a TD. Mitchell, who had a huge second half for us, catches a pass for 12 yards. Huge conversion there, or else we're kicking a FG or potentially going for it on 4th and long. Instead, 2 plays later we score.
- Right after the ridiculous Julio catch to the Patriots 22, they run Freeman for a loss of 1. McCourty makes the tackle here, and at the time it didn't seem to matter, but it set up the Flowers sack on the next play, then the holding penalty which would push the Falcons out of FG range. It reminded me of the Hightower tackle near the goal line against the Seahawks, a ridiculously stupid catch, looks like they're going to clinch the game, then a small little play which doesn't seem like it's going to matter, only it sets up a huge play in the game.
People are killing the Falcons for not running, but in the heat of the moment, not calling timeout to talk about it, I understand why. Here are the Falcons runs in the second half:
-3
5
0
9
-3
-1 (no play due to holding penalty)
8
1
-1
9 runs, 4 negative plays, 2 additional for 0 or 1 yard, so at some point, Shanahan has to lose confidence in the run game. I don't know exactly when that happened, but maybe it was that McCourty tackle for a loss.
- The Flowers sack came on the next play, and obviously that was huge, pushing it to 3rd and 23 at the New England 35. But at that point, it's still a 52-yard FG attempt, and Matt Bryant was 6 of 8 on 50+ attempts during the season so I think they would have gone for the FG if that play ends in nothing, especially considering how aggressive the Falcons were throughout the game.
But instead, Chris Long forces a holding call which pushes them back another 10 yards, ending thoughts of a FG and forcing the Falcons to try and throw for some of those yards. Long doesn't get credit for anything in the box score, but a huge huge play.
- After catching the punt at the 9-yard line, the Patriots offense starts out cold, missing their first two passes to set up 3rd and 10 from their own 9. 1st down, Brady gets hit when throwing and the ball flutters and lands harmlessly between two Falcons. 2nd down is a miss, setting up 3rd and 10. Then Brady hits Hogan to convert. Brady would miss his next pass, then complete his next 6 to tie the game up, but none of it is possible without that 3rd down conversion to Hogan.
- Speaking of that one missed pass, it was a deflection to Edelman that pops up in the air, and lands...harmlessly. Thankfully.
- The Challenge. Yes, the Edelman catch was incredible. But an under-rated aspect was the refs calling it a catch, forcing Atlanta to challenge and burn it's last timeout. After Brady would tie things up, the Falcons would get the ball back with 57 seconds, but 0 timeouts. This changed the tone of that entire last drive for them, as they started out quite tentative, and they were also forced to spike the ball because they didn't have a timeout.
- Ghost's kickoff. After tying the game, he floats this to the 0, where it is only returned for 11 yards. Combined with the loss of timeout on the earlier challenge, this leaves Atlanta very defensive for the first time in the game. They throw a few short passes, then are forced to spike the ball on 2nd and 6, then try a long throw because they were so far away with too little time left. Good field position set up by Ghost.
And watching some of the plays and completions, how close they were, how contested they were. 3rd and 1, they throw deep to Bennett who catches it for 25 yards, but the defender got his hand on the ball at the top and easily could have knocked it away. The Chris Hogan catch in OT where he comes back and Brady drills it perfectly. The 2nd and 13 conversion to Jules where the ball is perfectly placed to let him run for the first down. Anything less and that's 3rd and 6 and setting up a looooooong Ghost FG attempt in OT potentially. Or the pass to Bennett on 1st and goal that gets deflected by Beasley.
If Long doesn't draw the hold, the Falcons still might kick the game-winning FG even after the Flowers sack. Or if Ghost doesn't pin them back deep and they still have that timeout, that last drive could end in a Matt Ryan drive ending in a game-winning field goal. The truth is when you're down 25 points, you need so many things to go right. Some of them are unforgettable plays, but many more are these under-rated, under-appreciated plays that are just as important to winning.
Some links for those who love reading about this kind of stuff:
Anatomy of a miracle: How the Patriots came back from the dead
After film review, impact of James White, Dont'a Hightower even greater
