ESPN: Falcons Beat Themselves

[supafly]

This is the part that blows their idiotic argument out the water.

The Falcons were getting dominated and were basically run out of their own building. The Patriots obviously took their foot of the gas pedal. While that's never an advisable way to close out a game, the Falcons were basically embarrassed and physically pummelled by a vastly superior team. The scoreboard doesn't even begin to accurately depict the sizeable gap between the two teams

The Falcons lost simply because they're not very good. There's no beating themselves involved here, they just got flat-out beat.

I think the bolded part is definitely true, as Logan Ryan entered the game in the secondary. I'm not sure about any other changes b/c I've only seen it once and was running a bit on adrenaline, but a move like that screams "garbage time reps" in my opinion.

The series of events that I listed in my previous post obviously weren't taken into consideration when the article was written.

 

[Ozymandias]

I think the bolded part is definitely true, as Logan Ryan entered the game in the secondary. I'm not sure about any other changes b/c I've only seen it once and was running a bit on adrenaline, but a move like that screams "garbage time reps" in my opinion.

Pretty much.

Make no mistake about it, the Patriots are not fools; they saw the attrition taking affect in the game, decided smartly that they'd already proven their point - the Falcons weren't on their level, and instead of trying to pour it on meaninglessly like some teams do. They just tried to get out of there with the W and less injured bodies.

 

[neuronet]

I just double-checked to be sure, and it doesn't have to be. From Section 2, Article 8 (Unnecessary Roughness) of the Player Conduct portion of the rulebook:

There shall be no unnecessary roughness. This shall include, but will not be limited to:
.....
(j) if a player illegally launches into a defenseless opponent. It is an illegal launch if a player (1) leaves both feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into his opponent, and (2) uses any part of his helmet (including the top/crown and forehead/”hairline” parts) to initiate forcible contact against any part of his opponent’s body.

Note: This does not apply to contact against a runner, unless the runner is still considered to be a defenseless player, as defined in Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9.​

Not a dumb question at all - IIRC, this rule was changed pretty recently.

That is very helpful, apparantely I didn't know the rule in its entirety :bricks:

 

[Songin]

This is a QB leagure:

The Falcons have Matt Ryan.

The Patriots have Tom Brady.

There's where it begins and ends.

Imagine TB with those two WR bookends Ryan has along with a healthy 'Gonzalez' in Gronk at TE as well.

In other words, switch the 'skill position' players for each team and have Ryan play that game on the road in NE.

Game over by the end of the national anthem.

 

[TruthSeeker]

He didn't have it controlled for more than 1 foot. It came loose as he was getting the second foot down. He bobbled it on the first foot, got control of it before the second, lost it as he was putting 3rd foot down. Saw the same play overturned just last week.

Well, I rewound to the game film and watched it very carefully. I'd have to disagree with your assessment that there was any bobbling of the ball. The ball (very) briefly bounced off his body and was covered by his hands - while both feet were on the ground. Then he took another step turning as he did so. And I think the video is very conclusive; not sure why you'd be seeing it differently.