The bloodletting in Atlanta has begun

[Ring 6]

They were gassed - their legs were gone. They needed the offense to keep them off the field. But they held us to 3 points in the first 43 minutes - who saw that happening? And it was not as if we spent the night on their goal line in the first 3 quarters. Like Alabama - they were on the field too many plays.

Football is 60 minutes (plus OT!!!!). You didn't play a good game if you played well for 43 minutes then sucked as bad as humanly possible the rest of the way to lose.
I have not heard Atlanta's defense make the excuse that they were too tired to play. Why are Patriots fans making it for them?

I just get a kick out of a board where fans spent most of the season pissing all over the defense that ended up #1 in the NFL, and those same fans make excuses for a defense that can't stop a nose bleed to the tune of 34 points in 27 minutes. Cracks me up.
If this game were reversed, this board would be killing our defense and saying Matty P and BB should be fired.

 

[rookBoston]

Criticism of Quinn and Shanahan is ridiculous. They brought their team to the SB and nearly won it. They deserve respect.

All the hot takes on how Atlanta collapsed is spilled milk retrospect. Was the same with Seattle "feed Lynch" second guessing, which would have avoided the Butler INT and clinched SB49.

It's just too easy to act like a genius after the fact, but fans in mourning have to resort to something.

 

[bormio]

Face it, if the Atlanta offense does nearly anything else the last 12 minutes, they win. If they run more and kill clock, if they get 1 or 2 more first downs, if they play for a 39 yard FG (or Ryan has the brains to not take a sack) - they win. To lay this on the Atlanta defense is absurd. Brady did this to the Seattle D 2 years ago and no one says they suck.

 

[luuked]

Criticism of Quinn and Shanahan is ridiculous. They brought their team to the SB and nearly won it. They deserve respect.

All the hot takes on how Atlanta collapsed is spilled milk retrospect. Was the same with Seattle "feed Lynch" second guessing, which would have avoided the Butler INT and clinched SB49.

It's just too easy to act like a genius after the fact, but fans in mourning have to resort to something.

With all respect I have for your insight but there is no way in hell anyone can convince me that Quinn/Shanahan/Ryan are not a major reason they lost with his playcalls after the Julio Jones catch at the end.

There was no reason to be cute, clever or aggressive. This was a failure at the fundamentals of situational football by Shanahan.

The fact that Ryan didn't just reject that playcall is just the difference between him a nice player who had a good statistical season and Brady who is THE all time great. There are many podcasts that let you know that Brady can overrule playcalls if he doesn't like them.

Similarly, I would love to ask Quinn where the hell where the timeouts on the Patriots' OT drive ? If you defense is gassed and is being ripped apart at every pass maybe you should use them to give them some breathing room.

They had a nice little scheme setup but as soon as thing started to stray from the plan they froze and just couldn't adjust.

 

[luuked]

Face it, if the Atlanta offense does nearly anything else the last 12 minutes, they win. If they run more and kill clock, if they get 1 or 2 more first downs, if they play for a 39 yard FG (or Ryan has the brains to not take a sack) - they win. To lay this on the Atlanta defense is absurd. Brady did this to the Seattle D 2 years ago and no one says they suck.

Because Seattle's defense was actually very good throughout the entire season. Whereas the Falcons had a historically bad defense.

 

[Rusty Coupe]

Both Altlanta and NE played a fair amount of garbage time being the two highest scoring teams in 2016.

Out of the total 406PA by Atlanta, 156 were given up in the 4th quarter

Out of the total 250PA by New England, 80 were given up in the 4th quarter

 

[bormio]

Atlanta's offense after we made it 28-9. Get onside kick - do squat. After FG - do squat, then fumble. After TD, drive field to get in position to kick FG and then shoot themselves in the head. After TD, throw couple of underneath passes in middle of field and burn clock up. If we did that, McDaniels would have been hung on the Boston Commons.

 

[rochrist]

The defense allowed 31 points on 5 consecutive scoring drives. They allowed 37 first downs, 43 completed passes and almost 550 yards of offense. How is that good?

Considering they were on the field for 95 plays playing pressing D, holding the Pats to 9 points through 3 and a half quarters is pretty good. At that point, they were exhausted.

 

[Ring 6]

Considering they were on the field for 95 plays playing pressing D, holding the Pats to 9 points through 3 and a half quarters is pretty good. At that point, they were exhausted.

And if a game were 3 1/2 quarters long, they would have done well.
But it isn't.
Did you know Tom Brady completed the 2nd most passes ever in an NFL game (second to Drew vs Minn in 94 btw) and most ever in a post season game? That Atlanta allowed more yards per drive and points per drive in this game than the worst defense in the NFL in those categories? That 37 first downs is the 7th most ever in an NFL game and the most ever in a playoff game.
That the Patriots had the 8th most yards of offense in a playoff game ever, and the 3rd most in the last 29 years?

This a historically bad defensive performance.

And as far as saying they aren't accountable to their bad play because they were tired, the Atlanta defense faced 13 drives (including the fake kneel down) which is exactly the same number they averaged per game all season.

If you take the field 13 times every game and in one of them you are too tired because you spent too much time on the field, who's fault is that?

 

[IllegalContact]

Considering they were on the field for 95 plays playing pressing D, holding the Pats to 9 points through 3 and a half quarters is pretty good. At that point, they were exhausted.

mid way through the 3rd quarter, mic'd up Quinn says 'we're gassed' ..... at that point, they were only on the field for 55 or so plays

 

[Ring 6]

mid way through the 3rd quarter, mic'd up Quinn says 'we're gassed' ..... at that point, they were only on the field for 55 or so plays

They were also only on the field for 13 drives in the SB, including the fake kneel down. During the season, they faced an average of 13 drives.

 

[bormio]

And if a game were 3 1/2 quarters long, they would have done well.
But it isn't.
Did you know Tom Brady completed the 2nd most passes ever in an NFL game (second to Drew vs Minn in 94 btw) and most ever in a post season game? That Atlanta allowed more yards per drive and points per drive in this game than the worst defense in the NFL in those categories? That 37 first downs is the 7th most ever in an NFL game and the most ever in a playoff game.
That the Patriots had the 8th most yards of offense in a playoff game ever, and the 3rd most in the last 29 years?

This a historically bad defensive performance.

And as far as saying they aren't accountable to their bad play because they were tired, the Atlanta defense faced 13 drives (including the fake kneel down) which is exactly the same number they averaged per game all season.

If you take the field 13 times every game and in one of them you are too tired because you spent too much time on the field, who's fault is that?

You did not think much of the Atlanta D before the game, and you are going to stick with that no matter what.

 

[BKapatsfan]

In a way you wonder how Quinn thought they wouldn't be by the fourth since they run no subs. And they guy has superbowl experience too so that's no excuse.

 

[Ring 6]

You did not think much of the Atlanta D before the game, and you are going to stick with that no matter what.

Has nothing to do with sticking to it, it has to do with FACTS.

 

[Deus Irae]

People are overrating that Falcons defense. Once the DL started playing at its normal level, and the Patriots receivers stopped dropping the ball (for the most part, right Hogan?), the rest of the defense was exposed.

Speed is not the same as talent, and we saw that later in the game.

 

[bormio]

mid way through the 3rd quarter, mic'd up Quinn says 'we're gassed' ..... at that point, they were only on the field for 55 or so plays

If so, that is even more reason for Atlanta to have tried and kill clock by running the ball. If he knew that and kept going 3 and out - killing no clock - he is a moron.

 

[IllegalContact]

If so, that is even more reason for Atlanta to have tried and kill clock by running the ball. If he knew that and kept going 3 and out - killing no clock - he is a moron.

in the 2nd half, the Falcons ran the ball 9 times for 17 yards .... they were unable to do so......

 

[PrairiePat]

This was the opposite of the Pat's defense - they passed the 'eye test' with their speed, pressure on the QB, shutting down the run game, etc. They did all the flashy things. But they failed the real test, which was keeping their opponents off the scoreboard. The incredible #s that Brady put up on them don't lie, even though it 'felt' like the Atl defense was really playing well.

 

[mgteich]

Crazy. Their defense played completely over it's head.

Their play until the middle of the third was truly outstanding. As Brady said, the good part of the first half was our time of possession 2-1 over Atlanta. There are NO defenses in the NFL that could have stopped Brady and our offense for 99 plays.

The ATL OC and offense owe an apology for not even being able to run a couple of minutes off the clock when they had the ball. The ATL defense couldn't protect 8 points with 4 minutes left. 11 points with 3 minutes left would have been considerably easier.

 

[mgteich]

in the 2nd half, the Falcons ran the ball 9 times for 17 yards .... they were unable to do so......

Their offense was hopeless after the middle of the 3rd quarter (except for the 2 plays including the Julio miracle catch). The least they could have done for their team was to run time off the clock.