The ‘coulda’ and ‘shoulda’ plays
Most ‘woulda’ been ready to hand Super Bowl to Falcons but Patriots pulled it out in end
Tails Never Fails
The Atlanta Falcons “coulda” elected to receive the opening kickoff after winning President George Bush’s coin toss and, with regular season MVP Matt Ryan at the controls of an offence that scored a league high 540 points, who would have blamed them? Instead, they remained patient and deferred, giving Tom Brady the first possession. The plan allowed the Falcons unheralded defence to set the tone — and did it ever. The Patriots went three and out the first time with the ball and in the opening half Brady was sacked twice, threw a pick-six (Robert Alford) and was mostly out of sync (16 of 26). In the first half, the guy who was supposed to be the greatest QB of all-time played nowhere near as well as Ryan, who had Atlanta in front 21-3 by the time Lady Gaga magnificently did her thing. With the way Falcons tackle Grady Jarrett and the rest of the ‘D’ was going, that looked to be insurmountable.
Running wild
The Patriots “coulda” overestimated their advantage in the running game. They were supposed to control the clock by handing the ball to LaGarette Blount all evening. The problem, of course, is that their big back mostly ran into a wall during the first half (eight carries, 16 yards) against a defence that was ranked 17th against the rush during the season. Meanwhile, Falcons lead running back Devonta Freeman was outstanding, starting with his first touch, a 37-yard romp from the Atlanta eight. The Patriots, who had the third ranked rushing defence, were completely fooled on the Falcons first TD, biting on what they thought would be a play action pass to Julio Jones and allowing Freeman to stroll in from the five. The Freeman-Tevin Coleman combo was a handful for the Patriots, while Blount was guilty of a second quarter fumble the Falcons turned into a touchdown drive. Of course, Patriots running back James White had some heroics saved for the second half.
By Josh, that was a bad call
The Patriots “shoulda” left the field at halftime with a touchdown on the last drive. They were moving in that direction and seemed poised to get into the end zone for the first time when White went out of bounds at the Atlanta three with 12 seconds left, but Martellus Bennett was called for holding. With the ball brought back to the 23 and still enough time for a couple of plays, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels inexplicably called a tight-end screen, and Bennett got nowhere. New England had to settle for a field goal, leaving its deficit at 18 when it “shoulda” been 14. While we’re at it, McDaniels “shoulda” also got Chris Hogan a little more involved in the first half after his wide receiver ripped apart the Pittsburgh Steelers (nine catches, 180 yards, two touchdowns) in the AFC championship game. McDaniels would have the last laugh, however.
Time of the essence
The Patriots “shoulda” figured out a way to keep the Falcons offence off the field longer. OK, so that’s much easier said than done, but the first time Ryan and Co. really stuttered was after a one hour and eight minute span between plays — from the final drive in the second quarter, through the half time show, as the Falcons went three and out on their first possession. It didn’t take long for Ryan to get back into the groove, however. On Atlanta’s second offensive series, after the defence stopped the Patriots from capitalizing on a good punt return by Julian Edelman, he hooked up with Taylor Gabriel on a couple of big plays and Mohammed Sanu for another before tossing a screen to Coleman for a six yard score that put the Falcons up 28-3. The Patriots had them right where they wanted them, as it turned out.
Not so fast
We “woulda” been smarter not to believe the Falcons had this one in the bag when they were up by 16 points with about six minutes to go. The most experienced Super Bowl team made things interesting when Dont’a Hightower jumped Ryan to force a fumble deep in Atlanta territory, and a couple of plays later Brady found Danny Amendola for a six-yard TD that, coupled with the successful two-point conversion, cut the lead to eight. The Falcons bounced back. As he did to start the night, Freeman bailed them out of a hole with a 39-yard reception, then Jones made a phenomenal reception on the sidelines to help get Atlanta into field goal position. But as has been the case all season, the Patriots ‘D’ would bend, but not break. Another sack, this time by Trey Flowers, and a holding penalty moved the ball out of Matt Bryant’s range and gave Brady the one last chance he needed. Back-to-back field long scoring drives, with a dramatic two-point catch by Amendola in between, turn what “woulda” been Atlanta’s first ever Super Bowl victory into another ring for Brady.