Perspective matters
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The score 28-3 will forever live in infamy for the Atlanta Falcons.
For the New England Patriots, it’s a shining symbol. They overcame that 25-point second-half deficit in February on their way to posting the largest comeback win in Super Bowl history in what was also the first title game that went to overtime.
For the Falcons, 28-3 represents the seemingly insurmountable lead they squandered on the NFL’s biggest stage.
One game. Two realities.
As the teams prepared for tonight’s rematch, their approaches were as different as the feelings they left the field with eight months ago. Yet despite having the upper hand, the Patriots (4-2) tried their best to downplay the historic victory, which has spawned countless internet memes, commemorative T-shirts and endless jokes at the Falcons’ expense.
“We’ve been given really highly strict rules that we are not allowed to talk about that game, so you’re not really going to get any information from anyone about that,” said Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who sat out the game after having back surgery late last season. “I’m just looking forward to this week.”
The Falcons (3-2) have no desire to relive that night, of course, though they can’t exactly forget it, and especially not this week.
A grating loss of that nature is “always going to be a part of you,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said.
“That’s every athlete, right?” he continued. “There’s things throughout your life that motivate you to be the best player that you can be, that get you out of bed in the morning. For sure, from a big picture standpoint, you use all those things as motivation.”
Back-to-back losses probably fall into that category, too, and the Falcons have those after surprising defeats against Buffalo and Miami, who with the Patriots and New York Jets are part of what is a surprisingly competitive AFC East this season.
Ryan is far off the numbers he produced during his MVP season last year. Most notably, he has thrown six interceptions — one fewer than he had all of last season — and has thrown touchdowns on 3.5 percent of his passes, less than half of the 7.1 percent scoring rate from 2016.
And the Falcons must get AllPro receiver Julio Jones more involved in the offense. He has yet to catch a touchdown pass through the first five games, matching the second-longest scoring drought of his pro career.
This would seem an opportune week for Ryan and Jones to get going. The Patriots have allowed by far the most passing yards in the league — more than 300 in every game for an average of 325, which is 29 more than the next-worst team.
The Patriots are coming off back-to-back wins, but they have hardly looked like coach Bill Belichick’s best bunch. Cracks have shown everywhere, from a defense that ranks last in the league in yards allowed to an offensive line that has already allowed Tom Brady to be sacked 16 times.
But they are making progress, and first-year Atlanta defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel knows he’ll have his hands full trying to stop Brady, who he called “the best to ever play the game.”
“It doesn’t matter who lines up with him,” Manuel said. “The consistency he plays with, I know he does it in practice, because you see it on Sunday.”