Super Bowl LI - How It All Went Wrong for the Atlanta Falcons
We have all heard the jokes and all seen the memes about the Atlanta Falcons choking away a victory in Super Bowl LI, but now is the time to evaluate what actually went wrong.
Factually, the Falcons can blame some of their loss on Lady Gaga and her ridiculously long halftime show. I had a funny feeling as I sat around for a whole hour, waiting for the second half to begin. One can only imagine what the Falcons must have been thinking. The professional football team from Atlanta, Georgia was up 21-3 at halftime and in clear control of the game. Coming out of the tunnels from the halftime break, the offense picked up right where it left off, scoring another touchdown, and going up 28-3. With that said, the defense clearly never got their mojo back because they allowed 25 unanswered points.
I am not the biggest fan of pointing out individual players for their mistakes in a game but in the Super Bowl, all blunders are magnified. Two monumental moments in this spectacle were Julian Edelman's ridiculous catch against his helmet and James White's game-winning run. On Edelman's catch, there is absolutely no excuse in this universe for why three defenders were all battling one another in the middle of the field and not a single one could knock the ball away from Edelman. At the very least, Keanu Neal was on the ground, doing his absolute best to pry the ball away. Keep in mind, Neal was the only rookie of the three Falcons in the play. Meanwhile, Robert Alford and Ricardo Allen were left, laying on the ground, looking like two fools. During the pass play, the ball literally landed on Allen's arm and he did not think to knock it down into the grass. Go watch that catch thousands of times and everyone can see that when the ball landed on his arm, Ricardo Allen did not even move. On White's run, Alford was sprinting into the middle of the field when the ball was already tossed out wide to the right. Great defense #23.
Also, let us not take Atlanta's offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, off the hook. Maybe he was too worried about taking over the helm with the San Francisco 49ers but his play calling in the second half was mediocre, at best. I agree with his decision to stay aggressive and pass the ball continuously in the second half of the game but not for every single play. New England's defense was laboring throughout the entire affair so they would have stood a poor chance against the backfield combination of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. Even if the Patriots could stop one of the two running backs, I highly doubt that they could stop the other.
Although their chance to win a Super Bowl was choked away, the Falcons stand a good chance of getting back to the big game and taking the Vince Lombardi trophy home, finally. However, no one will ever forget Super Bowl LI and for all of the wrong reasons.
