Anybody notice that was Dallas last night

[Cowboys_22]

Falcons didn't finish the fight...

 

[treykin32]

I've never seen this team lose a 25 point lead though...

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

A couple of past Detroit Lions games.
The Green Bay game a few years back.
Garrett freezing his own kicker in Arizona.

Granted, none of these games were in the Super Bowl.

The Falcons choke job was the biggest of all time however. Dwarfing anything Garrett has done.

The Detroit game and green bay game with Matt Flynn at QB were just dreadful

 

[romothesavior]

I said in the 4th quarter, "I think Jason Garrett and Scott Linehan took over the playcalling for Atlanta."

It really felt like a Cowboys game the way the coaches outsmarted themselves for the loss.

 

[fweegy]

They didn't go into safe mode. After going up 28-3 the Falcons ran 5 running plays.

They kept throwing - "keeping the foot on the gas pedal", as I've seen it said - and it backfired on them.

I tried to clarify my comment earlier and it didn't show up. I used a poor choice of words saying "safe mode". I should have said "stupid mode". Had they gone into safe mode, they probably win the game.

 

[LocimusPrime]

The one for me, still in the back of my mind after all these years... that damn Dwight Clark catch. What makes it even worse is they still keep showing it in highlights! Not easy for one to forget.

Hey just wanted to say welcome to the zone!

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

If someone created a scenario generation machine, I'd bet every dollar I had Garrett mismanages the same time and play-calling situations 9x outta 10.

 

[DandyDon52]

I said the same thing in the game thread. I feel bad for Atlanta fans, we have been watching the same type of stuff from JG the last 10 years. Snatching defeat from the hands of victory. Last night was situational football 101 from that 3rd and 1 onward and Atlanta's coaching staff came up small. You always hear it is the coaches job to put their players in a position to win, they failed at that miserably.

- Passing on 3rd and 1 with a big lead and Matty Ice holding it forever and doing the absolute one thing you cant do there, turn it over. The first down would of been nice but they really didn't need one there. Just punting would of made it almost for NE to win impossible with the amount of time left.

- Snapping the ball with 20 seconds left on the clock up by 8 with 3 to 4 minutes left?

- Passing when you are up 8 with 3 minutes left, on NEs 25 with one of the better kickers in the NFL?

coaching matters, and this SB and our playoff game was similar in some ways.

 

[School]

Patriots got cute at the goalline at the end of the game. Tried to throw a fade that should've been picked off. If it had been intercepted and they lost because of that, then I guess the Cowboys would be the Patriots by OP's logic.

 

[tyke1doe]

Better them than us.

 

[tyke1doe]

Patriots got cute at the goalline at the end of the game. Tried to throw a fade that should've been picked off. If it had been intercepted and they lost because of that, then I guess the Cowboys would be the Patriots by OP's logic.

Not really. The Patriots aren't a run-first team. They live by the pass and die by the pass (although they haven't been doing much dying; rather, killing the other team).

You almost expect them to pass, which is what they did to set up the game-winning run. They continued to do what made/makes them successful. We do the opposite. We have these road graders on our line; we draft the best back in the draft and on 3 and 2, we throw a deep pass to Dez.

The Patriots are just a smart team. There's no other way to explain it. They get two two-point conversions. And they score with ease down at the goal line to win the game.

Once the game got to 28-20, I said, "Patriots are going to win this." Then when Atlanta refused to run three times inside the Patriots 25, I said, "Game over."

The Falcons choked, but the Patriots made them choke.

 

[School]

Not really. The Patriots aren't a run-first team. They live by the pass and die by the pass (although they haven't been doing much dying; rather, killing the other team).

You almost expect them to pass, which is what they did to set up the game-winning run. They continued to do what made/makes them successful. We do the opposite. We have these road graders on our line; we draft the best back in the draft and on 3 and 2, we throw a deep pass to Dez.

The Patriots are just a smart team. There's no other way to explain it. They get two two-point conversions. And they score with ease down at the goal line to win the game.

Once the game got to 28-20, I said, "Patriots are going to win this." Then when Atlanta refused to run three times inside the Patriots 25, I said, "Game over."

The Falcons choked, but the Patriots made them choke.

The Patriots are a chameleon offensively and will adjust according to the defense they are playing (they're actually near the bottom in terms of pass/run ratio).

I know they have a reputation for being a smart team, and deservedly so, but that pass was a disaster barely averted. The Falcons defense was clearly exhausted at that point and was not able to stop the Patriots on the ground.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

This.

Brutal. Epic loss of all SB losses.

Worse than a complete blowout.

The fashion in which they lost............I'm speechless.

^^^ This. If this had been the Cowboys, I would want them to quit the NFL and join the CFL. Or maybe I would just commit hari kari. I'm so glad it wasn't the Cowboys. Talk about schadenfreude.

 

[tyke1doe]

The Patriots are a chameleon offensively and will adjust according to the defense they are playing (they're actually near the bottom in terms of pass/run ratio).

I know they have a reputation for being a smart team, and deservedly so, but that pass was a disaster barely averted. The Falcons defense was clearly exhausted at that point and was not able to stop the Patriots on the ground.

Even so, I think the point is that a team needs to stay consistent with the game on the line. The Patriots passed for most of the game. That was their approach, which fits their strategy of putting the onus on their play-making, legendary quarterback. So let's assume, Brady was picked off at two-yard line. Of course, there would be the natural second guessing. But it wouldn't have been no where near as bad as the second guessing that accompanied Seattle when its coaches decided to pass instead of running their bread-and-butter back, Marshawn Lynch.

The Patriots, on the other hand, almost always put the ball in Brady's hands. So a pass is understandable, failure or not.

If it were the Cowboys and we passed at the two-yard line and didn't make it, we would have been heavily criticized because we invested so much in this offensive line and Zeke.

 

[School]

Even so, I think the point is that a team needs to stay consistent with the game on the line. The Patriots passed for most of the game. That was their approach, which fits their strategy of putting the onus on their play-making, legendary quarterback. So let's assume, Brady was picked off at two-yard line. Of course, there would be the natural second guessing. But it wouldn't have been no where near as bad as the second guessing that accompanied Seattle when its coaches decided to pass instead of running their bread-and-butter back, Marshawn Lynch.

The Patriots, on the other hand, almost always put the ball in Brady's hands. So a pass is understandable, failure or not.

If it were the Cowboys and we passed at the two-yard line and didn't make it, we would have been heavily criticized because we invested so much in this offensive line and Zeke.

Fair enough. I just remember that when I was watching I was relieved when Brady reared back to try that fade. I was rooting for the Falcons and figured that the Pats would just punch it in being that close. It was also on a first or second down I believe, so no exactly a must-score down. That being said, I can certainly understand them wanting to put the ball in Brady's hands, but I still think they dodged a bullet trying that pass when a simple handoff would've sufficed.

 

[tyke1doe]

Fair enough. I just remember that when I was watching I was relieved when Brady reared back to try that fade. I was rooting for the Falcons and figured that the Pats would just punch it in being that close. It was also on a first or second down I believe, so no exactly a must-score down. That being said, I can certainly understand them wanting to put the ball in Brady's hands, but I still think they dodged a bullet trying that pass when a simple handoff would've sufficed.

Actually, I thought Brady was going to do a quarterback sneak. But I knew the Pats were going to score. They're just too creative and too smart. They always find a play that works. That's the genius of their staff.

We used to be that way under Jimmy Johnson. Oh, how I miss those days.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Actually, I thought Brady was going to do a quarterback sneak. But I knew the Pats were going to score. They're just too creative and too smart. They always find a play that works. That's the genius of their staff.

We used to be that way under Jimmy Johnson. Oh, how I miss those days.

Under Johnson and under Landry. Miss those days for sure.

 

[DandyDon52]

They didn't go into safe mode. After going up 28-3 the Falcons ran 5 running plays.

They kept throwing - "keeping the foot on the gas pedal", as I've seen it said - and it backfired on them.

Well that is good if you keep getting 1st's and no turnovers, but as a coach you need to know when to let off the gas and just
take a safe win, and they had the chance to do that.