Super Bowl 51

[BoiseBYU]

Wow. Atlanta hasn't been that torched since Sherman.

[SpiffCoug]

KVN with 1/2 a sack. It was kind of a turning point in the game too.

Congrats to the Patriots!

[snoscythe]

49ers might be re-thinking their Kyle Shanahan hire. How do you go up 28-3 in the third quarter, but only run the ball three times the rest of the game? Sheesh.

[hawkwing]

[SpiffCoug]

So were Brady and the Pats just playing with Atlanta the first 2 1/2 quarters? Everytime they showed Brady in the first half he looked dumbfounded. Even when the Pats' Defense came out fired up and forced a 3-&-out to start the 2nd half, but then the Pats' Offense did nothing. And it wasn't until the Falcons drove down for a TD to make it 28-3 that Brady began to throw accurately and the receivers began to actually catch the ball and make plays.

It's like Brady was saying, "People think I'm the Greatest of All-Time and others don't. So what's the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history? 10 points, that's it? Ok, I'll spot them 25 and wait until the middle of the 3rd quarter and THEN I'll come back and prove everyone that I truly AM the greatest of all-time."

It was crazy. It actually reminded me of the Vegas Bowl vs Utah. The difference being, the Pats Defense was able to get the ball back one last time for the Offense to make that final, game-tying drive.

[hawkwing]

I think they deflated the ball at halftime. It's the only thing that makes sense.

[snoscythe]

So were Brady and the Pats just playing with Atlanta the first 2 1/2 quarters? Everytime they showed Brady in the first half he looked dumbfounded. Even when the Pats' Defense came out fired up and forced a 3-&-out to start the 2nd half, but then the Pats' Offense did nothing. And it wasn't until the Falcons drove down for a TD to make it 28-3 that Brady began to throw accurately and the receivers began to actually catch the ball and make plays.

The Patriots were stymied by an aggressive, speedy defense. However, Kyle Shanahan's inexplicable decision to keep airing it out after the Patriot's half-time adjustments led to a lot of short possessions for the Falcon's in the second half, and the defense got gassed. Patriots ran more than twice as many offensive plays as Atlanta (93 to 46). There's not a lot of defenses that can maintain speed and aggression for 93 plays....

[SpiffCoug]

Yep, after Atlanta scored their final points, they only ran 16 more plays and gained just 44 yards over the final 23 minutes and 31 seconds.

While from that point, the Patriots ran 49 plays and gained 351 yards.