PDA

View Full Version : Greatest Super Bowl of All Time?



Wrigley2010
02-05-2017, 10:40 PM
Thoughts? I know I've never watched a better more exciting Super Bowl than LI.

truvalue123
02-05-2017, 11:21 PM
uh, yes, I suppose

bronx_burner
02-06-2017, 10:59 AM
Exciting game. I think what will be overlooked is that as bad as that 2nd half play by the Falcons was, they still had a chance to ice the game following Julio Jones' catch. Starting from that point, 1st down at the NE 22, if they simply ran it 3 times and kicked a field goal, they certainly win the game. Including the playoffs, Bryant had made 32 of 33 field goal attempts from under 50 yards (9/9 from 40-49). But their play calling resulted in a 12 yard sack and a 10 yard holding penalty to push them out of field goal range. After that, they deserved to lose.

Jags Fan Dan
02-06-2017, 12:47 PM
I'm not a big fan of either team, and I must say the first half was not a good football game. Most exciting/best finish? Absolutely. Greatest Super Bowl of all time? I don't know...

G1X
02-06-2017, 04:05 PM
As a long-time die-hard Falcons fan, that was as tough a loss as any fan could suffer. Us Falcons fans have seen this movie before dating back to the 30-27 loss to Dallas in the 1980 playoffs after leading 24-10 at the end of the 3rd quarter and still ahead 27-17 midway in the final period. (I was at that game and it is forever seared in the painful memories part of my brain.) Then there is the loss to the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game where they led 17-0 but did not score any points in the second half, losing 28-24 after a final drive fell short on 4th down inside the 49ers 5-yard line. I know this sounds crazy, but both of those losses are still the most painful for me.

Was Super Bowl LI a great game? Absolutely, except for us Falcons fans, Patriots/Brady/Belichick haters, or anyone who took the Falcons and the 3 points. The greatest Super Bowl game ever? I think that it probably ranks somewhere near the top, but the Steelers/Cardinals game quickly comes to mind as being a better game.

The best team won yesterday's game in the end. The Patriots did exactly what a team has to do to beat the Falcons - keep the ball away from them. Atlanta had possession of the ball for only 23:27 while New England kept it for over 40 minutes. In the only game this year where the Falcons were handily beaten (24-15 at Philly), the Eagles did the same thing to Atlanta. The way I look at this game is that the Falcons blew them out for the first 40 minutes, and New England pummeled the Falcons over the final 24 minutes.

Regardless of what the talking heads in the media were saying, us Falcons fans know well that the young defense is still not all that good, and the Pats finally figured out how to exploit the Falcons secondary by scoring the last 5 times they had the ball. No surprise at all from this fan.

The stats didn't lie in this game. Much like the Alabama-Clemson thriller, the Falcons got ahead early thanks to two turnovers in the first half when the Pats were driving for pay dirt. Take away those two plays and the Pats win easily. Look at the first downs - 37 to 17 - which is similar to Clemson's 31 to Bama's 16.

bronx_burner described the key sequence well. The Falcons could have burned clock while remaining in field goal range, and they had other chances to let the time tick off on previous plays but made the snaps with precious seconds left on the play clock. I was convinced that the Falcons would clinch the game with a field goal at that point as there was not enough time for the Pats to score twice barring a successful on-sides kick.

Which brings me to another key sequence. When the Pats failed on their on-sides kick attempt, Atlanta took over at the New England 41 and were a first down away from putting the game out of reach. They ended up going nowhere and punting. The final straw was the decision to run the kick-off out of the end zone with 57 seconds left. A veteran like Weems should know that with no timeouts, every second is precious, so its best to take the ball on the 25 without running the clock. Weems is no threat to break a long return, so the decision was horrible. Ryan and Company has scored points many times over the years in that scenario, but Weems took that off the table.

Everything else had to fall perfectly in place for the Falcons to lose, and it did. A lot of it had to do with Brady and the Pats' defense in the 4th quarter, but Atlanta didn't help themselves. Freeman missing his block that resulted in a sack and fumble, the Falcons failing to cash in on the two opportunities mentioned above, Atlanta's defense failing to come up with a stop in the 4th quarter and overtime, and not being able to prevent both 2-point attempts. Hats off to New England for doing all that it took to make an incredible come back to win the game.

This is the life of a Falcons fan. In the back of our collective brain, we know that our team might never make it back to another Super Bowl in our lifetime, but we are OK with that, or at least I am. Just making it to the big game twice was a thrill and more than I could ever ask for or expect, and at least in this one they were very close to winning it all.

Mark Hayne
gixc@verizon.net

Chris78
02-06-2017, 06:23 PM
As a long-time die-hard Falcons fan, that was as tough a loss as any fan could suffer. Us Falcons fans have seen this movie before dating back to the 30-27 loss to Dallas in the 1980 playoffs after leading 24-10 at the end of the 3rd quarter and still ahead 27-17 midway in the final period. (I was at that game and it is forever seared in the painful memories part of my brain.) Then there is the loss to the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game where they led 17-0 but did not score any points in the second half, losing 28-24 after a final drive fell short on 4th down inside the 49ers 5-yard line. I know this sounds crazy, but both of those losses are still the most painful for me.

Was Super Bowl LI a great game? Absolutely, except for us Falcons fans, Patriots/Brady/Belichick haters, or anyone who took the Falcons and the 3 points. The greatest Super Bowl game ever? I think that it probably ranks somewhere near the top, but the Steelers/Cardinals game quickly comes to mind as being a better game.

The best team won yesterday's game in the end. The Patriots did exactly what a team has to do to beat the Falcons - keep the ball away from them. Atlanta had possession of the ball for only 23:27 while New England kept it for over 40 minutes. In the only game this year where the Falcons were handily beaten (24-15 at Philly), the Eagles did the same thing to Atlanta. The way I look at this game is that the Falcons blew them out for the first 40 minutes, and New England pummeled the Falcons over the final 24 minutes.

Regardless of what the talking heads in the media were saying, us Falcons fans know well that the young defense is still not all that good, and the Pats finally figured out how to exploit the Falcons secondary by scoring the last 5 times they had the ball. No surprise at all from this fan.

The stats didn't lie in this game. Much like the Alabama-Clemson thriller, the Falcons got ahead early thanks to two turnovers in the first half when the Pats were driving for pay dirt. Take away those two plays and the Pats win easily. Look at the first downs - 37 to 17 - which is similar to Clemson's 31 to Bama's 16.

bronx_burner described the key sequence well. The Falcons could have burned clock while remaining in field goal range, and they had other chances to let the time tick off on previous plays but made the snaps with precious seconds left on the play clock. I was convinced that the Falcons would clinch the game with a field goal at that point as there was not enough time for the Pats to score twice barring a successful on-sides kick.

Which brings me to another key sequence. When the Pats failed on their on-sides kick attempt, Atlanta took over at the New England 41 and were a first down away from putting the game out of reach. They ended up going nowhere and punting. The final straw was the decision to run the kick-off out of the end zone with 57 seconds left. A veteran like Weems should know that with no timeouts, every second is precious, so its best to take the ball on the 25 without running the clock. Weems is no threat to break a long return, so the decision was horrible. Ryan and Company has scored points many times over the years in that scenario, but Weems took that off the table.

Everything else had to fall perfectly in place for the Falcons to lose, and it did. A lot of it had to do with Brady and the Pats' defense in the 4th quarter, but Atlanta didn't help themselves. Freeman missing his block that resulted in a sack and fumble, the Falcons failing to cash in on the two opportunities mentioned above, Atlanta's defense failing to come up with a stop in the 4th quarter and overtime, and not being able to prevent both 2-point attempts. Hats off to New England for doing all that it took to make an incredible come back to win the game.

This is the life of a Falcons fan. In the back of our collective brain, we know that our team might never make it back to another Super Bowl in our lifetime, but we are OK with that, or at least I am. Just making it to the big game twice was a thrill and more than I could ever ask for or expect, and at least in this one they were very close to winning it all.

Mark Hayne
gixc@verizon.net

Coming from a Steelers fan, that was the toughest loss I ever saw that did not involve the Steelers losing. New England has beaten the Steelers in the AFC Conference Championship in the 2001, 2004, and 2016 seasons, and I really felt the Falcons would win that game. To see the complete collapse of the Falcons was outright devastating to me.

I still call the Steelers/Cardinals Super Bowl the "Greatest Game I Ever Saw" and I noticed you referenced that game.

I could not written a better viewpoint than what you wrote. So sorry for your loss yesterday.

sox83cubs84
02-06-2017, 11:16 PM
Give me Super Bowl 20 any day. The dominance of the best NFL defense ever (1985 Bears) was so impressive that the fact the game was a blowout was secondary, IMHO.

Dave Miedema

Mattapan03
02-07-2017, 06:01 PM
I vote Super Bowl 25. Norwood Wide Right

NEFAN
02-11-2017, 04:46 PM
With 32 teams (fan bases) in the mix, I doubt there will ever be a conclusive favorite.