Falcons coach Dan Quinn was stunned by the team’s collapse in the Super LI.
Leading 28-3 with 8:31 to play in the third quarter, the Falcon allowed the Patriots to score 31 unanswered points to win their fifth Super Bowl.
“No doubt that was a tough one for us,” Quinn said. That’s a hard one in the locker room. No place to put that one mentally for us.”
The Falcons finished their season 13-6 after winning the NFC South and making to the Super Bowl as the No. 2 seed from the NFC.
“I am proud of the fight these guys have,” Quinn said. “The brotherhood that this group has built, it’s as strong as I’ve seen, and that part is real. That connection that these guys have, not only with themselves, but with our city, it’s so strong, I love them, they battled. Tonight we came up short.”
The Falcons young defense came out strong, but wore down under the relentless passing assault by New England quarterback Tom Brady. It was the first time the Falcons clearly missed their top cornerback Desmond Trufant, who had a season-ending surgery for a torn pectoral muscle.
The Patriots controled the ball for 40 minutes, 31 seconds of the 63 minute and 58 second game.
“Well, I think for sure we ran out of gas some,” Quinn said. “I don’t know what the time of possession was, I didn’t look at that. But I can you how hard these guys battled for it. We knew it was going to come down to the end for sure, and just at the end for them to have the scores back-to-back, this was the difference for sure.”
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