This concerns the Falcons losing the Super Bowl, about which some of you have read too much and might well be saying, “Would you please move on?” Maybe someday I will. But this was a collapse the likes of which the NFL had never seen perpetrated by the team based in our city, and it happened only nine days ago. And I have, I confess, lain awake every night since asking myself, “How did that happen?”
You already know the Low Points – the fourth-quarter sacks of Matt Ryan, the Julian Edelman double-clutch-rebound-catch, even the overtime coin toss. (The Patriots’ Matthew Slater called “heads.”) But here, after watching the game yet again, are six almost-hidden moments that might well keep you awake for weeks, if not years, to come.
Third quarter, 6:04 remaining, Falcons leading 28-3: The Patriots convert on fourth-and-3. Knowing how the game unraveled, what's lost is how desperate New England was to get anything going. On third-and-3 from the Pats' 46, Tom Brady – the best quarterback ever – laterals to Edelman, who played quarterback at Kent State. Edelman throws long for Dion Lewis. C.J. Goodwin, the Falcons' dime back, doesn't bite on the flea-flicker and has Lewis locked.
Now it’s fourth down. A stop here and the Falcons get the ball across midfield and might well win 42-3. Danny Amendola beats nickel back Brian Poole on a quick out and shakes free for a 17-yard gain. Nearly four more minutes will elapse before the Pats score their first touchdown, and even then Stephen Gostkowski doinks the PAT off the upright.
Third quarter, 1:30 remaining, Falcons leading 28-9: The first Jake Matthews hold. Having just botched an extra point, the Patriots bungle an onside kick – the ball bounces into Gostkowski before the requisite 10 yards and the Falcons' LaRoy Reynolds falls on it anyway. The penalty for illegal touching means they start at the New England 41. A completion to Austin Hooper takes them to the 32. They're almost in field goal range.
And then they’re not. Tevin Coleman is stopped for a loss on second-and-1 as Matthews, the left tackle, is flagged for holding Don’t’a Hightower. This pushes the ball to the 42. Ryan calls an odd timeout – the Falcons’ second of the quarter, Dan Quinn having used one on defense barely two minutes into the half – and watches Hooper drop a pass on second-and-11. Then Ryan is sacked. Not for the last time, the Falcons punt when they should be lining up for a field goal.
Fourth quarter, 9:00 remaining, Falcons leading 28-12: Coleman is injured. The Pats kick a field goal to nuzzle closer, again taking forever to do it. (They've needed 11:32 to bank nine second-half points.) The Falcons take the ball at their 27. Coleman rushes for 8 yards. Then he carries again, marking the only time after taking a 25-point lead they'll run the ball on consecutive snaps. He gains a yard and hurts his ankle.
Now it’s third-and-a-longish-1, and here the game changes. Devonta Freeman whiffs on the blitzing Hightower, who knocks the ball from Ryan’s hand. Alan Branch recovers at the Atlanta 25. A team needing a short field in the worst way gets one. Had Coleman not been injured, would he have been in the game instead of Freeman? Would he have done more to deter Hightower? Might the Falcons simply have handed off to Coleman again?
Fourth quarter, 5:56 remaining, Falcons leading 28-18: The first 2-point conversion. This is basically the game right here. If the Patriots fail to convert, they're two scores down with not much time left. They do not fail.
James White stations himself wide right, then moves alongside Brady. The shotgun snap from David Andrews goes to White. (Brady acts as if it has sailed over his head.) The Falcons are blown off the ball. White isn’t touched until he’s a yard into the end zone. Full disclosure: This was the first moment when I thought the Falcons could lose.
Fourth quarter, 3:50 remaining, Falcons leading 28-20: The second Matthews hold. Julio Jones' astonishing sideline grab – the best catch of his illustrious career and the best throw of Ryan's – should have won the game. The Trey Flowers sack on second-and-11 moves the Falcons from the Patriots' 23 to the 35. That's a 53-yard field goal, which is longer than you'd like.
On third-and-23, Ryan finds Mohamed Sanu for 9 yards, which should suffice. But no. Matthews throws his arm around Chris Long’s neck and brings him to the ground. (Unflagged were dual face-mask grabs by Sanu and the Patriots’ Eric Rowe, which would have triggered an offset.) On third-and-33, Ryan misses Taylor Gabriel at the left sideline. Again the Falcons punt.
Fourth quarter, 57 seconds remaining, Falcons no longer leading: Eric Weems returns the kickoff. Because Dwight Freeney lurched offside on the tying 2-point conversion, Gostkowski kicks from his 40. That makes it harder to keep the ball out of the end zone, which is what the Falcons want – no time off the clock, possession at the 25. Weems fields it at the goal line and returns it to the 11, which is the worst of both worlds. It costs five seconds and 14 yards.
The final possession under Kyle Shanahan is a horror. Ryan finds Sanu for 12 yards, but 20 seconds elapse. (Their final timeout was forfeited on Quinn’s failed challenge of the Edelman snag at 2:03.) Next play: Ryan to Hooper for 4 yards and 13 more seconds. Then a spike, making it third-and-6 at 0:18. As happened on the previous possession, Flowers blows past Alex Mack, playing on a broken fibula, and closes on Ryan, who throws long for Hooper and is nearly intercepted. Having gained 16 yards in 41 seconds, the NFL’s best offense punts.
We’ve seen Ryan win games with much less time remaining – against Chicago in 2008, against Seattle in the playoffs in 2013 – but those weren’t the Super Bowl. Once the Falcons flubbed what should have been the clinching field goal after the Julio catch, they were beaten. They didn’t throw the ball Julio’s way on their final series. They didn’t force a third down on the Pats’ winning drive in OT.
They’d come close to killing the game five times but never did the deed. Physically and psychologically, they were done. But you knew that already, too.
