Did Atl relax too much- ahead 28-3? Pats path to win almost impossible at that point.Gotta say, belechek is very good, just not warm and fuzzy. 3 months ago, no one had heard of the sb top receiver/running back. And the guy (hogan?) who had 180 against pitt was released by 3 teams without playing in a game when pats signed him, probably at minimum wage.
Gary
They didn't relax, They CHOKED! 3 things cost them the game
1. Atlanta wasn't letting the playclock run down to 2-3 seconds before snapping the ball while on offense in the 2nd half. They were snapping the ball with 8, 10, 13, and as much as 18 seconds left. If you add that up throughout the 2nd half it adds up to over 2 minutes of time they could've ran off the Gameclock and didn't. The Patriots scored to tie the game with 57 seconds remaining. If Atalanta ran the playclock down fully in between plays the Patriots run out of time to score.
2. Up 16 points or two possessions with 8:00 minutes to go in the game Atlanta had a 3rd and 1 on their own 30 yard line. In that case you run the ball. If you don't get it you run the clock down to 7:10 and Punt. Make the Patriots go 75/80 Yards to score which wastes time. Instead they do a 7 Step Dropback Pass and get strip sacked, and turn the ball over on their own 25 yard line. Now instead the Patriots being down 2 Possessions and needing to go 80 yards with 7:00 minutes to go. They score a short field TD and are now down only 1 Possession with 7:00 minutes to go.
3. NOW, Even after the two major mistakes mentioned above. Atlanta still could've won the game. With 3 minutes to go they complete a pass and have a 1st down on the Patriots 21 yard line. That is a 38 Yard Field Goal to make it a 2 Possession Game again. Instead of Icing the Game, they now make their 3rd and final Nail in the Coffin Mistake. They should've ran the ball up the middle on 1st and 2nd down even if they don't get another yard they knock 80 more seconds off the clock. Then on 3rd Down you kick the Field Goal. Yes 3rd down in case of a bad snap you still have 4th down to attempt a 45 yard Field Goal. That would put you up 2 scores with the clock at the two minute warning,,, Game Over! But instead they try a Pass play, get sacked. Then they try another pass play and get a holding call, Clock Stops. This now moved them out of FG range so they tried to pass it again, and passed it incomplete stopping the clock once again. So Atlanta instead of kicking the Filed Goal and going up two possessions with 2 minutes to go they're forced to punt. Which gave the Patriots the Ball down 1 Score, against a tired Defense, and 2:54 left on the clock. At that point Atlanta deserved to lose.
I don't care what anyone says. A High School QB knows to run the Playclock down with the lead in the 4th Quarter and somehow Matt Ryan forgot to. Then for the Coaches to not see that and correct it, and to make those horrendous play calls with a lead. That was pure negligence on the part of the coaching staff.
I played football through college, coached at my old high school for awhile, and now coach my sons Midget Football Team and we little kid coaches don't allow mistakes like that. I have no idea how "Professional" coaches made those mistakes. It really blows my mind. Those were Rank Amateur mistakes on the QB and the Coaching Staff. The moment and the game was two big, and not only did one person get flustered but the entire group collectively lost their minds.
Sure was entertaining though. If I was an Atlanta Fan I'd still be in Bed, and if I was a Patriots Fan, I'd never wash what I was wearing that night. Maybe frame it and put it up on display next to a 4 Leaf Clover because wow, did they get lucky.
Tony