NFL 2016 Season

Tom0 · 6 Feb 2017 at 10:53

I fell asleep at 28-9 after the third, wake up to this!?

Falcons game to lose and they lost it big time.

Good job patriots. Any team that demolish a team in one quarter (and a bit) deserves a win.

Edit: 28 - 3 sorry.

AndyCr15 · 6 Feb 2017 at 10:57

Tom0 said:
Falcons game to lose and they lost it big time.

This exactly. All they needed was 3 more points, having dominated the first half offensively.

ThestigGT999 · 6 Feb 2017 at 15:10

Raymond Lin · 6 Feb 2017 at 21:29

I am watching it from where i left off last night, even knowing the result I am gobsmacked how they pulled this back.

hardkore · 7 Feb 2017 at 10:13

Atlanta shouldnt have put their defence out first, it payed off but they could have done with an early TD. In the end atlanta pushed their defence too hard early on with all the man coverage which just wore them out by the 2nd half.

The pats determination and crowd were on their side in the 2nd half.

AndyCr15 · 7 Feb 2017 at 10:18

hardkore said:
Atlanta shouldnt have put their defence out first, it payed off but they could have done with an early TD.

So, it was wrong, but it worked?

I'm with Atlanta. I always like to get the ball in the second half. it's a kick in the momentum if your opposition score at the end of the half, then get the ball back.

dr_volki · 7 Feb 2017 at 11:06

hardkore said:
Atlanta shouldnt have put their defence out first, it payed off but they could have done with an early TD. In the end atlanta pushed their defence too hard early on with all the man coverage which just wore them out by the 2nd half.

The pats determination and crowd were on their side in the 2nd half.

that's hindsight 2020
the superbowl kicked off with 4 striaght punts. who's to say if the falcons elected to receive they would've scored? :confused:

nicktay2605 · 7 Feb 2017 at 13:32

Yeah I don't think you can criticise Atlanta for that. If there is one thing they did wrong it's abandoning the run game in the second half. They were having good success running against the Pats and then inexplicably stopped, leading to unnecessary pressure being placed on Ryan and meaning that their defence had to spend too much time on the field. I guess they were rattled by NE coming back into the game but they should have just stuck to what was working well in the first half.

One crazy stat is that the Pats took 93 snaps, the most in any SB and over double what the Falcons had. That's a lot of time the Falcons defence had to spend on the field and they just couldn't maintain the aggression and pace they established in the first half.

Purdy · 7 Feb 2017 at 17:34

Atlanta lost the game with the worst possible clock management and lack of run plays in the fourth quarter, unfortunately for them it's really that simple, Pats played well at that point but it's all on Atlanta.

hardkore · 7 Feb 2017 at 21:23

The falcons run play wasn't even THAT strong, definitely no game changer. They had maybe 2 runs over 20+ yards and only 104yds in total, same as the pats.

What they did get was a fair few defensive holding penalties. The pats just came out hard.

AndyCr15 · 7 Feb 2017 at 21:24

Purdy;30480325 said:
Atlanta lost the game with the worst possible clock management and lack of run plays in the fourth quarter, unfortunately for them it's really that simple, Pats played well at that point but it's all on Atlanta.

Exactly. After the JJ catch, run it three times and kick your FG. That's all they needed. Hell, take 3 knees and kick the field goal.

Purdy · 7 Feb 2017 at 21:54

hardkore;30481096 said:
The falcons run play wasn't even THAT strong, definitely no game changer. They had maybe 2 runs over 20+ yards and only 104yds in total, same as the pats.

What they did get was a fair few defensive holding penalties. The pats just came out hard.

Doesn't matter, kills clock, keeps your defence of the field and keeps the pats d honest to it rather than selling out to the pass, their run game was good and capable.

As above though, take three knee's and they still win.

nicktay2605 · 7 Feb 2017 at 23:55

Exactly. Unless the opposition defence really can't stop your passing game then you have to stay balanced and at least try to run the ball. New England really struggled to run the ball but had success throwing it, particularly late in the game. Hardly surprising seeing as the Falcons were something like 25th in the regular season against the pass.

ThestigGT999 · 12 Feb 2017 at 00:27

ThestigGT999 · 7 Sep 2017 at 23:17

2017 thread