To me that was one of the biggest choke jobs in sports history

[sweethook]

atlanta didnt kill the clock , and it cost them

[SouthBayGame]

Yep, they gave game away by getting too comfortable. Stopped battling, choke city, overtime was a joke, even blew the +3 they had entire 60 min regulation.

[pattymayo]

Whoever called the pass for a sack after the Julio catch should have to walk home. All they had to do was run the ball 3 times, kick the FG and the game was over. That was worst than the Seattle pass on the 1 yard line. WTF? Teams have no clue about clock management nor in game situations. Somebody should have to answer for that stupidity.

basically this. When Julio made that ridiculous catch they were inside the 25 yard line. No excuse to lose 15 yards on your next three plays, just run it and take the 3 points, go up 11, that's that.

[packerd_00]

Exactly. I am baffled by the play call there. Even with the Pats playing well, I just don't think they could have scored twice with such little time. I feel bad for Arthur Blank. Great guy.

I did feel abit bad for the guy,they kept focusing on him when Brady was carving the Falcons Defense in the OT,he knew it was probably over right their.

[JoeA1010]

As others have said, Atlanta has ball on NE 22 yard line with 4:40 to go and a 28-20 lead, NE has two TO's left. Run three times and run the clock to about 2:30 (or more, but NE uses its time outs) and kick what is about a 90% FG try for Matt Bryant. You're up 31-20 with 2:30 or so left. NE has to get a TD, two-point play, onside kick and a FG just to tie. Game is pretty much over.

To sum it up, Atlanta gave away at least a 90% chance (probably more like 98%) by choosing to pass on 2nd and 11 from the 23 instead of just running twice. NFL coaches get into that macho man mentality ("We're going to get a first down and win this thing ourselves right now") instead of playing the odds, and as a result, drastically reduce their chances to win games.

I don't feel bad for Atlanta. They thumbed their noses at the odds and rightfully paid the price.

[qwertvt]

Clock management in the NFL is a complete joke and Ive noticed this for years, ryan is an idiot and chokes just like I suspected

Matt Ryan didn't call that play. Chalk this fxxk up to the coaching staff. If Ryan was calling the plays, the coaches would be screaming in that headset to run only.

Hypothetically - if Ryan called the play, Freeman missed his block assignment which led to the sack.

[TheGuesser]

Whoever called the pass for a sack after the Julio catch should have to walk home. All they had to do was run the ball 3 times, kick the FG and the game was over. That was worst than the Seattle pass on the 1 yard line. WTF? Teams have no clue about clock management nor in game situations. Somebody should have to answer for that stupidity.

Yep, that's new 49er coach Kyle "The Idiot" Shanahan. THE Dumbest playcall in the history of SuperBowls, BY FAR(Don't give me Pete Carroll's call, not even in the same ballpark). The 49ers should cancel the job and look for someone who knows what they are freakin doing. That and not bleeding the clock, snapping the ball with 15-20 seconds to go on the play clock earlier in the quarter.
The Narrative of the game by the dumb media will be NE's great Comeback, but it really should be on how Atlanta handed them the game with incredibly stupid play calling.

[pattymayo]

Yep, that's new 49er coach Kyle "The Idiot" Shanahan. THE Dumbest playcall in the history of SuperBowls, BY FAR(Don't give me Pete Carroll's call, not even in the same ballpark). The 49ers should cancel the job and look for someone who knows what they are freakin doing. That and not bleeding the clock, snapping the ball with 15-20 seconds to go on the play clock earlier in the quarter.
The Narrative of the game by the dumb media will be NE's great Comeback, but it really should be on how Atlanta handed them the game with incredibly stupid play calling.

Dude this isn't even close to Pete Carroll not giving it Marshawn on 2nd down on the ONE YARD LINE when he nearly scored the play before.

[TheGuesser]

Ryan did everything he could to make Brady succeed. Those sacks and the fumble were killers. The third down pass Jones caught he could have run for a first down but this jackass makes a guy make a circus catch. The killer tho was snapping the ball repeatedly with 20 fuking seconds left on the clock.

Yep, and no one will even mention that stupidity in the media. I hate Conservative Football, but there are situations where bleeding the clock, running the ball, make perfect, logical sense. This 4th Q was one of those times and the Atlanta Coaching staff choked as bad as a Coaching staff can, by being too stupidly aggressive.

[daneblazer]

Matt Ryan cements legacy as a giant choke artist

[SharpAngles]

Matty Ice just throw the fukin ball away!!! Sacks at the end were 100% avoidable and he cost his team the ring.

[TheGuesser]

Dude this isn't even close to Pete Carroll not giving it Marshawn on 2nd down on the ONE YARD LINE when he nearly scored the play before.

NE has the best Goal Line run D in the NFL consistently. Did you see what they did to Pitt this playoffs on 1st and goal from the 1, when Pitt tried to run? Passing wasn't the error, it was passing in the middle of the field.

[pattymayo]

NE has the best Goal Line run D in the NFL consistently. Did you see what they did to Pitt this playoffs on 1st and goal from the 1, when Pitt tried to run? Passing wasn't the error, it was passing in the middle of the field.

Oh stop. Lynch was one of the best at short yardage pickups and he nearly scored the play before. The Pats didn't even call a timeout after that 1st down run, it is an absolute no brainer to run on 2nd and goal from the 1 in that situation. I agree Shanahan should have ran 3 times in this situation too but the Seahawk game there were 26 seconds left you are on the 1 yard line and you need a TD to win the game. Not even comparable.

[qwertvt]

Dude this isn't even close to Pete Carroll not giving it Marshawn on 2nd down on the ONE YARD LINE when he nearly scored the play before.

I forgot about that play. I am biased so I will say it's equal but you may be right. Not giving it to Lynch was a weird one.

[Microphone]

Biggest choke in pro sports since the Yankees gag in 2004. The latter still bigger.

[JoeA1010]

Yep, and no one will even mention that stupidity in the media. I hate Conservative Football, but there are situations where bleeding the clock, running the ball, make perfect, logical sense. This 4th Q was one of those times and the Atlanta Coaching staff choked as bad as a Coaching staff can, by being too stupidly aggressive.

Exactly right. The media is mostly too stupid to analyze and understand the game situation, so they won't break it down at all. The game was all but over, but for Atlanta insisting on play-calling that gave New England a chance. The pass attempt on 2nd and 11 from the NE 23 was the worst play call in Super Bowl history. Far, far, far worse than Seattle's pass.

[pattymayo]

Exactly right. The media is mostly too stupid to analyze and understand the game situation, so they won't break it down at all. The game was all but over, but for Atlanta insisting on play-calling that gave New England a chance. The pass attempt on 2nd and 11 from the NE 23 was the worst play call in Super Bowl history. Far, far, far worse than Seattle's pass.

dude what??? I agree the 2nd and 11 pass was stupid, but they are still up 8 at that point, and pinned Brady at like the 10 yard line to go the length of the field to score and THEN get a 2 point conversion.. how about the defense getting a stop?

The Lynch non rush was to win the Super Bowl, from the 1 yard line, 26 seconds left, when he went 4 yards the play before and nearly scored on 1st down. And its Marshawn Lynch! Perfect guy when you need 1 friggin yard.

The 2nd and 11 meant nothing, maybe they rush 3 times instead and get stuffed and Bryant misses the FG? You cant say the 2nd and 11 pass was worse than Lynch not getting the ball there, doesn't work

[davisca86]

Incredible

[davisca86]

They lost the game themselves.

[odog11]

dude what??? I agree the 2nd and 11 pass was stupid, but they are still up 8 at that point, and pinned Brady at like the 10 yard line to go the length of the field to score and THEN get a 2 point conversion.. how about the defense getting a stop?

The Lynch non rush was to win the Super Bowl, from the 1 yard line, 26 seconds left, when he went 4 yards the play before and nearly scored on 1st down. And its Marshawn Lynch! Perfect guy when you need 1 friggin yard.

The 2nd and 11 meant nothing, maybe they rush 3 times instead and get stuffed and Bryant misses the FG? You cant say the 2nd and 11 pass was worse than Lynch not getting the ball there, doesn't work

Not rushing Lynch was absolutely a horrible call, but it is much more likely that he would have been stopped than a 35 yard field goal gets missed.

[TheGuesser]

Oh stop. Lynch was one of the best at short yardage pickups and he nearly scored the play before. The Pats didn't even call a timeout after that 1st down run, it is an absolute no brainer to run on 2nd and goal from the 1 in that situation. I agree Shanahan should have ran 3 times in this situation too but the Seahawk game there were 26 seconds left you are on the 1 yard line and you need a TD to win the game. Not even comparable.

NE didn't have their goal line package in the play before. They brought the jumbo package in, and it's the best in the game. If I remember correctly, Lynch had failed to score from the 1 on 4 of 5 prior tries before that game, or something like that. NE didn't call a Time Out, because Belichick saw Seattle was confused on the sideline.

[temple2010]

Whoever called the pass for a sack after the Julio catch should have to walk home. All they had to do was run the ball 3 times, kick the FG and the game was over. That was worst than the Seattle pass on the 1 yard line. WTF? Teams have no clue about clock management nor in game situations. Somebody should have to answer for that stupidity.

Exactly!!! Stupid pass happy league has really screwed up the game and has hypnotized these so called genius coaches! 10 years ago or so you would have never seen a pass there. Just idiotic! 3 running plays, New england uses all their timeouts - Atlanta field goal- game over. Instead they GIVE the greatest player off all time the ball back with a chance to tie- LMFAO

[rake922]

it's like creative writing.. sitting around trying to write how you can lose that big of a lead so quick

[jimmy007oc]

2nd and 11 pass was stupid, but nowhere near a pass called at 2nd and 1 with Marshall Lynch aka Beast Mode as your RB. It was like one of the worst decision ever in history of football by Seattle Staffs. Man, 2nd and 1 with Lynch, it was like automatically 7 pts.

[stackz125]

The killer tho was snapping the ball repeatedly with 20 fuking seconds left on the clock.

Is the part when Atlanta had the ball with 54 seconds left?

Those were pretty bad play calls
Up the middle
Short passes
No time outs

[davisca86]

Reminds me of ac Milan Liverpool champions league final. 3 - 0 at halftime and they lost 4 - 3

[Plaza23]

Patriots were gifted their last 2 Super Bowls by the other team being stupid. It's definitely the biggest choke in football I've ever seen.

In baseball, there's been some massive chokes. Texas Rangers vs Cardinals in 2011 come to mind. Basketball, the Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cavs last year. NCAA basketball Virginia blowing a huge late 2nd half lead vs Syracuse with a trip to the Final 4 on the line last year.

I'd say Lynch not running it in the from the 1, and Shanahan calling passes at the 21 yard line when he just needs 3 points to ice the game are about the same. Although, I think Lynch call was worse. If Lynch runs the ball, they win. Game over at that point. Whereas, the Falcons defense still had a chance to win the game if they stopped them from going 90 yards after the Falcons punted.

[davisca86]

These things happen that's what keeps the game interesting

[packerd_00]

Is the part when Atlanta had the ball with 54 seconds left?

Those were pretty bad play calls
Up the middle
Short passes
No time outs

Give Rodgers that much time and you got a shot,Ryan isn't on that level.

[packerd_00]

These things happen that's what keeps the game interesting

Hard not make people question what is really going on,when you see teams blow gimme wins.

[BigDofBA]

Agreed.

You're averaging 5.8 a rush and you take a seven step drop on third and 1 and fumbled when you're up 16 with 8 minutes left.

You're in FG range to ice the game and you start passing under four minutes to go.

Lol.

[odog11]

Patriots were gifted their last 2 Super Bowls by the other team being stupid. It's definitely the biggest choke in football I've ever seen.

In baseball, there's been some massive chokes. Texas Rangers vs Cardinals in 2011 come to mind. Basketball, the Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cavs last year. NCAA basketball Virginia blowing a huge late 2nd half lead vs Syracuse with a trip to the Final 4 on the line last year.

I'd say Lynch not running it in the from the 1, and Shanahan calling passes at the 21 yard line when he just needs 3 points to ice the game are about the same. Although, I think Lynch call was worse. If Lynch runs the ball, they win. Game over at that point. Whereas, the Falcons defense still had a chance to win the game if they stopped them from going 90 yards after the Falcons punted.

Again, it was pretty likely Lynch scores, but still a decent chance he doesn't, field goal by Atlanta if they run it three times more likely. This was worse IMO, just by a little.

[new era]

Not running it in FG range was worse than the fumble play. Honestly it felt like Andy Reid was making the decisions for the Falcons.

[BigDofBA]

No team had ever blown a 14 point lead in a Super Bowl.

Atlanta led 28-3 late in the third quarter and the math gave them a 99.6% chance of winning.

I would say this is the worst. It just hasn't sunk in yet.

If you watch the game again and see all the mistakes and bad playcalling, it was truly an epic choke job.

[davisca86]

Tonight was insane