The New England Patriots won their 5th Super Bowl and both Head Coach Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady established records along the way. MVP Tom Brady led the incredible 4th quarter comeback as over 113M people were watching the game. Statistically, the Patriots dominated almost every category possible but the most glaring ones were the time of possessions which was almost 2 to 1, and the amount of plays run which also was 2 to 1. New England wore down the Falcons on defense especially in the 4th quarter and in OT, Atlanta's defense was so gassed they couldn't get pressure on Brady nor could they keep up with the speedy Patriots receivers. Early on, the Patriots had 2 costly turnovers and some missed throws and dropped passes but in the 2nd half they were for the most part mistake free and unstoppable. Brady was hit and hurried and sacked numerous times but time and time again he got up and hit his receivers going 43 of 62 for 466 yards which is also another Super Bowl record. In this Super Bowl, there were 24 records broken. The Patriots have now cemented themselves as a true dynasty in the NFL, for in this era of the salary cap, New England has developed a plug and play player system which has allowed them year in and year out to remain at the top of the NFL. I am amazed that most other teams continue to ignore this proven system and continue to try and invent their own.
The Atlanta Falcons must still be in awe and shell shocked after imploding and having a total collapse in the 2nd half of this game. Most of the responsibility for this loss directly lies at the hands of Head Coach Dan Quinn and his Coaching Staff. Not only was Quinn out coached by Belichick, but in the 2nd half questionable play calling on both sides of the ball resulted in this epic collapse. There is much to be said about a Coach having years of experience and being in the Super Bowl so many times and it showed in this game to be so very true. The Falcons got away from what made them truly a great team this season in the 2nd half and allowed the Patriots to have their way on both sides of the ball. The Falcons defense can't be blamed for in this loss they were on the field for an amazing 40 minutes and 93 plays and the DC for some reason when he couldn't get any pass rush on Brady in the 2nd half, refused to blitz which cost them this game. Penalties were a big part, none bigger then the 4th quarter holding call that took the Falcons out of FG range. MVP QB Matt Ryan had a so so game only throwing the ball 23 times. He had 2 very costly mistakes, one the fumble that resulted in a quick Patriots TD. The other was a mental mistake on his part when he took an ill advised sack late in the 4th quarter when the Falcons were in FG range and the sack took them out of FG range. As a QB, he knows he needed to throw the ball away and not take the sack. OC Kyle Shanahan who is expected to take the 49'ers HC job this week also made huge mistakes in his handling of the offense in the 2nd half. How Shanahan and Ryan only threw the ball to Julio Jones once in the 2nd half is beyond me! And only 4 targets in the whole game for arguably the best receiver in all of football is hard to comprehend. The Epic collapse by the Falcons will be talked about for a long long time especially by the Falcons faithful fans as everyone knows they lost a game they had no reason to lose. It was a great season for the Falcons but everyone knows how hard it is to not only get back to the Super Bowl but also to win it and there is no guarantee that the Falcons even with all the talent they have will make it back to the Super Bowl next year or ever again. If I am Atlanta Falcons owner, Arthur Blank, I am sitting down my GM and Head Coach immediately and talking to them about the collapse and why it happened, what happened, how it happened, and to make sure going forward it never happens again. The Falcons season will be defined by this game, A Tale of 2 Halves, and how badly they choked and had one of the most Epic Collapses in any professional game in history.
A few side notes and observations after the Super Bowl. First off, the Pepsi halftime show with Lady Gaga was awesome, a great performance by a fantastic performer. Secondly, very touching to have ex President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush to be part of the coin toss. Also, there had been a lot of discussion and debate before the Super Bowl as to the band wagon fan base of the Falcons who were fair weather fans at best. I didn't really agree one way or another until late in the game when the Patriots were starting their comeback and all thru the 4th quarter and OT, You could hear the delirium and loud cheering by the Patriot faithful but the Falcons fan base got very quiet which was sad to see after how good the Falcons were all year long!!! Could it be the Falcons fans are fickle and fair weather fans?
Lastly, not only was I taken back by Fox being able to charge $5M for a 30 second commercial airing during the Super Bowl, but I was also equally taken back by how bad the commercials were this year outside of maybe a few of them. If I am the companies who paid big dollars to make these commercials and then paid Fox a stupid price to air them, I would fire these ad companies immediately for these commercials were bad, very bad to say the least! Hey Budweiser, where were the heart warming dogs and horses? Hey Doritos, you could of done better. Snickers, a huge let down.. not sure what T Mobile and these others were thinking, I know the monies spent by these companies could of been spent better elsewhere this year
Cooper the NFL Analyst correctly picked the Patriots to win Super Bowl 51 and he picked the score to be 31-27. Cooper the NFL Analyst was 2-0 in picking the Conference Championship Games and was 7-4 in the Playoffs, after going 189-65-2 during the season, Cooper also correctly picked the Patriots to win this years Super Bowl on his blog post from 9/5/16 at the beginning of the season. It has been a great season once again, thank you to Everyone who has read and commented on this NFL Season. We look forward to the upcoming draft and also next season. twitter; @cupofjoeinthed email; cupofjoeinthed@gmail.com www.cupofjoeinthed.blogspot.com
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| Cooper relaxing after an exhausting day watching the Kitty Bowl and Puppy Bowl and Super Bowl |
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