Can We Talk Superbowl?

Who won(actually, I read who won but did not watch and was asleep long before the game ended, early flight, between plane now). I read it was a tail of two games: the early game the Falcons played before the Patriots arrived and the second was played after the Falcons left and went home to Atlanta. I read this morning that there weren't even any decent commercials with lots of filler(TV show advertisements) instead of paid original commercial slots. I also read the Lady Gaga had the best 1/2 time show in years. No politics just entertaining with her usual flare for dramatic and eye dazzling stunts! I also did not want to watch the douche bag butt buddy twins Joe Butthead and Troy Aikybutthole. They can make the best game painful!

A lot of reviews note that Gaga incorporated protest themes into her performance. I didn't watch the half-time show, but it sounded like she kept them low-key, so good for her. The commercials this year sucked. There are times in the past when the commercials outshined the game- the Budweiser Frogs debut, lots of the VW/Star Wars stuff, Vibdy Crawford drinking Pepsi, but it all seemed to suck this year. I wanted to see Atlanta win, year of the underdogs and all that, but I have to give credit to NE for pulling that victory out of thin air. What a nail-biter. It seemed to boil down to two plays: Stopping what had been an incredible Atlanta drive and forcing a punt, and the off-sides penalty against Atlanta during the attempted two point conversion. If the Atlanta player had not crossed early, it looked like Atlanta stopped the ball before the goal line. What an incredible game, though.

31 unanswered points by the Pats - so not only did they score 31 points when they needed to but they didn't allow Atlanta to score any, they pretty-much controlled both sides of the ball when they had no other choice

THE First Half - Ouch, the first half was tedious. I am not a Pats fan, nor do I root for ATL during the season - but it was painful watching the Falcons beat up on the Patriots for the whole first half. I almost turned it off after the third ATL touchdown. #2 was exactly on target and the birds defense looked impenetrable. Who'd a thunk it?

HALFTIME - sucked, as Superbowl halftimes usually suck, not uniquely sucked, didn't stand out as sucked, just sucked - very ordinary sucked.. I kinda' half-assed watched the half, but between the explosions, the overdone stage, the drone-light-show (that I didn't know was drone until it was mentioned during post game), and all the crowds of extras dance/running around, I really didn't get it. Even making allowances for the fact I am a Boomer - not a 20 something, whatever they are called - my guess is that this half time show was bland for any age group. I understand that the 30 something, slightly overwieght, struggling to be relevant, used to be a superstar, singer was trying to make "subtle" political points and be relevant to a younger audience, but she - and any supposed message - was lost in the noise.

The Second Half - - WOW, talk about two completely different games! New England, and especially Brady, looked like winners, even the drives they came up short. ATL looked good but vulnerable on offense and defense. By the 4th quarter I was leaning forward on the couch even though I was "sure" NE couldn't pull this one out - seriously, no mortal team could come back from being 25 points down in the middle of the third quarter of a Super Bowl game - right? Hell, not even Landry, Staubach and the Fearsome Foursome could manage that kind of miracle! Again - WOW. Super ending - even a Hollywood scriptwriter would get laughed at if s/he wrote that kind of ending.

OTHER STUFF -

The ads stunk. None of the new ads were remarkable except for the notable "globalist" hints of "inclusive." I am guessing that some would consider this "anti-Trump." I just wrote it off to ad agencies selling clients (as much as a year ago) on the idea that only half the Superbowl audience was domestic and "we're all in the same boat" messaging would sell more product. Bored!

The announcers were worse than the ads. Play by play - wasn't! The four - sometimes five - talking heads were full of shit and really into themselves. FOX Sports really blew it.

The NFL did another really stinky job of trying to be "goody-goody" and a worse job of overtly, and obnoxiously, patting itself on the back. The "look at all the Black football players in the Hall of Fame" thing was really kind'a dumb - 70% of current players are Black and they haven't been ignoring Black football players since the 50's. I like that Goodell was repeatedly "booed."

Officials were not a factor - good.

So, shailynn, is that enough Super Bowl talk?

Yeah I enjoyed that prick Goodell getting deservedly booed. His PC policies are ruining the NFL and he gets booed everywhere but I suppose the booing last night was mostly Pat fans getting on him. And Belichick's smiling was beyond anything I've seen from him before but after what his team did it was understandable.

While I was watching the game, I checked the boxscore on the ESPN app at the end of the 3rd quarter. The boxscore at the time said Atlanta had a 99.5% chance of winning the game at that moment. A sports radio show I'm listening to just referenced that same stat.

Also, when Julio Jones made that circus catch in the 4th quarter at the 22 yard line, the Falcons should have clinched it. They should have ran 3 times and kicked the field goal, to go up by 11 with under a few minutes to play.

I still can't believe the Pats came all the way back and the Falcons blew it.

I think Brady deserves all the credit for this win and very little goes to Belichick. Belichick didn't win that game, Brady did. There was no scheming in that 2nd half. It was desperation time. They gave the ball to Tom, said air it out, and hoped for a miracle. He delivered.

Seeing the game yesterday made me realize why Jordan is the GOAT in basketball and not LeBron. Brady won that game with receivers like Amendola, Edelman, and rookies. He didn't have Gronk or some superstar receivers on his team. Jordan got it done with the players he had. Lebron tries to recruit every superstar in the league to create an unbeatable team. Lebron is great, but not the competitor that Jordan was.

They would have not won w/o Brady being so good, but the D also stepped up as well as the O-line - if the D would have not made the plays in the 2nd half they would have not won the game

My favorite Superbowl memories are the five other times out of the 9 appearances that they lost

I just saw Belichek interviewed on a local station and he's having his boat re-named today - Seven Rings. Think about that - 2 rings as an assistant coach and 5 as HC of the Pats. I don't think anyone else is even close to that number. I think Fox dropped the ball on the broadcast - very poor use of replay, lousy play by play, color commentary weak at best. The strip sack of Ryan was a major turning point for the Pats. Edelman' concentration on the circus catch still has my jaw hanging open.

Juice i thought poker would help your math. They won 5 and lost 4, and the first two they lost where when no one outside of New England cared about them.

"... Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime show — while not overtly political — contained some social commentary just below the surface.

In the very beginning of her performance, the pop artist sang "America the Beautiful" before quickly switching to, "This Land is Your Land," a Woody Guthrie tune popular in many of the protests that have taken place after President Trump took office. People sang the song at women's marches across the nation the day after Trump's inauguration and at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport in light of Trump's immigration travel ban among other instances. The song is popular at protests because it sort of is a protest song. The U.S. Library of Congress said Guthrie, a product of the Great Depression, wrote it in response to "God Bless America." Guthrie didn't like the song because he said it ignored the uneven distribution of wealth in America ..."

msn.com

Some stats from the game:

Brady 43/62, 466 yds; 2-td; 1-int Ryan 17/23, 284 yds; 2-td; 1-int

Total 1st-downs: NE 37; ATL 17

3rd-down efficiency: NE 7/14 (50%); ATL 1/8 (12%)

Total net yards : NE 546; ATL 344

Penalties: NE 4 for 23 yds; ATL 9 for 65 yds

Time of possession: NE 40:31; ATL 23:27

Atlanta did not play bad they just didn't manage to stay on the field as much as they needed to and by that virtue keeping Brady on the bench

nfl.com

I was planning to stay the whole day at home relaxing on Super Bowl Su and then watch the game in the early-eve - but by early-afternoon ended up wanting to get out of the house.

I went to a small black club I hit on weekend dayshift from time to time - the club usually has a pretty-good dancer lineup particularly after 5 pm when mid-shift girls arrive adding to the dayshift girls - there seems to be a fair # of dancers that seem to mostly dance just on weekends to make a bit of extra $$$ so there are often some fresh faces in addition to the regs.

Made it to the club on Su around 4:00 pm - was planning to stay till 5:30 pm and go home to watch the game.

The club often picks up around 6:00 pm after the mid-shift girls have arrived and there are also a lot more custies.

Was pretty slow dancer and custy wise from when I arrived around 4 till about 5:30 - I was thinking it would not pick-up it being Super Bowl Su - but past 5:30 a lot of chocolate started arriving and although my mind was willing (to leave), the flesh was weak - ended staying till about 8:30 pm and missed the first-half of the game and the halftime show - too much curvy chocolate walked into the club past 5:30 pm to where I couldn't help myself - the club has a couple of TVs but they are not very-big and I can't really see them well w/ my bad eyes - the club was also packed w/ custies by the time I left around 8:30 pm even though it's not a good club to watch a game and it seemed most custies were not paying attention to the game.

Not the first time I miss part of a game b/c I can't leave the chocolate bunnies.

I made it to Henry VIII South just before the game started, they had a great buffet catered to them from one of their other family owned strip clubs. I ate, I watched some of my long time dancer friends their listlessly dancing on stage until the game started, it's always a pleasure seeing them. The game was all Atlanta that first half, I left to go home after watching Lady Gaga do her shtick as I figured I could hear the game on the way home while driving in sparse traffic, Brady was the superstar in the 2nd half, I'm sorry to say. Congrats to NE.

Lady Gaga gave a great halftime performance. My CF texted me to ask if I was watching it. We are both Gaga fans.

The Falcons then blew the 2nd half--offensively, defensively and strategically.

"... the Patriots have The Hill to thank for a 34-28 overtime win over the Falcons on Sunday night for their fifth championship and the craziest comeback victory in Super Bowl history.

The hill sits on the back of the Patriots’ practice field at Gillette Stadium, and Bill Belichick makes the players run it every day at the end of practice.

“We all bitch and complain about it,” Edelman said. “But hey, we did it, we put in the work, we put in the conditioning.”

The Patriots ran the Falcons ragged all game, and it paid off in a wild fourth quarter and overtime. Trailing, 28-20, with 3:30 on the clock, Brady led the Patriots 91 yards for the tying touchdown, then marched the offense 75 yards in overtime for the win.

“I think for sure we ran out of gas some,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.

The Patriots didn’t, even after running 93 plays, gaining 546 yards, and holding the ball for 40:31. They rose to the occasion, pulling off the most improbable and largest comeback victory in Super Bowl history.

“We all brought each other back. We never felt out of it,” Brady said.

Brady threw for a Super Bowl-record 466 yards in being named the game’s MVP, and proved once again in the fourth quarter and overtime why he is the greatest quarterback of all time. He completed 21 of 32 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown in the final quarter-plus, while leading the Patriots to three touchdowns and a field goal on their last four possessions.

And once again, Brady was at his best in the game’s most crucial moments. Brady was 6 for 9 for 90 yards on the tying touchdown drive, then 5 of 6 for 50 yards in overtime, leaving the Falcons’ defenders gasping for air. Brady hit six different receivers on the tying drive, then five different receivers in overtime, plus a pass interference penalty secured by Martellus Bennett that brought the Patriots to the goal line.

Add it up, and Brady was 11 of 15 for 140 yards in the game’s decisive moments ..."

msn.com

WTFlock got it exactly right!

Up 8, in field goal range, late 4th quarter. You run the ball 3 times (twice between the tackles). Your burn 1.5 minutes of clock. Then your all-pro FG kicker kicks the clinching FG to put you up 11. Game over.

The only 3 things that could hurt you would be:

1. sack

2. pick

3. penalty.

4. and 3. happened opening the door for NE and the, grudgingly, GOAT Brady to steal a win.

I've been hearing on sports radio how the Falcons should have ran the ball more.

I'm willing to bet Juice's one week salary that if the Falcons got conservative and started running the ball and still lost; that they'd be getting even more flack for "taking their foot off the gas" or "not going for the jugular" - ATL has the league MVP in Matt Ryan and a record setting offense; they did what they've been doing all year and the M.O. of their team - to me I saw it as them "playing to win the game" vs "playing not to lose".

When ATL tried to run the ball in the 2nd-half they were often stuffed - NE's D just picked it up and was playing more physical - NE would have focused on shutting down the running game b/c they couldn't afford to let time run down - in fact it was ATL's passing that really almsot put the game away - in the 4th quarter ATL had the ball on their own 10 or so and it was two passes, one to the RB Freeman that went for about 50 yards; and another pass to Julio Jones that he made tippy-toeing the sideline; that got them im position to kick what would have possibly been a game-winning FG if it was not for the sack and more importantly the penalty (and it was the penalty that put them out of FG range).

NE barely ran the ball - they just executed better.

I agree with keeping the foot on the gas -- passing is what got them IN to FG range -- right up until they were in FG range on the 22 with 4:40 to go. From the 22, three running plays brings the clock to 3:00 (or burns timeouts). Either way, kick the 30-40 yard FG -- then it is a 2 score game up 11 with 3 minutes and change to go.

I suppose it is easy to second-guess.

Man Fuck the Falcons! Choking all the time. Sick of this shit. I think I'm finally gonna give up on my home team of 30 years and just become a bandwagon fan.

Rise Up my ass

Don't do it Mistah! Stay loyal to your team. Just root for teams that are playing against teams you hate or adopt a 2nd favorite team also, but don't abandon your team. Look how happy Cubs fans were and are, after they finally won. It's worth the wait, the journey, and the struggle.

Also, the Falcons are young and talented and have a great owner that wants them to win more than anyone. They may not win it next year, but they might. Either way, they'll be good for years to come.

Close to a million fans came out in the rain and snow to cheer on the Patriots in a victory parade today. There's currently more than a 10 year wait to buy season tickets. I had season tickets about 45 years ago when the team first moved to Foxboro. Wins were hard to come by back then. Pro sports have really blossomed in NE with 10 world championships in 15 years : 5 Pats, 3 Red Sox, 1 Celtics and 1 Bruins. Not many cities can match that and it all started with the Marathon Bombing. Boston Strong. Now if the city had a decent strip club....

"Pro sports have really blossomed in NE with 10 world championships in 15 years : 5 Pats, 3 Red Sox, 1 Celtics and 1 Bruins. Not many cities can match that and it all started with the Marathon Bombing."

The Marathon bombing was April 2013.

Gawker - Providence is a Boston suburb with great clubs.