Super Bowl LI

I didn't see the phone booth Brady used to don his cape and tights.

Jeez. As a Patriots fan... crazy. I don't even have words for this one. I will just say that Tom Brady may not be the greatest in terms of sheer physical talent, but he is undoubtedly the greatest overall quarterback in the game.

Not a huge football fan, spent most of the first half playing King Kong with the little one so the rest of the house could watch in peace. They were rooting for Atlanta and were very excited when they were 20 points up after the half. I said "yeah, but there is plenty of time". They laughed. Even into the 4th, they laughed. I said "don't count that Brady guy out, there is plenty of time to turn this around". They weren't laughing by the end of the game. Pretty amazing comeback IMHO.

golfduke wrote: Jeez. As a Patriots fan... crazy. I don't even have words for this one. I will just say that Tom Brady may not be the greatest in terms of sheer physical talent, but he is undoubtedly the greatest overall quarterback in the game.

Not to take anything away from Tommy Boy... he is certainly a big part of his own success but... it helps to have a stacked team on both sides of the ball and the most successful coaching staff in the NFL. Brady wasn't there for the 1st 4 games and the results were the same. They weren't as dramatic or pretty - but 3 out of 4 were in the +1 column.

EDIT: I don't really have a dog in this fight. I am not even a football fan anymore, really... but that was a hell of a game. Watching ATL go from dancing around like it was the first time anyone ever caught a football to those cold dead eyes saying "what is happening right now" was almost as entertaining as McCarthy's SNL Spicer imitation.

At half time I was wondering how many Bookies were buying bus tickets out of town.

I'm by no means a pats fan, but watching them come back the way they did had me on the edge of my seat. It's so apparent that they train for these types of situations. That's some of the best football I've ever watched.

I added it to my "i'm over football until the browns don't suck anymore" didn't watch list. It was grand refrigerator shopping when nobody is in the store

Holy. Hell. I am barely functioning today, and only adrenaline is keeping me going.

I'm a lifetime Pats fan, born and raised in MA in the most skeptic and negative of traditions. I, and many others, had packed it in midway into the 2nd Quarter. After Gostkowski nearly toppled the right upright on that PAT, I thought there was no way they could do anything right. The Falcons played unbelievable. They were too fast. The defense was smothering the Patriots. It was over. I actually left the super bowl party I was attending, looking to beat the traffic home. I even posted a "...And that's the game." status on social media.

And then, all hell broke loose.

Brady played better than he ever has in a Super Bowl. The defense showed up and made a HUGE turnover and stifled the Falcons. Edelman made the greatest, most physics-defying catch in NFL history. Another "no name" player (in this case, running back James White) stepped up and made some huge plays. And we got to see how awkward it was for that weasel Goodell to have to hand over the Lombardi to Kraft on national TV. It was beautiful. I don't know how they did it, but they did.

Even in a town where sports teams here love making insane comebacks, that was one of the best. It's right up there with the epic 2004 Red Sox ALCS run, and definitely edges out the 2013 Bruins Game 7 where Bergeron scored the game winner at the last second after being down 4-1.

Stupid Deflategate is over. The arguments are over. Wow.

Haters gonna hate

I didn’t have a dog in the fight, and wouldve been happy to see either team win. Matt Ryan has been an absolute cold-hearted killer the last few weeks, and looked like he was really on a roll. And, I mean, seriously, how many times can Julio come down with a dime, tip-toes a quarter inch from the sideline, fingertips on the end of the ball, and make it look easy? Also, as a Bengals fan, it was good to see Sanu in a team that really had success in the postseason. I think next year will be another big year for the Birds.

BUUUUUUUUT.....

It was pretty awesome seeing history unfold.
A. Biggest deficit overcome for a victory, by nearly 3x the previous record
B. First overtime in Super Bowl history
C. First player with enough rings for their whole fist

And, Edelman is a pretty tough dude. Hes routinely overmatched from a size/weight perspective, and still gets it done. I really like that guy. His offseason work ethic is pretty tough to beat.

Watching the podium was pretty funny - the boos for Goodell, the glimpse of Brady taking that moment to go play with his kids, seeing Kraft use the trophy as a giant middle finger.

I was really impressed with White. I know that the MVP award usually goes to the winning QB, but White was the player I was watching.

There was some good Atlanta defense in the first half - the Patriots couldn't seem to get to the ball without some Falcon jamming his hand in there. But the Pats dropped their fair share of balls unassisted, and all the passes were off by just a bit. Then someone woke Brady up and the rest of the team with him.

Hooray, another ring for the Patriots....

At least it was entertaining, for one quarter anyways. What I'm really more upset about than anything is that stupid missed extra point...Gostkowski cost me $150 on that E36 M3!

The funny part was that until the 4th quarter Brady really wasn't playing very well. He missed a lot of passes throughout the game, but damn he sure made them when it counted.

Do we already have a thread to talk about the commercials?

Saw only minutes of the third quarter before leaving for my midnight shift, thought ATL coulda had it in the bag. Not surprised by the comeback tho.

Caught the recap clips on ESPN this morning but it ain't the same story as seeing it happen live.

I'll be stickin' to sports broadcasts w/ spark plugs and wheels for my entertainment. Stick n ball sports is way overrated.

fasted58 wrote: Stick n ball sports is way overrated.

It's funny... this is probably only the 2nd football game I watched this year. PSU Rose Bowl being the other. It seemed very exciting once the pats caught a groove but looking back... it was a real snooze for 3.25 quarters. With OT included, It was about 9 minutes of exciting football that took 4hrs to play out with commercials. I want my money back.

Super Bowl always brings out the guys who are too cool to be interested

It was a thrilling game. I didn't have a dog in the fight, other than a general dislike for seeing the same teams win over and over again.

The booing of Goddell was ridiculous. Without starting a fight, can anyone explain to me why the NE fans are so pissed at him? Is it because they think TB was innocent?

Whether he was innocent or not, Goddell went after NE as if it were a personal vendetta. It got a little out of hand. And that was definitely a partisan crowd.

Which has me wondering. I'm assuming that most of the people in attendance bought their tickets on the secondary market. I mean, you'd have to be a pretty optimistic Atlanta fan to shell out for 2017 tickets near the start of the season. There's some serious money to be made in scalping.

As a falcons fan, I can't today.

I can't news, I can't radio, I can't. The most painful game I have ever suffered through.

Keith Tanner wrote: Whether he was innocent or not, Goddell went after NE as if it were a personal vendetta. It got a little out of hand. And that was definitely a partisan crowd.

Fair enough. I disagree, but if that's how they see it I can understand.

Cooper_Tired wrote: The booing of Goddell was ridiculous. Without starting a fight, can anyone explain to me why the NE fans are so pissed at him? Is it because they think TB was innocent?

Heck, he gets booed like that at the draft, too. It's not just NE fans that hate him. Though they certainly have a beef, IMO. The league looked the other way for years on things like domestic abuse, culminating with Ray Rice getting two games for knocking a woman unconscious on video. Giving Brady 4 games for underinflated balls feels a bit unfair. Especially when guys like Brees and Rodgers have openly admitted messing with air pressure in the balls.

Cooper_Tired wrote: The booing of Goddell was ridiculous. Without starting a fight, can anyone explain to me why the NE fans are so pissed at him? Is it because they think TB was innocent?

It wasn't just Patriots fans booing Goddell----it was pretty much any NFL fan. He's been a disaster to the fans, but has made the owners lots of $$. From denying the concussion problem, to the Ray Rice debacle (smash your wife--- 4 games off--- world sees video-- uh oh.....now we give you a year off!) to the Deflate-gate thing, which was clearly a heavy-handed penalty for the Patriots past sins. (spy gate / Aaron Hernandez, etc)

Goddell sucks, and many (most) fans think he's ruining the game. The leadership of the NFL used to be held in the highest regard. Now everything they do is seen with suspicion. It's all about the $$......and less about the game itself. Goddell helped make that happen.

Cooper_Tired wrote: It was a thrilling game. I didn't have a dog in the fight, other than a general dislike for seeing the same teams win over and over again. The booing of Goddell was ridiculous. Without starting a fight, can anyone explain to me why the NE fans are so pissed at him? Is it because they think TB was innocent?

On the Goodell VS New England thing:

Goodell and Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, were real friendly at one point. Kraft on numerous occasions went to bat for Goodell in various situations where others wouldn't. In a nutshell, Kraft helped make Goodell a lot of money while legitimizing him as a legitimate commissioner.

Then the whole ball pressure fiasco happened.

Let me preface this by saying that every team in every sport is looking for an edge, or a way to bend the rules. The Patriots have done so, and so have many others. The ball pressure thing is dumb. Every team handles balls the way they want. When every team does it, it doesn't add a competitive edge. And in the game in question, the team SUCKED until they put the "approved" balls in the game during the second half. Goodell, under pressure from other owners, threw the book at the Patriots and suspended Brady for 4 games for doing something everyone else does on a technicality to try to gain face.

But it's not just the ball thing. Goodell has mishandled other situations regarding player health, off field issues like domestic abuse, and the weekly fines and suspensions levied upon teams and players. Add that to the witch hunt he lead on the Patriots, and the fact that he hasn't showed his face at Gillette Stadium since said witch hunt started 2 years ago.

That's why the Patriots fans hate him. It's a complex recipe of ineptitude and anger that got him booed out of the building last night. And it was all the sweeter to watch him have to hand that Vince Lombardi trophy over, because it's the culmination of a failed, futile effort to disenfranchise the Patriots organization. It was extra sweet, because it was FINALLY some closure to the whole Deflategate thing.

These sort of games always puzzle me.

One team seemingly has the game tied up until the other team makes a miracle recovery and wins.

Seen it several times. Does the leading team get over confident or the winning team suddenly finds away.

I still say that was not a catch.

iceracer wrote: These sort of games always puzzle me. One team seemingly has the game tied up until the other team makes a miracle recovery and wins. Seen it several times. Does the leading team get over confident or the winning team suddenly finds away. I still say that was not a catch.

Why's that? I thought it was pretty obvious it did not hit the ground.

As for the "game tied up" thing, I really kind of agree. There was no reason for them not to just run the ball the entire 3rd and 4th quarter. Why would you ever pass it in that situation? (hyperbole, but still... why pass it?)

Edelman's circus catch WAS a catch. It never hit the ground until he had clear possession. It was unbelievable, and it practically levitated there for a second or two, but he caught it. He's that good.

Also, it was payback for the David Tyree helmet catch and Kearse's insane catch in the Seahawks game.