Atlanta Falcons: Dissecting the Super Bowl Defeat and Fallout

The Atlanta Falcons suffered the worst loss in Super Bowl history and the first overtimes loss in the Big Game. Breaking down the defeat and its effects.

The Atlanta Falcons lost Super Bowl 51 in devastating fashion. As everyone knows by this point, they were up 28-3 over the New England Patriots in the third quarter before relinquishing the lead. Atlanta’s 28 points were also its final total. The team got tight, got picked apart, choked, and never scored again. Because of the circumstances, stakes and lead, it was arguably the worst loss in NFL history.

But still, the Falcons made the Super Bowl for just the second time in franchise history. Such a brutal loss begs the question, what is the best way to lose? How would Atlanta Falcons fans prefer their season to have ended…Super Bowl title not included?

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, discuss the Atlanta Falcons in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

Let’s dissect the Falcons Super Bowl defeat. From a fan’s and player’s perspective, how would you rather end your season? Here are the three options for losing:

1. Atlanta’s way: A heart-wrenching loss in the Super Bowl

The plus side of this losing technique is that it means your team made it to the mountaintop and came just a play or two away from winning the league championship. This is as close as a team can get from being the best without doing so. The loss, however, surely weighs more heavily on those involved.

2. Blowout loss in the Super Bowl

It means a team wins its conference and makes it as far as anyone can hope. However, a blowout loss implies you weren’t that close to a ring. But you also don’t have to recreate each missed opportunity in your mind all offseason. A blowout loss is easier to forget and move past. Though this is still making it that close and failing.

3. Missing the playoffs entirely

Just another year; it can be written off easier than anything. Our team wasn’t close, but things change so quickly in the NFL, it isn’t worth crying over. We could be in the hunt next year. There is no heartbreak with missing the playoffs; fans can see it coming. There is no second-guessing of coaches’ decisions or players’ execution.

Each way of losing has positives and negatives. My choice is option two. I can’t imagine losing the way the Falcons did and coming back next year with confidence. Atlanta fans surely doubt Dan Quinn and Matt Ryan at this point. They doubt the defense’s ability to hold up. They doubt everything.

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The only downside of option two is people making the argument that your team didn’t really belong in the Super Bowl in the first place. It was just a lucky streak that got said team there. Otherwise, this option is the best possible way to lose. It involves reaching the peak of the sport without being emotionally dead. It is the best choice, you know, besides actually winning.

Dan Salem:

I can’t help but feel you rubbing salt into the Atlanta Falcons’ wound with this question. They dominated the Super Bowl for three quarters and stunk for one and a half, including overtime. Or perhaps it was the other way around, since the New England Patriots did in fact win and were considered favorites and the better team entering the big game. Regardless, only New England ended the season feeling good about itself. Every other NFL team did not.

While I understand why you chose option two, I vehemently disagree with your logic. To reach the Super Bowl and get embarrassed in a blowout is something no one will ever forget. You might as well have not made it, since you did not show up to play. Or you were so much worse than your competition that you did not belong at all. Casual fans forget the teams that get blown out, but those team’s actual fans will NEVER forget such humiliation. This does not apply to the Atlanta Falcons. They came to play.

I’m choosing option one because missing the playoffs stinks entirely. As a New York Jets fan, I’m very familiar with this phenomenon. The offseason is more fun than the regular season more often than not. Frankly, that sucks. No one wants that, especially not the players. Having your season over in November makes it hard to keep playing and even harder not to get injured. This leaves option one and how the Falcons ended their season at the Super Bowl.

I’d prefer to reach the mountaintop, prove myself, and then get knocked off by a better opponent. No one will ever forget this football game, but I’ll remember it for how New England came back, not how Atlanta lost. Everyone expected the Patriots to own the Falcons defense, yet they couldn’t for three quarters. It was a close game that ended in a tie after regulation. It’s what we thought and hoped for as fans.

If you’d have asked Falcons fans before the game if they’d be happy knowing it would go to overtime, I’m sure they’d say yes. They took the greatest coach and greatest quarterback in history to the brink. So while its true that the Falcons appeared to collapse, its also true that New England kicked it up a notch.

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Getting your heart torn to pieces is awful, but the only way that happens is if something great happened first. The Falcons played great and were coasting, perhaps forgetting who their opponent was. Only Atlanta’s fans enjoyed those first three quarters. They were not competitive. Everyone but Atlanta’s fans enjoyed the rest of the game. Sorry, but losing like that is preferable. The Falcons enter the new season with a big chip on their shoulder. That worked out pretty well for Tom Brady this past year.

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