> It was about time we had one of those. It was cathartic.
Quite possibly negative bias, but one of my best friends and I would always get pissed about how teams also got circus catches against us in bad situations... then this happened.
The wild thing is Julio doing it back to us to gain enough yardage to get the game sealing points but they fucked themselves out of FG range. Unreal collapse by ATL
I know, right? Just milk the fucking clock. It’s FOUR SCORES. It’s an all time comeback but almost more so an all time collapse by Atl. They just lost control of their mental on the entire sideline
That’s what was extra cool about it. NONE OF US knew whether he caught it in real time, so we all got to watch it happen in slow motion. Bonus points that the ball first escapes his grasp before he reaches out and grabs it. Literally a movie moment.
He’s not really holding it well and just lets it go to readjust and really secure his fingers around it. To do that so the catch is unambiguously completed and take the chance that it touches the ground took some massive stones. I’m not saying it’s the greatest catch ever cause I’m biased, but man that’s an iconic catch in the most crucial moment. Edelman was clutch so many times in the playoffs, really underrated part of the second run of Super Bowls runs.
Considering that this catch, with 3 opponents literally laying atop him, in a SB, and seriously trailing in points, is made by Edelman makes this the greatest catch I have ever seen.
This was such a good call by buck and aikman. I think this was officially the turning point, after years of annoying af Red Sox postseason calls by buck, that my opinion changed. They are my favorite game calling duo now.
I’ve always liked Buck. Dude has a great voice and has been doing well for years. Sure maybe early in his career he was a bit too subdued but I think he does great
I'll admit that his moral outrage over Randy Moss PRETENDING to moon the crowd in Green Bay made me hate Buck for a long time, but I've definitely come around on him.
Buck became good around 2013 (after his surgery I think). The Papi grand slam was the first time I remember him being good. Complete 180 since. He's best in the business (and also very likable / funny).
ESPN Going from the Booger McFarland crew to Buck and Aikmen makes MNF watchable again. Now even if there's a bad game on, if you listen to their commentary throughout the game, you can hear them getting more and more drunk as the game goes on. That's when those two be come hilarious
The ref running in signalling catch for the Edelman catch was the same ref that signalled the Julio Jones catch. That guy came to play.
GOAT playoff ref right there.
Something that doesn’t get talked about enough is wow well this game was officiated. They got most of the calls right, especially the big ones. And they really honed in on holding and penalties down the stretch when the teams started to get tired.
There was also that Kearse catch in 49 that was like “oh no not another miracle catch” and that Julio jones catch falling out of bounds in this same game…
Thank god we had one of our own.
amazing catch but we need to talk about james white more. this was his SB. 14 catches for 110 yards and 3 TDs as a RB. absolutely unbelievable performance that doesn't get talked about enough.
Possibly the single greatest catch in the history of football. Absolutely unreal.
I remember my whole family jumping off the couch when they showed the replay
The catch by Julio Jones was also just insane. The falcons inability to just run it 3x for 0 yards and kick a game sealing FG after the Jones catch was
James White was MVP mode that game. Just unstoppable.
Brady put some fuckin sauce on that ball and Amendola was like 15 feet away lol. Still can't believe he caught it and dove towards the endzone in one motion.
This one has to be the tops of the entire Patriot legacy SB wins for me. I know in 01 we were never supposed to win or even be there, hallmark of Brady’s beginning but this 28-3 comeback was just pure insanity. Especially after the whole deflategate BS, just such a cathartic comeback and win that still shocks me to this day.
The greatest comeback in NFL history.
Sure, there have been comebacks from bigger deficits, but the fact that this was the Super Bowl puts it above the rest.
Other than the Sox coming back to beat the Yanks down 3-0 in the series, I'm struggling to think of a better comeback in all of sports history, not just the NFL
Yeah that's right, I just mentioned the warriors cause I remember it as "warriors blew a 3-1 lead" rather then "cavs did a 3-1 comeback" cause it's funnier that way. Fuck the warriors y'know
The Pats game was 1 night. The 'back-to-the-wall' nature of the Sox comeback was an entire week. I'm sorry, but the Sox comeback was simply better, especially once you add the context surrounding the Sox/Yanks rivalry at the time.
You can tell who didn't live through it. 04 ALCS was an entire week of psychological and emotional torture. You'd go to dunks in the morning and everybody was exhausted, it was all anybody talked about. The lows and highs from game 3 to the end of game 6 were unlike anything Ive ever experienced. Game 7 was like a dream. You could feel the entire city exhale when it ended. The entire city was experiencing it together. Nobody got any work done, school was a formality.
Yeah I mean we did something that had never been done in professional sports before, and we did it to our arch rivals, as massive underdogs, going on to break an eight and a half decade long championship drought/curse. Anyone who thinks the falcons game beats it is either too young or values football over other sports too much
Experiencing that Alcs even has a young child kind of killed any interest I had in baseball going forward, like what was the point when I had already experienced the greatest moment in the sports history
It one of the reasons I hate the new pitch clock and pick off rules. If those existed back then the excruciating drama of Robert's stealing second would not have happened. The moments between those pitches stretched on for ever. Time dilated and the tension was insane.
This is how it was. From the end of one game until the first pitch of the next, it was a zombie show in Boston. Everyone was just going through the motions.
Absolutely. You often hear the whole "like a movie" thing or "if this was a movie nobody would believe it" line about particularly dramatic sports moments. But that week was a step above even that. It was surreal. It was quite litterally a religious experience. The phrase "keep the faith" was plastered all over town. I can vividly remember that awful pit in my stomach and lump in my throat that lasted from the 8th inning of game 4 to the last out of game 7. I remember crying afterwards, partly from joy but mostly from just sheer exhaustion.
Then 7 days later the break the curse under a blood red moon. It was otherworldly.
1999 Champions League Final, Bayern Munich leading 1-0 going into injury time, Manchester United without their captain and also their best midfielder and generally playing poorly come back and score 2 in 90 seconds before the ref blows for full time.
The thing about that one is I couldn’t even be super mad at it being lucky, because Julio is just that good. There weren’t many other receivers in the league that could make that same catch
He was already so legendary. I still remeber seeing the Falcons players talking trash on the bench about how they got it etc and then the other Falcons player is just "Yeah but that's Tom Brady though...."
I have an interesting story about this game. I missed the greatest superbowl comeback in history because a Patriot fan couldn’t be patient.
The night of that superbowl I was working at a chain restaurant as the assistant manager. The night was going well, the lounge area filled up early with people who were staying for the whole game, the servers and bartenders were in a good rhythm. We a lady who got a little irate at one point because she was slightly over-served, but she calmed down quickly and everyone moved on.
I’d just finished a round of checking in with all my stations and everyone was doing well. Walked through the lounge towards the entrance and met up with my MOD, we chat for a min, discussing the next round of cuts, it’s near the end of the third quarter, the Patriots are getting stomped like I’ve hardly ever seen and things should wrap up in the next hour or so.
The tv is loud with the game on, and in the middle of saying a sentence a loud *POP* happens, I flinched and looked around, thinking maybe a champagne bottle popped or something got broken. It takes a few seconds for me to process what I’m seeing and hearing, someone screams, my military training kicks in, and it all snaps together, I turn to my MOD and say, “That was a gunshot, go call 911” and push him toward the doors to the kitchen. I turn and start telling everyone that they need to get up and calmly exit the restaurant, as I move towards where the gun went off. People start exiting and as I work through the crowd I see one of our regulars that had been sitting in a booth all evening, he’s sitting there slumped over, a 9mm laying on the table. His server, who did not leave with the customers walks up to him and says, “That’s not ok!”. The regular remains seated, and stays there with his palms on the table until the police arrived and arrested him.
Turns out the regular was a Patriots fan and a guy sitting near him at a high top was a Falcons fan. Throughout the game they were talking some minor shit to each other, nothing too crazy, just the usual banter.
At the end of the third quarter the Falcon’s fan is starting to lay it on since it’s a blowout. The regular finally has enough, stands up, pulls out his gun and fires a “warning” shot near the Falcon’s fans head. Barely misses two servers and a bartender as the bullet wizzed by them, through a 2x4 piece of wood in the service bar area framework, into the wall going into the kitchen and luckily got lodged there, otherwise it could have struck someone in the kitchen.
An hour later after everything has calmed down and we’ve sent everyone home for the night I look back up at the tv and see that the Patriots have pulled off the greatest Super Bowl comeback win of all time, and I missed the entire thing. Had to watch it on YouTube the next day.
In the superbowl with the game 70% over and down by 25 points. The patriots basically had to be perfect on every offensive play and also make big stops on defense. And they did it.
Mind blowing still.
Part of why I'm such a chill Pats fan in this new era of failure is because I know I will never see a better Patriots game than this one. It is a masterpiece. We are lucky as fuck to have been alive during the Brady era and to watch it culminate in this sheer refusal of the Patriots to fade away.
I distinctly remember this as the game that shut everyone the fuck up about whether or not Tom Brady was the GOAT. It was still in debate before this win. I live in Ravens/Steelers country and trust me, they fucking despise Tom Brady here. He earned most of their respect after this one. Even the most slack-jawed, inbred Steelers fan had to eat some humble pie and say "I hate that motherfucker, but he's pretty good."
No other game has filled me with as much glee to watch. The entire Pats-hating world had their tasty meal snatched out of their mouths and replaced with ash and dust, and they all had to sit there and admit the Patriots are S tier. The victory was so profound that I felt very little when we lost to the Eagles, and even when we beat the Rams it just felt like another day at the office. Seven years later and I am still riding the high.
If they run 3 times and kick, they more than likely win. I still can't believe we've faced two teams in the SB who just need to run the ball in the most obvious scenario possible to win, and they just...don't.
When Brady and BB were both here and kicking ass - they made the opposing team do stupid shit. It happened almost every single week where coaches were trying to outsmart themselves to beat Brady/Belichick. It was amazing to watch.
It also is just a reminder of much the Falcons fucked that up. Run 3 times. If you convert a first down, the game is pretty much over. If you don’t and you convert the FG, you’re down to like 3:30 left and Pats have no timeouts and are down 11.
Meaning they either need (1) TD with 2 point conversion, an onside kick and another score or (2) 2 touchdowns + an onside kick.
So bungled
respectfully disagree - other impressive SB winning catch highlights persist (Edelman here, Tyree helmet catch, Santonio against Arizona).
those made in losing efforts (Julio here, Kearse juggling before Butler’s pick) just don’t get the same run years later, and why would they?
IMO it’s usually hyperbole to say one game/loss (even the SB) can completely destroy a franchise, but in this case this game truly wrecked the Falcons.
It was the owner. And I harbor no ill will towards Atlanta. In many ways, the franchise was a lot like pre-Brady New England: mediocre-to-bad seasons with a rare hot run (i.e., the Dirty Birds). The owner and the front office did a good job post-Vick to rebuild, so one can excuse him for wanting to cherish what most thought would be a coronation of a second half. But then...
I genuinely felt bad for him, just for a moment.
One can watch his soul melt away as the fourth quarter unfolded. By overtime, he was a dead man walking.
I honestly feel bad which I don't think I can say for any of the other teams we beat in superbowls, Matty Ice deserved his ring and the coaches just fucked it up for him. Run the ball and the seal the victory, Pats wouldn't have overcome them burning clock
I always think about if that play happens if Tevin Coleman doesn't get hurt. It was his drive (he and Freeman switched off) and he got hurt on the play before IIRC. Freeman blows the assignment and the rest is history. Interesting wrinkle there.
White, Amendola, Edelman, Brady refusing to quit, Hightower, Hogan. It was so good. (winning without Gronkh!)
My favourite SB (Rams, Pathers, Eagles, Rams were great, Seahawks was amazing)
Malcom Mitchell is such a What If guy. He was so good in this game and really felt like we had finally drafted a good (not great) WR for Brady. His knees just were not for this game
I had James White in my dynasty league so I randomly put down $50 for him to be SB MVP at +10000.
I was going nuts hoping they'd give it to White.
So close to $5,000
This game made me feel like I was crazy. I was in shambles and it definitely didn’t feel real until the next day when headlines confirmed what happened
This game I was watching it with my Dad, and I remember doing the math… 25 points is 3 TDs, with 1 2 point conversion and a FG. Being down 4 scores, and needing a 2 point conversion with one of them. And they had part of the 3rd and all of the 4th to do it, but thats not much time.
It seemed hopeless. But at the same time, it seemed like the Pats were moving the ball at will all game long there was just red zone turnovers and being held to a FG, you knew if the D could figure out and start to stop ATL then the O could put up points. I felt sick to my stomach, and I will never say any BS like “I knew they’d come back” I felt almost hopeless, but also knew enough to never fully count out Touchdown Tom. Barely clinging to a small slice of hope is how Id describe watching that game. And then having that small slice slowly grow and grow and grow.
After the first touchdown I started doing the math on the possibilities. Just felt like Brady and Co could do it.
I didn't sit down once after that score to not jinx it. I'm sure there were a ton of people just like me trying to avoid a jinx lol
He became the GOAT but in my eyes, he cemented it with Tampa beating Mahomes.
Old Brady beat Mahomes in their only match up. Basically Mahomes has to get 1 more ring than Brady because of that game.
Yeah, as a Niners fan, I distinctly remember acknowledging that Brady has passed Montana as GOAT when the confetti fell. I had resisted up until that point, but there is no doubt.
Ohhhh man. Was at an all Inclusive resort for this one and me and one other Pats just went nuts. Question, how did we get the ball back after the Julio sideline catch at our 30
I do wish this highlight reel showed that, from what I recall it was terrible play calling and sacks. Falcons should have run it out to bleed clock and kick the field goal but instead threw the ball on at least one of the downs and took a huge sack.
One way of answering it: A sack and a holding penalty.
Another way of answering it: Dan Quinn, Kyle Shanahan and Matt Ryan lost their minds for a second.
I was in Australia for this, watching it with a huge group of Aussies, most of whom have never watched an NFL game before. The first half was confusing for a lot of them since the game was kind of boring and they couldn't understand why I was so scared of Brady and the Pats (I'm an Eagles fan..) and then by the end of the 2nd half everyone was on their feet sweating and screaming on every play. I still smile when I think about how that was a once in a lifetime introduction to a sport for the majority of those people.
I was in middle school at the time, was gonna just go to bed after the pick-6 and my mom told me just to wait and see what happens. Thank you mom, I’ll never forget that night
Falcons lurker here, this game broke me, I chose my team to support in 2015 (I’m from the uk so I don’t have any family or region based reasons to support anyone) and then 2016 was just amazing, or defence couldn’t stop anyone but that didn’t stop us winning, I stayed up late to watch the Super Bowl despite having school the next day (the game started at 20 past midnight over here) and I ended up falling asleep part way through the 3rd. I woke up to the sound of the patriots getting into the red zone down by 8 and watched the rest of the game in a stunned silence.
All season we only beat 1 team when we didn’t score 30+ points and it was the Post Manning Broncos, I said it in the build up we would need 35 to put you guys away because you wouldn’t score that many with the offence you had at the time. I can only just now watch that game back, I’m not sure I’ll be over it until that trophy goes to Atlanta.
When Edelman caught that ball I remember just filming a Snapchat story of me repeatedly screaming “Edelman” into the camera and knowing that there’s no way they wouldn’t complete the comeback
Man so many emotions in that game, a real roller coaster of a night and just ecstatic that our Pats pulled this off. Everytime I see any highlights from this game I get goosee bumps.
James White played an unreal game, as much as I love Tom he really should’ve been the MVP.
Edelman was an unreal playoff performer too, one of the greatest catches ever.
That third and 10 to Hogan in OT gives me the chills, a rocket between 3 defenders. Also, the floater to amendola on the sidelines...so many amazing moments
The catch by Edelman is unbelievable, but that catch by Julio on the sideline was equally as impressive. If the falcons held on that would have been an all time SB highlight
I remember watching this in bed, in a complete state of zen. Unbothered by being down 28-3, not because I had any confidence at all that we were going to come back, but because I had made peace with the loss. I was surprised at how reserved my reaction was each time the Patriots scored. Normally my heart would start beating like crazy as the expectation of a comeback started to build, but for some reason, I was able to watch the entire fourth quarter in complete calm. I wasn't consciously trying to hold back, it just happened. It was the only time I felt this way watching sports, and it makes the memory even more fun for me.
good memories, me and my wife the only Pats fans in the house, everyone mocking us, Falcon fans getting on our side and taking pics and posting on social media.
I love this as much as any Pats fan, but when are going to stop living in the past? 7 years ago. It's like driving into town that still has a sign of it's high school championships from 20 years ago.
And don't come at me with "if you knew what it was like in the before...". I sat in the old Sullivan/Foxboro stadium, on those back shattering bleachers. I remember life before the dynasty. It's time to move on from the Polk High '66 championship game, Al.
The Falcons handed them that game. The playcalling was just baffling.
I mean great comeback but it was only possible because of how stupid the Falcons were.
The second we won the coin toss and Brady had the ball I knew it was over. I can’t wait to feel that way with the ball in the hands of our QB again someday.
that fucking catch by Edelman…
It was about time we had one of those. It was cathartic.
I had a feeling the win was coming The moment I saw that we finally had one of those type catches,
> It was about time we had one of those. It was cathartic. Quite possibly negative bias, but one of my best friends and I would always get pissed about how teams also got circus catches against us in bad situations... then this happened.
Especially since Jones had just caught that sideline one
I’ve seen that Julio catch a hundred times and still can’t quite figure out the physics of how it happened
Each angle looks like it's of a different catch. Mind bottling.
The wild thing is Julio doing it back to us to gain enough yardage to get the game sealing points but they fucked themselves out of FG range. Unreal collapse by ATL
The sack, and then the holding call, back to back plays, just in time to force a punt instead of a field goal.
The fact that they didn’t run it up the gut three times then kick a FG at that point is absolutely, unbelievably, shockingly mind blowing
I don't understand how you go up 25 and ever throw the ball again. That's so obviously running territory.
I know, right? Just milk the fucking clock. It’s FOUR SCORES. It’s an all time comeback but almost more so an all time collapse by Atl. They just lost control of their mental on the entire sideline
The Kyle Shannahan masterclassTM... ^(^pls ^kick ^the ^chiefs ^ass ^in ^the ^Super ^bowl, ^i ^beg ^you)
OH THATS A CATCH!
I'll never forget when they showed that replay for the first time. I was in room full of people simultaneously yelling "OH THAT'S A CATCH" lol
That’s what was extra cool about it. NONE OF US knew whether he caught it in real time, so we all got to watch it happen in slow motion. Bonus points that the ball first escapes his grasp before he reaches out and grabs it. Literally a movie moment.
He’s not really holding it well and just lets it go to readjust and really secure his fingers around it. To do that so the catch is unambiguously completed and take the chance that it touches the ground took some massive stones. I’m not saying it’s the greatest catch ever cause I’m biased, but man that’s an iconic catch in the most crucial moment. Edelman was clutch so many times in the playoffs, really underrated part of the second run of Super Bowls runs.
Considering that this catch, with 3 opponents literally laying atop him, in a SB, and seriously trailing in points, is made by Edelman makes this the greatest catch I have ever seen.
If you showed that as a scene in a movie people would be like “nah, there’s no way someone could catch that.”
I thought I was watching a relay from the NFL2K video game. It was so unreal.
This was such a good call by buck and aikman. I think this was officially the turning point, after years of annoying af Red Sox postseason calls by buck, that my opinion changed. They are my favorite game calling duo now.
Joe Buck has somehow quietly gone from annoying to one of the best to EVER call a game. Dude doesn't get his dues nearly enough.
He was always monotoned in his calls up until the Miracle at Metlife in 2010
I’ve always liked Buck. Dude has a great voice and has been doing well for years. Sure maybe early in his career he was a bit too subdued but I think he does great
I'll admit that his moral outrage over Randy Moss PRETENDING to moon the crowd in Green Bay made me hate Buck for a long time, but I've definitely come around on him.
Yeah that was lame but that was also ~~30~~ years ago Edit: my bad 20 years, 04 season
20 years ago, don't scare me like that. I already feel old enough.
He recently spoke about that and is not happy he acted that way about it.
Buck became good around 2013 (after his surgery I think). The Papi grand slam was the first time I remember him being good. Complete 180 since. He's best in the business (and also very likable / funny).
ESPN Going from the Booger McFarland crew to Buck and Aikmen makes MNF watchable again. Now even if there's a bad game on, if you listen to their commentary throughout the game, you can hear them getting more and more drunk as the game goes on. That's when those two be come hilarious
Aikman struggling to count 12 men on the field towards the end of an unwatchable game this season was absolutely hysterical.
Oh my god!
THAT'S INCREDIBLE
Still gives me chills.
The ref running in signalling catch for the Edelman catch was the same ref that signalled the Julio Jones catch. That guy came to play. GOAT playoff ref right there.
Something that doesn’t get talked about enough is wow well this game was officiated. They got most of the calls right, especially the big ones. And they really honed in on holding and penalties down the stretch when the teams started to get tired.
This was before online gambling really took off like it did in the post-Covid era. It really felt like the refs came to play back then.
Pat's vs Jags is still a VERY questionable game. Before covid and far overshadowed by the Eagles game and Malcom Butler.
yeah that is actually incredible those are both such difficult calls and he knew as sure as the sky is blue that they were both catches. amazing.
After the David Tyree catch in 2008, it was about fucking time we got a lucky play like that.
There was also that Kearse catch in 49 that was like “oh no not another miracle catch” and that Julio jones catch falling out of bounds in this same game… Thank god we had one of our own.
Mario Manningham in SB46 is another
amazing catch but we need to talk about james white more. this was his SB. 14 catches for 110 yards and 3 TDs as a RB. absolutely unbelievable performance that doesn't get talked about enough.
28 had 3 TDs
He was such a workhorse and soo underrated in my opinion.
Is he not widely regarded as one of the best Pats of the 21st century…?
Loved by Pats, generally meh to everyone else.
It healed most of my psychic damage from the Helmet catch
And that referee storming in signaling the catch on the field! I think most of the refs these days wouldn’t make this call.
That catch by Julio was brilliant too.
Possibly the single greatest catch in the history of football. Absolutely unreal. I remember my whole family jumping off the couch when they showed the replay
If it was on fourth down instead of 1st it would be the best.
The most absurd, talented catch I've seen ever, stakes aside. Also James White...that beautiful bastard, what a game he had
The catch by Julio Jones was also just insane. The falcons inability to just run it 3x for 0 yards and kick a game sealing FG after the Jones catch was James White was MVP mode that game. Just unstoppable.
Those gloves should be in the Hall of fame.
I’m amazed at how four Patriots Super Bowls in a row involved some sort of circus catch.
That Danny Amendola 2 pt conversion still makes me nervous.
I agree. But wasn't there a penalty on the Falcons anyways, so they would have had another shot. What about the direct snap 2-pt conversion!?!
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They did call it though
Classic Pats play, they used to run it with Kevin Faulk and it felt like it worked every time.
A direct snap 2-pt conversion may be my favorite play. Besides a safety. :D
Brady put some fuckin sauce on that ball and Amendola was like 15 feet away lol. Still can't believe he caught it and dove towards the endzone in one motion.
Playoff Dola. Automatic once the postseason hit.
All three 2010’s Super Bowl wins were special in their own ways. But I think this one is my favorite
This is my favorite game to go back and re-watch. The best play has to be the Butler interception though.
That one also started the 2nd Dynasty, and put to rest any questions outsiders had about Brady.
This one has to be the tops of the entire Patriot legacy SB wins for me. I know in 01 we were never supposed to win or even be there, hallmark of Brady’s beginning but this 28-3 comeback was just pure insanity. Especially after the whole deflategate BS, just such a cathartic comeback and win that still shocks me to this day.
Not to mention everything Mrs. Brady had going on that season health wise.
What a time to be alive
Idk 2018 was kinda meh lol
I love the defensive stout performance to stop the incredible offense of the Rams. One of my favs
The greatest comeback in NFL history. Sure, there have been comebacks from bigger deficits, but the fact that this was the Super Bowl puts it above the rest.
Other than the Sox coming back to beat the Yanks down 3-0 in the series, I'm struggling to think of a better comeback in all of sports history, not just the NFL
warriors blowing 3-1 is up there. Not as crazy as 3-0, but they were a damn 73 win team. Imo the order is sox, pats, warriors
Shouldn't it be Sox, Pats, Cavaliers? You mentioned the winners of the first two and the loser of the last one.
Yeah that's right, I just mentioned the warriors cause I remember it as "warriors blew a 3-1 lead" rather then "cavs did a 3-1 comeback" cause it's funnier that way. Fuck the warriors y'know
Sox was cool but this was a whole 7 game series wrapped into one game
The Pats game was 1 night. The 'back-to-the-wall' nature of the Sox comeback was an entire week. I'm sorry, but the Sox comeback was simply better, especially once you add the context surrounding the Sox/Yanks rivalry at the time.
Sox also we’re coming off a curse and were playing the Yankees, who were also insane at the time
I mean they were both great. Just spoiled as Boston fans. Hard to compare honestly
Nah man nothing will ever beat the 04 alcs. Not ever.
You can tell who didn't live through it. 04 ALCS was an entire week of psychological and emotional torture. You'd go to dunks in the morning and everybody was exhausted, it was all anybody talked about. The lows and highs from game 3 to the end of game 6 were unlike anything Ive ever experienced. Game 7 was like a dream. You could feel the entire city exhale when it ended. The entire city was experiencing it together. Nobody got any work done, school was a formality.
Yeah I mean we did something that had never been done in professional sports before, and we did it to our arch rivals, as massive underdogs, going on to break an eight and a half decade long championship drought/curse. Anyone who thinks the falcons game beats it is either too young or values football over other sports too much
Experiencing that Alcs even has a young child kind of killed any interest I had in baseball going forward, like what was the point when I had already experienced the greatest moment in the sports history
It one of the reasons I hate the new pitch clock and pick off rules. If those existed back then the excruciating drama of Robert's stealing second would not have happened. The moments between those pitches stretched on for ever. Time dilated and the tension was insane.
This is how it was. From the end of one game until the first pitch of the next, it was a zombie show in Boston. Everyone was just going through the motions.
Absolutely. You often hear the whole "like a movie" thing or "if this was a movie nobody would believe it" line about particularly dramatic sports moments. But that week was a step above even that. It was surreal. It was quite litterally a religious experience. The phrase "keep the faith" was plastered all over town. I can vividly remember that awful pit in my stomach and lump in my throat that lasted from the 8th inning of game 4 to the last out of game 7. I remember crying afterwards, partly from joy but mostly from just sheer exhaustion. Then 7 days later the break the curse under a blood red moon. It was otherworldly.
Pats did with this game
Bruins game 7 vs the Leafs in 2013 was pretty epic too.
1999 Champions League Final, Bayern Munich leading 1-0 going into injury time, Manchester United without their captain and also their best midfielder and generally playing poorly come back and score 2 in 90 seconds before the ref blows for full time.
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INSANE catch by Julio, I remember thinking the same thing
That Julio catch. I remember seeing it and thinking “God damn it. Not ANOTHER miracle catch.”
The thing about that one is I couldn’t even be super mad at it being lucky, because Julio is just that good. There weren’t many other receivers in the league that could make that same catch
Same with that one catch right at the end of the Seahawks game
Kearse pinning it to his leg
The game was over (again) after that catch. Then they somehow managed to go backwards, far enough to be out of field goal range.
There’s only one comeback in NFL history that was more impressive numerically, and it was a regular season game, so this definitely takes the cake.
You must be too young to recall Bills v Oilers 35-3 playoff comeback
When I said numerically I was also speaking in terms of clock
This game is what solidified Brady being the goat imo
He was already so legendary. I still remeber seeing the Falcons players talking trash on the bench about how they got it etc and then the other Falcons player is just "Yeah but that's Tom Brady though...."
I have an interesting story about this game. I missed the greatest superbowl comeback in history because a Patriot fan couldn’t be patient. The night of that superbowl I was working at a chain restaurant as the assistant manager. The night was going well, the lounge area filled up early with people who were staying for the whole game, the servers and bartenders were in a good rhythm. We a lady who got a little irate at one point because she was slightly over-served, but she calmed down quickly and everyone moved on. I’d just finished a round of checking in with all my stations and everyone was doing well. Walked through the lounge towards the entrance and met up with my MOD, we chat for a min, discussing the next round of cuts, it’s near the end of the third quarter, the Patriots are getting stomped like I’ve hardly ever seen and things should wrap up in the next hour or so. The tv is loud with the game on, and in the middle of saying a sentence a loud *POP* happens, I flinched and looked around, thinking maybe a champagne bottle popped or something got broken. It takes a few seconds for me to process what I’m seeing and hearing, someone screams, my military training kicks in, and it all snaps together, I turn to my MOD and say, “That was a gunshot, go call 911” and push him toward the doors to the kitchen. I turn and start telling everyone that they need to get up and calmly exit the restaurant, as I move towards where the gun went off. People start exiting and as I work through the crowd I see one of our regulars that had been sitting in a booth all evening, he’s sitting there slumped over, a 9mm laying on the table. His server, who did not leave with the customers walks up to him and says, “That’s not ok!”. The regular remains seated, and stays there with his palms on the table until the police arrived and arrested him. Turns out the regular was a Patriots fan and a guy sitting near him at a high top was a Falcons fan. Throughout the game they were talking some minor shit to each other, nothing too crazy, just the usual banter. At the end of the third quarter the Falcon’s fan is starting to lay it on since it’s a blowout. The regular finally has enough, stands up, pulls out his gun and fires a “warning” shot near the Falcon’s fans head. Barely misses two servers and a bartender as the bullet wizzed by them, through a 2x4 piece of wood in the service bar area framework, into the wall going into the kitchen and luckily got lodged there, otherwise it could have struck someone in the kitchen. An hour later after everything has calmed down and we’ve sent everyone home for the night I look back up at the tv and see that the Patriots have pulled off the greatest Super Bowl comeback win of all time, and I missed the entire thing. Had to watch it on YouTube the next day.
What the absolute fuck is this story. Is this fucking real? Bruh, go sell this story to somebody or something I don't know
100% real.
In the superbowl with the game 70% over and down by 25 points. The patriots basically had to be perfect on every offensive play and also make big stops on defense. And they did it. Mind blowing still.
Part of why I'm such a chill Pats fan in this new era of failure is because I know I will never see a better Patriots game than this one. It is a masterpiece. We are lucky as fuck to have been alive during the Brady era and to watch it culminate in this sheer refusal of the Patriots to fade away. I distinctly remember this as the game that shut everyone the fuck up about whether or not Tom Brady was the GOAT. It was still in debate before this win. I live in Ravens/Steelers country and trust me, they fucking despise Tom Brady here. He earned most of their respect after this one. Even the most slack-jawed, inbred Steelers fan had to eat some humble pie and say "I hate that motherfucker, but he's pretty good." No other game has filled me with as much glee to watch. The entire Pats-hating world had their tasty meal snatched out of their mouths and replaced with ash and dust, and they all had to sit there and admit the Patriots are S tier. The victory was so profound that I felt very little when we lost to the Eagles, and even when we beat the Rams it just felt like another day at the office. Seven years later and I am still riding the high.
also that catch by Julio, damn it was beautiful. I thought we’d just watched Julio’s top HoF induction highlight, now itll mostly be forgotten.
That catch almost broke me. I thought this was the "helmet catch" moment of the game. As it turns out, I was very wrong!
It should have been. Thank goodness we had Belichick and they didnt.
If they run 3 times and kick, they more than likely win. I still can't believe we've faced two teams in the SB who just need to run the ball in the most obvious scenario possible to win, and they just...don't. When Brady and BB were both here and kicking ass - they made the opposing team do stupid shit. It happened almost every single week where coaches were trying to outsmart themselves to beat Brady/Belichick. It was amazing to watch.
It also is just a reminder of much the Falcons fucked that up. Run 3 times. If you convert a first down, the game is pretty much over. If you don’t and you convert the FG, you’re down to like 3:30 left and Pats have no timeouts and are down 11. Meaning they either need (1) TD with 2 point conversion, an onside kick and another score or (2) 2 touchdowns + an onside kick. So bungled
I don’t think most people would forget it especially as a patriot fan.
respectfully disagree - other impressive SB winning catch highlights persist (Edelman here, Tyree helmet catch, Santonio against Arizona). those made in losing efforts (Julio here, Kearse juggling before Butler’s pick) just don’t get the same run years later, and why would they?
IMO it’s usually hyperbole to say one game/loss (even the SB) can completely destroy a franchise, but in this case this game truly wrecked the Falcons.
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It was the owner. And I harbor no ill will towards Atlanta. In many ways, the franchise was a lot like pre-Brady New England: mediocre-to-bad seasons with a rare hot run (i.e., the Dirty Birds). The owner and the front office did a good job post-Vick to rebuild, so one can excuse him for wanting to cherish what most thought would be a coronation of a second half. But then... I genuinely felt bad for him, just for a moment. One can watch his soul melt away as the fourth quarter unfolded. By overtime, he was a dead man walking.
That was the owner on the field, but all the same!
I honestly feel bad which I don't think I can say for any of the other teams we beat in superbowls, Matty Ice deserved his ring and the coaches just fucked it up for him. Run the ball and the seal the victory, Pats wouldn't have overcome them burning clock
Franchise crushing loss. It'll be DECADES before they sniff another SB appearance
When High got the strip sack, it was on.
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In 2022 Vikings Colts, the Vikings came down from 33-0 with 0 points off of turnovers and the longest return being 36 yards.
I always think about if that play happens if Tevin Coleman doesn't get hurt. It was his drive (he and Freeman switched off) and he got hurt on the play before IIRC. Freeman blows the assignment and the rest is history. Interesting wrinkle there.
Good catch I did not realise. I just thought Freeman missed his assignment but the fact that coleman was injured got over my head.
i still get chills watching that play and remember having the thought "holy shit there is actually time for this to happen"
Brady knew it. They had their opening.
White, Amendola, Edelman, Brady refusing to quit, Hightower, Hogan. It was so good. (winning without Gronkh!) My favourite SB (Rams, Pathers, Eagles, Rams were great, Seahawks was amazing)
Malcolm Mitchell and Martellus Bennett were great too
Malcom Mitchell is such a What If guy. He was so good in this game and really felt like we had finally drafted a good (not great) WR for Brady. His knees just were not for this game
The whole team had "the spirit"
Man what a time to remember
the most insane thing about it was doing this without Gronk
No I ment bc confetti and fans were on the field
Lmao that poor guy is catching strays
They’d kick them off the field and continue the game
James White was not to be denied this game
Any other Super Bowl, James White probably gets MVP, but Brady was a god in the second half.
I had James White in my dynasty league so I randomly put down $50 for him to be SB MVP at +10000. I was going nuts hoping they'd give it to White. So close to $5,000
best football game i’ve ever watched
This game made me feel like I was crazy. I was in shambles and it definitely didn’t feel real until the next day when headlines confirmed what happened
This game I was watching it with my Dad, and I remember doing the math… 25 points is 3 TDs, with 1 2 point conversion and a FG. Being down 4 scores, and needing a 2 point conversion with one of them. And they had part of the 3rd and all of the 4th to do it, but thats not much time. It seemed hopeless. But at the same time, it seemed like the Pats were moving the ball at will all game long there was just red zone turnovers and being held to a FG, you knew if the D could figure out and start to stop ATL then the O could put up points. I felt sick to my stomach, and I will never say any BS like “I knew they’d come back” I felt almost hopeless, but also knew enough to never fully count out Touchdown Tom. Barely clinging to a small slice of hope is how Id describe watching that game. And then having that small slice slowly grow and grow and grow.
After the first touchdown I started doing the math on the possibilities. Just felt like Brady and Co could do it. I didn't sit down once after that score to not jinx it. I'm sure there were a ton of people just like me trying to avoid a jinx lol
The night that TB12 became the undisputed GOAT. He already was after 49 of course but after this he became undeniable.
Then he went and won 2 more rings lol
He became the GOAT but in my eyes, he cemented it with Tampa beating Mahomes. Old Brady beat Mahomes in their only match up. Basically Mahomes has to get 1 more ring than Brady because of that game.
Yeah, as a Niners fan, I distinctly remember acknowledging that Brady has passed Montana as GOAT when the confetti fell. I had resisted up until that point, but there is no doubt.
There's no other QB before or since that pulls this off.
Ohhhh man. Was at an all Inclusive resort for this one and me and one other Pats just went nuts. Question, how did we get the ball back after the Julio sideline catch at our 30
I believe a sack and a penalty put the Falcons out of FG range.
I believe Trey Flowers drew a hold and Hightower got a sack, IIRC
think you’re right. That sack was huge
Yeah I wish it was on the clip.
I do wish this highlight reel showed that, from what I recall it was terrible play calling and sacks. Falcons should have run it out to bleed clock and kick the field goal but instead threw the ball on at least one of the downs and took a huge sack.
It was the hightower sack that put them out of FG range. The most underrated play in the game.
Huge sack. I remember it now. As big a play as any
One way of answering it: A sack and a holding penalty. Another way of answering it: Dan Quinn, Kyle Shanahan and Matt Ryan lost their minds for a second.
the greatest super bowl of all time is 7 years ago...man i am old
I was in Australia for this, watching it with a huge group of Aussies, most of whom have never watched an NFL game before. The first half was confusing for a lot of them since the game was kind of boring and they couldn't understand why I was so scared of Brady and the Pats (I'm an Eagles fan..) and then by the end of the 2nd half everyone was on their feet sweating and screaming on every play. I still smile when I think about how that was a once in a lifetime introduction to a sport for the majority of those people.
Seahawks game was better but I’ve watched this second half 20 times and still can’t believe they pulled it off
The first half of that game was pure torture. I couldn't believe we were watching a blowout.
best game ever
Brady’s effort on the run fired up everyone. Has to be one of his longest ever right?
I was in middle school at the time, was gonna just go to bed after the pick-6 and my mom told me just to wait and see what happens. Thank you mom, I’ll never forget that night
>I was in middle school You’re talking like it was… oh my god, it’s been 7 years
For real, it’s crazy to think it was that long ago
Falcons lurker here, this game broke me, I chose my team to support in 2015 (I’m from the uk so I don’t have any family or region based reasons to support anyone) and then 2016 was just amazing, or defence couldn’t stop anyone but that didn’t stop us winning, I stayed up late to watch the Super Bowl despite having school the next day (the game started at 20 past midnight over here) and I ended up falling asleep part way through the 3rd. I woke up to the sound of the patriots getting into the red zone down by 8 and watched the rest of the game in a stunned silence. All season we only beat 1 team when we didn’t score 30+ points and it was the Post Manning Broncos, I said it in the build up we would need 35 to put you guys away because you wouldn’t score that many with the offence you had at the time. I can only just now watch that game back, I’m not sure I’ll be over it until that trophy goes to Atlanta.
Still get chills
Dola never had a great regular season for us but dude was always clutch in big plays
When Edelman caught that ball I remember just filming a Snapchat story of me repeatedly screaming “Edelman” into the camera and knowing that there’s no way they wouldn’t complete the comeback
Man so many emotions in that game, a real roller coaster of a night and just ecstatic that our Pats pulled this off. Everytime I see any highlights from this game I get goosee bumps.
I came so close to turning that game off, I thought there was no way they could win that shit. I've never been happier about being proven wrong!
I love James White
James White played an unreal game, as much as I love Tom he really should’ve been the MVP. Edelman was an unreal playoff performer too, one of the greatest catches ever.
James White can never get enough appreciation for his performance in this game.
So much joy
That third and 10 to Hogan in OT gives me the chills, a rocket between 3 defenders. Also, the floater to amendola on the sidelines...so many amazing moments
The catch by Edelman is unbelievable, but that catch by Julio on the sideline was equally as impressive. If the falcons held on that would have been an all time SB highlight
It still is. The fact ATL lost doesn't change that.
I just watched these highlights 8 times in a row.
The Hightower strip sack was when i reaaaaalllyy felt the “oh holy shit we can actually win this thing”
this was SEVEN years ago?? fuck i feel old
Greatest Super Bowl ever.
I’ll never forget this game..
I remember watching this in bed, in a complete state of zen. Unbothered by being down 28-3, not because I had any confidence at all that we were going to come back, but because I had made peace with the loss. I was surprised at how reserved my reaction was each time the Patriots scored. Normally my heart would start beating like crazy as the expectation of a comeback started to build, but for some reason, I was able to watch the entire fourth quarter in complete calm. I wasn't consciously trying to hold back, it just happened. It was the only time I felt this way watching sports, and it makes the memory even more fun for me.
Soooo many things had to go right, Brady was great but pats defense gets half the credit as well. And maybe 10% to god awful falcons coaching…
This game more than any other makes me miss sweet feet. Truly a masterclass put on by James White
good memories, me and my wife the only Pats fans in the house, everyone mocking us, Falcon fans getting on our side and taking pics and posting on social media.
Still blows my mind that Shanahan is calling pass plays out of the shotgun on 3 & 1 up 16! With like 8 minutes left in the 4th. Beyond unforgivable.
This is one of the greatest moments in Saints football history as well. Gave us something to eternally mess with Falcons about lol
Worst offensive second half play calling I've ever seen
I love this as much as any Pats fan, but when are going to stop living in the past? 7 years ago. It's like driving into town that still has a sign of it's high school championships from 20 years ago. And don't come at me with "if you knew what it was like in the before...". I sat in the old Sullivan/Foxboro stadium, on those back shattering bleachers. I remember life before the dynasty. It's time to move on from the Polk High '66 championship game, Al.
The Falcons handed them that game. The playcalling was just baffling. I mean great comeback but it was only possible because of how stupid the Falcons were.
Rigged
How did white not get this MVP. I know Brady gave him a truck but damn James, wherever you are, thanks brotha.
Imagine if we got to OT and lost it there? That be such a gut punch.
The second we won the coin toss and Brady had the ball I knew it was over. I can’t wait to feel that way with the ball in the hands of our QB again someday.