Game Thread Replay: SB LI - Birth of an Atlanta Dynasty?

Dollar

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"Tom, how'd you bring the team back?"
"We all brought each other back."

Damn, I'm going to miss that guy.
 

tims4wins

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The OT throw to Dola early in the drive is possibly my favorite ever Brady throw.

Edit: or it may be more accurate to say it was possibly the best throw of his career. Just immaculate. I think Zo described it as sick. Buck could tell immediately what a great throw it was too.
 

ilol@u

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The OT throw to Dola early in the drive is possibly my favorite ever Brady throw.

Edit: or it may be more accurate to say it was possibly the best throw of his career. Just immaculate. I think Zo described it as sick. Buck could tell immediately what a great throw it was too.
Agreed, definitely top 3 throw by Brady. Another favorite throw is a missle dart to Cordell Patterson for a TD a few years ago.
 

amRadio

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I'll always take the go-ahead TD pass to Lafell in the 2014 divisional round vs. Baltimore as Brady's best throw. The Amendola OT pass is certainly in that same rare air.
 

streeter88

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I'll always take the go-ahead TD pass to Lafell in the 2014 divisional round vs. Baltimore as Brady's best throw. The Amendola OT pass is certainly in that same rare air.
Just watched that on 3 Games to Glory 4 on Saturday night!

Fell asleep watching 6 last night...

Both throws were incredible. I am partial to the one vs the 49ers to Mitchell in 2016 as well.

(Edited)
 

BaseballJones

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Just watched that on 3 Games to Glory 4 on Saturday night!

Fell asleep watching 6 last night...

Both throws were incredible. I am partial to the one vs the 49ers to Mitchell in 2016 as well.

(Edited)
The throw to Gronk in SB 53 was also absolutely elite. Perfectly placed, small window, IMMENSELY clutch. Basically that throw won the Super Bowl.
 
Aug 20, 2017
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Just watched that on 3 Games to Glory 4 on Saturday night!

Fell asleep watching 6 last night...

Both throws were incredible. I am partial to the one vs the 49ers two years back as well though.
It might just be recency bias or the fact that it ended up being their final(?) connection. The throw to Gronk against the Rams was so amazing not only from Brady, but also with Gronk knowing exactly where he needed to go. It might be my favorite.

The Lafell pass was a perfect one and the Dola pass left me in awe.
 

InstaFace

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Still don’t understand that play.
Christ, it almost worked.
You mean the misdirection punt return at the start of the 4th quarter, which would have been TD-Patriots if the one gunner hadn't recognized it and peeled off to make the stop in wide-open space?

I always thought that was a really underrated play, it got a little mention around here at the time but zero beyond here that I saw.
 

RG33

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I have re-watched this game in full like 4 times now, and it never gets old. For me, it is the singular, most incomprehensible comeback win in any sport, of any team, in any venue -- and it was my team, and I was there. Nothing will ever be better.
 

Gambler7

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The OT throw to Dola early in the drive is possibly my favorite ever Brady throw.

Edit: or it may be more accurate to say it was possibly the best throw of his career. Just immaculate. I think Zo described it as sick. Buck could tell immediately what a great throw it was too.
I was at the game with my Dad and brother. We were on that side of the field where Amendola caught it on the other 30 yard line near where the Pat's scored the final TD. Only about 20 rows up so that throw was coming at us. He threw that so far ahead of Amendola even making the cut it was unreal. We all just looked and stared at each other after. Best throw I have ever seen live.
 

Jim Ed Rice in HOF

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You mean the misdirection punt return at the start of the 4th quarter, which would have been TD-Patriots if the one gunner hadn't recognized it and peeled off to make the stop in wide-open space?

I always thought that was a really underrated play, it got a little mention around here at the time but zero beyond here that I saw.
I was talking about the play with like 3 seconds left at the end of the game when Brady peeled off right and Dion went left.
 

InstaFace

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Got it, so this one.

Can't embed so click the link: View: https://youtu.be/noLK78Hgq0A?t=8071


Yeah I'll give that a "brilliant" rating, Josh having something nifty in his bag of tricks there. They had HUGE numbers advantages on that side of the field and if Lewis hadn't gotten chased down from behind by a D-lineman (which frankly shouldn't have happened), the O-line would've flattened every defender between Lewis and the endzone. Would have been a walk-in. They needed a lineman to peel off and take out #91 coming up from behind, and you'd give Dion a 50-50 chance of scoring I think from that point.
 

tims4wins

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Got it, so this one.

Can't embed so click the link: View: https://youtu.be/noLK78Hgq0A?t=8071


Yeah I'll give that a "brilliant" rating, Josh having something nifty in his bag of tricks there. They had HUGE numbers advantages on that side of the field and if Lewis hadn't gotten chased down from behind by a D-lineman (which frankly shouldn't have happened), the O-line would've flattened every defender between Lewis and the endzone. Would have been a walk-in. They needed a lineman to peel off and take out #91 coming up from behind, and you'd give Dion a 50-50 chance of scoring I think from that point.
Yeah it’s like a 7 on 3. Lewis could have gone very very far if someone had peeled back on the lineman.
 

Marciano490

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I’d be curious what halftime adjustments people here made that obviously affected the outcome of the game.

For example, I jumped a cab at halftime over to the west side, barely arriving for the start of the third quarter.

I’m still waiting for my ring.
 

tims4wins

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I’d be curious what halftime adjustments people here made that obviously affected the outcome of the game.

For example, I jumped a cab at halftime over to the west side, barely arriving for the start of the third quarter.

I’m still waiting for my ring.
I stopped watching at 28-3. My dad and sister kept watching. I sat in my dark office with my beer. I followed on my phone. I could faintly hear the TV from two rooms over. I just sat there quietly refreshing the app, SoSH, and Twitter while sipping my beer. I resisted temptation to watch at a few different points but stayed put. So you’re welcome.
 

E5 Yaz

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I’d be curious what halftime adjustments people here made that obviously affected the outcome of the game.

For example, I jumped a cab at halftime over to the west side, barely arriving for the start of the third quarter.

I’m still waiting for my ring.
We turned it off at 28-3. I went into the den, and started following a bit on SoSH. My wife, meanwhile, turned the game back on and put the TV on mute. When it got to 28-20, I started to come downstairs, and she told me to "get your butt back up there."

She let me come down for the overtime, but we kept the sound off until the touchdown.

They owe her big-time
 
Last edited:

Marciano490

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I’ll also add that I held in an incredible amount of urine the whole second half.

I don’t want to use the word hero, but...
 
I’d be curious what halftime adjustments people here made that obviously affected the outcome of the game.
I started smiling uncontrollably at the thought of how I was very likely to be watching my first ever Atlanta sports title (having been abroad for the Braves in 1995 and missed the whole thing) - it was sheer ecstasy in my living room at 1 a.m., UK time. So yeah, all of you had that going for you.
 

Dick Drago

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My wife decided to invite people over to watch. Me and one other guy, a Giants fan rooting for Atlanta the only football fans. A friend from Australia, a woman from India, and the Italian couple next door. All asking me about the rules of the game, what just happened, was it good for my team etc.

Absurd, Like a bad SNL skit.

Final straw was the Atlanta TD at the start of the 2nd half and the Aussie asked Why this was the championship since one team was so superior.

I have rarely been so rude—stormed into the bedroom where we’d parked our 4 year old. Started watching in there and slammed the door shut. Toward the end of the game I’d be screaming—my 4 year old mimicking me and yelling loudly. After each yell there’d be laughter in the living room—just a normal party.

The three passes in OT—Amendola, the sideline route to Hogan (who was usually terrible at that route) and the down the middle into traffic throw to Edelman...all had such a minuscule margin of error. The Hogan and Edelman throws get picked if not perfectly thrown. Man, not a second of hesitation from Brady..., just cool, calm, and determined. As Tony Romo once said, assassin.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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I’d be curious what halftime adjustments people here made that obviously affected the outcome of the game.

For example, I jumped a cab at halftime over to the west side, barely arriving for the start of the third quarter.

I’m still waiting for my ring.
Ive learned to stop having larger parties when the Patriots are playing in the playoffs. Invite some family over which is still about 15ish people.

Usually, the men end up downstairs in the mancave where I have a projector screen in one side of the finished basement. At 28-3, I got off the couch and watched the game above my bar on the other side of the basement. Plan was to get away from people and get angry drunk. My FIL joined me a few minutes later. Aside from random high-five trips across the basement, nobody was allowed to move while the comeback was on.

Like Marciano, I'm still waiting for my ring.
 

canvass ali

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Jul 17, 2005
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I was watching with my ex and our 16 year old son who has only known NE sports dominance in his lifetime. When it got to 28-9 he said,"C'mon dad, it's Tom Brady, anything can happen". He also asked his mother and I to join hands with him in some rally-pact which we both declined since we haven't actually touched in years and are keeping it that way. There's a stretch of carpet I have literally worn a path in from nervous pacing (most of the damage is Kimbrel-specific) and I paced a couple of miles in the last quarter alone. Anyway, all credit goes to the kid, honorable mention to me and the ex for keeping the no-contact streak alive. Send his ring to me, I'll see he gets it.
 

Cotillion

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I was at a Church mass and Tet celebration for most of the game. So was doing updates on the ESPN app. Kept checking it. Kept seeing worse and worse news.

Finally stopped checking after the pick 6 if I recall correctly. Just focused on the rest of the party. Then as I went to get the car while the wife and little one waited at the entrance, I decided i should check in one last time on the radio. At that point I think they were back within one or two scores. So I kept listening all the way on the drive home.

Got home parked the car in our driveway. Unloaded the little one that had fallen asleep. Got the wife situated also. And then went back out into the car to listen to the OT drive in the car even though I could have easily just turned on the TV at that point.

You’re welcome.

I then watched the entirety of the game on my DVR for the rest of the night. Beauty of living on the west coast. So it ended up like I had watched the game on the East coast relatively speaking.
 

Van Everyman

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I feel like a sneaky “most important play of the game” play was the Hogan first down on the game tying drive. They were on, like, their own 3 yard line. They don't convert there and they almost certainly have to punt. It's just incredible how many things had to go right to win that game.
 

BigSoxFan

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I feel like a sneaky “most important play of the game” play was the Hogan first down on the game tying drive. They were on, like, their own 3 yard line. They don't convert there and they almost certainly have to punt. It's just incredible how many things had to go right to win that game.
I was having pressure leading to intentional grounding call flashbacks before that one.
 

Van Everyman

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I was having pressure leading to intentional grounding call flashbacks before that one.
Yes -- and Brady's throws on first and second down weren't exactly confidence inducing. The one to Edelman in that series that bounced up in the air was slightly terrifying.
 

Al Zarilla

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My wife decided to invite people over to watch. Me and one other guy, a Giants fan rooting for Atlanta the only football fans. A friend from Australia, a woman from India, and the Italian couple next door. All asking me about the rules of the game, what just happened, was it good for my team etc.

Absurd, Like a bad SNL skit.
That’s hilarious. Did any of them tell you that their football was so much older and the superior game? After the two SBs against that New Jersey team, I decided to watch alone, which paid off; accepting thanks for 51 and 53.
 

staz

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The cradle of the game.
You mean the misdirection punt return at the start of the 4th quarter, which would have been TD-Patriots if the one gunner hadn't recognized it and peeled off to make the stop in wide-open space?

I always thought that was a really underrated play, it got a little mention around here at the time but zero beyond here that I saw.
No, the last play of regulation where Brady and a receiver run in one direction, while everyone else blocks for Dion Lewis who received a direct snap. It really almost worked.
 

DJnVa

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The OT throw to Dola early in the drive is possibly my favorite ever Brady throw.

Edit: or it may be more accurate to say it was possibly the best throw of his career. Just immaculate. I think Zo described it as sick. Buck could tell immediately what a great throw it was too.
I like his one to Hogan on the final drive of regulation. It was 3rd and long and there's a replay from behind Brady where he throws it before Hogan had fully made the cut and turned around. I know throws are made all the time before players turn for them, but in that situation, just seeing it from that angle was awesome.
 

DJnVa

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I did not stop watching. I was at my friend's house for watch party and everyone had left at halftime (they had young kids, etc.). All that was left was me, the host, his wife, and his dad. And the host is not a Pats fan, but unlike most fans of other teams he enjoys them. The ruthlessness, the absolutely focus on simply winning. And he kept saying "It's not over. There's no way Brady gets blown out. It's not going to happen." He had more faith than I did. We still talk about it.
 

PedroKsBambino

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Spectacular job by Payton

We are so blessed to have the unanswerable "0-3" to any Yankees fan and "28-3" to Atlanta fans. There simply is no comeback to it.