Four Down Territory: Super Bowl LI

What. A. Game.

In case you were too busy watching the puppy bowl or binge watching something on Netflix then let me be one of the first to talk about the treat you missed. I don’t want to get into the details right now because that would defeat the purpose of reading four down territory.

With that, let’s start the drive.

1st Down: I think it’s safe to say that Tom Brady is the best to ever do this quarterbacking thing, right? Down 21-3 at halftime Brady engineered the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. He broke a few records along the way as well. His fifth ring gives him the most by any quarterback to ever play. Again, he’s pretty good at this QB thing. He also passed Joe Montana for most Super Bowl MVPs with four. Brady had the most pass attempts (62) and completions (43). With that he also set a new record in passing yards (466). The last, and most impressive stat, is that Brady now holds the most game-winning drives in the postseason (10). I’m not a Brady fan in the slightest but it’s hard to ignore his greatness. Oh yeah, he won the Super Bowl with a bunch of average receivers and no Gronk.

Talk your sh*t, Tom. You’re untouchable.

2nd Down: With every great comeback there’s a great choke job. Atlanta remembered its deep history of crumbling on the biggest stages at the worst time. After dominating the first half and most of the third quarter the Falcons, for some reason, just collapsed. It’s the NFL equivalent of the Warriors blowing a 3….you know the rest. The backbreaker is the drive where Julio made the catch of the game (yes, it was better than Edelman‘s) and the Falcons had first and ten on the Patriots 22. A run for a one yard loss was followed by a sack then topped off with a holding call and incomplete pass. Those series of events led to a punt and Tom’s swan song. Hindsight is always 20/20 but Shanahan should have ran the ball three times or given Ryan a play that didn’t take long to develop. Take the field goal and win the game. The good news is that Atlanta’s core is young and under contract. It’s going to take a lot to shake off this defeat but Atlanta could very well return to the Super Bowl next year.

3rd Down: The Super Bowl and commercials go together like Gatorade and Vodka (seriously, it’s a great combination). This year advertisements ranged from political issues to downright stupidity. Below are some of my favorites.

84 Lumber: This commercial was, by far, the best. Simplicity and emotions are always good for advertising. A message of acceptance is always a good sight, no matter what your politics are.

Mr. Clean: This ad was hilarious, well done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDzMxlw2Fgo

Stranger Things 2: This commercial was the most exciting….I mean ELEVEN IS BACK and those Ghostbusters costumes are legit. Classic 80’s.

4th Down: We can’t talk about Atlanta football without talking about Michael Vick. Last week 7 decided to call it a career and published a heartfelt letter to the city of Atlanta. He ends his career with 6,109 rushing yards (a record) 21,503 passing yards, 131 passing TDs, a four time pro bowler, and an iconic force that changed the game. The question now is, does Vick deserve to be in the HOF? I say yes. He’s not a first-ballot guy but Vick definitely deserves a gold jacket one day. I’m sure some voters will hold his dogfighting past against him, and that’s childish, but he’s getting in.

Extra Tidbits: Speaking of the Hall of Fame, how on earth do you exclude Brian Dawkins AND TO for Morten Anderson (a kicker) and Jerry Jones? Someone, please explain that to me. Gaga’s performance was just okay for me, thoughts?

@ me: mattgarrett41

As always, thanks for reading.

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