So Close, Yet So Far

This one will hurt for a while.

The Atlanta Falcons were seemingly well on their way to their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history. Leading 28-3 with most of the third quarter in the books, the Falcons seemed set to take the stage as professional football’s best team.

Why does that famous Yogi Berra quote keep coming to mind?

It’s not that Atlanta players and coaches simply thought the win had become guaranteed. Rather it was the New England Patriots, an organization that has been on this big stage so many times before, simply never gave up.

As long as there was a legitimate chance to win, the Patriots were going to keep trying. Tom Brady was going to keep throwing passes. His receivers were going to keep making catches. The New England defense was going to keep making enough plays to keep the game just within reach.

Yes, it took a long line of incredible plays and circumstances, but the Patriots somehow, and seemingly against all odds, were the ones enjoying the postgame celebration late Sunday evening.

A stunned Atlanta Falcons fan base could only sit and watch (although I imagine a number of television sets were immediately turned off once the game-winning touchdown was scored in overtime) as New England accepted yet another Lombardi Trophy.

In looking back, my prediction of a New England victory by seven points was pretty close. The Patriots won by six points and that was because the extra-point attempt was not necessary in overtime.

The way New England gained its six-point victory, however, is something I would have never dreamed up or predicted. The Patriots fell behind 28-3 and it just didn’t seem possible they would be able to rally, not even with the player many (myself included) believe is the greatest quarterback ever to play the game.

It got to a point where everything had to go right for New England to even be able to tie the game and force overtime. It would take two touchdowns as well as successful two-point conversions after both scores. It would mean Atlanta could not score any more points. Even a field goal by the Falcons would put the game out of reach because New England would not be able to have enough possessions at that point to catch up.

The 51st edition of the Super Bowl will be talked about for some time. So often these games don’t live up to the hype and for almost three quarters this one didn’t.

Two turnovers by the Patriots certainly helped the Falcons but one has to remember that the Atlanta defense caused both of those turnovers.

The end result from the game was a textbook definition of never giving up. As long as there is enough time on the clock to have a chance to rally, you can’t give in. New England never stopped believing and one has to wonder if Atlanta had gotten to the point where it was simply hoping the clock would run out.

By the start of the overtime, the Falcon defense was out of steam and with the Patriots winning the coin toss, you had a sinking feeling of what was about to transpire.

Atlanta was so close, yet so far from winning its first Super Bowl. All Falcon fans would like to hope the team can be back next season. However, in the NFL it’s never a sure thing.

It will take some time for the pain and disappointment of this loss to go away. Victory was seemingly inches away but when you are playing perhaps the most successful franchise in NFL history, inches can sometimes be equal to miles.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. You can reach him at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.