The schedule forced the Atlanta Falcons to confront and relive the worst moment of their professional lives. They will play the New England Patriots on Sunday night, and so the embarrassment of failing to protect a 28-3 lead, the sting of overtime and pain of blowing the Super Bowl became subjects of film study.
Quarterback Matt Ryan watched the film, he said, to find, for example, “concepts” for how the Falcons’ “run fits” would fare against certain defensive fronts. The game, of course, conjures far deeper feelings.
“It’s always going to be a part of you,” Ryan said. “There’s things in life that motivate you and get you out of bed in the morning.”
As the Falcons prepare for Sunday night’s anticipated rematch, they are trying to find their footing at 3-2. The Falcons began the season looking unbeatable, particularly playing at home, which emphasizes their wicked team speed. They outscored opponents by a touchdown per game, beat the Green Bay Packers with a fully functioning Aaron Rodgers and established themselves as the clear favorite to repeat as NFC champions.
The next three weeks served only to baffle. Sitting at 3-0, the Falcons faced a treat of a schedule: home for the Buffalo Bills, bye, Miami Dolphins at home. Their performance in the opening three weeks suggested it would take grave injury, or a meteor, for the Falcons not to skate into their Patriots rematch with a 5-0 record.
The Bills’ defense stymied them after wide receiver Julio Jones suffered an injury and held them to seven second-half points in a 23-17 upset. The Falcons rocketed to a 17-0 halftime lead over the Dolphins. All they needed was to prevent quarterback Jay Cutler and Co. from outscoring them by 18 points or more over two quarters, while playing at home, and their ship would be righted. They failed to clear a bar that was resting on the ground, and the Dolphins stunned them, 20-17.
“We obviously haven’t played as well as we’re capable of,” Ryan said.
In both losses, the Falcons blew a halftime lead. One would think the 2017 Falcons, of all teams, would understand the crucial importance of protecting leads and finishing games. The lesson they took from last year’s Super Bowl seems to have been that building a large lead is good, and what happens next might work out, or it might not, but don’t bother trying too hard. The Falcons have been outscored 38-24 in the fourth quarter this year.
“I kept saying it over and over – ‘This is not the time to [expletive] relax,’ ” safety Ricardo Allen said Sunday, per ESPN.com. “Because I could see a couple people starting to lean back on the sideline. You can’t lean back. You can’t pull off. You’ve got to keep grinding. You have to realize (the opponent) is going to make plays.”
The Falcons remain a threat in the jumbled NFC, largely because of the frightening speed they possess on both sides of the ball. Atlanta stunned the Patriots in the first half last year, and harassed quarterback Tom Brady all game, with blazing speed. They will have the same advantage Sunday night.
“This is as fast of a defense that we’d play or I think we will play,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on Wednesday. “They have great team speed. Speed on the defensive front, linebackers and the secondary. They’re a fast team. Explosive.”
The Falcons’ speed, and the style of player they covet, provides a theory for their rash of blown leads. The Falcons have built a team of smaller, faster players. Their style can shock opponents out of the game, but as the game wears, the strength and larger size of opponents wears them down. It makes them unique but also makes them vulnerable.
Whatever the cause, the Falcons need a solution. There wouldn’t be a better time to find one than against the team that has haunted them since the Super Bowl.
“You can’t replay the game that was played in the Super Bowl, but what we can do is control what we have now,” coach Dan Quinn said this week. “For that one, it was a historic game and one that we didn’t get done. But we don’t look back to that one on every opportunity when we’re ahead or when we’re behind in any of that way.”