Atlanta Falcons: 3 Keys To Super Bowl LI Collapse
By Phil Watson
2. Matt Ryan’s Ill-Timed Sack/Jake Matthews’ Hold
Up by one score the clock winding down to less than four minutes to go and the ball well inside field goal range thanks to a magnificant grab by Julio Jones, the only job Matt Ryan had was to protect the three points.
Out of the shotgun on second-and-11 from the New England 23, Ryan tried to evade defensive lineman Trey Flowers instead of sending the ball to the sidelines and it cost the Falcons big–a 12-yard sack that pushed the ball back to the Patriots’ 35-yard line.
While still within the range of kicker Matt Bryant, the distance was no longer close to a sure thing and a miss would put the Patriots in excellent field position.
The point wound up being moot.
On the very next play, Ryan connected with Mohamed Sanu for a 9-yard gain to get most of the lost yardage back, but left tackle Jake Matthews attempted to put a saddle on defensive end Chris Long and take him for a ride.
The hold was obvious and it was called, pushing Atlanta out of range for the field goal that would once again give them a two-score lead. Instead, the Falcons punted and hoped their weary defense could hold on for another 3½ minutes.
It was a gamble that failed, in part because of the third key.