Even the Atlanta Falcons Are Making Fun of Themselves
Yeah, we all know about 28-3. Most football fans saw the epic collapse earlier this season when the Atlanta Falcons somehow blew a lead to the Dallas Cowboys. It happened again Sunday as Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half against the Falcons. It’s gotten to the point where the Falcons are now making fun of themselves.
The Atlanta Falcons haven’t lived down their Super Bowl collapse
Just how many jokes can there be about the Atlanta Falcons and their Super Bowl choke? In an embarrassing second-half display, the Falcons saw their 28-3 lead in Super Bowl 51 quickly disappear to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. The Patriots outscored the Falcons 31-0 after halftime to win 34-28 in overtime.
Falcons’ memes were splattered all over the place and the Falcons became an instant laughingstock. Falcons players and coaches were left stunned by the defeat. “That’s a tough loss,” quarterback Matt Ryan said, according to Bleacher Report. “Obviously very disappointed, very close to getting done what we wanted to get done, hard to find words.”
Falcons then-head coach Dan Quinn, who was heavily criticized, along with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, struggled to come to grips with the loss after the game. “There’s never going to be a way to get over the loss, but what it does have is, some of that toughness that you have to go through, it does make you stronger,” Quinn said.
The Falcons suffered another improbable loss this year
In Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys, the Atlanta Falcons jumped out to a 20-0 lead after the first quarter. With five minutes remaining in the game, the Falcons were up 39-24. Then suddenly, as things did in the Super Bowl, everything fell apart.
Dak Prescott threw a touchdown pass to Dalton Schultz with 4:57 left to make it 39-30. Prescott then ran it in from a yard out with 1:49 to go to help cut the Cowboys deficit to 39-37. The Cowboys then pulled off one of the best onside kicks ever.
Kicker Greg Zuerlein squibbed a kick that didn’t appear to have the legs to go the required 10 yards. The ball had a lot of spin to it and eventually reached the 10 yards before the Cowboys finally pounced on it. Zuerlein then drilled a 46-yard field goal with no time left.
The Falcons blew another lead to Tom Brady on Sunday
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Atlanta Falcons built a huge cushion against Tom Brady and saw it disappear. On Sunday, the Falcons held a 17-0 halftime lead against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Midway through the third quarter, they were ahead 24-7, only to see Brady and the Bucs rally for a 31-27 win.
It’s gotten to the point that the Falcons are even making fun of themselves. On Twitter, the Falcons’ account showed the popular meme of Homer Simpson backing up and hiding himself in the bushes. The team was even retweeting some of the negative comments poking fun of their recent collapses.
Matt Tabeek, a verified Twitter user who is the digital managing editor of the Falcons, wrote, “What’s the saying? Once is chance, twice is a coincidence and a third time is a pattern. There’s a pattern developing with the @AtlantaFalcons, and it’s a problem.” The Falcons retweeted the post.
