Super Bowl LI - New England vs. Atlanta

[Rupert Patrick]

Let the pregame hype begin!

Opening line is Patriots favored by 3 over Atlanta.

[74_75_78_79_]

Could have very easily been the Super Bowl four years ago - both them losing at home to Ravens & Forty Niners respectively in the CCs. Should be a real good one. Atl has the run-game to complement the high-octaine passing attack and their D just keeps getting better and better! It should be a classic QB duel between Brady & Ryan. Had Steelers somehow got past NE, I would have been real worried going against Atl. They are for real! I think they would have beaten Dallas today had they succeeded in their comeback last week.

What is the most significant game between these two up until now? Falcons beating Pats 37-21 at Schaefer Week #2 of the '80 season (NE's only loss in that 6-1 start) comes to mind. I'm sure there are better ones.

[7DnBrnc53]

What is the most significant game between these two up until now? Falcons beating Pats 37-21 at Schaefer Week #2 of the '80 season (NE's only loss in that 6-1 start) comes to mind. I'm sure there are better ones.

1972 Week 2: Bill Bell of the Falcons misses a chip shot at the end of regulation, and the Falcons lose to the young Pats 21-20. If they win that game, their game in Week 14 against KC (I think that was the one where they tried to get Dave Hampton 1,000 yards and failed) would have been a win-and-in game no matter what SF did (ATL would have been 9-5 with a win vs. SF's 8-5-1).

[JWL]

What is the most significant game between these two up until now? Falcons beating Pats 37-21 at Schaefer Week #2 of the '80 season (NE's only loss in that 6-1 start) comes to mind. I'm sure there are better ones.

The teams have met only three times in seasons in which each finished with a winning record- 1980, 1998, 2009. Both made the playoffs in 1980 and 1998 so either of those meetings would have to be considered most significant. Atlanta won each of those games at New England.

[Bryan]

What is the most significant game between these two up until now? Falcons beating Pats 37-21 at Schaefer Week #2 of the '80 season (NE's only loss in that 6-1 start) comes to mind. I'm sure there are better ones.

1972 Week 2: Bill Bell of the Falcons misses a chip shot at the end of regulation, and the Falcons lose to the young Pats 21-20. If they win that game, their game in Week 14 against KC (I think that was the one where they tried to get Dave Hampton 1,000 yards and failed) would have been a win-and-in game no matter what SF did (ATL would have been 9-5 with a win vs. SF's 8-5-1).

The Pats were terrible in 1972, so that was a devastating loss for the Falcons. The Rams 'got good' in 1973, so the Falcons finishing 9-5 in that season didn't really amount to anything...1972 seemed like the window was open for Atlanta.

I think the FG that Bell missed at the end of regulation was like a 9-yarder...maybe someone else can confirm the distance of the miss. I remember Ian Howfield of the Oilers missing like a 19-yarder to beat the Redskins in 1991, but I think Bell's kick was shorter.

[74_75_78_79_]

An old memory of the '80 season just popped up. It was when 4th grade I started following football and immediately replaced collecting Star Wars figures with collecting football cards and those mini-plastic helmets; you know, the ones with a sticker of the logo on each side. Some stores would sell them out of a gumball machine. Forget that! When if I get one that I already had? The drug store a block from my house sold them in the candy bar/bubble gum cards section each in a white plastic bag. Of course I would press the side of the helmet up against the plastic so I could see what the helmet was. The only two that were available that I didn't have yet were...the Falcons & Patriots, so I bought them and took them home. When taking them out of the bags, I remember really liking the candy-apple-red Falcons helmet and how it contrasted with the Pats helmet which I also liked the look of. As I said already on this site, in addition to other teams, I really wish both would have never stopped wearing those exact '80s unis. All respect for their original '67 unis aside, Falcons forgoing that thin gold striping would be just fine by me personally. I, a Steeler-fan, would still dislike this ongoing Belichick/Brady Era; but if they were still in their pre-'93 unis all this time, I would tolerate them better. Great unis they had! Looked great even in SBXX while getting slaughtered by da Bears. Really wish they could play each other in those very unis for SBLI...but the No Fun League wouldn't allow it even if both teams requested it.

Go Falcons! Win it for Bart, Andrews, Claude (although he was now elsewhere - and in the SB - in '80) Kuyk, Mike Kenn, etc, etc. Really liked that team! Bummed me out when Danny White miracled his Cowboys out of Fulton.

[bachslunch]

Didn't they make a big deal last year about changing the numbering of Super Bowls from Roman numerals to Arabic numerals? Last year's was Super Bowl 50, not Super Bowl L.

That sure didn't last long.

[ChrisBabcock]

Didn't they make a big deal last year about changing the numbering of Super Bowls from Roman numerals to Arabic numerals? Last year's was Super Bowl 50, not Super Bowl L.

They said at the time that they would use regular numbers just for last year and go back to Roman numerals moving forward. I would just as soon had the switch be permanent and start numbering with regular Arabic digits at this point. "LI" looks goofy. "XL" did too for 40.

[JuggernautJ]

Didn't they make a big deal last year about changing the numbering of Super Bowls from Roman numerals to Arabic numerals? Last year's was Super Bowl 50, not Super Bowl L.

They said at the time that they would use regular numbers just for last year and go back to Roman numerals moving forward. I would just as soon had the switch be permanent and start numbering with regular Arabic digits at this point. "LI" looks goofy. "XL" did too for 40.

We're stuck with Roman Numerals for another 48 years... I doubt they'll go for Super Bowl C (100) if the game is still around then.

[Mark L. Ford]

Didn't they make a big deal last year about changing the numbering of Super Bowls from Roman numerals to Arabic numerals? Last year's was Super Bowl 50, not Super Bowl L.

They said at the time that they would use regular numbers just for last year and go back to Roman numerals moving forward. I would just as soon had the switch be permanent and start numbering with regular Arabic digits at this point. "LI" looks goofy. "XL" did too for 40.

"LI" does look goofy.... and that's no LIE. I think that the NFL will go back to non-Roman numbers sometime in the next few years, rather than call the 2025 game "Super Bowl LIX"