Agony.
After 51 years wandering in the desert, the Atlanta Falcons came within hailing distance of the Promised Land, only to have it evaporate like a familiar mirage.
The underdog Falcons suffered the biggest come-from-ahead loss in Super Bowl history Sunday night, handing over a big lead and the game to the Super Bowl’s second-biggest winners.
»RELATED: Five things that changed the outcome of the Falcons’ Super Bowl loss
The New England Patriots, down 28 to 3 in the second half, scored 25 unanswered points, forced the game into overtime for the first time in Super Bowl history and snatched away a victory that seemed all but assured.
Said Ryan Tweedle, 26, of Vinings, watching among the crestfallen faithful at Stats in downtown Atlanta: “It hurts. It really does hurt.”
It was a story that has been repeated too many times. Like the NFC championship game in 2012 against San Francisco, when the Falcons ran out of gas 10 yards away from success, this celebration was so close we could hear the music.
A win would have completed a storybook season in which the Falcons said goodbye to their old Dome Jan. 22 by taking apart Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers, 44-21.
The Falcons hoped to arrive at their new home with a shiny trophy. There could be no finer bottle of bubbly to crack over the prow of the interstellar space ship that is the Mercedes-Benz Stadium than a triumph in Houston.
That vintage will remain untasted.
» RELATED: Photos: Sadness reigns over Falcons after Super Bowl loss
To win this engagement with these opponents would have been particularly savory. Many Boston transplants and visitors have enjoyed rubbing Atlanta noses in the accomplishments of the Celtics (17 championships), the Bruins (six Stanley Cups) and even the Red Sox (eight World Series, three in the new century.) Atlanta’s championship list is shorter: one.
But, more to the point, a win against the Patriots would be like the Rebel forces taking down the Empire.
The Patriots are this century’s Super Bowl dynasty, a team with seven engagements under the Roman numerals and four wins in six years. That’s the gold standard. Victory against such a substantial opponent would be significant.
It was also easy to dislike the Patriots, and many people did.
There was Deflate-Gate, there were suggestions of cheating, there was an endorsement from a politically-divisive president, and there was the sense that after three dozen championships, Boston and environs had already enjoyed enough.
Some insufferable northerners made hating even easier.
Dan Shaughnessy, a Boston Globe sports columnist, confessed to feeling nothing for Atlanta fans. “Maybe a little pity.”
Did Atlanta fans deserve a win? Atlanta has been described as a fair-weather city when it comes to its professional sports teams.
But the roll up to this game has been energized by emotional moments that Frank Capra couldn’t script, including a heartfelt video recitation from Atlanta hip-hop hero Ludacris released during Super Bowl week.
Over a montage of Atlanta scenes and a chilled-out soundtrack, Ludacris recites a mantra that is half prayer, half “Braveheart” pep talk: “There is greatness here. I see it with my very own eyes. This here is my time, our time, our moment. I’m ready.”
A similar heartfelt moment occurred when former Falcon quarterback Michael Vick published an open letter to the city, apologizing for letting the city down and confessing his admiration for the team.
“Without Atlanta, I’m nothing,” he wrote. As the game begins, he wrote, “I’ll be there, as if I was right there, still there, under center — as if I was an Atlanta Falcon myself. In my heart, I always will be.”
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
Fan fervor matched that mood, pouring up Peachtree like a palpable force field. Strangers grabbed strangers in bear hugs at the Irish pub Fado as the Falcons notched three touchdowns in the first half on the way to a commanding lead.
Rohan Dash, watching the game at the Buckhead watering hole, said he came to the city four and half years ago from Omaha, Nebraska, and he’s never seen a mood like this.
“It’s created a togetherness,” he said, adding that it’s what folks could use right now in such tense times.
At Dantanna’s downtown, Mitch Sisco joined in the revelry as the Falcons expanded their lead. He drove through the night, 600 miles from West Palm Beach, to be in Atlanta for the game. He said he kept himself awake listening to the Falcons hype videos on YouTube.
“I’m a die hard,” said Sisco.
Nearby Jorge Gonzalez from Duluth said he’s dreamed of this moment for years. “I already got my days off at work to come to the parade.”
Tonya Reed was cheering as loudly as anybody at Stats in downtown Atlanta, watching the screen to catch a glimpse of her daughter Riley Reed, a Falcons cheerleader.
Today the daughter sent the mother a text. It said “Thanks for being the best dance mom so that I could make it this far. “
Mom’s response to her daughter: “Tears are running down my cheeks. “
Tears of pride soon turned into tears of pain as the exhilarating first half gave way to a second half from hell, punctuated by a gravity defying catch by Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman sandwiched between three Falcon defenders.
Offering some perspective to the terrible loss was a man who had a hand in bringing professional sports to Atlanta in the first place.
» RELATED: Championship near-misses in Atlanta sports history
City planner Leon Eplan, now 88, remembers the excitement in 1965 when the city built its first stadium (based on Eplan’s feasibility study) and ushered the South out of the post-Civil War hangover into the modern era.
“This was the introduction of professional sports not only to Atlanta but to the South,” said Eplan recently. “It really demonstrated that the South was being transformed in a lot of ways. It really did set the course of the city forward, as sports often do. It just was a shot in the arm.”
Eplan said there are many thins to be proud of in Atlanta, enough to forget this loss. But with only one other trip to the Super Bowl, the 1998 loss to the Denver Broncos 34-19, the Falcons have yet to graduate from also-rans into competitors.
This was going to be the year, with the best, youngest, speediest and strongest Falcons team in years.
A win would have validated the team in ways both concrete and intangible. It also would have unleashed decades of pent-up demand for a champagne bath. But Jorge Gonzalez won’t have to use his days off this year.
The parade has been postponed.
As fans drifted out of Stats, the downtown bar reverberated to “Shake It Off,” by Mariah Carey. We may have lost, the DJ seemed to say, but we haven’t lost our sense of humor.
Staff Writers Ben Brasch, Tammy Joyner, Meris Lutz, Sheila Poole and Craig Schneider contributed.
About the Author
