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The week in NFL news as explained by Boston
It's been such a long time, Boston.  Larry Marano, Al Bello/Getty Images

The week in NFL news as explained by Boston

Well that was a bit of a roller coaster, wasn't it? After the Atlanta Falcons dominated the entire first half of the game, many of us did the unthinkable. We counted out Touchdown Tom. And though he didn't have a great game by any means (at least, for the first three and a half quarters of play), he did end up leading the Patriots to a historic comeback, getting his fifth Super Bowl ring in the process.

That said, we were all ankle-deep in chili, beer and dip throughout the whole game, so there's a decent chance that you missed some of the game action. That's what we're here for. In honor of the Patriots' historic win and Tom Brady solidifying himself as the greatest of all time, we're shipping up to Boston this week.

"Used to Bad News" – Familiar heartbreak for Atlanta

Here's the thing about this loss. As a sports town, Atlanta has been tossed around plenty of times, and the citizens have read between all the lines. This loss to the Patriots was just another in the grand design, and they're used to bad news.

You could tell the bandwagon Falcons fans from the fans that had been following the team for years in an instant based on how they acted during halftime. People that only knew the Falcons from this offseason were confident. The rest of us knew better. After Matt Ryan got strip-sacked, the fans devoted to Atlanta knew for sure that the game would end with a New England victory. So yes, it stings. It's not what they wanted, but they were ready for that. And it makes the heartbreak just a bit easier.

"It's Easy" – The NFL overtime rules are bad, and now everybody knows it

There's no way to say this without sounding like I'm bitter about a team I like losing to a team I hate. I realize that. But I'm not the only one who thinks that, from an entertainment perspective, the end of this game was incredibly underwhelming compared to regulation.

As soon as the Patriots won the coin toss, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that they would easily be able to march downfield and score on a tired Atlanta defense. Giving Matt Ryan and the third-best offense in NFL history the chance to tie the game up would have made an already amazing game even better, especially given that both of these teams are offensive powerhouses.

"Cool the Engines" – Atlanta runs out of  gas

Though this game will likely be remembered as a coronation for the New England Patriots, there's no denying that this was definitely more of a Falcons loss than it was a Patriots win. Despite a commanding lead into the third quarter, the Falcons could never step on the throat of Tom Brady and the Patriots. Whether it was tiredness or a switch in scheme, they could not score once in 28 minutes and failed to make a few key defensive plays that would have squashed the comeback.

"More than a Feeling" – The Patriots cap off the largest comeback in Super Bowl history

After the game, Patriots players seemed almost stunned that they had won. Chris Long was quoted as saying, "That team, I mean, they hacked us."

When asked about the game, many players on the Patriots side couldn't come up with a specific reason that they were able to pull off the amazing comeback.

"In the end," Long said, "we just had too much belief."

Chalk it up to Super Bowl experience, the fact that the Patriots had been there before and suffered heartbreaking losses, or simply the fact that it's a bad look for Patriots players to say that the Falcons choked, but there will be a lot of talk about the "feeling" on the New England bench as analysts pore over the game and ruminate on how the comeback happened.

"Peace of Mind" – Falcons staff downs a drone at practice

Let's end with a story that's equally silly and controversial.

Atlanta fans, if you're looking for something to blame for the loss, know that Falcons security grounded a drone seen flying over the team's practice on Thursday. And though all signs point to the fact that the drone was operated by a private citizen, is there any real way to verify that the citizen wasn't somewhere on the Patriots' payroll?

Sure, it's a stretch, but cut me some slack. I'm still at the bargaining stage of grief.

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