OMG What a Game!

Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday here in the USA, and that meant I was watching commercials and commentary for many hours and, finally, the final football game of the season - Super Bowl LI (51 for those who don't speak Roman numerals or who just are reading this early in the morning). I didn't have a specific team I was cheering on, so it meant I could cheer for any/all good plays.

Super Bowl LI featured the New England Patriots against
the Atlanta Falcons. 

The first half was DOMINATED by the Atlanta Falcons, who went into the locker room for the halftime break ahead in scoring 21 to 3. A pretty impressive showing. After halftime, it looked bad for New England, as Atlanta scored another touchdown, bringing the score to 28-9. But in the fourth quarter Tom Brady and the Patriots turned on a light switch and, with some stunning play and some great throws and tackles, managed to tie the game by the end of regulation play, putting 19 points on the scoreboard in less than 15 minutes of play. So the Super Bowl did something that had never happened before. It had a sudden death overtime.

Lady Gaga was the half-time entertainment and she put on a nice show. I liked
her show better than Katy Perry's show from a couple of years before, and I
think she outdid Madonna too. My favorite is still Sting with Gwen Stefani. 

I'm not fond of sudden death - so much rides on the coin toss. I'll also admit, though, that if a good strong defense keeps the team winning the toss under control, they can then take over the ball and run down the field on their own. Fan or not, sudden death is the rule and the New England Patriots won the toss, electing to receive. Good move.

New England pulled it off and now has a fifth Lombardi Trophy to
add to its collection - and in only 15 years! It's pretty impressive
and it was a fun game to watch. 

At the end, Tom Brady led his team down the field almost flawlessly, to a 34-28 victory in overtime. It was stunning. My next door neighbors were out in their back yard whooping and hollering, they were so happy, I just went to bed amazed that the game turned from a snooze-fest into one of the great games of all time. It was a very long day filled with lots of TV chat from the pundits, but nobody could have predicted that it would end like this with the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.

So my Denver Broncos no longer are the champs, and for the fifth time since 2002, the New England Patriots have won the Lombardi Trophy. Congrats to the winners and cheers for a really great game. Now life returns to normal once again. Cold weather, rain and snow, and of course the pool. I'm off to swim and hope all of you have a great Monday!