The Atlanta Falcons took a huge 28-3 lead into the third quarter of the Super Bowl this past season before Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to the biggest come-from-behind win in Super Bowl history. While most fans blamed the Falcons defense for the collapse, one member of the Falcons team feels that the reason Atlanta lost the game was due to a coaching decision. Surprisingly, Falcons running back Devonta Freeman decided to throw his coaches under the bus in a recent SiriusXM interview.
Devonta on why the Falcons lost
Devonta Freeman didn't throw any of his fellow players under the bus but he did elevate himself above his teammates in the interview.
According to Freeman, he should have been the MVP of the Super Bowl this year but his coaches took that out of his hands. Devonta said that if he had played more in the second half, the Atlanta Falcons would have won and he would have been the MVP of the game.
While it was boastful, Devonta Freeman emphasized that he wasn't trying to start a competition between him and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. He said that he was just saying, when looking at the Super Bowl itself, the fact remains in his mind that the team would have won if he had kept running the ball into the second half. Freeman said he has no idea why he stopped getting carries.
Freeman's Super Bowl performance
In the first half, when the Atlanta Falcons jumped out to a huge 28-3 lead, Devonta Freeman had six carries for 69 yards and a touchdown.
Three of those carries came on the first touchdown drive of the Super Bowl and Freeman scored the touchdown to cap off that drive. Interestingly, Freeman didn't get a carry on the next Falcons drive.
However, Devonta Freeman only carried the ball five times for four yards after halftime and the Patriots roared back to win the Super Bowl 34-28 in overtime.
Overall, the Atlanta Falcons ran the ball 18 times and threw the ball 23 times in the game, with Tevin Coleman notching seven carries for 29 yards.
Devonta Freeman finished with 11 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown for an average of 6.8 yards per carry. 37 of those yards came on his first carry of the game. Eliminate that carry and he averaged 3.8 yards in the Super Bowl.
Tevin Coleman finished with an average of 4.1 yards per carry, splitting the load with Freeman, and Coleman also scored a touchdown.
If Freeman had played more, and if the Falcons had run the ball more, they could have controlled the clock better and could have won. Whether it would have resulted in an MVP for Devonta Freeman will never be known.