Roddy White 'would've fought' Shanahan after Super Bowl.

[Faceplant]

Hard to blame him. What a disaster...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...falcons-super-bowl-loss/ar-AAmXd9L?li=BBnb7Kz

Roddy White is still very passionate about the Atlanta Falcons after spending all 11 years of his NFL career with the franchise before retiring in 2015. So it’s only obvious that the former Pro Bowl wideout took the Falcons’ overtime loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI pretty hard, even though he didn’t play a down last season.



White wasn’t upset so much about the team’s performance but rather the play-calling – more specifically on the offensive side. He took aim at former Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan during the “We Never Played the Game” podcast Tuesday.

“I’m glad I wasn’t a part of that team because I probably literally would’ve fought him,” White said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

White believes Shanahan, who left the Falcons to become the 49ers head coach earlier this month, did not play it safe when the Falcons blew a 25-point lead in the second half as Atlanta allowed 31 unanswered points to New England in the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.

“You destroyed a dream for a city,” said White, who finished with 808 catches for 10,863 yards and 63 TDs during his career. “It’s bigger than me. The city of Atlanta needed that championship and you had it. Arthur Blank needed that championship and he deserved to win that game, with everything he’s been through. It was finally our time to win and it just hurt me that we didn’t get it done.”

 

[Ramrasta]

He is right. Shanahan cost the Falcons their Super Bowl. The finger has to point somewhere and he blew it when it was effectively over.

 

[Sleepy1711]

An ass kicking was in order after the game and the niners should of thought twice of hiring that fool after the crap he pulled.

 

[Selassie I]

LMAO

Truth

 

[DCH]

I've heard the counter-argument of "Being aggressive is what got them to the Super Bowl in the first place, Ryan shouldn't have taken the sack, what would have happened if they'd gone conservative and lost," etc. Not sure I buy it, but all the talking heads on NFL Radio seem to think that blaming Shanahan is wrong, and that the blame falls on the players not executing.

 

[LACHAMP46]

White believes Shanahan, who left the Falcons to become the 49ers head coach earlier this month, did not play it safe when the Falcons blew a 25-point lead in the second half as Atlanta allowed 31 unanswered points to New England in the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.

Players play...and win or lose games.
The huge strip sack fumble on Ryan....Missed block by RB (Freeman)...Ryan fails to get rid of the ball on time with rusher in his face. Think he pats the ball b4 releasing it too.

Huge drop on 3rd down by #81 the TE in the 4th quarter. Easy third down conversion was blown.

Huge hold on Matthews...turns a completed pass into 3rd and 33 and effectively out of field goal range.

On the 3rd and 33, Ryan goes for Gabriel or Sanu...ignoring Julio, and the pass falls incomplete. Last chance to at least make up some yards to attempt a long fg. It could have STILL increased lead to 11 points.
Shanahan wasn't on the field for any of those plays. The players WERE.

 

[DCH]

Players play...and win or lose games.
The huge strip sack fumble on Ryan....Missed block by RB (Freeman)...Ryan fails to get rid of the ball on time with rusher in his face. Think he pats the ball b4 releasing it too.

Huge drop on 3rd down by #81 the TE in the 4th quarter. Easy third down conversion was blown.

Huge hold on Matthews...turns a completed pass into 3rd and 33 and effectively out of field goal range.

On the 3rd and 33, Ryan goes for Gabriel or Sanu...ignoring Julio, and the pass falls incomplete. Last chance to at least make up some yards to attempt a long fg. It could have STILL increased lead to 11 points.
Shanahan wasn't on the field for any of those plays. The players WERE.

Yeah, the fact that the playcall actually worked on the Matthews hold should be an indicator that it wasn't a dumb call by Shanahan. If Matthews executes rather than Greco-Romaning Chris Long to the turf, that's game.

 

[Selassie I]

Please.

Run the ball 3 times from the 23 yard line and burn clock and timeouts. Hell... have Ryan take a knee 3 times instead of the runs if you like. Kick the less than 40 yard field goal and be up by 11 points.

Game Over

That loss sits squarely on the shoulders of the coaches. The players already had the game won. The coaches managed to give the game away.

 

[wolfdogg]

Since no player executes 100% of the time, how do you make sure there isn't a hold committed by the offensive line and a sack? By not calling pass plays.

You can't play aggressive in every situation. You have to understand where you are with time left, number of possessions the other team will need, etc. This was a time to be smart and run the ball.

They had 1st and 10 from the 22, an easy fg, why be aggressive when 3 runs and an easy kick basically wins the game? And maybe freeman gets a first down on those runs.

100% on the coaches for calling plays where sacks and holding penalties are even a remote possibility given the situation.

When it was 1st and 10 from the 22 what do you think the odds were that they would get a first down? I'm guessing the odds of making a 40 yard fg were much, much, better, probably at least 85%.

 

[SteezyEndo]

Early lead. Offense and Defense did pretty damned good. 2nd half should of been more time management, which was non existent. I just don't get it. It was an easy win. I can't believe it.

 

[den-the-coach]

Please.

Run the ball 3 times from the 23 yard line and burn clock and timeouts. .

 

[Faceplant]

Please.

Run the ball 3 times from the 23 yard line and burn clock and timeouts. Hell... have Ryan take a knee 3 times instead of the runs if you like. Kick the less than 40 yard field goal and be up by 11 points.

Game Over

That loss sits squarely on the shoulders of the coaches. The players already had the game won. The coaches managed to give the game away.

 

[Rynie]

I've heard the counter-argument of "Being aggressive is what got them to the Super Bowl in the first place, Ryan shouldn't have taken the sack, what would have happened if they'd gone conservative and lost," etc. Not sure I buy it, but all the talking heads on NFL Radio seem to think that blaming Shanahan is wrong, and that the blame falls on the players not executing.

When you have a lead like that, you need to protect it by controlling time of possession. That means running the ball on 3rd and 2 instead of getting cute like they did. Patriots killed them in TOP, which is why the ATL defense got tired out and became garbage. You don't necessarily have to go Uber safe, but you definitely need to protect that lead.

 

[DCH]

When you have a lead like that, you need to protect it by controlling time of possession. That means running the ball on 3rd and 2 instead of getting cute like they did. Patriots killed them in TOP, which is why the ATL defense got tired out and became garbage. You don't necessarily have to go Uber safe, but you definitely need to protect that lead.

I gotcha. Don't necessarily disagree, just conveying what a bunch of NFL Radio folks have been saying.

Bigger issues, though - Ryan kept snapping the ball in the 4th quarter with well over ten seconds on the play clock. That's... that's just terrible game management.

Also, apparently Ryan wasn't allowed to audible under Shanahan - something about Shanahan's offense and ego not allowing for plays to change at the LOS. Not being able to change up the play at the LOS is really, really dumb against Belichick. I wonder if that's part of why Shanahan won't have an OC in San Fran - the ego.

 

[Boston Ram]

I agree he blew the game with stupid play calling, specifically in the 4th quarter, but without Shanahan there maybe no SB at all, so maybe White needs to calm down and not be such the tough guy.

You can also make a case Quinn is responsible for clock management and should of stepped in or directed Shanahan to run the ball instead of throwing late in the game.

There is plenty of blame for everyone, but people like White should appreciate what a great season it was for Atlanta and not focus on the SB loss.

White states, he destroyed the dreams of the entire city. I would reckon there are more Georgia Bulldog fans than Falcon fans......we are talking about a city that can not sell out playoff games in the NBA and MLB. Atlanta might be the least engaged fans of any city.

 

[CGI_Ram]

If I were a Falcon fan... I'd still be off work sick.

 

[tempests]

It's no fun being an NFL OC.

Biggest scapegoats in sports.

 

[Rynie]

I gotcha. Don't necessarily disagree, just conveying what a bunch of NFL Radio folks have been saying.

Bigger issues, though - Ryan kept snapping the ball in the 4th quarter with well over ten seconds on the play clock. That's... that's just terrible game management.

Also, apparently Ryan wasn't allowed to audible under Shanahan - something about Shanahan's offense and ego not allowing for plays to change at the LOS. Not being able to change up the play at the LOS is really, really dumb against Belichick. I wonder if that's part of why Shanahan won't have an OC in San Fran - the ego.

Wth? Are you serious? He wasn't allowed to audible? Wow. Shanny is going to screw the 49ers as much, if not worse, than Chip did.

 

[BrooklynRam74]

I'm sick and tired of the dumb argument of "thats the way we play". You play to IN-GAME CONDITIONS. If the '73 Dolphins trailed by 7 with a minute to go from their 20-yard line would they "play the way they play" and run Csonka, Kiick and Morris up the middle for 4-yard gains cause "that's the way we play". The 2001 Rams could've won that Super Bowl against New England by something like 12-3 If they played to IN-GAME CONDITIONS instead of "playing the way we play". Brutal, Horrific Loss by ATL.