Football coaches love old sayings, and one of the most popular among them is this: "The eye in the sky don't lie." Roughly translated, it means that the film doesn't tell lies. It has no opinion and only shows what happened. Unfortunately, Atlanta Falcons' running back Devonta Freeman is finding that out the hard way.
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Recently talking to Bruce Murray and Brady Quinn of SiriusXM Blitz, Freeman relayed some strong feelings regarding his role in Atlanta's Super Bowl meltdown. It's worth noting that the Falcons strayed away from the run later on in the game as New England made its legendary comeback, with the Patriots ultimately winning, 34-28 in overtime. Had offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan (now head coach of the San Francisco 49ers) stuck with the run, things would have turned out differently, according to Freeman.
"I hate to go there, but I was supposed to be the MVP this year of the Super Bowl but it's all good, we got another shot."
"I don't want to make this no competition thing with me and my quarterback. I'm just talking about from based off that game. Let's (say) it like this: If I would have kept getting the ball, if I would have stayed in the game, I don't know why I got out of the game actually. But if I would have stayed in the game, I would have got MVP. I'm looking at my stats and I see my numbers didn't lie. Look at my numbers."
That's all fine and dandy, and Freeman's thoughts do make football sense — dance with the one who brought you, right?. But Freeman's MVP prediction looks a bit too bold in light of what the film showed us about his play. Specifically, the film showed Greg Cosell of Shutdown Corner a huge play that Atlanta ended up missing because of a huge mistake by Freeman. One an all-important third-and-one in the fourth quarter, the Falcons decided to throw the ball instead of pound it up the middle. That play resulted in a strip-sack of Matt Ryan courtesy of Patriots' linebacker Dont'a Hightower. Upon further review of the play, Ryan had a wide open receiver, Aldrick Robinson, for what could have been a touchdown.
Freeman neglected to block Hightower, though, despite the fact that he was in a perfect position to do so.
Cosell broke it down like this:
Ryan didn't have a chance to throw it because running back Devonta Freeman never recognized Hightower as a blitzer. Hightower aligned outside of flexed "X iso" tight end Austin Hooper, and Freeman focused inside. Freeman was surprised Hightower rushed and was not in position to pick him up on what should have been an easy blitz pickup. With one more beat, Ryan would have been throwing deep to a wide-open Robinson.
Perhaps Freeman is right. If the Falcons stuck with the run and let him continue pounding the ball — he rushed 11 times for 75 yards and a touchdown —- Atlanta could have won the Super Bowl and he the MVP.
That's not what happened, though.
Related: Relive the Patriots' epic Super Bowl comeback victory
In reality, the Falcons still had many chances to beat the Patriots and win it all. One of those chances — and perhaps one of the best chances — was nullified because of his huge mistake, and they don't hand out MVP awards for missed assignments.
