FOXBORO, Mass. — The Atlanta Falcons’ matchup with the New England Patriots comes with some heavy baggage.
The Falcons, as you might have heard, blew a 28-3 lead to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. They’re also coming off a loss to the Miami Dolphins in which they blew a 17-0 lead.
So, how will Falcons head coach Dan Quinn prevent those demoralizing losses from distracting his team? Quinn said the team has talked about the distraction of the Super Bowl rematch.
“The biggest thing to say is you don’t get to go replay games, and you don’t get to go replay the Super Bowl,” Quinn said. “And we lost last week. You don’t get to go replay the Miami game.
“One of the sayings we have is the only play that matters is the one you’re in. That’s where our focus is. And even deeper than that, our focus is for us to play at our best. We’re not there yet. That’s what we’re out chasing. We don’t want to go into the rematch world because we learned our lessons, and you don’t get to apply them until we’re back in them again. If we keep looking back in the rear view, we’re not going to be where we want to be.”
The Falcons can go into their matchup with the Patriots extra motivated by their recent comeback losses, or they could come to Gillette Stadium lacking confidence and distracted by the baggage. Quinn is trying to prevent the latter.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
