For the second time in Atlanta history, the Falcons went to the Super Bowl in this year’s Super Bowl 51 hosted in Houston, Texas. The only other time the Falcons were in the Super Bowl was in January 1998 in Super Bowl 33 against the Broncos when the team suffered a deflating 34 to 19 loss. This year, the Falcons were leading with 25-points in the third quarter against the New England Patriots. All seemed to be going well and then the Falcons blew it.

The Falcons had a very real chance of winning and creating history with the first-ever overtime victory in a Super Bowl and, more significant, the first win for the Atlanta team.

The whole country was behind the Falcons, save the New England region. And the first half was marked by impressive plays from the team’s high-octane offense and stifling defensive stops from a surprisingly animated Falcon defense.

But, apparently, the team was so caught up with Lady Gaga’s mesmerizing halftime performance that players forgot they had another half to play.

Confidence about a Falcons win was still running high in the third quarter. The people of Atlanta were already making plans for a parade down Peachtree Street to celebrate a Falcons victory. As we all know, the ticker tape and floats never materialized because the team somehow managed to allow the Patriots and Tom Brady to pull off the biggest-ever Super Bowl comeback victory.

The loss has been blamed on players losing their nerve or attached to the city’s ongoing professional sports team jinx. At North Atlanta, bitterly disappointed Falcons fans had to pick up the pieces in the week after the game.

“I knew we were going to lose when the quarterback fumbled. That caused the game to go down the drain,” said substitute teacher Lymn Love.

“When the game went into overtime with a two-point conversion, I left the room. I just knew something bad was going to happen. Same old Falcons,” said sophomore Chris Carico.

“It sucked when Julio Jones caught that amazing ball and then Matt Ryan got sacked,” said junior Reggie Goodin.

“How did the Falcons lose a 25 point lead in the third quarter,” said junior Justice Crawford.

“When they had 3 back-to-back holds, that’s when we lost everything,” said junior Naya Brooks.

“It was a total tragedy,” said junior Diamond Johnson.

Another in a long list of tragedies for Atlanta sports fans. With the opportunity for historic greatness, the Dirty Birds were grounded yet again.