The Patriots won, the Falcons lost and Monday morning productivity sank to a new low. Now let's dig a little deeper.
Winner: Lady Gaga, for her Cirque du Soleil audition. The Cubs announced Monday that she will headline an Aug. 25 show at Wrigley Field. She could sell out the ballpark for a week straight, but ... hey, Cubs, don't get any ideas.
Loser: Win probability. A computer program said the Falcons' hit 99.7 percent when they led 28-3. So the Patriots had a 3-in-1,000 chance to rally. Sure.
Winner: Ex-Bears. Shea McClellin showed off his hops on a Falcons point-after try, and Martellus Bennett was more hero (62 receiving yards) than zero (holding penalty on a lazy block).
Loser: Current Bears.
Winner: Joe Buck. When it was 28-3, it looked like Fox's witty play-by-play man would have to drag out his B material. But then the game got as dramatic as the Indians-Cubs World Series he also called.
Loser: Fox. Relatively speaking. Fox's overnight rating of 48.8 was down slightly from the last two games, 49.0 for Broncos-Panthers and 49.7 for Patriots-Seahawks.
Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots v Atlanta Falcons Jamie Squire / Getty ImagesThe Patriots' Shea McClellin attempts to block a point after try in the second quarter against the Falcons during Super Bowl 51.
The Patriots' Shea McClellin attempts to block a point after try in the second quarter against the Falcons during Super Bowl 51.
(Jamie Squire / Getty Images)Winner: Bill Belichick. For many reasons, but I'll select one: Down 28-9 with less than 10 minutes to play, he opted for a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 15. He showed patience — and confidence that his team could twice convert two-pointers after touchdowns.
Winner: Steve Young. The ESPN analyst knows quarterback play, so when he twice labeled Falcons flubs "inexcusable," it carried some weight. The first: a deep drop on a third-and-1 pass in the fourth quarter that allowed the Patriots blitz to get home, forcing a Matt Ryan fumble. The second: Ryan held the ball too long on second-and-11 from the Patriots 23, leading to a sack, hold and incompletion. A field goal would have bumped the Falcons lead to 11.
Winner: Jim Gray. The ubiquitous interviewer stood next to Tom Brady when Roger Goodell approached to offer congratulations. So only Gray can give an honest assessment of whether the NFL commissioner was like: Deflate this, Tom.
Loser: Goodell. Showered with boos as he cheerily stepped to the podium postgame, saying: "What a wonderful football game tonight!"
Winner: Goodell. Suffice to say he and his cronies (NFL owners) benefited from a controversy-free affair that went to overtime.
Winners: My favorite commercials featured German immigrant Adolphus Busch, the Skittles mouth catches, Coca-Cola's multilingual "From Sea to Shining Sea," Audi's "Equal pay for equal work" and the Mr. Clean fantasy ("You gotta love a man who cleans").
Loser: T-Mobile tried way too hard (and probably spent way too much) to get Justin Bieber, Rob Gronkowski and Terrell Owens to make some weird point about "unlimited moves."
APphoto_Patriots Falcons Super Bowl Football Elise Amendola / APPatriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
(Elise Amendola / AP)Winner: The Big Ten. In case you hadn't heard, Brady had a good game. Coach Jim Harbaugh called the Michigan alumnus the "Greatest Football Player of All Time! End of Discussion!!!!!" on Twitter. James White, who played second fiddle to John Clay, Montee Ball and Melvin Gordon at Wisconsin, caught 14 passes and scored 20 points, including the game-winning touchdown.
Winner: The No. 11. Julian Edelman had a shoestring catch that will be replayed in Boston forever. Julio Jones made an even sicker grab along the sideline that should be replayed everywhere forever.
Loser: The sanity of sports bettors. Every mainstream wager — money line, betting line (Falcons plus-3), over-under (58.5) — came down to the final conversion in regulation that forced overtime.
Winner: Donald Trump, who is tight with Brady and Belichick. And as a bonus for POTUS, Congressman John Lewis' district took a knee to the groin.
Winner: Sports Illustrated's Michael Rosenberg had the tweet of the night. As of Monday morning, he had generated more than 57,000 combined retweets and likes for "NCAA champ game: last shot. NBA Finals: Gm 7, last minute. World Series Gm 7: 10 inn. CFB title game: 1 sec. left. Super Bowl: OT."
Loser: Overconfidence. When the Falcons led big, Canadian tennis player Genie Bouchard tweeted she "knew Atlanta would win." A random guy replied, "if patriots win we go on a date?" She said yes and now plans to pay up. The lucky guy is a Tiger Woods enthusiast who goes by @punslayintwoods and lives in Chicago. Tweeted Bouchard: "Lesson learned. Never bet against Tom Brady."
Super Bowl LI LARRY W. SMITH / EPANFL Commissioner Roger Goodell presents New Patriots quarterback Tom Brady the MVP trophy during a press conference at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Feb. 6, 2017.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell presents New Patriots quarterback Tom Brady the MVP trophy during a press conference at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Feb. 6, 2017.
(LARRY W. SMITH / EPA)tgreenstein@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
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