Julio Jones’ sideline catch was the best Falcons Super Bowl moment

The Atlanta Falcons do not have a lot of happy Super Bowl moments. If you were to split the games up and consider how we felt at certain moments, sure, there were times when the entire fanbase was jubilant. The less said about the flip side of those moments, the better.

When I was asked by SB Nation to conjure up the best Super Bowl moment in this team’s history, though, it wasn’t difficult to pick one. For my money, no moment was better than the nearly impossible sideline catch Julio Jones made against the Patriots in last year’s big game.

Consider the situation, for a moment. The Patriots have furiously rallied down 28-3 (shiver) to 28-20, and the Falcons are driving to try and put the game away in the fourth quarter. We all know how that ends, but then Matt Ryan is flushed out of the pocket, he looks for his favorite target, and he throws a high sideline ball that mere mortals could not possibly come down with. It should have been 3rd and 9 here.

Instead, Julio makes a catch that is so wondrous and absurd that I can’t believe we don’t talk about it on a weekly basis here at The Falcoholic. Somehow he leaps, corrals the ball, and gets two feet down despite having microseconds to consider how he’ll do all of those things, and despite having a defender just inches away from him. It’s the kind of catch that makes Julio Julio, and had the universe been more just and the outcome of the game different, it’s one that would go down as one of the most legendary receptions in Super Bowl history. Instead, it’s a footnote, sadly.

What would be your choice for best Falcons Super Bowl moment ever? Hopefully, we’ll have a new one to consider someday soon.