Shanahan defends Falcons' aggressive approach

It will be hard for the Atlanta Falcons and their fans to reconcile Sunday's Super Bowl loss.

Up by 25, the Falcons' defense was unable to stop the Patriots the rest of the way, and the offense stalled.

It wasn't for a lack of trying, however. Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan admitted the team maintained the same approach with which they built their large lead.

But, up 28-20 with five minutes to play, the Falcons reached the Patriots' 22-yard line and didn't play for the field goal.

"The thought is to get as many yards as you can," Shanahan explained, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.

"And we were right there on the fringe. It was by no means an easy field goal. From what I remember, we ran in on first-and-10 and lost yards. Got into second-and-11, so we try to get a pass to get us back into a manageable third down, closer to the field goal, and we took a sack."

The drive ended when the Falcons were called for offensive holding and threw incompletions on the next two plays. The Patriots would get the ball and march 91 yards for the tying score.

Lead running back Devonta Freeman tallied 75 yards on just 11 carries, despite his 6.8 yards-per-carry average.

"It's not really the run-pass ratio that I look at. It's you stay on the field, and you run your offense," Shanahan explained.

Atlanta's offense wasn't the only thing awkwardly grinding to a halt Sunday night. After the game, Shanahan and several other Falcons assistant coaches were stranded on the top level of the stadium after the elevator stalled, and at one point found themselves among celebrating Patriots fans, according to Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.