Because Goodell hates the Patriots. Note Deflategate. Goodell made it a personal vendetta to "get" Brady and Kraft. There is now bad blood between the two sides. Goodell would pick any team BUT the Pats to win the Superbowl.

OK, I get the first part of that statement. I don't agree with it, but I can see your point. But the first half domination shown by the Falcons did not serve well to set the stage for a thrillig comeback in most viewers' expectations. I would imagine it would motivate loss of interest in watching anything beyond Lady Gaga's halftime gig. Even diehard Pats fans had shaky hope after that first half drubbing. No one's thinking 2nd half comeback at that point. That's bad for viewership.

And even with big money on the line, there are even bigger hopes and dreams on the line for the 106 guys that suited up and their coaching staffs. Guys on both sides of the ball played their hearts out.

Agreed.

Professional sports teams are businesses. They exist purely to make money, not to win the championship, the Stanley Cup, the Super Bowl, etc.

Most fans fail to recognize this because they have some romantic vision that the sports team(s) that they identify with are trying to win for the fans.

Any good business spends as little as possible to generate the greatest revenue possible.

How is this done? A team has to be good enough to fill the seats and sell the merch. There is a balance of minimum cash out for maximum return, this is what the Toronto Maple Leafs have figured out - when wa s the last time they had a decent play off run? They don't need to be good enough for the play offs, they still fill the seats...

Are professional sports fixed? Probably more than you think but in not so obvious ways.

Was the outcome of the game predetermined? Maybe the winners were predetermined but the score may not have been.

Controversy sells! It fills seats, it sells merch.

The Patriots held the lead for zero seconds yet still won.

They must not have been in on the "Fix"

"Alex Marvez of the Sporting News said Smith will not return to his role running the Falcons’ defense. It’s possible Smith is shifted to another position on the coaching staff. Defensive line coach Bryan Cox will be replaced, as well."

If the NFL was rigged, and it came out, it would kill football for a few years. I could see how a few games could be rigged by a few individuals, but not as a general practice.

Someone would spill.

Gotta love the huge BOO! Goodell got when he handed out the trophy (I had to explain to my wife why).

Don't know if I would say heavy favorites (google favored them by 3 on Friday).

RE: Two or three players throwing the game...
The Falcons had several fouls in the forth quarter that kept the Pats drive alive, you don't suppose? ;)

However if any player got caught cheating it would be a career killer for sure, and considering the huge paychecks these guys collect I doubt anyone would do it.

I don't think it was rigged.
But did they review the final touchdown?
What I saw was the ball out of White's hands when he hit the ground.

With no review and no replays I couldn't tell if he was already down with the ball across the line.

Why no review? :eek:

Rigged! Rigged I tell you!

I'm not certain but I thought they did review it? I thought they reviewed all touchdowns? I'm not a sports geek so I can't say for sure.

All scoring plays are automatically reviewed. Nobody can think for a second the officials would forget to review the winning touchdown in a Superbowl with the biggest comeback in history. You can see it for yourself also - lots of YouTube clips to review.

First of all, I don't think the Superbowl was rigged. Football would be a hard game to tilt one way or another due to the nature of the game and the specialized function of individual team members.

With basketball, on the other hand, it's much easier for one or two players (or possibly an official) to influence the outcome of a game. In part, because it's relatively high-scoring and players are on the court for both offense & defense and are all doing pretty much the same thing.
If there was any tampering with the scores, it probably wouldn't be for an outright win or loss anyway, but rather to just control the points spread. And it would be more likely to take place in the college ranks rather than the in pros where everything is awash in big money already.
With close to an estimated $10B (both legal and otherwise) bet during NCAA tournaments alone, the incentive to channel a little of that cash in one particular direction or another could be quite strong. And without the huge salaries found in pro sports (for both players and officials), I would imagine that a little green spread around in the right places could influence that points spread just enough to make certain interests very happy. And if handled skillfully, a team's overall won/lost record needn't be affected one bit either.

Now, I'm not saying that any of this is actually happening, but I do think that the possibility does exist.

Ya'll do realize that Atlanta has a miserable defense and the Pats had one of the best defenses and offenses right? They were so out coached and really had no defense the second half. Even though Atlanta had the best offense in the league, match that with almost as good a defense then add in the Brady factor...shyts a shoe in folks.

Anybody that thrives on conspiracy theories is solidly in your court. Everyone else, not so much.

Hey, I have a multi million dollar contract, and I never won the Super Bowl. Let's throw the game.
Super Bowl rings are highly over rated anyways. Who would want one ?