Is the Atlanta Falcons' loss the biggest choke in professional sports

Oh if we are going for a choke on the largest stage it's probably South Africa's failure to score one run off the last four deliveries in the 1999 Cricket World Cup semi final and losing from the tie on Net Run Rate.

(That was a two-parter - they would have avoided even playing Australia in that semifinal if Herschelle Gibbs hadn't dropped a sitter off Steve Waugh in the earlier stage match)

Honourable mention to Ben Stokes' final over for England to Carlos Brathwaite if the West Indies in the most recent World T20 final. He was defending 19 runs and got tonked for four consecutive sixes giving the Windies the cup.

The only stage bigger than the CWC is the FIFA WC and the Olympics. The Maracanazo is the classic of the genre but the stage was smaller back then. I'm not sure the Olympics lends itself to big chokes.
 
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Choking means pretty much "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory"... That is, losing a match or a championship when you had everything in your favor to win it, and you had a significant lead...AC Milan's defeat at the Champions League final after leading 3-0 against Liverpool or Bayern Munich losing in injury time against Manchester United back in 1999 are two classic examples of choking...
 
Jean Van De Velde at the 1999 British Open gets bonus points for having his name engraved on the trophy before choking. They needed to replate it. He had a three stroke lead on the final hole.

Man I don't even like golf but it has some epic chokes.
 
Jan Van De Velde at the 1999 British Open gets bonus points for having his name engraved on the trophy before choking. They needed to replate it. He had a three stroke lead on the final hole.

Man I don't even like golf but it has some epic chokes.
Ohh man, having your name on the trophy and still losing it has to be waaay up there in the history of legendary choking...I don't know much about golf, but it must have been pretty much a given that he was gonna win it before he choked...
 
I'm going to be a contrarian and suggest that this year's Super Bowl was not a "choke" at all! :eek: There was an infamous missed block, but, besides that, there were no gaffes--fumbles or bad interceptions or the like.

Choking involves nerves, tightening up--or easing up too much and losing momentum that can't be regained. That's not what happened to the Falcons. They played hard throughout. Instead. they simply got worn down. Their defense was on the field way too much, so their pass rush disappeared--and, given time, Brady picked them apart. The Patriots also made some adjustments at half time. So the Falcons shouldn't feel bad, to my mind.

"Choking" is probably easiest to see in individual sports like gold or tennis. So I totally agree that the Jean van de Welde example is an excellent example of choking. (I remember seeing that live on TV! Painful.)
 
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