Last season, the Patriots sent the Falcons’ season up in smoke in the Super Bowl, and Atlanta went through its offseason in a haze. It turns out that was just the appetizer for #Fogsborough.
In a bizarre twist on the most anticipated game of the NFL season, the rematch between the Patriots and Falcons, which the Pats ultimately won 23-7, has been overshadowed. Literally. A giant patch of fog descended on the game and obscured the television broadcast in what is definitely not an ominous sign from the heavens warning against worshipping false New England idols.
Fog doesn’t blanket a football field often, obviously, but there is precedent. The Bears and Eagles faced off in a foggy playoff game in 1988 on New Year’s Eve, a game known as the Fog Bowl.
According to scientists, fog is normal weather activity and has nothing to do with demons making a deal with the Patriots and coming to collect the Falcons’ souls. According to Twitter, well:
The foggy conditions affected the broadcast, if not the players, with the congestion rendering some of NBC’s cameras worthless.
That led to a remarkable change, with the broadcast shifting from the standard television perspective (i.e., the way football broadcasts have looked for your entire life) to a sky-cam-centric perspective from behind the quarterback. Think: the camera angle in Madden. Breaking news: It’s way better when the viewer can see what the quarterback and running back see! If this cinematic breakthrough, which came during the biggest game of the season thus far, sparks further experimentation with new camera angles, the fog will have been a silver lining.
