Ex-Patriots Receiver Compares French Open To 28-3 Super Bowl

Tennis fans witnessed one of the greatest matches in the history of the sport on Sunday when Carlos Alcaraz outdueled Jannik Sinner in five sets to win the French Open final for the second year in a row.

In the wake of the outcome, former New England Patriots wide receiver Chad Johnson had a unique comparison for what took place.

After taking a 2-1 set lead, Sinner had three championship points on the break against Alcaraz, meaning if he won just one, he would have won the French Open. Instead, Alcaraz rallied in the game, and eventually won the final two sets to stun Sinner.

Now not everyone is super familiar with tennis, including Johnson. So, after Alcaraz won, Johnson wondered aloud whether or not Sinner’s collapse was the football equivalent to the Atlanta Falcons throwing away a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI vs. the Patriots.

“Alcaraz really came back & won, how do i explain this in football terms, Falcons being up 28-3 on the Patriots or is that to extreme,” Johnson said in a post on X.

By now, the events that led to the Patriots epic Super Bowl comeback against Atlanta is the stuff of local folklore. On the other side of the ball, though, it is widely considered one of the biggest choke jobs in all of professional sports.

Much like the Falcons, Sinner had Alcaraz right where he wanted him. All he needed was a single point to win, and even after that, if he won the ensuing game on the serve, he would have defeated Alcaraz. Instead, he allowed his opponent to come all the way back and win.

Johnson isn’t known for his time with the Patriots in the NFL, but he did spend the 2011 season with them. He didn’t make the same impact he made earlier in his career, though, as he caught just 15 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown over 15 games.

Prior to his time in Foxboro, Johnson spent 10 years with the Cincinnati Bengals, earning six Pro Bowl selections and a spot on the All-Pro First Team in both 2005 and 2006. He retired after the 2011 season with New England and has since embarked on a sports media career.