ADVANTAGE, PATRIOTS
Brady ultimately will expose Falcons’ lack of defensive seasoning, and the quarterback will earn a record fifth Super Bowl victory
If you pay to watch the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, you always get your money’s worth no matter how expensive your tickets are.
Since Bill Belichick and Tom Brady became an item, the Patriots have played in six Super Bowls decided by three, three, three, three, four and four points.
Belichick and Brady have combined to win four going into Sunday’s Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons at NRG Stadium.
Win or lose, no team has provided more Super Bowl excitement than the Patriots.
Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning field goals. Eli Manning’s incredible completions. Malcolm Butler’s shocking interception.
The Patriots might blow out teams in the regular season and in the playoffs, but when it comes to Super Bowls, close is their rule of thumb.
The Patriots have so much more Super Bowl experience than Atlanta. This game reminds of Super Bowl XXXVI.
The St. Louis Rams, The Greatest Show on Turf, were trying to win their second Super Bowl in three seasons. They were loaded with talent on offense, boasted a pesky defense and entered as a heavy favorite over the Patriots and Brady, their second-year quarterback.
Vinatieri’s field goal won the game, but who would have predicted that victory would jump-start one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history.
Quinn knows challenge
Nobody on the Falcons has a better understanding of what Brady and his receivers are capable of than coach Dan Quinn. As Seattle’s defensive coordinator at Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn was close to earning a second consecutive Super Bowl ring.
When the Seahawks called for a pass rather than another Marshawn Lynch run, Butler made one of the biggest plays in NFL history when he intercepted Russell Wilson at the goal line to preserve New England’s fourth title under Belichick.
In the NFL, it goes without saying that if you give Belichick and his staff two weeks to prepare, they’re likely to win.
Even though they allowed the fewest points in the league and finished eighth in defense, including tying for third against the run, the Patriots haven’t confronted an offense like Atlanta’s.
Ignited by quarterback Matt Ryan, who has seven touchdown passes without an interception in two playoff victories in which the team averaged 40 points, the Falcons have one of the most explosive offenses in NFL history.
Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who will be named San Francisco’s coach sometime after the game, has done a brilliant job of utilizing so many weapons and using so much of the field. That’s why the Falcons are so difficult to defend.
If the Falcons win, they will become the highest-scoring team in history to win the Super Bowl. But history doesn’t bode well for them.
During the Super Bowl era, five times the team that scored the most points played the team that allowed the fewest. The team that allowed the fewest won four of those titles.
Will Atlanta join San Francisco as the only teams to accomplish that feat?
Falcons’ balanced offense
The Falcons have exceptional balance. Their running backs, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, can run inside or outside. They boast excellent re- ceivers, who can cause matchup nightmares.
New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia knows the Falcons will throw to Freeman and Coleman, hoping to catch them covered by a linebacker and giving them chances to make big plays.
The Pats’ goal will be containing the running game, getting enough pressure on Ryan to disrupt his timing with his receivers. That can be said about both quarterbacks.
Patricia will mix his fronts and try to confuse Ryan, who hasn’t witnessed as much as Brady, but still he is a nine-year veteran who has seen most of what a defense can offer.
Shanahan will use his balance throwing first to set up the run, then running to set up the pass. Ryan gets rid of the ball fast. They prefer it going to Julio Jones to capitalize on his bigplay ability.
The Patriots will double Jones and hope to take him out of the game. Mohamed Sanu set the table for Jones early in the NFC championship game victory over Green Bay. Then Jones took over and finished with nine receptions for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
Brady does it again
It says here Brady and his running game, propelled by 250-pound LeGarrette Blount, will be too much for the Falcons’ defense that ranked 25th in the regular season and has allowed 19 points per game during the six-game winning streak.
Brady and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will call on all of their experience to confuse a young defense that usually includes seven or eight players on the field with two or less seasons of experience.
In this case, what Falcons defenders don’t know will hurt them, and Brady will earn his fifth Super Bowl victory, more than any QB in history.