RANK & FILE
THE NUMBERS GAME
From Tom Brady looking to become the first quarterback to win five Super Bowl titles to Matt Ryan seeking to give Atlanta its first, there are plenty of numbers that will get a lot of attention leading up to the Big Game. Here’s a look at some others that fans might not be as familiar with:
Best vs. best: This marks the sixth Super Bowl matching the NFL’s highest-scoring team (Atlanta) against the team that allowed the fewest points (New England) during the regular season. The top defense won four of those previous five matchups, including Seattle over Denver three years ago. The only time the top offense came out on top was in the 1989 season when San Francisco topped Denver.
Fast starters: The Falcons have set an NFL record by scoring a touchdown on eight straight opening drives. That figures to be tougher against a Patriots team that was second-best in the league this season, allowing just 16 points on opening drives with the only TD coming for Buffalo on Oct. 2. The Patriots have allowed an average of just 19 yards on those drives with half of their opponents failing to generate even a single first down.
Front-runners: The Patriots haven’t trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it’s hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it’s even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.
Third to none: Forcing an offense into third down is usually a good step for a defense. Doing it against Brady or Ryan isn’t much help. Including the playoffs, Brady leads the NFL with a 132.8 rating on third down, with Ryan next among starters at 120.6. Brady has converted on 51.8% of his third-down passes and Ryan is at 49.7%. Ryan has been even better of late, with a 141 rating and first downs on 59.3% of his throws the past six games.
Between the hashes: Ryan has been nearly unstoppable when targeting the middle of the field in the regular season and playoffs, according to Sportradar. He has completed 86 of 117 passes between the hashes for 1,230 yards, nine TDs and no interceptions and a 132.8 passer rating. Ryan is 13 for 14 for 138 yards throwing down the middle in the playoffs.
Go deep: Ryan also was the most efficient deep thrower in the NFL in the regular season and playoffs, according to Sportradar, going 30 for 63 for 1,122 yards, 10 TDs, no interceptions and a league-best 133.4 rating on throws at least 21 yards downfield. The Patriots were the second-best defense against the deep pass, allowing just 28.2% to be completed with only three TDs, five interceptions and a 47.5 rating that was the second-lowest.
Beat the heat: Teams blitzing the Patriots and Falcons have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz, according to Sportradar, and Ryan ranking second at 122.0. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady’s pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.