New England Patriots: Atlanta Falcons Will Provide a Great Super Bowl
The New England Patriots will be facing the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51. On paper, this has the makings of a great game.
When you look through the list of NFC playoff contenders, almost all of them had some sort of storyline that would have made the buildup to Super Bowl LI extra exciting. The New York Giants had beaten the New England Patriots twice in the Super Bowl already while the Seattle Seahawks would be looking for revenge after two years ago.
Green Bay would provide a contest between Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, a duel that could not help but be entertaining and a game featuring Dallas would be full of Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones headlines. Detroit making the Super Bowl would have seen so many “haves vs have nots” comparisons because it would have been the Lions. Atlanta on the other hand… the two sides played an exciting game a few years ago on Sunday Night Football?
So, while writers, journalists, radio hosts and television broadcasters have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to fill two weeks of content, one big thing to remember is that on the field, Atlanta has the ability to give fans an all-time classic. Chances are this game will be decided by three or four points since every Brady-Belichick Super Bowl has been and will come down to the final drive, but this will not be a repeat of the Philadelphia Super Bowl where the Patriots were in control from the first play, despite the final score.
Much of Atlanta’s success this season has been based on their offensive attack and presumptive MVP Matt Ryan. If they are going to win this game it will come down to whether or not their league leading offense can score enough points on the Patriots, who conceded the fewest points per game.
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Former Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride described the perfect way to attack a Bill Belichick defense. “We were 30 for 40 in that second game throwing the ball for 300 yards, we ran the ball for a little over 100 yards. But there were not a lot of 25 yard runs or big passes, it was just a matter of, did you have the discipline, did you have the patience, did you have the flexibility and we fortunately did,” he said to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
That strategy came about as Belichick aimed to try and shorten the game, playing safe coverage and asking the opponent to make lots of consistent plays without a mistake.
"It was just a matter of, did you have the discipline, did you have the patience, did you have the flexibility and we fortunately did."
The most likely scenario to play out on Sunday evening is that the Patriots will do everything they can to limit Julio Jones and ask Ryan to win the game giving the ball to his backs and tight ends. As evidenced in their win over Denver early this season, Ryan is perfectly capable of getting the ball to Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, letting them do the work after the catch.
For the Patriots defense, the challenge for them will be staying disciplined against one of the most athletic teams that they have faced. The pressure will be on defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to mix up his coverages and make sure that everybody knows their assignment. One of the key strengths of this team has been their industrious tackling, something synonymous with Super Bowl champions as of late, and for them to be successful that formula will need to be carried over once more.
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While many fans in Atlanta might have been shocked by notorious pot-stirrer Dan Shaughnessy (seriously, read some of his other stuff before you get worked up), he did kind of have a point. Given team history and relevant back stories, this matchup is lacking a bit of the off field sizzle compared to some of the other teams it could have been.
Come kickoff on the day of the big game, that will not matter too much as the Falcons will provide a stern test for the Patriots. With a phenomenal offense that will give the Patriots’ defense everything they can handle.