New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons: 5 Predictions for Super Bowl LI

2) The Patriots finally score some points in the first quarter.

With the Patriots’ offense taking on a supposedly average Falcons’ defense, this may not seem like an overly outrageous prediction. However, when you consider the first quarter of past Brady-Belichick Super Bowls, it is breaking a trend. Against St. Louis the Patriots trailed 3-0 after a quarter of an hour, they were also scoreless against Carolina and Philadelphia. The Giants held a 3-0 lead in the almost perfect Super Bowl while leading 9-0 in the rematch four years later. Finally against Seattle the two sides played out a scoreless opening quarter thanks to Jeremy Lane’s end zone interception of Tom Brady.

It will not be a repeat of that storyline in Houston as the Patriots come out firing in this game. They may be forced to respond to a productive opening drive by the Falcons but with his mother in the stands for the first time this season, Tom Brady goes after the young Falcons defenders who are playing on the big stage for the first time and gets into an early rhythm with Julian Edelman. They find their way down into the red zone where LeGarrette Blount gets a shot at pounding it in but whether he is successful depends on the mood he is in on the day.