SUPER BOWL LI
Super Bowl LI. The battle between the best scoring offense and the best defense in terms of opponents points per game. The team that some would call the underdog of the season versus the dynamic tandem going into their 7th Super Bowl. The Atlanta Falcons versus the New England Patriots. One high-octane offense versus another.
The Atlanta Falcons cruised into the Super Bowl with a win over the red-hot Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers last Sunday. After an extremely successful regular season that was overshadowed by the unexpected Dallas Cowboys rise to fame; Atlanta rose to the challenge. However, the Falcons proved in the postseason that they were actually the best team in the NFC, and perhaps even in the NFL with their thumping of the Pack on Championship Weekend.
As for the Patriots, it’s the same story we’ve seen time and time again. The tandem of Brady and Belichick proved yet again that they are among the best player/coach duo in NFL history, rising to a 7th Super Bowl with a blowout win over the offensive juggernaut in the Pittsburgh Steelers on Championship Sunday.
These two resounding wins set up perhaps one of the most intriguing matchups the Super Bowl has ever seen. MVP hopeful Matt Ryan faces off against a 39 year-old Tom Brady who’s playing arguable the best football of his career. The way I see it...and I say this from the perspective of a football fan; not a bias Patriots fan...but this game could one of two ways. 1.) The Patriots stomp the Falcons and win a 5th title for Brady and Belichick. Or 2.) We get to witness a good ole’ fashion Texas shootout in which Brady and Ryan go blow for blow with Brady leading a game-winning drive to seal another ring.
The keys to this game are going to be the Patriots defense and Atlanta’s ability to stop the short screen to Dion Lewis. This Super Bowl is the first in a while in which the Patriots have entered with one of the league’s top tier defenses...allowing just 15.4 points per game. However, they are going up against the league’s most explosive offense, who, lead by the dangerous combination of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones put up 34.4 points per game...the highest in the league. If New England can get a few key defensive stops to give Brady a chance to expand a lead, Atlanta will be in trouble. Likewise, if Atlanta can’t stop the screen game to Dion Lewis in the flat, Atlanta will be virtually done for. On the contrary, if New England’s defense can’t get a few stops on Ryan and Jones, allowing for Atlanta to stay in the game, then the Patriots could run into some issues. Outside of Brady versus Ryan, the key matchup to watch in this game is Malcolm Butler on Julio Jones. This is going to be a hardcore clash between near polar opposites. Butler is a smaller, scrappier defensive back whereas Jones is a physical monster and is a nightmare for any defensive back. Regardless, this Super Bowl should be a very entertaining duel between two offensive juggernauts, a should be MVP, and arguably the greatest quarterback/coach duo of all time.