NFL Super Bowl LI preview
This Sunday the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots will meet in Houston as they matchup for Super Bowl LI. Atlanta will be seeking their first Super Bowl title, in just their second appearance in the NFL’s championship game during their 51-year franchise history. The Patriots meanwhile, make their ninth trip while in search of their fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Sunday’s game will not be lacking in excitement as the NFL’s top scoring defense comes to a head with the league’s top scoring offense.
AROUND COVER32
Super Bowl Top 10’s: The greatest upsets in Super Bowl history
NFL Mailbag: What questions remain before Super Bowl LI?
cover32 Exclusive: NFL Postseason Pick’ems Super Bowl Showdown
Trivia Blitz: More Super Bowl love in this week football’s quiz
The Nickel: Super Bowl LI coin flip picks
2017 NFL Draft: Exclusive interview with prospect Forrest Lamp
New England has been here before. This will be their second Super Bowl appearance in Houston as they came away victorious in Super Bowl XXXVIII. After sitting out the first four games of the season for his role in the Deflategate scandal, Tom Brady is just one win away from his NFL record fifth Super Bowl win. Head coach, Bill Belichick, will be making his 10th showing in the big dance — seven as a head coach and three as an assistant — as he looks for his seventh Super Bowl victory.
The Patriots and Brady thrilled this year on their way to a 14-2 record. At 39-years-old, Brady managed to put together one of the finest seasons of his career, despite only playing in 12 games. He finished with 3,554 yards passing while throwing for 28 scores and only two picks. The future Hall of Famer has been nearly impossible to slow down, let alone stop.
Legarrette Blount led New England’s rushing attack, averaging 3.9 yards per carry and racking up a league-best 18 rushing touchdowns on 299 carries. He could end up playing a big role in Sunday’s contest if the Patriots opt to go with a heavy-run power football gameplan.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots were just as prolific, finishing as the NFL’s top ranked group in points allowed, averaging just 15.6 points per game. They will be tested by the Falcons’ bevvy of offensive weapons and will have to pick their poison when trying to reign in Atlanta’s potent offensive attack.
After a disappointing finish to his freshman campaign as the Falcons’ head coach, Dan Quinn has managed to rebound, taking Atlanta to the NFL’s biggest stage, in his just second year with the team. Quinn has also been here before. Two years ago, he played a key role in helping the Seattle Seahawks punch their ticket to the Super Bowl, after building one of the preeminent defenses the league has ever seen.
This season, Atlanta established one of the premier offensive attacks in NFL history and lead the league with an average of 33.8 points per game. For his work, offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, was named Assistant Coach of the Year and appears to be heading to San Francisco next year.
Leading the Falcons’ offensive attack was quarterback, Matt Ryan, who took home Offensive Player of the Year honors and is the frontrunner to receive the league’s MVP award. He played at an unprecedented pace, finishing with 4,944 passing yards while tossing 38 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.
Aside from their aerial assault, Atlanta thrived on the ground with the tandem of Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman, who averaged more than 170 yards from scrimmage. However, the offensive line deserves just as much of the credit as they finished the year as the only team to start the same five linemen — including Pro Football Focus’ top-rated run blocker — in every game this season.
While they were the NFL’s top-ranked group on the offensive side of the ball, Atlanta’s defense was not nearly as formidable, ranking 27th in points allowed, though some of which can be attributed to the Falcons sitting on large leads late in games and ceeding points to the opposition in garbage time.
Atlanta will attempt to fluster an unshakable Brady by getting their hands up and applying pressure to make him uncomfortable in the pocket, with hopes of disrupting his tempo and throwing him off rhythm. The Patriots are likely to employ a similar tactic while trying to slow Ryan down, moving him outside of the pocket and forcing him into committing costly mistakes. Whichever team is able to do this best, is the favorite to come out ahead as turnovers are likely to decide the outcome of the game.
Regardless of what happens, Super Bowl LI promises to provide plenty of excitement as the league’s most explosive offenses matchup against two of the NFL’s greatest defensive minds. There should be no shortage of big plays and memorable moments, as the Patriots and Falcons duke it out for the most coveted prize in all of professional football, during Sunday’s highly anticipated championship contest.
– Miles Dittberner, is the National Editor of cover32 and also covers the Minnesota Vikings. Like and follow on Facebook and Twitter.
The post NFL Super Bowl LI preview appeared first on Cover32.
