HOUSTON — Will it be the legends or the upstarts?
Super Bowl LI on Sunday night is the matchup of the 𝕴traditional powerhouse Patriots with coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady against the new-kid-oಞn-the-block Falcons with coach Dan Quinn and quarterback Matt Ryan.
For the Patriots, this i༒s a chance to cap off a season that began with Brady’s four-game Deflategate suspension with their fifth Lombardi Trophy, one that would be handed to them by commissioner Roger Goodell in a spectacularly awkward moment. It also would be the fifth Super Bow🏅l win for both Belichick and Brady, which would be NFL records for a coach and a quarterback.
A win wou🍷ld further solidify t💛heir status as some of the best the NFL ever has seen.
“I have been very fortunate to coach Tom,” Belichick said. “Tom is a tremendous player. He is a tremendous competitor. He prepares extremely hard. He comes to work every day and gives his very best effort. I am fortunate to have th𓄧e opportunity to coach Tom for these years. I think I have a lot of respect for him. There is a mutual respect there.
“We each have a job to do. It is very different. All the jobs are important, but we try to find a way to do our jobs and help the team♔ win the best that we can. I think he does a great job of that. That is what I try to do. From that standpoint we have a great relationship. We both wan♍t to win. We both want to do what it takes to win. That is our focus pretty much every game. It is not always the same game plan, but trying to get to the same end point.”
Before the legacies are established, we should have a good football game. The Falcons have the No. 1 scoring offense. The Patriots have the No. 1 scoring defens🐲e. The big question on everyone’s mind is: Can the Falcons offense be slowed down?
⛎Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones lead a high-powered attack that rolled thr💦ough the playoffs.
“You know what’s so cool about [Ryan’s] season is how hard he went for it,” Quinn said. “When you’re a really good player, to get to that next spot, that’s tough. There’s another ceiling you have to go through to break through to get there and he put the work in. That’s why I’ve been so impressed by Matt. He’s the one that s▨et it off for our offseason. He’s the one that organized the guys to get together before even OTAs came and then from that time, he has not backed off.”
Marquee matchup
Falcons WR Julio Jones vs. Patriots CB Malcolm Butler
The line has been repeated ad nauseum in the leadup to this game about how Bill Be𒀰lichick takes away his opponent’s top option. Jones is that top option, but it is hard to see how the Patriots can take him away completely. Jones has been a beast this year, catching 83 passes for 1,409 yards and six touchdowns in the regular season and not slowing down in the post𝐆season.
The Patriots did not tip their hands this week as to how they will att𝔍ack Jones. It is doubtful that one person will do it, but Butler has been their top cornerback this year. Butler was the Super Bowl hero in New England’ℱs win two years ago. He won’t sneak up on anybody this time.
“I do not know if I will be checking him or anything lik🦩e that,” Butler said. “Whatever I am told to do, I am going to go out there and do it to help my team win. It is more than one player on a team. It is more than Malcom Butler and Julio Jones. It is 10 other pl♓ayers out there. It is a team game, and we are ready to play team ball.”
Four Downs
Hogan is a hero: The Patriots had a surprise star in their AFC Championship win over the Steelers in wide receiver Chris Hogan. The New Jersey native had nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns against Pittsburgh. Can he do it again against 𓃲the Falcons?
Quarterback Tom Brady was💟 heaping praise on him this week.
“Chris has been incredible in what he has added to our team,” Brady said. “Playing for Buffalo and playing against them, we knew how talented he was. For him to come into our team and be the league leader in yards per catch this season … And we saw that pretty quickly when we got to OTAs and s🔴aw the way that he was running down the field and mak♓ing plays. He has been spectacular for us. He had a huge game last week. Hopefully, he can have another huge game. That would be great for all of us.”
Pressure cooker: Defeating Bra🌳dy and the Patriots never is easy, but the Giants showed the blueprint long ago in Super Bowl XLII when they pressured Brady all day long and pulled off the upset. Other teams have followed that plan since then and had success.
The Falcons will need pass rushers Vic Beasley and Dwight Freeney to have♔ big days in the Super Bowl if they have any hope of slowing down tꦆhe New England offense.
“It’s so important that we get to him, even if we get him ♌off the spot,” Beasley said. “Tom Brady doesn’t get knocked down that much so put pressure in his face and get him off his spot and get him kind of frustrated will definitely help us at least try to come out with the win.”
Always on the run: There has been so much focus on the two quarterb🌳acks this week that is easy to forget about how good the running backs have been for these two teams. The Falcons have Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, who can run and catch passes out of the backfield.
The Patriots counter with their own two-headed monster. LeGarrette Blount is the between-the-tackle bruiser and Dion Lewis is the speedy, 💮change-of-pace back. They also have James White, who can be devastating catching passes.
This game might come down to Brady vs. Matt Ryan, but don’t be surprised if one or two of the running 🍌𓄧backs star in this one.
White out: Forget about the Xs and🔯 Os and the analysis of what might happen on the field for a minute. Here is what really could matter: The Patriots are wearing white jerseys Sunday. The team wearing white has won 11 of the past ℱ12 Super Bowls. The only team to overcome wearing their dark jerseys was the Packers, who beat the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. Overall, teams wearing white are 32-18 in Super Bowls. New England is 2-1 in Super Bowls wearing white, most recently against the Seahawks two years ago.
Costello’s call
The Patriots have played close Super Bowls during the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick run. Not this one. New Englan꧙d dominates in the trenches and pulls away early. LeGarrette Blount has a huge game, but Brady gets the MVP.
Patriots 42, Falcons 23