***SUPER BOWL LI IN THE SWAMP - NE VS ATL***
***NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS VS. ATLANTA FALCONS***
Well well well ladies and gents, it's time for the big showdown as the NFL season comes to an end with Super Bowl LI. The mighty New England Patriots have set an NFL record by making their ninth appearance on the big stage, the most ever by any single franchise. New England Head Coach Bill Belichick and his QB Tom Brady are arguably the best NFL duo of all time and out of those nine franchise Super Bowls, tonight they enter their seventh time going to the show together while they aim to win their fifth championship, having only lost two of those previous six games, both to the New York Giants. Their task to win it all will once again will not be easy by any means as they are set to take on a feisty Atlanta Falcons team with the NFL's best offense, led by this year's MVP QB Matt Ryan. The Falcons have put together an incredible season and have hit their stride during these playoffs, blowing out both the Seattle Seahawks and red hot Green Bay Packers back to back to punch their ticket to the big dance. This is only Atlanta's second time playing in the SB, losing their only other appearance in 1998's Super Bowl XXXIII. Tonight they take their amazingly explosive offense to Houston to try and out do the GOAT himself, Mr. Brady and his minions.
When comparing both teams here, the obvious difference that stands out is the experience level. New England has been there and done it many times before, more than any other team ever as mentioned above, and Atlanta is a young squad that has not. However, it is extremely important to mention that Atlanta Head Coach Dan Quinn has technically been an integral part of two out of the last three Super Bowls. As Seattle's Defensive Coordinator once upon a time, he is 1-1 in Super Bowls as his unit destroyed the NFL's best offense in the Denver Broncos three years ago, winning the game and then losing a tight one the following year to you guessed it, the New England Patriots where the worst offensive call of all time at the end of the game cost the Seahawks a consecutive Championship. I am sure you all remember Seattle Head Coach Pete Carroll electing to throw the ball on the goaline instead of handing it off to his beast of an RB Marshawn Lynch and the Patriots CB Malcolm Butler intercepting QB Russell Wilson on the goaline to seal the Pats the victory. Needless to say, the Hawks could've and maybe should've won that game as well, which would've awarded Quinn with his second ring and an undefeated record in the SB. That being said, Quinn has plenty of experience in the big game and even scheming against the Pats in particular. I have to say that I do really like Quinn as a Head Coach and what he has done with this Falcons team. The way he has this extremely young Atlanta defense playing and especially in the playoffs does remind me a bit of Seattle and I foresee them growing to that level within the next few seasons. Quinn is no fool, and will surely have his guys prepped and ready to make life difficult for New England tonight, but I do still think the experience of Brady and the Pats will be able to move the ball against these youngsters who may be a bit wide eyed in this one, especially to start. Facing an offense that can cut you so many different ways is extremely difficult to matchup against and both defenses will be dealing with doing so as the Patriots will surely have their hands full tonight as they try to 'pick their poison' against this Atlanta offense that consists of so many different weapons that they can exploit you with. WR Julio Jones is arguably the best in the business and to compliment him, Atlanta did a stellar job with bringing in WRs Mohamed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel during the offseason who have proven to be excellent in that role. Of course I need to mention the deadly RB duo that Atlanta has in RBs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. These backs are both dominant running the football and more importantly, both can kill you catching passes out of the backfield which makes it extremely difficult for defenses to deal with, especially since they constantly have fresh legs by rotating in and out.
Now for the Swamp's breakdown and how I see the big game playing out: You may agree or disagree here but in my opinion the Falcons haven't exactly faced a top defense since week 13 when they hosted the KC Chiefs! A home game in which they choked away and lost outright. Since then they faced the Rams, Niners, Panthers, and Saints to close out the season. They then enjoyed a hard earned bye week during the Wild Card Round of the playoffs before hosting a wounded Seattle defense and a nonexistent Packers defense. It has been smooth sailing for the Dirty Birds and especially at home where they do their most damage. Tonight's game as you know is in Houston, a neutral site so it is essentially a road game for both teams. That being said, obviously neither team will have the comfort of their home field where the both excel and I think both offenses will take some time to find their groove so to speak. Another obvious point is that the Super Bowl is a completely different game and unlike any other. It has a different feel to it and a different pace, something that the Pats are familiar with. If there is any defense in my mind that can slow down the dynamic Falcons offense in my mind it is the Patriots. Mainly because of their Defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia, the guy is phenomenal to say the least. The Pats defense has many key components to match up with the Dirty Birds. Super Bowl XLIX's hero Patriot CB Malcolm Butler has really grown into one of the best CBs in the NFL since then and whether Patricia elects to stick him on Julio Jones to try to tame that beast one on one, or put Butler on Sanu and double cover Jones, I think Butler will be locked in enough to eliminate whoever he is covering and I also believe Safeties Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung will be able to take away the threat of getting beat on any deep shots that the Falcons may try with a speedy slot WR like Gabriel. In big games such as this one, the biggest of them all, I always like veterans to make big time plays. For example somebody such as DE Chris Long who is on the backend of his successful career that he had on a lowly Rams team. He joined the Pats this past offseason to try and win a Championship and now he has his chance and I don't think he intends to waste it. Other veterans and youngsters like LB Rob Ninkovich, Jabaal Sheard, Dont'a Hightower, Shea McClellin, and Malcom Brown help makeup this defensive front that is tasked with getting in QB Matt Ryan's face to try and stop him from tearing their secondary to shreds, and I think they will indeed come up with schemes that effectively blitz and frustrate Ryan. A huge reason for the success of this Falcon offense has been the addition of Center Alex Mack who is one of the best offensive lineman in the game. He will be reportedly playing with a fractured leg after injuring it last game against Green Bay. You got to give the man credit for being a warrior but I doubt he will be able to play his best game here and this is the difference in my opinion. The Patriots defense is one of the best in the league that nobody talks about really. They are so solid and well coached that I fully expect them to be ready for war tonight. The Falcons will make their plays, no doubt about it. I even expect Atlanta to have the lead, maybe even for most of the game, but I do think that in the end Tom Brady and the Pats will prevail. With how great both offensive units are, I got to think both gameplans for each team consists of the old fashioned 'running the rock to milk the clock' and keep the other team's offense on the sideline where it can't hurt you type. Both teams can and should be able to do so effectively with their rushing attacks but the levee will eventually break and when it does and Brady and Ryan go head to head, I like the GOAT Tom Brady to come out on top and win his fifth. New England Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels and the minions as I like to refer to them as, AKA Patriot WRs Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, and now Chris Hogan just cause far too much confusion with their underneath criss-crossing routes for a secondary to contain play after play. As much as I like the Falcons secondary, I don't think they will be able to contain them all game and think this is where the youth and lack of championship experience will come into play. The Falcons are also lacking in my opinion, the pieces upfront to get pressure up the middle and in Tom Brady's face according to the blueprint that the Giants laid out for the world as the recipe on how to stop him years ago. Yes they have the NFL sack leader in the young LB Vic Beasly among other young talent that can come off the edges not enough to get what they need up the middle. The Pats just far too strong in all aspects to not get it done here in my eyes. It has been extremely clear that this team has been on a major revenge mission all season long after the infamous "Deflate-Gate" scandal that resulted in this franchise being punished and embarrassed in more ways than one, especially when it comes to Tom Brady and his legacy, who was suspended for the first four games this season. In my mind there is no other way for this story to end other than the Pats winning another Championship to spite Commissioner Roger Goodell and all that occurred. We all know that there would be no sweeter revenge than having Goodell himself have to hand them the Lombardi Trophy on the stage for all the world to see and we know this. I don't think there will be any fireworks between the two parties as some may speculate and want to see, but the cringe-worthy congratulations handshake and trophy exchange will be more than enough entertainment. So in a nutshell here, as much as the SwampMan would love to see another Super Bowl underdog victory like last year's Broncos upset since it doesn't get much better than that, I got to side with the team with the Championship pedigree like no other here and am rolling with Bill, Brady and the New England Patriots to win yet another Super Bowl. This will further cement Belichick and Brady as the greatest Head Coach and QB combo of all time, and also the greatest Head Coach and QB of all time period. I think the Falcons will "wet their beaks" so to speak and will only get better, getting more shots at a Super Bowl in the seasons to come. I do believe they will play great and even foresee them having the lead late in the game. I then see us fans witnessing a game winning drive by Brady, throwing the go-ahead game winning touchdown! Maybe even if there is some remaining time on the clock, the New England defense having to come up HUGE with a final stop to seal the victory, giving us all some extra heart-stopping excitement to end the season. One can only hope! Bottom line, this is and has been the Pats year, and I am confident that they will finish the revenge tour with a strong exclamation point, adding another Championship piece of flair on their Super Bowl sash so to speak.
It's been another fun ride in the Swamp and I hope you enjoyed reading along this season, see you all next year and enjoy the game!
PICK: PATRIOTS-3, FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: 31-24
