“Hilariously, Roid Rage has to tell you why the Patriots will win the Super Bowl. For a devout Buffalo Bills fan (is there any other kind?) that must be the most painful experience since the Music City Miracle”
That’s me quoting Ginger King. And while it’s true that I had to get 7 or 8 Genny Lights deep before even powering up the laptop, at least I’m not delusion. I’m mean, the Falcon’s beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl?! Only if Jacoby Brissett is playing (is that dude even still in the league, or is he bagging groceries in the Midwest somewhere?!) [Editor’s note: despite being activated from IR for the playoff run, Brissett will likely be a healthy scratch for the Super Bowl. But he’ll still get one of those big ass Super Bowl rings after the Pats dismantle the Dirty Birds!] Thanks for the note editor, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
The argument for the Falcons is laughable. The hot young quarterback—that’s never played in a Super Bowl—leading a “high-powered” offense against (future HOF coach) Bill Belichick and (future HOF QB) Tom Brady? What could possible go wrong? Do you know who doesn’t care that the Falcons have the reigning MVP on their team? Or that the rest of the league has had a hard time stopping their offense? Or that Julio Jones seems to be a cyborg dressed in a football jersey? That’s right, this guy…..
Guess how Bill is going to crack Matt Ryan?…..Pressure. Guess what his plan will be for taking Julio out of the gameplan?….double coverage, bracket coverage, bump-and-run with safety help. Guess where they are going to catch the Falcons underprepared?….special teams.
While the Falcons have built themselves an awesome football team, it’s the exact OPPOSITE of the kind of team that gives the Patriots fits. If there is a “blue-print” to beating the Patriots, what is it? The ’08 Giants and ’16 Broncos should come to mind? No, you don’t need a Manning under center….or a miraculously stupid catch (or two)…..Those teams had dominate defensive lines that could generate consist pressure (up the middle) with 4-guys, while dropping 7 into coverage. The Falcons can’t do that. If anything, their defensive line, especially up the middle, is a liability. To generate pressure they’ll be forced to send a blitzer. And blitzing Brady is like playing with fire, you’re bound to get burned Napalmed. The guy doesn’t miss a beat. He checks every play at the line, aligns the blocking assignments and never misses a hot read. It’s not like they are going to throw something at him he hasn’t seen (which is exactly what BB will do to Matty Ice btw). Oh, Dan Quinn’s defense. Yeah, played against that…..in a Super Bowl none the less….oh, and won that game. Yawn.
Trust me, I want Brady to get clobbered and throw an interception on EVERY pass attempt. That’s what I root for when they play against the Bills….or the Dolphins….or the Jaguars for crying out loud. But it just doesn’t happen. The guy is averaging 335 yards and 2.5 TDs in the postseason this year. He wakes up (next to a supermodel) and pisses excellence. True, he only eats baby seal liver on a bed of Kale and goes for blood palette therapy like you or I go to the barbershop, but such is the life a rockstar. As much as it pains me to say it, he is the greatest quarterback of all time. Don’t take my word for it; all of these boners lined up on media row to say the same thing this week. You could argue the Texans (easily) and maybe even the Steelers have a better defense than the Falcons. Those teams didn’t have any answers for TB12 and company, so how exactly are the Falcons going to slow down them down? Not gonna happen.
No Gronk? No problem! Brady will spread the ball all over the field, exploiting match-ups and throwing his guys open. Seriously, Brady can take any other teams third WR and turn him into a star. Hello Wes Welker Chris Hogan. Edelman seemingly can’t be covered within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. It’s death by a 1,000 paper cuts when you play the Patriots. If they need 6-yards for a first down they get 8. 3rd-and-1: QB-sneak for 2 yards. First-and-goal, here comes the battering ram LeGarrett Blount. Wait until they get Dion Lewis matched-up against a linebacker. Think Brady won’t exploit that?
I do like what the Falcons have going on the offensive side of the ball. Matt Ryan is peaking at the right time. He isn’t necessarily locking onto Julio (which is exactly what I’d be doing), and spreading the ball around. They’ve done a nice job bringing in complimentary pieces to bolster their attack, mainly Mohammad Sanu. Perhaps there best way to attack the Patriots is their one-two punch of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. Both are excellent receivers out of the backfield and both possess game-breaking speed. New England’s linebackers struggle in pass coverage.
New England’s defense does give up chunk plays; and have long been regarded as a bend-but-don’t-break defense. But they are so well coached that they always seem to be in the right place at the right time. They always seem to punch the ball loose just before the runner’s knee hits the ground. Or get their hands up just in time to deflect a ball for an interception. Julio will have to work for everything he gets in this game. He’s such a physically dominate player he could go off despite New England’s efforts to shut him down.
At the end of the day [narrative alert] this is a legacy cementing game for BB and TB12. A win here…..better yet, a beatdown here…. and they’ve both blasted the GOAT conversation out of the water. You know Tom wants to force Goodell to hand him that Super Bowl MVP trophy (and shitty Nissan truck that he’ll give to Jackie Slater for making a key tackle on punt coverage). And there is a little part of me (okay, all of me and the entire Bills Mafia) that wanst Brady to give Goodell the ultimate FU and retire! Yeah, that’ll show him Tom! I mean, Brady and his agent are forming their own league. Said league would draw a much bigger audience if they had the greatest quarterback in the world running the show. Just thinking out loud here!
So get your popcorn, chili, nachos, smoked wings, 18-layer bean dip and whatever other goodness you’re going to cram into you face ready, because it’s SUPER BOWL SUNDAY BABY!!!
New England 24, Atlanta 18
***(Yes, hammer the under!)***