The Super Bowl Thread

wiffleballhero

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In the simulacrum
My first impression is that the Falcons gave up a ton of points to pretty middling teams, their interior rush is nothing to be too worried about and they have a pocket passer.

This is to say, all of the standard kryptonite issues for the Pats are lacking.

Julio Jones scares me, but there are worse match-ups.
 

5dice

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What scares me besides Jones is RB play by both of their guys. More than checkdowns, they catch the ball really well as part of the plan.
 

Stitch01

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My head says this is a competitive down to the wire shootout.

My heart says the Pats put up 50 to cement the BB/Brady run in perfect fashion
 

SemperFidelisSox

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Kyle Shanahan isn't some flavor of the week offensive coordinator running a soft dome offense. He knows what he's doing. He won't be running on 1st down or trying to be "balanced" on offense to keep Brady off the field. Spread the Patriots out, throw the ball, let Ryan be the MVP of the league. The underneath stuff will be there all day.
 

RedOctober3829

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Kyle Shanahan isn't some flavor of the week offensive coordinator running a soft dome offense. He knows what he's doing. He won't be running on 1st down or trying to be "balanced" on offense to keep Brady off the field. Spread the Patriots out, throw the ball, let Ryan be the MVP of the league. The underneath stuff will be there all day.
Matt Patricia will give Matt Ryan the underneath stuff all night.
 

jodyreeddudley78

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The Pats have only given up 30 once this year and that was to Seattle.
To be fair, they haven't faced an offense like this, or one even close.

But, if we're also being fair, their defense fucking sucks. If you put any weight into DVOA... It would be better than the Bills D, but worse than the Jets or Miami. So... Yeah... Think about that. Now, I think they're a bit better than that, but people smarter than me can probably elaborate.
 

RedOctober3829

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To be fair, they haven't faced an offense like this, or one even close.

But, if we're also being fair, their defense fucking sucks. If you put any weight into DVOA... It would be better than the Bills D, but worse than the Jets or Miami. So... Yeah... Think about that. Now, I think they're a bit better than that,mouth people smarter than me can probably elaborate.
 

dcmissle

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Line seems reasonable and may have been tighter if Pats has not dominated tonight.

If I'm Atlanta, I'd want this game next Sunday. Keep this as on schedule and ordinary as possible. But this game is different and there is value in having been there before. And that's with great due respect for Atlanta.

The defensive game plan will be the very best anyone could come up with given the talent. There's the BB game plan for Buffalo that literally is in Canton. The SB game plan against the Rams. Again, give us the extra week.

The more impressive Atlanta effort to me was the playoff game against Seattle. Green Bay was really banged up, and Green Bay botched early chances. NE Is healthier than GB, better on defense, and the game will be at a neutral site.
 

lars10

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I think this is the team Belichick has been trying to build for a while now. A #1 defense without any hired guns like Revis, but no weaknesses either.

I think this is a good matchup. Atlanta is obviously pretty far from the "great defense that gets pressure rushing 4" mold that we've seen in the Giants, Seahawks, and Broncos. But having said that, I'm still nervous.
One thing I'll say is that regardless of nervousness...the two first games the Pats have played this playoffs have been over quick..and never really in doubt. their defense makes you earn every ten yards... and if you ever get stopped you know you'll probably be down another 3 or 7 points the next time you get the ball. This team may be the most well rounded Pats team of the Belichick era.
 

ilol@u

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Freeman and Coleman scare the crap out of me. They can run it and catch it. They're shifty, they're fast. They can play inside or go around the edges. With Collins gone, I don't see any of our linebackers being able to match up with them in coverage. Maybe Chung?
 

lars10

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Line seems reasonable and may have been tighter if Pats has not dominated tonight.

If I'm Atlanta, I'd want this game next Sunday. Keep this as on schedule and ordinary as possible. But this game is different and there is value in having been there before. And that's with great due respect for Atlanta.

The defensive game plan will be the very best anyone could come up with given the talent. There's the BB game plan for Buffalo that literally is in Canton. The SB game plan against the Rams. Again, give us the extra week.

The more impressive Atlanta effort to me was the playoff game against Seattle. Green Bay was really banged up, and Green Bay botched early chances. NE Is healthier than GB, better on defense, and the game will be at a neutral site.
GB has had to play a WR at running back almost all year... and then three of their top WRs got hurt. NE has almost everyone healthy... or will be healthier. Bennett with two extra weeks should be a lot better. And regardless, guessing who will be good each week on the Pats though is a fools errand.

Atlanta's defense needs to be better than they were tonite... BB will figure out how to stifle Jones and Freeman...everyone else will have to step up.
 

edmunddantes

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Line seems reasonable and may have been tighter if Pats has not dominated tonight.

If I'm Atlanta, I'd want this game next Sunday. Keep this as on schedule and ordinary as possible. But this game is different and there is value in having been there before. And that's with great due respect for Atlanta.

The defensive game plan will be the very best anyone could come up with given the talent. There's the BB game plan for Buffalo that literally is in Canton. The SB game plan against the Rams. Again, give us the extra week.

The more impressive Atlanta effort to me was the playoff game against Seattle. Green Bay was really banged up, and Green Bay botched early chances. NE Is healthier than GB, better on defense, and the game will be at a neutral site.
Point of order:

I do believe there was no off week the Rams year because of September 11th.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Line seems reasonable and may have been tighter if Pats has not dominated tonight.

If I'm Atlanta, I'd want this game next Sunday. Keep this as on schedule and ordinary as possible. But this game is different and there is value in having been there before. And that's with great due respect for Atlanta.

The defensive game plan will be the very best anyone could come up with given the talent. There's the BB game plan for Buffalo that literally is in Canton. The SB game plan against the Rams. Again, give us the extra week.

The more impressive Atlanta effort to me was the playoff game against Seattle. Green Bay was really banged up, and Green Bay botched early chances. NE Is healthier than GB, better on defense, and the game will be at a neutral site.
I agree across the board. Atlanta is tough but I like our chances and am confident we'll have an excellent game plan.
 

amarshal2

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Freeman and Coleman scare the crap out of me. They can run it and catch it. They're shifty, they're fast. They can play inside or go around the edges. With Collins gone, I don't see any of our linebackers being able to match up with them in coverage. Maybe Chung?
Too bad the pats don't have anyone like that on the roster to get the D ready in practice.
 

Old Fart Tree

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I think this is the team Belichick has been trying to build for a while now. A #1 defense without any hired guns like Revis, but no weaknesses either.

I think this is a good matchup. Atlanta is obviously pretty far from the "great defense that gets pressure rushing 4" mold that we've seen in the Giants, Seahawks, and Broncos. But having said that, I'm still nervous.
They looked like planet eaters against Seattle and Green Bay. So yes, I'm definitely nervous.
 

BigSoxFan

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Atlanta has scored 30+ points in 13 games this year. This offense is simply awesome. But we've all seen the high flying offense get taken down in the SB. Pats defense isn't the 2013 Legion of Boom but they are fundamentally sound and should be capable of holding Atlanta in the 20s. My biggest concern is the lack of pass rush. If they don't get pressure on Ryan, he can absolutely outduel Brady.

Atlanta's defense isn't very good. Our offense should be able to score 30+ against them and I'd be a bit disappointed if they didn't. I expect to go back and forth on Mitchell vs. Floyd about 1000 times over the next 2 weeks.
 

DeadlySplitter

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all 6 SBs Bill/Tom have been part of have been either 3 or 4 point games in the final margin.Only scored over 30 points once (admittedly, in Houston).

small sample size, different years yadda yadda but there just seems to be something about the Super Bowl where our offense doesn't quite execute 100%. I have a feeling that 32-29 final in SB 38 is going to be pretty close to what we see in two weeks.
 
Line seems reasonable and may have been tighter if Pats has not dominated tonight.

If I'm Atlanta, I'd want this game next Sunday. Keep this as on schedule and ordinary as possible. But this game is different and there is value in having been there before. And that's with great due respect for Atlanta.

The defensive game plan will be the very best anyone could come up with given the talent. There's the BB game plan for Buffalo that literally is in Canton. The SB game plan against the Rams. Again, give us the extra week.

The more impressive Atlanta effort to me was the playoff game against Seattle. Green Bay was really banged up, and Green Bay botched early chances. NE Is healthier than GB, better on defense, and the game will be at a neutral site.
Atlanta has done pretty well off byes this season as well, defeating the Cardinals 38-19 and of course thumping the Seahawks last week. Atlanta has so many weapons, and Shanahan is such a creative offensive schemer, that I don't know how much the extra week really matters; Belichick is great at scheming to stop your primary and secondary offensive threats, but the Falcons go so deep at wide receiver and running back (hell, the fullback Patrick DiMarco had a 31-yard reception yesterday!), and Ryan is so good at mixing things up, I'd be really surprised if they don't get to 30+ points.

Green Bay and Pittsburgh were both pretty terrible yesterday, albeit under understandable circumstances: injuries, flu, weird travel-related stuff (plane rerouted due to fog vs. fire alarm), and playing their third playoff games in a row against teams who had byes two weeks ago. I think the Patriots are deservedly favored, but I absolutely believe the Falcons can win - as opposed to Super Bowl XXXIII, when I hoped they might beat the Broncos but didn't deep down believe they could. Apart from the offense, the defense is getting better every week (even in the absence of Trufant), with a bunch of fast and physical playmakers who we've seen can cause turnovers and stops even if they aren't yet capable of consistent excellence over the course of 60 minutes. The special teams is poor on kick and punt returns but is decent on coverage, has an excellent punter/kickoff man in Bosher and a superb placekicker in Bryant. Quinn's game management is an X factor; if the game is close, I don't trust him to manage the clock well, and even yesterday he didn't challenge what looked like an obvious fumble by the Packers in the fourth quarter.

I said it a few weeks ago, and I'll say it again: Belichick and Brady scare me, but on the whole, the Patriots don't frighten me. I'm sure I'll get more frightened over the next two weeks, but I see a team that hasn't really been tested for most of the season; part of that is through their own excellence, but a large part of it is also circumstantial, both in terms of the teams on the schedule and the form/health of those teams when they played them. They certainly haven't faced an offense like the Falcons, or a quarterback like Ryan. So as a Falcons fan, I'm cautiously optimistic.
 

wilked

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Koufax

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There article about Hogan had a lot of news for me. I did not know that he chose lacrosse over football in college. I was a little baffled last night when the announcers were talking about how Belichick saw him play lacrosse, but now I understand. The Pats must be the only franchise to have signed players whose primary college sports were wrestling, rugby and lacrosse.
 

Saints Rest

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Who are the teams that the Pats have faced in the playoffs (or in general, if a wider net is needed) who would be considered "offensive juggernauts" and how have the Pats done against them.
I'm on mobile ATM but will do some digging later. Ones that spring to mind:
2001 Rams "Greatest Show on Turf" (Pats win in playoffs, lose in regular season)
2014 Broncos (Pats lose in playoffs, win in regular season)
2003-2009 Colts (about 50/50 overall)
Who am I missing?
What are the commonalities with those teams and the Falcons?
 

Leather

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The 2006 Chargers were no joke. 492 points (first in league).
 

DJnVa

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all 6 SBs Bill/Tom have been part of have been either 3 or 4 point games in the final margin.Only scored over 30 points once (admittedly, in Houston).
Have we played a team that allowed 400+ points before in Super Bowl?

Here's the teams this year that allowed 400+:

Jets
Chargers
Browns
Jaguars
Niners
Saints
Panthers
Falcons

Yes, Atlanta will score points, but this defense can be had. Young DBs that play a lot of zone? Yes please.