Can a defense as bad as Atlanta's win a SB?

[Ring 6]

Over the last 30 years only 125 football teams have allowed more points than the 2016 Falcons.
4 made the playoffs.
1 won any playoff games the 2009 cardinals.

They face Tom Brady tomorrow.
This is a historic mismatch.

 

[farn]

It will be interesting to see if the ATL D is the crew we saw in the first 10 games or the gang from the games since then. There has been improvement, so likely they won't allow the same things they may have early on.

Having said that : ATL needs to score. NE will surely succeed on offense to an extent & ATL will need to keep up.

 

[RobertWeathers]

2011 Giants allowed 25.0 ppg which was .4ppg less than ATL.

With that said I think that NYG had more playmaking talent on D than ATL

 

[supafly]

2006 Colts were ranked 31st or 32nd against the run. I don't believe any team has done that and won the SB before.

Hopefully, you're spot on and this is an epic mismatch tomorrow.

 

[Schmo]

Didn't realize Beasley is a sub rusher. Isn't that a bit like going to the world series of poker and having your cards dealt facing up?

I see it as a huge mismatch as well, but I keep trying to convince myself otherwise.

 

[neuronet]

Andy, where do you stand in the predict the score contest? I'm just wondering how much we should trust you.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

2006 Colts got Bob Sanders back and were transformed on D. Same with Osi and the 2011 Giants. The Falcons don't have anyone coming to the rescue.

 

[TomPatriot]

1/12/14

Over the last 30 years only 125 football teams have allowed more points than the 2016 Falcons.
4 made the playoffs.
1 won any playoff games the 2009 cardinals.

They face Tom Brady tomorrow.
This is a historic mismatch.

You're right. Now tell us why.

 

[Le Numéro Douze]

2006 Colts were ranked 31st or 32nd against the run. I don't believe any team has done that and won the SB before.

Hopefully, you're spot on and this is an epic mismatch tomorrow.

Atlanta aren't playing against Rex Grossman though

 

[GorBelSer]

2006 Colts were ranked 31st or 32nd against the run. I don't believe any team has done that and won the SB before.

Think they were dead last against the run but best in passing yards allowed. And the Bears had Grossman throw like 30 times and Thomas Jones had some ludicrous stats like 120 yards on 14 carries.

 

[mosi]

To answer the question, yes. Any given sunday.

 

[SVN]

they just need to play 1 good game and matchup with satisfactorily the team they are facing. rest all stats are useless.

 

[richie021501]

They got this far, there's no reason why they can't. I'm sure Packers fans said their match up was a historic mismatch and the Falcons actually held the Pack offense in check for a good portion of that game. I've learned to overlook any opponent

As someone already said, any given Sunday. I take nothing for granted, I just hope the Pats pull it off.

 

[patfanken]

our defense in 2011 was much worse than the Atlanta D is, and we all know how close we came in THAT game. The Falcons can absolutey win this superbowl.....IF....the Pats don't bring their A game on both sides of the ball

 

[RobertWeathers]

2006 Colts were ranked 31st or 32nd against the run. I don't believe any team has done that and won the SB before.

Hopefully, you're spot on and this is an epic mismatch tomorrow.

It's worth noting that the 06 Colts got Bob Sanders back in December.

Once he returned they were a different defense and played like the top defense they were in 05 and will be in 07

 

[supafly]

Atlanta aren't playing against Rex Grossman though

Rex Grossman may have been mediocre, but they had the #2 scoring offense in the NFL that year.

2006 Chicago Bears Statistics & Players | Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

[RobertWeathers]

our defense in 2011 was much worse than the Atlanta D is, and we all know how close we came in THAT game. The Falcons can absolutey win this superbowl.....IF....the Pats don't bring their A game on both sides of the ball

The 2011 Pats had 2 All-Pros in VW and Mayo and other solid players like Chung, DMC, Nink and Mark Anderson. They also allowed 4 less ppg

 

[SalemPats]

I honestly don't even think this game will be close, we will crush them. If they can't contain us we will have long drives, kill their offensive flow and run away with them

 

[Le Numéro Douze]

Rex Grossman may have been mediocre, but they had the #2 scoring offense in the NFL that year.

2006 Chicago Bears Statistics & Players | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Sure thing, but if you remember that game, Grossman should have been MVP... for the Colts. That's how bad he played on that day.

 

[supafly]

It's worth noting that the 06 Colts got Bob Sanders back in December.

Once he returned they were a different defense and played like the top defense they were in 05 and will be in 07

Fiery little guy, that Bob Sanders.