Bold Prediction: Super Bowl Rematch

[nabwong]

They won't make it. I don't think the team has the mental toughness. Aside from Julio Jones, the team seems to play scared, including the coach. But who knows, the Giants and Packers caught fire at the right time.

 

[lancerman]

Between the Rams, Panthers, Eagles, Falcons, there is a big chance we face one of our prior Super Bowl opponents. There's even an outside chance for the Seahawks to get in.

Would be kind of funny since a team we played in three AFC Championship games is likely our main competition in the AFC side of the playoffs.

 

[lancerman]

Atlanta is pretty much the same team as last year. Hard to imagine a more competitive game than last years SB

Ryan's having a down year and that's what made the Falcons so explosive a year ago. Also there defense is not anywhere near the level they were playing at towards the end of the season last year. While I'd argue are offense is quiet a bit better with more dimensions and our defense is clicking.

To me the Eagles are just a more complete team and the one we should fear. Wentz is playing at a high level, they have a solid defense and run game. Belichick will need to coach a great game

 

[Ring 6]

Who do we trust? Some random guy online, or literally every single member of the NE organization who said they were taken by surprise when ATL decided to play more man coverage and that it took them a while to adjust?

Seems like an easy one.

Being surprised that they played man does not = the reason to be down 28-3.
It might cause a poor drive.

 

[The Brandon Five]

I dunno, Andy. The Falcons D just gave up 31 to Seattle. If not for a missed FG at the end would have been at least 34.

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

Ryan's having a down year and that's what made the Falcons so explosive a year ago. Also there defense is not anywhere near the level they were playing at towards the end of the season last year. While I'd argue are offense is quiet a bit better with more dimensions and our defense is clicking.

To me the Eagles are just a more complete team and the one we should fear. Wentz is playing at a high level, they have a solid defense and run game. Belichick will need to coach a great game

1. Agree Ryan is down from last year and yes falcons are less explosive for sure.

2. If we look at ppg allowed by the defense the falcons are right in line with what they allowed last postseason at 21 ppg. But Because Atlanta’s offense was so explosive it made their opponents one dimensional playing from behind. Made the defenses job a lot easier by focusing on the pass and using their speed to pass rush. Since they’re not blowing teams away opponents are able to have a more balanced game plan against them thus making it harder for the defense to employ that type of game plan.

 

[FourierSeries]

Being surprised that they played man does not = the reason to be down 28-3.
It might cause a poor drive.

You think the Patriots just came out flat in a game of that magnitude? They spent 2 weeks studying the Falcons and Dan Quinn, and they had every reason to expect an entirely different gameplan than the one The Falcons threw at them. Fair play to them, because that was the only way they could be competitive in that game, but once NE adjusted, Atlanta had no answers. The Falcons then proceeded to get raped even more brutally by NE this season.

This would be by far the best match up NE could hope for in the SB, but it isn't happening.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

The saints have the ability. Their defense is improved (if lattimore is healthy) and their run game should travel.

They just lost alex okafor for the season. He was arguably their best pass rusher.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Funny things happen to young, inexperienced teams in the playoffs and the Iggles are just that.

Their inexperience likely won’t be enough for the saints to win on the road. The saints on offense are too one dimensional, relying heavily on ingram and kamara, while Philly’s run D is excellent. Also, the saints receivers are not great outside of michael thomas.

 

[lancerman]

1. Agree Ryan is down from last year and yes falcons are less explosive for sure.

2. If we look at ppg allowed by the defense the falcons are right in line with what they allowed last postseason at 21 ppg. But Because Atlanta’s offense was so explosive it made their opponents one dimensional playing from behind. Made the defenses job a lot easier by focusing on the pass and using their speed to pass rush. Since they’re not blowing teams away opponents are able to have a more balanced game plan against them thus making it harder for the defense to employ that type of game plan.

The thing is the Falcons defense really tightened up towards the back end of the year so they were more dangerous. It's kind of like how we are a middle of the pack defense in ppg right now, but we've really been the best in the league over the last 6 weeks. and trending upward. So while they are the same overall, it's more even keeled as compared to being lower at the beginning of the year before a big surge towards the end. The Falcons defense we played in the Super Bowl was not indicative of their rating this one is.

 

[gatsby47]

Just for ****s and giggles, I would dearly love for Detroit to win tomorrow, and find the magic potion to slip into a Cinderella story and make it to the Super Bowl... Where of course, it would all come crashing down. BB does not believe in fairy tales and provides his own happy endings. But, in a hard luck town trying to re-establish itself, the Lions finally doing something fan worthy, would indeed be a sports story. No love for Atlanta or Philly or New Orleans. Dream along little broomstick cowboy eh?

 

[everlong]

I think the Falcons are catching a break in that there are no great cold weather teams other than the Eagles looking to be in the playoffs as of now. People are overlooking the Eagles .400 SoS and .378 SoV which are both quite weak. I wouldn't be shocked to see them get through the NFC again.

 

[Pats1989]

It has been 20 years since a SB loser made it back to the SB the following year. In many years, they did not even make it to the playoffs. I expect Atlanta to miss the playoffs this year.

Were the Bills ( Dethrottled in SB 27) and then beat in SB 28 ( Dallas again) the last team?

 

[Ring 6]

You think the Patriots just came out flat in a game of that magnitude? They spent 2 weeks studying the Falcons and Dan Quinn, and they had every reason to expect an entirely different gameplan than the one The Falcons threw at them. Fair play to them, because that was the only way they could be competitive in that game, but once NE adjusted, Atlanta had no answers. The Falcons then proceeded to get raped even more brutally by NE this season.

This would be by far the best match up NE could hope for in the SB, but it isn't happening.

You dont fall behind 28-3 because you forgot for 2 weeks that a team can play man coverage and you **** yourself and dont what to do about it. Atlanta kicked the crap out of the Patriots for more than half the game.
Arguing it wasnt a competitive game because of some stupid excuse is ridiculous.

 

[neuronet]

Nope. They are losing to the good teams, winning against bad teams. Atlanta is toast, they have PBSD (Post-Brady Stress Disorder).

 

[FourierSeries]

You dont fall behind 28-3 because you forgot for 2 weeks that a team can play man coverage and you **** yourself and dont what to do about it. Atlanta kicked the crap out of the Patriots for more than half the game.
Arguing it wasnt a competitive game because of some stupid excuse is ridiculous.

No one is saying it wasn't competitive. It was competitive because Atlanta approached the game differently than what NE had prepared and game planned for.

Minus the surprise factor, Atlanta had/has nothing for NE. This was proven in the 2nd half of SBLI and in this season's game. Not to mention that this is a mentally broken team.

Hopefully Philly, Minnesota, and NO sustain a bunch of injuries so that Atlanta actually has a chance of making it to the SB. It would be nice for NE to have a SB victory where the game is over by half time.

 

[goheels22002]

If Deja Vu rematches are the path for entire playoffs, I'd love to see a replay of the 2001-02 playoffs and go:

Bye
Blow out the Raiders
Blow out the Steelers
Blow out the Rams.

(None of the 2001-02 playoff games were blowouts, but we're much better at this sort of thing now than we were then.)

 

[Ring 6]

No one is saying it wasn't competitive. It was competitive because Atlanta approached the game differently than what NE had prepared and game planned for.

Minus the surprise factor, Atlanta had/has nothing for NE. This was proven in the 2nd half of SBLI and in this season's game. Not to mention that this is a mentally broken team.

Hopefully Philly, Minnesota, and NO sustain a bunch of injuries so that Atlanta actually has a chance of making it to the SB. It would be nice for NE to have a SB victory where the game is over by half time.

So they didnt make all those plays to score 28 points? We werent getting sacked because of their pass rush but because we wet ourselves because we didnt know what to do against man coverage?
So if Hightower didn't get the strip sack, or we missed a 2 point conversion, or any of a dozen other things didnt happen we would have lost to what you think is a team we should beat by 30 simply because they tricked us and played man and that was too much for the GOAT to figure out?
Yeah, ok pal.

 

[FourierSeries]

So they didnt make all those plays to score 28 points? We werent getting sacked because of their pass rush but because we wet ourselves because we didnt know what to do against man coverage?
So if Hightower didn't get the strip sack, or we missed a 2 point conversion, or any of a dozen other things didnt happen we would have lost to what you think is a team we should beat by 30 simply because they tricked us and played man and that was too much for the GOAT to figure out?
Yeah, ok pal.

Atlanta was a zone team. Dan Quinn has a history of employing a zone heavy defense. The Patriots spent 2 weeks watching film of a team playing primarily zone, and studying their players and their tendencies while in zone coverage, and therefore devised their game plan based on that. If you think that adjusting on the fly, when the opponent is giving you entirely different looks than what they've done the entire season, is something that takes a drive or two, then you're clearly wrong.

No, it wasn't too much for the GOAT to figure out, since he shredded them to the tune of 240+ yards in the 4th quarter alone.

 

[lancerman]

No one is saying it wasn't competitive. It was competitive because Atlanta approached the game differently than what NE had prepared and game planned for.

Minus the surprise factor, Atlanta had/has nothing for NE. This was proven in the 2nd half of SBLI and in this season's game. Not to mention that this is a mentally broken team.

Hopefully Philly, Minnesota, and NO sustain a bunch of injuries so that Atlanta actually has a chance of making it to the SB. It would be nice for NE to have a SB victory where the game is over by half time.

We were very fortunate to win that game. Atlanta's defense bet the whole game on cover one. They nearly shut us out in the first half and they got a key pick six out of it.

We really won because our offense was able to manage drives better and keep getting plays off even when we weren't scoring to the point where we finally tired them out. By the end of the fourth they were dead. But even still we were so fortunate. Two two point tries, a strip sack, the Edelman catch, Ryan getting sacked and the holding call. We needed everything to do what we did.

I'm not as afraid of current Atlanta, but they did have something for everyone last year.