The Patriots (-155) are the favorites to win on Super Bowl Sunday (as they should), and there are four main reasons why. Allow us to list down each. Read on, football freaks!
With all the hate he’s getting from almost anyone all these years (fans, media, etc.), it’s as if he needs more, right? Although for a guy as competitive as he is, you just know he can’t get enough of that. It’s what fuels him.
It’s been proven that a Tom Brady with something to prove is the best and scariest QB version of the man.
In Michigan, when he finally got the starting job in his junior year, he guided the Wolverines to two consecutive bowl wins – Citrus and Orange Bowl. In the latter, Brady threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair of 14-point comebacks.
He then, for some reason, dropped all the way to the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. What did he do when he was inserted? He helped the team reach the Super Bowl and beat the heavily favored St. Louis Rams, and won two more SBs soon after.
Then the Spygate happened during the 2007 off-season. What did he do after that? He led the Pats to a 16-0 card in the regular season, along with throwing a then-record 50 TD passes.
Then another gate came – the never-ending Deflategate – which blew up during the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl 49. Sure enough, Brady responded with a strong, clutch performance, throwing for 328 yards and four TDs, highlighted by two TD drives in a six-minute span in the final period (one was a go-ahead score).
Due to the controversies and exhausting hoopla of the 18-month battle against Deflategate, Brady “conceded” and received the suspension in the first four games of the 2016 campaign. Again, he responded well, registering a 11-1 QB record, 28-2 TD-INT ratio, 83.3 passer rating (lead the league), and 296.2 passing YPG.
2. The Patriots have more experience. Way more.
This one will be short.
Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and company are entering the game boasting six Super Bowl appearances (four wins), seven conference championships, 14 division titles, and 24 playoff games. All of that, when compared to the Falcons, are just too much.
3. The Patriots have an unpredictably good defense.
The Falcons have a boatload of talent, thanks in large part to having an explosive offensive scheme, but the Pats, in reality, only have two guys that they really need to stop or contain: Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.
Belichick, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, and the rest of that coaching staff having two weeks to device a plan should be enough.
During the season, the D got matched up with premier receivers – Antonio Brown, AJ Green, Doug Baldwin, DeAndre Hopkins, Demaryius Thomas, and Emmanuel Sanders. Some of them disappeared, *cough* Hopkins *cough* Sanders, and some of them played good. However, only Baldwin was able to really excel and have a receiving TD (59 yards and three TDs) against the unpredictably good Pats defense.
4. Brady’s offensive line is top-notch.
Any defense’s chances on stopping New England obviously resides on them getting to Tom Brady – ask the 2007 and 2011 New York Giants.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, they’ll be facing one of the best O-lines in the game. They are far from last year’s carousel-like rotation. In Brady’s 14 games this year (regular season and postseason), his linemen has only allowed him to get sacked 19 times, which will equate to just giving up 1.3 sacks per game.
With that, we’ll be expecting Nate Solder, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, and Marcus Cannon to have an advantage versus the Falcons’ D-line.
