What are you talking about? His last "big game" he put up 4 TDs and routed the Packers just 2 weeks ago. He destroyed SEA just the week before that. And the last time he was in the playoffs he set an NFC Championship passing game record with 396 yards passing vs. SF in 2012
Y'all gotta stop with the tired & cliched narratives on here breh...Matt Ryan has proven he's a clutch player
those clichés are all they have to lean on, breh. "Belicheck with two weeks....", "I can't go against Belicheck and Brady in a Superbowl...", etc. It's tiring to hear.
The Falcons are the better team. They have the most playmakers. And they have guys in Quinn and Shannahan who are no slouches at scheming, respectively. That Superbowl gift from Seattle has really fukked people over in the head. Trying to manufacture the "Patriots Aura". That shyt been dead for a decade now.
While I don't know exactly how the game will play out, I DO know the cold, hard facts that:
1. ANY bracketing of Julio is, by definition, an advantage for our offense because of our number of weapons. ANY single coverage on Julio is an advantage for our offense because the Pats don't have a single player to stop him.
2. NE does not have one prominent pass rusher, so you must get pressure through scheme or blitz, obviously. Ryan kills against the blitz, and I'm hard pressed to believe that Ryan will be coverage-sacked all game, mainly because of my first point.
3. The interior of the Pats D-line is great. Branch and Brown are beasts. 300 plus lbs of power. Thats why I'm so glad we run a zbs that can take advantage of the edges and find creases in the middle. Shanny is gonna have their ass running sideline to sideline all game. Hands on hips and gasping by mid 3rd quarter.
4. Pats bread and butter is the 5 defensive back look with 3 safeties. Obviously this helps the Pats against faster teams and helps with coverage schemes. The downside is on running plays, especially in our "21" personnel (2 backs, 1 te), you'll have a safety matched on Dimarco(I'll take it) or Hooper/Toilolo(I'll take that too). Not only that, the possibility of play action makes each of those players a receiving threat. That's why Hooper and Toilolo will eat, and are my x-factors.
5. NE will hurt us in the bunch formation. Brady gets the ball out too quick, and the formation causes natural pick plays. Tackling will be at a premium. If not NE can methodically March down field and use it as an extension of the running game, because:
6. BLOUNT AINT GONNA DO shyt. STOP ACTING LIKE HE'S PRIME JEROME BETTIS. IF YOU TRY TO "CONTROL" THE BALL WITH HIS 3 YD CARRYING ASS, WE'LL TAKE IT. THAT MEANS YOUR NOT PASSING, WHICH IS YOUR STRENGTH.
7. Brady also kills the blitz, so we have to get pressure with our line. Jarret, Jackson, Hages and Babs up the middle--reed, freeney, and beas on the edge. If we don't get pressure, it turns into a shootout.
8. Nerves. The young guys have handled the big stage perfectly so far. But this is the biggest stage. Their swag has to be on 100! Or Brady will take their soul.
9. Pats defense as a whole is not great. That #1 scoring defense is a farce. The Seahawks defense we just murked, without Earl Thomas, is better than this defense. Debate me
Falcons 34-24. See y'all on Peachtree