Date: Sunday, 5th February, 2017
Kick-Off: 11:30pm
Venue: NRG Stadium, Houston (TX)
TV Coverage (US): Fox
TV Coverage (UK): Sky Sports, BBC
Commentators: Joe Buck & Troy Aikman
Head Official: Carl Cheffers
Opening Line: New England Patriots -3
Opening Over/Under: 57.5
Half-Time Show: Lady Gaga
Random Notes:- As the designated home team, Atlanta will have their choice of jersey. Expect to see them choose their red home strip, with the Patriots in their white road jerseys,
- As will be well advertised, this is Tom Brady's 7th trip to the Super Bowl, with Matt Ryan making his first appearance in the big game.
- The Patriots and Falcons have never played in the playoffs before. The Patriots currently hold a 7-6 lead in the 13 regular season games they have played.
- They last played in 2013, when New England came out on top 30-23.
- Bill Belichick and Dan Quinn will meet for the first time on opposing sidelines as head coaches or defensive co-ordinators.
- However, Belichick has faced off against Kyle Shanahan as offensive co-ordinator before. Rather ominously, Shanahan mustered 463 passing yards out of Rex Grossman that day as the Washington Redskins play caller.
- Like last year, if you want your company to have a 30 second commercial during the Super Bowl, you can expect to shell out over $5,000,000 for the privilege.
Unit vs Unit Preview (courtesy of NESN.com)
PATRIOTS’ PASSING ATTACK VS. FALCONS’ PASS DEFENSE
Patriots passing: 4th, 269.2 yards per game, 109.5 rating, 4.18 sack percentage
Falcons’ pass defense: 28th, 266.7 yards per game, 92.5 rating against, 4.93 sack percentage
The Falcons have relied heavily on their offense to keep them in games all season. Their pass defense certainly was not a strength despite having some young potential future stars in linebacker Vic Beasley, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and cornerback Jalen Collins. Losing cornerback Desmond Trufant midway through the season certainly didn’t help matters.
The Patriots, meanwhile, have one of the NFL’s best passing attacks with quarterback Tom Brady throwing to wide receivers Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Malcolm Mitchell, Danny Amendola and Michael Floyd, tight end Martellus Bennett, and running backs James White and Dion Lewis. New England lost tight end Rob Gronkowski midway through the season but kept chugging along and had one of its strongest performances of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.
PATRIOTS’ RUSHING GAME VS. FALCONS’ RUN DEFENSE
Patriots rushing: 7th, 117 yards per game, 3.9 yards per carry
Falcons’ run defense: 17th, 104.5 yards per game, 4.5 yards per carry
Despite having a top passing attack, the Patriots relied heavily upon LeGarrette Blount to score on the ground this season. He piled up 18 touchdowns in the regular season and added another in the playoffs. He was kept fresh at the tail end of the season when Lewis came back from a knee injury.
The Falcons allowed the sixth-most yards per carry in the NFL this regular season. Most of their front-seven defenders are better against the pass than they are against the run.
PATRIOTS’ PASS DEFENSE VS. FALCONS’ PASSING ATTACK
Patriots’ pass defense: 12th, 237.9 yards per game, 84.4 rating against, 5.4 sack percentage
Falcons passing: 3rd, 295.3 yards per game, 116.8 rating, 6.5 sack percentage
The Patriots’ pass defense improved as the season progressed, but this game likely will be a shootout with the way Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has played this season.
Atlanta led the NFL in passer rating and in passing plays of 40 yards or more. Preventing big plays will be key for the Patriots, who let up the second-least passing plays of 40 yards or more during the regular season. Wide receiver Julio Jones is one of the NFL’s best, and half of the Patriots’ secondary knows Falcons wideout Mohamed Sanu well from their days at Rutgers.
PATRIOTS’ RUN DEFENSE VS. FALCONS RUSHING GAME
Patriots’ run defense: 3rd, 88.6 yards per game, 3.9 yards per carry
Falcons rushing: 5th, 120.5 yards per game, 4.6 yards per carry
The Falcons’ two-headed rushing attack is versatile and tough to stop. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman combined for 345 carries for 1,599 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground and another 883 yards and five touchdowns on 105 catches through the air.
The Patriots’ run defense has been consistent throughout the season, however, with Alan Branch and Malcom Brown up front, Dont’a Hightower at linebacker and Rob Ninkovich, Trey Flowers, Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard on the edge.
Something will have to give in this matchup, and right now it’s too close to call.
Football Outsiders DVOA (Efficieny) RankingsPatriots Overall Rank: 1
Falcons Overall Rank: 3
Patriots Offensive Rank: 2
Falcons Offensive Rank: 1
Patriots Defensive Rank: 16
Falcons DefensiveRank: 27
Another point to note is that, per Fox, we will be introduced to revolutionary new camera angle for instant replays during this year's Super Bowl thanks to new, cutting-edge technology:
On January 12, 2017, Fox announced that it planned to introduce a new feature known as Be the Player, which will allow the presentation of instant replays from the first-person perspective of a player. The system will utilize technology co-developed by Intel, which uses an array of 38 cameras installed around the stadium to reconstruct a player perspective without requiring them to be equipped with cameras themselves.
