The Super Bowl is one of these games that is broken down at tremendous length, but today, we're going to look at some of the factors between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons that you might not have ultimately thought of yet in the days leading into the biggest game of the year.
Super Bowl 51 is set to kick off at NRG Stadium in Houston at 6:30 p.m. ET. You can catch all of the action between the Pats and the Falcons live on FOX.
Super Bowl 51 Odds at BookMaker.eu
Atlanta Falcons +3
New England Patriots -3
Over/Under 58.5
When Atlanta Has the Ball…
Oh sure, you know all about Julio Jones and Matt Ryan and the numbers that they're going to put up in this game. But if you really want to look at a bit of an X-Factor on this offense, check out Taylor Gabriel. He's going to be the smallest man on the field at just 5-foot-8, and he's the type of player who can really be shifty with the football in his hands.
We really haven't seen Gabriel break out yet, but this could be his day. The Patriots specialize in two things in particular on the defensive side of the ball. The first is that they take away your best option and make someone else beat you. The second is that they make you march down the field if you're going to score and take away the big time play.
The latter might seem a little counterintuitive because of all of the big plays that Gabriel has made over the course of this season, but so many of those big plays have started at or near the line of scrimmage. We know that extra attention is going to be paid towards Jones, and if Gabriel lines up on the opposite side of the field, perhaps by himself with just one prospective blocker, this could be a matchup that can be exploited. A quick hit on a pick play, one key block, and Gabriel could be off to the races. Watch this matchup specifically.
When New England Has the Ball…
It's time for the hammer to come out for the Patriots. Have you forgotten that LeGarrette Blount was eighth in the NFL in rushing with 1,161 yards this year? Sure, he averaged just 3.9 yards per carry and had just seven scores, but he was the man who really put this team on his back early in the year when Dion Lewis was hurt. Lewis has taken a lot of the ground game away from Blount, but the Patriots are famous for bringing out some new tricks in the biggest games. In this case, it could be an old trick that few think will end up happening.
Remember what we said about the Patriots taking away your best option on offense? They try to do the same thing on defense. In this case, it's Vic Beasley who is the biggest game-wrecker the Falcons have out there. What's the best way to neutralize him against this offensive line? Run right at him. And if you're running anywhere inside the tackles, Blount is your man, and we think he could be in for a really big game as a result.
The X-Factor
You could say all you want about the Patriots and how dominant they were this year, but one of their unsung heroes is punter, Ryan Allen. Allen has this tremendous knack of pinning teams deep, and he's going to be called upon more than once for sure in this one to do the same thing to the Falcons even though many assume this is going to be a back and forth affair with both offenses excelling.
Allen doesn't have the same massive leg to flip field position as Matt Bosher, but he's more than good enough to boot one 55 yards in the perfect conditions of NRG Stadium under the roof. It's not the size of his leg that has us excited about the punting game, though. It's how many times he can force Matty Ice and the gang to go 90+ yards to score a touchdown against the top scoring defense in the NFL.
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