Matt Ryan throwing it and Julio Jones catching it, and Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman running and catching it, and Kyle Shanahan calling it add up to one scary offense, the most lethal offense (33.8 ppg) in the NFL.
It will force Bill Belichick and Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to summon every ounce of their genius and tape-study expertise over these next 13 days and nights for them to slow Ryan’s Express in Super Bowl LI.
Belichick and Patricia will not be bringing the ’85 Bears or the Lawrence Taylor-Harry Carson-Bill Parcells-Belichick Giants or the 2000 Ravens or the 2014 Seahawks with them to Houston. Nevertheless, they will be bringing a relatively no-name defense that is understandably overshadowed by Tom Brady’s greatness and happens to be No. 1 in points allowed (15.6 ppg).
And so the battle lines are easy to draw as we take a first look at what appears to be a mouth-watering matchup:
The video-game machine that lights up scoreboards versus the diabolical mastermind who lives to dismantle threats to his Evil Empire.
Something’s gotta give.
Belichick and Patricia will be seeking to honor traditionalists who have never strayed from the credo that defense wins championships.
Ryan, playing in his first Super Bowl, will try to advance the argument that a white-hot quarterback enjoying an MVP season can trump that credo. Case in point: The quarterback has won Super Bowl MVP honors 27 times (and never mind that Brady has won it three times).
Our friends at the Elias Sports Bureau tell us this will mark the sixth time since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger that the top scoring team in the league will meet the team that allowed the fewest points in the Super Bowl:
1978: Steelers 35, Cowboys 31: NFL MVP Terry Bradshaw (315 yards, 3 TDs) was dominant enough for the No. 1-ranked Steel Curtain to survive a pair of late TD passes by Roger Staubach.
1984: 49ers 38, Dolphins 16: Dan Marino threw for 5,084 yards and 48 TDs in his second season, but the No. 1 defense kept him in check (29-for-50, 289 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) as Joe Montana won the duel.
1989: 49ers 55, Broncos 10: Montana destroyed the No. 1 defense with five TD passes.
1990: Giants 20, Bills 19: The underdog Giants kept Jim Kelly’s explosive K-Gun offense off the field for 40 minutes, 33 seconds, and Belichick invited Thurman Thomas to run the ball into 2-4-5 and 2-3-6 alignments — when he wasn’t instructing his defensive linemen to slow the up-tempo attack down by “accidentally” kicking the ball off the line of scrimmage so the zebras would be forced to retrieve it.
2013: Seahawks 43, Broncos 8: Peyton Manning (34-for-49, 280 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) hardly resembled the quarterback whose offense scored an NFL-record 606 points.
Belichick’s history tells us he will look to keep Jones from wrecking the game first and foremost, and force Ryan to look at his secondary options.
“He’s a tough matchup,” Belichick said on WEEI radio. “He’s a big guy, he’s hard to tackle. Short catch-and-run plays are a problem too, you don’t want to get too far off of him and let him get up a head of speed.”
The difference between the Steelers and Falcons is that Ryan has more weapons at his disposal. To wit: Ryan has hit an NFL-record 13 receivers for touchdowns this season.
“They’ve got a lot of players, a lot of depth,” Belichick said. “Kyle Shanahan’s always done a good job offensively. He’s got a well-balanced attack between the running game, play-action, misdirection and the drop-back game. So I’m sure that’ll be hard, too.”
The Patriots defense offers compelling evidence of Belichick’s greatness. He has rebuilt it on the fly, jettisoning aging players such as Darrelle Revis and Vince Wilfork as well as young, impact players such as Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins whom he did not view as disciples of the Patriot Way. But he has also identified high draft picks set free by their former teams — Eric Rowe, Chris Long, Shea McClellin, Kyle Van Noy — and plugged them seamlessly into his system.
The Patriots play impeccable team defense, but at least Ryan can take solace in the fact Belichick does not have anyone who can wreck the game for him the way Von Miller wrecked it last Super Sunday for Cam Newton.
Ryan’s Express is filled with speedy playmakers with swagger. Belichick’s defense is young and tough and, of course, smart.
No. 1 scoring offense versus No. 1 scoring defense.
Super matchup.
Something’s gotta give.