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Super Bowl LI Game Preview

Find out how the Falcons and Patriots match up statistically.

Charlie Bernstein

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Super Bowl LI Capsules

SUPER BOWL LI CAPSULES

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2017

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS–AFC EAST (16-2) AT ATLANTA FALCONS–NFC SOUTH (13-5)

SERIES

  PATRIOTS FALCONS
LEADER 7-6
STREAKS   Past 4
COACHES VS. OPP. Bill Belichick: 4-1 Dan Quinn: 0-0
COACHES PLAYOFF RECORD Bill Belichick: 25-10 Dan Quinn: 2-0
VS. COMMON OPP. NE: 4-1 (Az. 1-0; Den. 1-0; LA 1-0; Sea. 0-1; SF 1-0)

Atl.: 5-1 (Az. 1-0; Den. 1-0; LA 1-0; Sea. 1-1; SF 1-0)

PLAYOFF RECORD 31-19 9-12
LAST WEEK W 36-17 vs. Pittsburgh W 44-21 vs. Green Bay
LAST GAME 9/29/13: Patriots 30 at Falcons 23. New England QB Tom Brady passes for 316 yards & 2 TDs. Patriots WR Kenbrell Thompkins has 127 rec. yards & TD.
LAST PLAYOFF Teams have not met in postseason.
REFEREE Carl Cheffers
BROADCAST FOX (6:30 PM ET): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Chris Myers (Field reporters). Westwood One: Kevin Harlan, Boomer Esiason, Tony Boselli, James Lofton (Field reporters). SIRIUS: 88 (WW1), 81 (NE), 82 (Atl). XM: 88 (WW1), 225 (NE), 82 (Atl.)

 

REGULAR-SEASON STAT LEADERS

PASSING Tom Brady: 291-432-3554-28-2-112.2 (2L) Matt Ryan: 373-534-4944 (2L)-38 (2L)-7-117.1 (1L)
RUSHING LeGarrette Blount: 299-1161-3.9-18 (1L) Devonta Freeman: 227-1079-4.8-11
RECEIVING Julian Edelman: 98-1106-11.3-3 Julio Jones: 83-1409 (2L)-17.0-6
OFFENSE 386.3 415.8 (2L)
TAKE/GIVE +12 +11
DEFENSE 326.4 371.2
SACKS Trey Flowers: 7 Vic Beasley Jr.: 15.5 (1L)
INTs Malcolm Butler: 4 Deion Jones (R): 3
PR Danny Amendola: 6.7 Eric Weems: 11.4
KR Cyrus Jones (R): 22.5 Eric Weems: 23.0
PUNTING Ryan Allen: 44.7 Matt Bosher: 46.8
KICKING Stephen Gostkowski: 127 (46/49 PAT; 27/32 FG) Matt Bryant: 158 (1L) (56/57 PAT; 34/37 FG)

NOTES

TEAMS MEET for 1st time in postseason. NE leads all-time series 7-6. Patriots defeated Falcons 30-23 in last meeting on 9/29/13.

PATRIOTS: Have 9 Super Bowl berths, most in NFL history. Have won 8 consecutive division titles, longest streak in NFL history. Since 2001, have won 4 Super Bowl titles, most in NFL. Have 31-19 (.620) all-time postseason record, 2nd highest winning pct. in playoff history…Head coach BILL BELICHICK has 25 career postseason wins, most all-time. Has won 4 Super Bowl titles (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX), tied with CHUCK NOLL for most in NFL history…QB TOM BRADY is all-time SB leader in pass att. (247), comp. (164), yards (1,605) & TDs (13). Has won 4 Super Bowls as starting QB & 3 Super Bowl MVPs, both tied for most in NFL history. In Super Bowl XLIX vs. Sea., completed SB record 37 passes for 328 yards & 4 TDs. Ranks 1st all-time in postseason wins (24), passing att. (1,263), comp. (788), yards (8,628) & TDs (61). Has 11 career postseason games with 300+ pass yards, most all-time. Had 14.0 TD/INT ratio (28 pass TDs vs. 2 INTs), highest in NFL history (min. 20 pass TDs)…In Div. Rd. win vs. Hou., RB DION LEWIS became 1st player in postseason history with rush TD, rec. TD & KR-TD in same game. RB LE GARRETTE BLOUNT rushed for TD in AFC CG. Led NFL with franchise-record 18 rush TDs. Has 8 rush TDs in 7 career postseason games. Has rush TD in 6 of past 7 (incl. playoffs). RB JAMES WHITE tied for lead among NFL RBs with 5 TD catches…WR JULIAN EDELMAN had eight catches for 118 yards & TD in AFC CG. Ranks 7th in NFL postseason history with 84 catches. In past 9 playoff games, has 75 catches (8.3 per game) for 862 rec. yards (95.8 per game) & 3 TDs. Had 9 catches for 109 yards & TD in SB XLIX. Is franchise postseason leader with 84 catches & 937 rec. yards. Has 3 seasons with 90+ catches, 2nd most in team history. WR CHRIS HOGAN set franchise record with 180 rec. yards in AFC CG. Ranks 2nd among players in 2016 postseason with 275 rec. yards. WR DANNY AMENDOLA had TD catch in SB XLIX…CB MALCOLM BUTLER had INT with 26 seconds remaining in SB XLIX. Led team with 4 INTs & 17 PD. LB ROB NINKOVICH has 1.5 sacks in past 2 SB appearances. Had FR in AFC CG. Has 6 career postseason sacks. CB LOGAN RYAN has 16 tackles, 4 PD & INT in past 2 postseason games. Was only NFL CB with 90+ tackles (92), 2+ INTs (2), 1+ sack (1) & 1+ FF (1) in 2016. S DEVIN MC COURTY had INT in Div. Rd. CB ERIC ROWE had INT & 2 PD in AFC CG. LB KYLE VAN NOY had FF in AFC CG.

FALCONS: Making 2nd Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Won NFC South & advanced to postseason for 1st time since 2012. Ranked 1st in NFL in total points (540) & 2nd in total offense (415.8 yards per game). Head coach DAN QUINN is making 3rd Super Bowl appearance in past 4 seasons. Was def. coordinator for Sea. in SB XLVIII & XLIX…QB MATT RYANpassed for 392 yards & 4 TDs for 139.4 rating in NFC CG. Is 1st QB in NFL history with 3+ pass TDs in 4 consecutive playoff games. Set franchise record & ranked 2nd in NFL with 4,944 passing yards. Has 6 consecutive 4,000+ yard seasons, tied for 2nd longest streak in NFL history. Led league with 117.1 rating, 5th highest single-season rating in NFL history. In past 6 (incl. postseason), has 1,861 pass yards (310.2 per game) with 18 TDs vs. 0 INTs for 133.3 rating. In past 3 postseason games, has 1,126 pass yards (375.3 per game) with 10 TDs vs. 1 INT for 126.2 rating…RB DEVONTA FREEMAN has 829 scrimmage yards (497 rush, 332 rec.) & 10 TDs (9 rush, 1 rec.) in past 8 (incl. postseason). Has 209 scrimmage yards (87 rush, 122 rec.) & 2 TDs (1 rush, 1 rec.) in 2 career postseason games. Had 1,079 rush yards, 2nd consecutive 1,000-yard season…WR JULIO JONES had 9 catches for 180 rec. yards & 2 TD catches in NFC CG. Is only player in NFL history with 2 postseason games of 180+ rec. yards & 2 rec. TDs. Averages 110.4 rec. yards per game in postseason, highest avg. in playoff history (min. 5 games). Ranked 2nd in NFL with 1,409 rec. yards, 4th season with 1,000+ rec. yards. Led NFL with 100.6 rec. yards per game avg. Has 26 catches (8.7 per game) for 429 rec. yards (143 per game) & 5 TD catches in past 3 postseason games. WR MOHAMED SANU aims for 4th consecutive game (incl. postseason) with TD catch. Had 5 catches for 52 yards & TD in NFC CG. WR TAYLOR GABRIEL has 5 rec. TDs in past 8 (incl. postseason)…DE DWIGHT FREENEY has 10 career postseason sacks, 4th most among active players. LB VIC BEASLEY JR. led NFL with 15.5 sacks. LB DEION JONES (106) & S KEANU NEAL (105) led NFL rookies in tackles. Neal tied for 3rd in league with 5 FFs. CB ROBERT ALFORD tied for 5th in NFL with 19 PD. CB RICARDO ALLEN aims for 3rd consecutive postseason game with INT. DT RA’SHEDE HAGEMAN had 1st career postseason sack & 3 TFL in NFC CG. Has 3 sacks in past 5 (incl. postseason). DE TYSON JACKSON had sack & TFL in NFC CG

Charlie Bernstein is the managing football editor for Football Insiders and has covered the NFL for over a decade.  Charlie has hosted drive time radio for NBC and ESPN affiliates in different markets around the country, along with being an NFL correspondent for ESPN Radio and WFAN.  He has been featured on the NFL Network as well as Sirius/XM NFL Radio and has been published on Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, ESPN as well as numerous other publications.

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