It's Super Bowl Sunday! Welcome in to the 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion of Super Bowl LI between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. Everyone's invited to chip in, leave comment below, and share your thoughts on the game.
Q2
NE 3 ATL 21
To say this half was stunning is a cliche. But, this is one shocking start. I'm seeing a lot of parallels between this start and the start on Super Bowl XLVIII when the Seehawks jumped to a 22-0 start over Peyton Manning and the Broncos. This was on me and a couple of analysts, we underestimated the Falcons' defense big time. I said in the first quarter, considering both defenses were doing well, it was a matter of which defense will bend and break first. I forgot about the question of which defense will make the most plays for their team? And so far, the Falcons' defense is doing exactly that. They forced a fumble on LeGarrette Blount to get the Falcons' offense going and Robert Alford late in the quarter got a Pick 6 on Brady! This is Tom Brady we're talking about! And of all places, he throws a Pick 6 in the Super Bowl! Atlanta's defense came to play as evident in the fast 3 and out. Matt Ryan and the offense are feeding off their energy as Devonta Freeman has a rushing TD and Ryan connected with Austin Hooper on a TD pass. For the Patriots, they did move the ball well. Tom Brady managed to connect with Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan. James White and Dion Lewis got a couple of nice plays. But, the Falcons are following one of my keys that they need to pressure the Hell out of Brady. 2 sacks, a whole lot of quarterback hits and quarterback pressures. With this deficit, the Patriots we'll have to abandon the run and get Martellus Bennett, Julian Edelman, and Chris Hogan involved a lot. Meanwhile, the Falcons are licking their chops on that scenario as they'll likely stick to their game plan. Well, enjoy Lady Gaga's performance. The 2nd half will open up shortly after.
Q1
NE 0 ATL 0
We expected a shootout, but after one, it was a quarter dominated by defense. But overall, I thought the Falcons won this quarter. First possession of the game, they forced a quick 3 and out on the Patriots. We were questioning whether or not Matt Ryan and the Falcons had the jitters, but they showed no signs with a big run by Devonta Freeman. Patriots moved the ball better in their first possession, but the Falcons' D-line managed to get pressure to force another 3 and out. Both defenses are doing a solid job containing the opposite quarterbacks. The question now is, which defense will bend and break first as the game goes on?
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