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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 2017)
SUPER BOWL 51 Saturday, February 4, 2017 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS OFFENSE Total yards (avg.) Regular season: 386.2 269.2 117.0 Passing Rushing Postseason: 404.0 326.5 77.5 First downs Regular season: 351 39 109 203 Rushing Passing Penalty Postseason: 46 3 14 East Oregonian ATLANTA Patriots’ top D faces Falcons’ top O FALCONS OFFENSE Total yards (avg.) Regular season: 415.8 295.3 120.5 Passing Rushing A season that began with Tom Brady serving a four-game suspension will end with him in the Super Bowl, where his New England Patriots take on Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons. While much of the attention will be focused on Brady vs. Ryan, the key matchup could be Atlanta’s score-at-will offense, which produced the most points during the regular season, against the unheralded defense of New England, which allowed the fewest. New England ranked No. 1 in the NFL in points allowed per game at 15.6. Brady, a three-time Super Bowl MVP, and the Patriots own a pretty effective offense of their own. MVP favorite Ryan directed a unit that topped the league in scoring (33.8) and ranked second in yards (415.8). Neither team hurts itself with turnovers, which is why signs point to this being a high-scoring game. Postseason: 457.5 357.5 41 13 S. Gostkowski 3 • K SCORING (PPG) Regular season 26.7 Points for 15.6 Points allowed DEFENSE Yards allowed (avg.) Regular season: 371.2 266.7 104.5 Passing Rushing SPECIAL TEAMS Postseason: 326.5 247.0 79.5 R. Allen 6 • P D. Amendola 80 • PR Postseason: 338.0 238.0 100.0 C. Jones 24 • KR SCORING (PPG) Regular season OFFENSE 33.8 Points for 24.5 Points allowed Postseason 35.0 Points for L. Blount 29 • RB 16.5 Points allowed T. Brady 12 • QB Postseason 40.0 Points for 20.5 Points allowed M. Bennett 88 • TE J. White 28 • RB PLAY SELECTION (PCT.) Regular season Postseason PASS RUSH PASS RUSH 53.3 59.7 46.7 32 Penalty Postseason: 58 4 NRG Stadium, Houston • Sunday • 6:30 p.m. EST (FOX) PROJECTED STARTERS 100.0 First downs Regular season: 379 108 239 Rushing Passing 29 DEFENSE Yards allowed (avg.) Regular season: 326.5 237.9 88.6 Passing Rushing Page 3B PLAY SELECTION (PCT.) Regular season Postseason 40.3 C. Hogan 15 • WR M. Cannon 61 • RT D. Andrews 60 • C S. Mason 69 • RG J. Thuney 62 • LG PASS RUSH J. Edelman 11 • WR N. Solder 77 • LT 48.8 PASS RUSH 51.2 39.1 60.9 B. Reed 50 • DE COACHES CORNER J. Babineaux 95 • DT Bill Belichick Tied with Chuck Noll for most Super Bowl titles with four, and his 25 career postseason wins are an NFL mark. Along with his exceptional staff, he will devise strategies that can rob Atlanta of its most dangerous options. V. Beasley 44 • LB J. Collins 32 • CB DEFENSE T. Jackson 94 • DE G. Jarrett 97 • DT Dan Quinn D. Campbell 59 • LB D. Jones 45 • LB COACHES CORNER A novice at this as a head coach, but won a Super Bowl as Seattle’s defensive coordinator in the 2013 season. He resembles his mentor, Pete Carroll, in demeanor and willingness to push the envelope. Must make sure offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan attacks from the outset. R. Alford 23 • CB WHEN PATRIOTS HAVE THE BALL Newcomer Chris Hogan could wind up being a fifth or sixth option for Tom Brady behind Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, rookie Malcolm Mitchell, R. Allen K. Neal Reg. season Postseason and RBs James White and Dion Lewis. Brady has developed a strong 37 • S 22 • S W L PCT W L PCT relationship with Rob Gronkowski’s backup, Martellus Bennett. Atlanta has no 237 115 .673 25 10 .714 chance if it doesn’t get pressure on Tom Terrific. Should Brady have time to throw, a relatively inexperienced secondary could be in for a long day. Adding to New England’s WINNINGEST HEAD COACHES offensive prowess are RBs White and Lewis, mostly as receivers, and LeGarrette Blount, IN POSTSEASON HISTORY (Super Bowl titles) who scored 18 TDs rushing this season while running for 1,161 yards. Belichick 25 (4) Tom Landry 20 (2) Don Shula 19 (2) PROJECTED Joe Gibbs 17 (3) SPECIAL STARTERS 16 (4) Chuck Noll TEAMS Career record: 262-125 .677 M. Bryant 3 • K Grinding out the ground game Power runner LeGarrette who does his Blount best work near end zone. Led the NFL with 18 touchdowns rushing and had his second 1,000-plus yard rushing season. OFFENSE 44 78 3.3 A. Mack 51 • C C. Chester 65 • RG A. Levitre 67 • LG 18 FIELD GOALS Stephen YARDS Gostkowski 1-19 M. Brown 90 • DT S. McClellin 58 • LB D. Hightower 54 • LB Regular season Battle tested Edelman BRADY’S STATS Pass yds: 3,554 (reg.) • 671 (postseason) TDs: 28 (reg.) • 5 (postseason) Loss Go-to guys WR RB TE Favorite QB targets 98 60 55 RECEPTIONS 287 384 SOURCE: National Football League RB WR WR 54 59 83 REGULAR SEASON BRADY RYAN Pct Comp Att Yard line Att Comp Pct 63.9 52 60.3 88 68.4 69.2 162 39 75 OPP 19-1 108 70 64.8 146 OPP 49-20 168 123 57 OWN 1-20 73 55 75.3 234 OWN 21-50 260 73.2 178 Tom Brady Matt Ryan Brady is going for a record fifth Super Bowl crown by a quarterback. Unless Falcons can pressure him, he could tear apart the defense. Had his best season, making All-Pro, leading NFL in passer rating (117.1); tossed 38 TDs. Threw for seven TDs and ran for one in the playoffs. 68.5 22 86 3.9 15 1 Matt Bryant 40-49 50+ Made Missed Regular season Aerial assault Jones RYAN’S STATS Pass yds: 4,944 (reg.) • 730 (post.) TDs: 38 (reg.) • 7 (post.) Win WEEK Passes by field position Post 118 520 4.8 55 8 30-39 D. McCourty 32 • S Devonta Mohamed Julio Jones Freeman Sanu Tevin Coleman 20-29 DEFENSE Regular season TDS YARDS *1 *Served four-game *2 suspension *3 *4 406 5 376 6 222 7 315 8 9 BYE 316 10 280 11 286 12 269 13 14 406 188 15 214 16 276 17 WC DIV CONF Julian James Martellus Edelman White Bennett PCT FIELD GOALS They led the NFL in points (540) by a wide margin, thanks to a career year from QB Matt Ryan, who along with WR Julio Jones are All-Pros. If that combination comes close to its production during the season and, in particular, the nine connections for 180 yards and two TDs in the NFC championship against Green Bay, the Falcons will be difficult to stop. If the Patriots can contain Jones, Atlanta wideouts Mohamed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel must come through in a big way. The Falcons don’t have a lot of weapons at tight end, which means RBs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman will be keys in the passing game, too. Made Missed Win 28 227 ATT 87 1,079 YDS 3.1 4.8 AVG 14 75 LONG 1 11 TD L. Ryan 26 • RCB WHEN FALCONS HAVE THE BALL P. Chung 23 • S 50+ RUSHING Regular season 1-19 R. Ninkovich 50 • LB 30-39 40-49 2 0 1.000 YARDS M. Butler 21 • LCB 20-29 WEEK Post T. Flowers 98 • RDE A. Branch 97 • DT W L 19 13 .594 The combination of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman was the most lethal backfield tandem in the NFL during the regular season. Both backs have the unique ability to produce great numbers on the ground in addition to their top-shelf receiving skills. J. Jones 11 • WR J. Matthews 70 • LT C. Long 95 • LDE 1 Postseason W L PCT Dynamic duo 18 Postseason 24 R. Schraeder 73 • RT Reg. season Devonta Freeman P. DiMarco 42 • FB M. Ryan 2 • QB 24 • RB M. Sanu 12 • WR E. Weems 14 • PR/KR A. Hooper 81 • TE PROJECTED STARTERS D. Freeman RUSHING Regular season ATT YDS AVG LONG TD 299 1,161 3.9 M. Bosher 5 • P Career record: 21-13 .618 TDS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 BYE 12 13 14 15 16 17 WC DIV CONF Loss YARDS 334 396 240 503 267 335 273 288 344 267 269 297 237 286 277 331 338 392 AP
