We know this: The New England Patriots are remarkably good at taking away their opponent’s top weapon. In their last seven playoff games, the Pats have held the opposing team’s top receiver to an average of three catches for 37 yards per game, giving up only two touchdowns to those seven wideouts. And most of those numbers came in garbage time.
So what if the Patriots successfully shut down top Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones in Super Bowl LI? Jones carried the Falcons with a nine-catch, 180-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC title game. He’s their top weapon, and a lot of casual football fans don’t can’t name another one of quarterback Matt Ryan’s options.
But we’d be foolish to overlook running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, not just because they rushed for a combined 1,599 yards while averaging a stellar 4.6 yards per carry during the regular season, but also because the duo has the ability to play a massive role in the passing game.
That’s the beauty of Kyle Shanahan’s Ryan-friendly offense. It gives the sometimes-mistake-prone veteran quarterback a lot of safe options. One of them is getting the ball to Freeman or Coleman underneath. The two caught a combined 85 passes this season for 883 yards and five touchdowns before catching 14 more passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s first two playoff games.
Ryan has a completion percentage of 81.1 when throwing to Freeman and Coleman this year. They’ve dropped just five of 120 passes thrown their way.
Running backs who can do this…
And this…
Are special, and potential game-changers.
