In Super Bowl LI, the New England Patriots will be looking to put the cherry on top of a dynastic run, while the Atlanta Falcons will be looking for their first-ever Lombardi Trophy. That creates an interesting dynamite in terms of which team needs this more.
Why the Patriots will feel pressure
On one hand, the Patriots will forever be viewed as one of the greatest teams in football history, regardless of what happens next Sunday in Houston. But on the other hand, it has to be noted that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady hate losing. And if they lose to the Falcons, they’ll become just the third coach-quarterback duo in NFL history to lose three Super Bowls.
Do you think Brady and Belichick really want to be lumped in with Jim Kelly and Marv Levy and Fran Tarkenton and Bud Grant? No way. The very fact they’ve lost two Super Bowls while Terry Bradshaw/Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh/Joe Montana and Vince Lombardi/Bart Starr went a combined 9-0 together probably eats away at them.
Besides, Brady is 39. This could be his last chance to move ahead of every other quarterback with that fifth ring. Same for Belichick, who is the oldest coach in the AFC and is still stuck in a tie with Noll.
Without Rob Gronkowski and with the world expecting them to win — but probably rooting against them — the Patriots should be feeling plenty of heat in Houston.
Why the Falcons will feel pressure
Well, for starters it’s been 51 years and they’re yet to capture one of these things. But let’s also consider that quarterback Matt Ryan’s legacy is up for grabs. Right now, Ryan is on a borderline-unprecedented tear. If he can complete this run with a championship, this’ll be looked at as one of the best quarterback seasons in football history. But if he fails to deliver in the Super Bowl, folks will — fairly or unfairly — question whether those two victories over Seattle and Green Bay were flukes. Folks will again state that Ryan can’t get it done in big spots.
Because the Falcons beat the Seahawks and Packers so handily, Ryan’s yet to take a snap late in a close game in these playoffs. Let’s remember that he has a reputation for making poor decisions and/or throwing dumb passes in huge moments. What if he finally has a Matt Ryan moment in Houston? What if the Falcons need a two-minute drill down by four in the final minutes?
In the last four years, Ryan has thrown a league-high 11 interceptions in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, and a league-high seven of those picks have come in one-score games. And even this year, Brady was better in crunch time…
This is what would concern me if I were a #Falcons fan… pic.twitter.com/DhshsFp31f
— Brad Gagnon (@Brad_Gagnon) January 24, 2017
So both teams have a lot to gain and lose in Super Bowl LI, but I actually think that the Falcons — who have never won a championship and have a quarterback looking to become a legend — have more on the line.
