Super Bowl LI – All You Need to Know

Lady Gaga will rock the halftime show in Houston. That’s it – all you need to know! We’re joking of course, you can continue reading to learn interesting facts about these two great teams and see what to expect from this year’s Super Bowl LI clash.

Match Overview

The Super Bowl LI game between New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons will take place at Houston’s NRG Stadium this Sunday, Feb 5th at 6:30 PM EST, which is 12:30 AM CET (for the European fans out there).

So far the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons have never played against each other in a Super Bowl or any significant game.

Overall they have faced each other 13 times, with Pats winning seven games. The last four of these victories are consecutive and the superstar Patriots quarterback Tom Brady took part in each one of them.

Super Bowl LI Matchups to Keep an Eye On

Super Bowl’s biggest matchup is Tom Brady versus Matt Ryan. Anything we say about Brady wouldn’t be enough to describe his incredible influence on the football world.

The Patriots’ leader is living in the best time of his life, having participated in 12 championship games already, earning 4 Super Bowl rings and 3 MVP titles. Who can stop him in the Super Bowl LI? Probably nobody, but he can be outscored!

On the other side of the field is Matt Ryan – the experienced QB from Atlanta, who is rumored to be selected as the 2017 NFL MVP. Although few people expected that when the season started, Matt Ryan proved to be the best and most consistent quarterback choice for all fantasy football players.

Here is how this rivalry looks by the numbers (stats taken from the regular season performance):

Pass Completions: 291 out of 432 attempts for Tom Brady, 373 out of 534 attempts for Matt Ryan.

Passing Yards: 3554 for Tom Brady, 4944 for Matt Ryan.

Touchdowns: 28 for Tom Brady, 38 for Matt Ryan.

But let’s leave the superstar quarterbacks alone for a moment and see what else coaches Bill Belichik and Dan Quinn will have to consider if they want to be crowned this year’s NFL champions.

The most obvious threat Belichik’s Pats have to deal with is Falcons superstar wide receiver Julio Jones, who’s having a great season so far with the team. Throwing all the defense on him though, might turn out to be the biggest mistake for the team from New England. Falcons number 11 is indeed a top performer but definitely not Quinn’s only weapon. In fact, his “Dirty Birds” are 5th in rushing yards with 120.5, as opposed to Pats’ 117. And let’s not forget the pass-to-the-runningback affinity of veteran quarterback Matt Ryan.

A game-deciding factor would be whether the Patriots will be able to stop Atlanta’s run game. And this is not an easy task when the Falcons are known for using both their runningbacks – Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. And these guys are like the sun and the moon, with playstyles so different, it is almost impossible for a defensive formation to get accustomed. Freeman is short in size but very fit and physical.

On the other hand, Coleman is among the fastest players in the league.  And I will mention it once more – these guys can not only run the ball, they can also catch it!

Overall Atlanta Falcons lead against the Pats in all three key stats per game – total yards (415.8 to 386.2), passing yards (295.3 to 269.2) and rushing (120.5 to 117).

Off the field Outwitting

Super Bowl LI finalists have entered an extramural dispute for ex-49ers coach Chip Kelly. Kelly was fired from San Francisco on Jan 1st but has no intentions to retire. He was spotted consulting Bill Belichik about New England’s Offence a week before the AFC final.

There’s a rumor Kelly has been offered a contract with the Patriots.

A coincidence or not, just a few days ago the Falcons officially expressed their intentions of hiring the ex-niner in Atlanta, since the “dirty birds” are looking for a new offensive coordinator after Kyle Shanahan’s expected departure on Feb. 6th. Shanahan, who led the Falcons to the first place in offensive points of this NFL season with 33.8 on average per game, is about to take over the head coach position in San Francisco.

Super Bowl LI – Did You Know?

– “Super Bowl” is the correct spelling, as opposed to “superbowl”, but the latter has been searched significantly more on Google

– Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has spent his entire 9-year NFL career with the team from Atlanta. Probably his loyalty is the main reason for him being the highest-paid Falcons player with an average salary of $20.8 million per year.

– Atlanta Falcons are getting a brand new home field for season 2017/2018 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

– Atlanta is a place dominated by hip-hop culture.

– Falcons fans pay the least for tickets. Of all the NFL matches, watching a Falcons game costs $79 on average. For comparison, the Pats charge $130 per game on average.

– The self-made billionaire and owner of the New England Revolution soccer team – Robert Kraft, bought the New England Patriots for $172 million in 1994. Now, according to Forbes, the Patriots franchise is worth an estimated $3.4 billion.

– The famous Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski owns a party bus company, called “Yo Soy Fiesta”.

– The Patriots franchise was first called Boston Patriots. They won the first ever played pre-season game – versus the Buffalo Bills in 1960.

– In Houston the Pats won Super Bowl XXXVIII .

– At one point in on the University of Michigan’s depth chart, Tom Brady was the 7th quarterback.

– George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones series creator, once said that in his head the New England Patriots are like the Lanisters from the show.

Now you hopefully know a lot more about the upcoming Super Bowl LI. If you want to look back and see detailed information about all the past super bowls, head over to the Super Bowl History page.

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