Joining Bryant in missing out on the Pro Bowl are Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman, Alex Mack, and Vic Beasley.
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Tom Brady receives the Super Bowl MVP trophy following New England’s win over Seattle in Super Bowl XLIX.
Not so fast, Dirty Birds fans. “Tom Brady is one of the all-time greats; he has been for several years”. They’ve won six in a row, scoring at least 33 points in each.
Former Jets and Bucs receiver Keyshawn Johnson, now an ESPN analyst, told an Atlanta radio station that if the Patriots receivers were on other National Football League teams, they probably wouldn’t be on 53-man rosters. One of those losses can be attributed to the Patriots, who had the top scoring offense in 2007 but lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. Quinn was Seahawks defensive coordinator for the 2014 and 2015 Super Bowls, but this is his second season as a head coach. Yet when I watch the Panthers getting handled by Denver in Super Bowl 50, the game feels so old I expect the tape to be in black and white. Those teams are 4-9. The Saints won it at age 43, and the Buccaneers won it at age 27. Those teams are 8-5. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Falcons have three ping-pong tables in their locker room and it’s helped foster some much-needed camaraderie amongst the players.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger gained yards in shorter chunks but had trouble getting the Steelers into the end zone against a New England defense and stellar secondary that led the National Football League in fewest points allowed during the regular season.
That storyline figures to come up in the buildup to Super Bowl LI, just as it did before the last meeting between the teams, a 30-23 Patriots win on September 29, 2013. Brady can pick any defense apart, but Atlanta shut down Aaron Rodgers and nobody was playing better.
It was back in training camp that the Patriots first began to be dogged by questions about what their identity would be on defense following the trade of edge rusher Chandler Jones.
Counting their losses to Chicago in 1986 and Green Bay in 1996, this will be the ninth Super Bowl appearance for the Pats. Most players and coaches consider themselves fortunate to appear in one Super Bowl. Vendettas don’t propel teams to victory; talent does. Their conclusion? If Brady isn’t already the G.O.A.T., a win in Super Bowl LI would be the final piece of evidence. Michael Floyd, added late in the season after being waived by the Arizona Cardinals, wasn’t even on the active game-day roster against the Steelers.
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REALISTIC REACTION: Oddsmakers made the Patriots only a 3-point favorite. It was New England’s ball on the Carolina 9-yard-line and Brady had a chance to to put away the game.
