We tend to forget any player that is picked 199th in the NFL Draft. There is one man who drastically stands out and does not go by that definition. This was seen in the draft in 2000 when the New England Patriots selected Michigan QB Tom Brady.
Going 1-for-3 passing with six yards in his rookie season showed he was taking that year to learn behind formal four-time pro bowler Drew Bledsoe.
Nearly 17 years have passed and Brady has a chance to win his fifth Super Bowl title, which would give him the most Super Bowl wins ever as an NFL starting quarterback.
The Patriots square off against the high-flying offense of Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI on Sunday, Feb. 5 in Houston, Texas.
Ryan received the NFL’s most valuable player award over Brady by a slim margin of voting, 24-20. Here is my main reason why.
If we were talking about a Falcon flying in the air in this case, it would fly in a deadly accurate straight line: Ryan threw for 38 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, but more importantly, had an astonishing 117.1 quarterback rating, the fifth best QBR of all time, according to pro-football-reference.com.
The Falcons, defeated in its only Super Bowl appearance in 1998, come in as the challengers with the best offense in the league, averaging 33.8 points per game.
While many could expect a shootout where the winner could hit 40 points, I do not see that happening.
Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has been a genius in dissecting opposing teams’ offenses.
The Patriots’ run defense has been remarkable all year and gave up only 53 yards on the ground against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship, despite running back Le’veon Bell going out with an injury in the first half.
However, you can expect Jones to get around 10 receptions and a touchdown, as he will get a handful of targets. Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, who made the famous interception at the one yard line against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl two years ago to secure the win, is slated to be the one matched up against Jones.
Not only was it a memorable play, but it was also Butler’s first career interception, according to ESPN. If you think that statistic is crazy, it gets even better.
Out of 109 pass attempts from the one-yard line during the the entire 2014 NFL season, only one was intercepted, and that was by Butler.
Although the Patriots offensive line is playing incredibly and the depth at all positions is quite solid, Brady has showed no signs of slowing down at age 39, and he could play another two or three years before retiring in my opinion.
I predict this game going to the Patriots, 27-20.