These three players can make or break Super Bowl 51 for their respective teams, but there are also players that will be tasked with shutting them down.
When the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons take the field in Houston, TX on Sunday, Feb. 5, it will be with the Lombardi Trophy on the line. Super Bowl 51 promises to pit maybe the two best offenses in the league against one another and should be high on entertainment.
Even so, we’ve seen before how one player and one moment can decide the Super Bowl. Super Bowl 51 isn’t going to be immune to that. Thus, it’s important to take a survey of the game as it stands and identify the players who could be that type of factor.
Just as much as that is the case, though, we must also identify the players who will be tasked with stopping those players on the NFL’s biggest stage. That’s exactly what we’ll be looking at here with essentially three of the biggest matchups in Super Bowl 51 that could decide the outcome.
Grady Jarrett, DT – Falcons
Grady Jarrett has been one of the most underrated players for the Atlanta Falcons this season, but he has a chance to shock the world and prove himself on the biggest stage come Sunday.
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David Andrews is a former undrafted free agent out of the Georgia who has started 29 games over the course of the last two seasons for the Patriots. At only 6-3, 294 pounds, he is undersized, which sometimes impacts his ability to anchor in pass protection.
Jarrett’s quickness combined with his ability to win the leverage game could cause issues for a limited athlete such as Andrews, and that could end up playing a significant role in determining who wins this football game. There is no denying that Andrews is the weak-link for New England’s offensive line. The Falcons will need to try their best to exploit that in order to create pressure on Tom Brady.
Julian Edelman, WR – Patriots
Julian Edelman is Tom Brady’s favorite target in the passing game, and he will be going against an undrafted rookie who has emerged as a playmaker for Atlanta’s defense: Brian Poole. Edelman’s ability to set up opposing defensive backs with his crisp, smooth route running could cause major issues for Poole—who is still learning to trust himself and react based off of instincts. Out of all of the defensive players on the Falcons defense, Poole is the most exploitable.
The good part about this matchup is that it should play a factor in this game regardless of game flow. Even if the Patriots offense is able establish a run game that they end up relying on, Belichick is still going to let Brady throw it around—with Edelman being the main beneficiary of that strategy.
Julio Jones, WR – Falcons
Matt Ryan has options in the passing game, but everyone knows that his favorite target is the 6-3, 220-pound specimen from Alabama. It has been rumored that the Patriots might be willing to allow free safety Devin McCourty—who hasn’t played cornerback at all this season—to line up against Julio Jones on Sunday. That remains to be seen, but fans should expect to see some sort of combination of McCourty and Malcolm Butler in the attempt to slow down Jones.
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The last time Jones was on a football field, he finished with nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns. The problem for New England is that they can’t afford to put too much attention on Jones because of the emergence of other weapons such as former Browns receiver Taylor Gabriel and former Bengals receiver Mohamed Sanu.
Butler, the former undrafted free agent out of West Alabama, has said on multiple occasions that he would like the chance to be on an island against Julio Jones. Well, he might just get his chance come Sunday.