It’s Super Bowl week, and while the SnoTap gang isn’t in Houston, the hope is to give you a preview that would be similar to what we did for Packers on Friday except a little longer and break them out over the next four days along with a prediction. We’re going to look at the biggest headline for Patriots defense, Falcons defense, Falcons offense and Patriots offense in some sort. We start with untested New England secondary going up against the probable MVP.

New England will face the best offense they’ve seen all year on Sunday night. That makes sense given Falcons and Matt Ryan are the best in football drawing comparisons to the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ of the early 2000’s. But Patriots haven’t seen some of the other potent offenses in football, and this will be their first meeting against an elite level quarterback. Their passing defense will face a challenge they haven’t seen before this season.

This is the first time all year the Patriots secondary faces a quarterback with a QB rating over 100. In fact, the best quarterback they’ve faced using QB rating is Miami Dolphins Ryan Tannehill at number 12. That’s not even close to what Ryan can bring to the table. It helps the secondary that they get two weeks to prepare for this potent offense, yet all bets are off when Super Bowl 51 kicks off. The assignments should be pretty clear heading into this game, but once again, there’s great uncertainty if New England can slow down Atlanta.

Philadelphia Eagles castoff Eric Rowe will probably be on Julio Jones with some help from Logan Ryan. He’s faced Antonio Brown with some success, and Jarvis Landry had his way in the slot, which will be more Malcolm Butler’s territory. Those are the two best receivers this secondary encountered this season, but neither player fits the size and stature of Jones. He’s a monster out there, and there will be a mismatch out the gate. Rowe is a bigger corner, and good stats behind him this season, yet this offense is unlike anything they’ve seen so far.

One thing Ryan has done well for the last several games is not turn the ball over. Ryan hasn’t thrown an interception since December 4th. New England comes in middle of the road for the season and picked off four passes this postseason. If they get an early turnover to rattle Ryan’s cage, Patriots defense could be successful on Sunday.

Just one of the many things to watch on Super Bowl Sunday.

Charlie.