The Falcons defense balled in the first half, their defensive line applied pressure, they hit Brady, the LB's were flying around bottling up Blount, their DB's were solidly tackling Edelman, Hogan, etc....
The Falcons scored in the first half, and the one score in the second, but they did not eat up a lot of clock.
In the second half, once the Falcons' defense started getting tired, Brady killed them.
I do not care if you have the best defense in the league, men cannot play solid defense for 90+ snaps. The Falcons wilted. Of course they could have won the game if they ran the ball down the stretch, but I wrote this post mainly to say....
Not only do you have to score on the Patriots, you have to score slowly or moderately. If you score quickly, Brady has proven that it does not matter if you are up 7, 14, 21, or 25 points.....with that quick strike passing game, they will come back. So not only do you have to 'get pressure on Brady' (everyone says that), you have to keep him off the field....otherwise it's over.
DB's cannot cover WR's by playing man-to-man coverage play after play after play....and man coverage is what you need against the Pats. A couple of my friends are Steelers fans and they are still pissed that Tomlin went zone against the Pats all game. You can't do it, Brady will eat your zone alive.
So in summary, in my opinion, the best defense against the Pats is not only a strong defensive line, or talented DB's, but it's your offense that is the best defense. An offense that scores AND and an offense that eats up the clock.
Your defense plays 93 snaps and you are dead.
The Falcons scored in the first half, and the one score in the second, but they did not eat up a lot of clock.
In the second half, once the Falcons' defense started getting tired, Brady killed them.
I do not care if you have the best defense in the league, men cannot play solid defense for 90+ snaps. The Falcons wilted. Of course they could have won the game if they ran the ball down the stretch, but I wrote this post mainly to say....
Not only do you have to score on the Patriots, you have to score slowly or moderately. If you score quickly, Brady has proven that it does not matter if you are up 7, 14, 21, or 25 points.....with that quick strike passing game, they will come back. So not only do you have to 'get pressure on Brady' (everyone says that), you have to keep him off the field....otherwise it's over.
DB's cannot cover WR's by playing man-to-man coverage play after play after play....and man coverage is what you need against the Pats. A couple of my friends are Steelers fans and they are still pissed that Tomlin went zone against the Pats all game. You can't do it, Brady will eat your zone alive.
So in summary, in my opinion, the best defense against the Pats is not only a strong defensive line, or talented DB's, but it's your offense that is the best defense. An offense that scores AND and an offense that eats up the clock.
Your defense plays 93 snaps and you are dead.
