Team Notes week 21 2016

By Bob Harris
Bob Harris<

NEWS, NOTES, RUMORS AND OTHER GOOD STUFF

Directly from the desk of FlashUpdate Editor Bob Harris. The good; the bad; and yes. ... Even the Bears. There is no better way to jump start your weekend than browsing these always educational -- often irreverent -- team-by-team, Fantasy-specific offerings. ...
Access specific teams by clicking on a team name in the schedule appearing directly to your left or by clicking on a helmet below; return to the helmets by hitting the link labeled "Menu" following each teams notes. ...

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Arizona Cardinals

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Kyler Murray, Clayton Tune
RBs: James Conner, Michael Carter, Emari Demercado
WRs: Marquise Brown, Michael Wilson, Rondale Moore, Greg Dortch, Zach Pascal
TEs: Trey McBride, Geoff Swaim

Atlanta Falcons

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Taylor Heinicke, Desmond Ridder, Logan Woodside
RBs: Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, Cordarrelle Patterson
WRs: Drake London, Mack Hollins, KhaDarel Hodge, Van Jefferson, Scott Miller, Jared Bernhardt, Josh Ali
TEs: Kyle Pitts, Jonnu Smith, MyCole Pruitt, John FitzPatrick

Baltimore Ravens

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley, Josh Johnson
RBs: Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, Melvin Gordon, J.K. Dobbins, Keaton Mitchell
WRs: Zay Flowers, Odell Beckham, Rashod Bateman, Nelson Agholor, Tylan Wallace
TEs: Isaiah Likely, Charlie Kolar, Mark Andrews

Buffalo Bills

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Josh Allen
RBs: James Cook, Latavius Murray, Ty Johnson
WRs: Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Khalil Shakir, Trent Sherfield, Deonte Harty
TEs: Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, Quintin Morris

Carolina Panthers

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Bryce Young, Andy Dalton
RBs: Chuba Hubbard, Miles Sanders, Raheem Blackshear
WRs: Adam Thielen, Jonathan Mingo, D.J. Chark, Terrace Marshall Jr., Laviska Shenault, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Mike Strachan
TEs: Tommy Tremble, Stephen Sullivan, Ian Thomas, Hayden Hurst

Chicago Bears

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Justin Fields, Tyson Bagent, Nathan Peterman
RBs: Khalil Herbert, D'Onta Foreman, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, Khari Blasingame
WRs: D.J. Moore, Darnell Mooney, Tyler Scott, Velus Jones Jr., Trent Taylor, Equanimeous St. Brown
TEs: Cole Kmet, Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis, Jake Tonges

Cincinnati Bengals

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Jake Browning, Joe Burrow
RBs: Joe Mixon, Chase Brown, Chris Evans, Trayveon Williams
WRs: Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, Trenton Irwin, Andrei Iosivas, Charlie Jones
TEs: Irv Smith Jr., Tanner Hudson, Drew Sample, Mitchell Wilcox

Cleveland Browns

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Joe Flacco, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Deshaun Watson
RBs: Jerome Ford, Kareem Hunt, Pierre Strong Jr., Nick Chubb
WRs: Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore, Cedric Tillman, Marquise Goodwin, David Bell
TEs: David Njoku, Jordan Akins, Harrison Bryant

Dallas Cowboys

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, Trey Lance
RBs: Tony Pollard, Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, Hunter Luepke
WRs: CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Michael Gallup, Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks
TEs: Jake Ferguson, Luke Schoonmaker, Peyton Hendershot

Denver Broncos

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Russell Wilson, Jarrett Stidham
RBs: Javonte Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin, Samaje Perine
WRs: Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, Marvin Mims Jr., Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Brandon Johnson
TEs: Adam Trautman, Chris Manhertz, Greg Dulcich

Detroit Lions

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Jared Goff, Teddy Bridgewater
RBs: David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds, Zonovan Knight
WRs: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond, Jameson Williams, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Antoine Green
TEs: Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright, James Mitchell

Green Bay Packers

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Jordan Love, Sean Clifford
RBs: Aaron Jones, A.J. Dillon, Patrick Taylor
WRs: Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Dontayvion Wicks, Samori Toure, Malik Heath
TEs: Tucker Kraft, Ben Sims, Josiah Deguara, Luke Musgrave

Houston Texans

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: C.J. Stroud, Case Keenum, Davis Mills
RBs: Devin Singletary, Dameon Pierce, Mike Boone, Dare Ogunbowale
WRs: Nico Collins, Noah Brown, Robert Woods, John Metchie III, Xavier Hutchinson, Tank Dell
TEs: Dalton Schultz, Brevin Jordan

Indianapolis Colts

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Gardner Minshew, Sam Ehlinger, Kellen Mond, Anthony Richardson
RBs: Zack Moss, Jonathan Taylor, Trey Sermon, Evan Hull
WRs: Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, Isaiah McKenzie, D.J. Montgomery
TEs: Mo Alie-Cox, Kylen Granson, Will Mallory, Andrew Ogletree, Jelani Woods

Jacksonville Jaguars

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Trevor Lawrence, C.J. Beathard, Nathan Rourke
RBs: Travis Etienne Jr., Tank Bigsby, D'Ernest Johnson
WRs: Calvin Ridley, Zay Jones, Parker Washington, Tim Jones, Jamal Agnew, Christian Kirk
TEs: Evan Engram, Brenton Strange, Luke Farrell, Elijah Cooks

Kansas City Chiefs

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Patrick Mahomes, Blaine Gabbert
RBs: Isiah Pacheco, Jerick McKinnon, Clyde Edwards-Helaire
WRs: Rashee Rice, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, Kadarius Toney, Richie James, Justyn Ross, Skyy Moore, Mecole Hardman
TEs: Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, Blake Bell, Jody Fortson

Los Angeles Rams

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Matthew Stafford, Carson Wentz, Stetson Bennett
RBs: Kyren Williams, Royce Freeman, Zach Evans, Ronnie Rivers
WRs: Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek, Demarcus Robinson
TEs: Tyler Higbee, Brycen Hopkins, Hunter Long, Davis Allen

Miami Dolphins

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Tua Tagovailoa, Mike White, Skylar Thompson
RBs: Raheem Mostert, De'Von Achane, Jeff Wilson, Salvon Ahmed, Christopher Brooks
WRs: Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Braxton Berrios, Cedrick Wilson, Chase Claypool, River Cracraft
TEs: Durham Smythe, Julian Hill, Tyler Kroft

Minnesota Vikings

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall, Josh Dobbs, Kirk Cousins
RBs: Alexander Mattison, Ty Chandler, C.J. Ham, Kene Nwangwu, Cam Akers
WRs: Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, K.J. Osborn, Brandon Powell, Jalen Nailor
TEs: Josh Oliver, Johnny Mundt, Nick Muse, T.J. Hockenson

New England Patriots

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Bailey Zappe, Mac Jones
RBs: Rhamondre Stevenson, Ezekiel Elliott, JaMycal Hasty
WRs: DeVante Parker, Demario Douglas, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Kayshon Boutte, Matt Slater, Kendrick Bourne
TEs: Hunter Henry, Mike Gesicki, Pharaoh Brown

New Orleans Saints

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Derek Carr, Jameis Winston, Jake Haener
RBs: Alvin Kamara, Jamaal Williams, Kendre Miller
WRs: Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, A.T. Perry, Keith Kirkwood, Lynn Bowden, Michael Thomas
TEs: Juwan Johnson, Taysom Hill, Foster Moreau, Jimmy Graham

New York Giants

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Tommy DeVito, Tyrod Taylor, Daniel Jones
RBs: Saquon Barkley, Matt Breida, Gary Brightwell, Eric Gray
WRs: Darius Slayton, Wan'Dale Robinson, Jalin Hyatt, Parris Campbell, Isaiah Hodgins, Sterling Shepard
TEs: Darren Waller, Daniel Bellinger, Lawrence Cager, Chris Myarick

New York Jets

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian, Aaron Rodgers
RBs: Breece Hall, Dalvin Cook, Israel Abanikanda
WRs: Garrett Wilson, Xavier Gipson, Jason Brownlee, Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Charles Irvin
TEs: Tyler Conklin, Jeremy Ruckert, C.J. Uzomah, Kenny Yeboah

Oakland Raiders

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Aidan O'Connell, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer
RBs: Josh Jacobs, Zamir White, Ameer Abdullah, Brandon Bolden
WRs: Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker, Hunter Renfrow, DeAndre Carter, Kristian Wilkerson
TEs: Michael Mayer, Austin Hooper, Jesper Horsted

Philadelphia Eagles

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Jalen Hurts, Marcus Mariota, Tanner McKee
RBs: D'Andre Swift, Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott, Rashaad Penny
WRs: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Julio Jones, Olamide Zaccheaus, Quez Watkins
TEs: Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll, Grant Calcaterra, Albert Okwuegbunam

Pittsburgh Steelers

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Mason Rudolph, Mitchell Trubisky, Kenny Pickett
RBs: Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, Anthony McFarland Jr.
WRs: George Pickens, Diontae Johnson, Allen Robinson, Calvin Austin III, Miles Boykin
TEs: Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington

San Diego Chargers

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Easton Stick, Justin Herbert
RBs: Austin Ekeler, Joshua Kelley, Isaiah Spiller, Elijah Dotson
WRs: Keenan Allen, Josh Palmer, Quentin Johnston, Jalen Guyton, Derius Davis, Mike Williams
TEs: Gerald Everett, Donald Parham, Stone Smartt

San Francisco 49ers

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold, Brandon Allen
RBs: Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason, Kyle Juszczyk
WRs: Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings, Ray-Ray McCloud, Ronnie Bell, Danny Gray
TEs: George Kittle, Charlie Woerner, Brayden Willis, Ross Dwelley, Cameron Latu

Seattle Seahawks

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Geno Smith, Drew Lock
RBs: Kenneth Walker III, Zach Charbonnet, DeeJay Dallas, Kenny McIntosh
WRs: DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jake Bobo, Cody Thompson, Dareke Young
TEs: Noah Fant, Will Dissly, Colby Parkinson

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Baker Mayfield, Kyle Trask
RBs: Rachaad White, Chase Edmonds, Sean Tucker, Ke'Shawn Vaughn
WRs: Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Trey Palmer, Kaylon Geiger, Deven Thompkins, Rakim Jarrett, Russell Gage
TEs: Cade Otton, Ko Kieft, Payne Durham

Tennessee Titans

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Will Levis, Ryan Tannehill, Malik Willis
RBs: Derrick Henry, Tyjae Spears, Julius Chestnut
WRs: DeAndre Hopkins, Treylon Burks, Nick Westbrook_Ikhine, Kyle Philips, Colton Dowell, Chris Moore
TEs: Chigoziem Okonkwo, Josh Whyle, Trevon Wesco

Washington Redskins

Compiled by FootballDiehards Editor Bob Harris | Updated 31 January 2017

The Patriots haven't faced the Falcons since the 2013 season and Atlanta's team has changed considerably since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 on their way to a 4-12 season.

Head coach Bill Belichick outlined one of the biggest differences he sees in this year's Falcons team when he fielded a question about the stamp Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has put on the team. After noting that he worked with Dimitroff's father when both men were with the Browns and with Dimitroff when he was in charge of college scouting in New England, Belichick noted Atlanta is "explosive offensively" and pointed to how fast the Falcons are playing on defense.

"I'd say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have," Belichick said during a conference call last week. "They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They're either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I'd say that's a big stamp that he has put on the team."

Later in the call, Belichick said that he saw similarities between the Falcons defense and the one Dan Quinn ran when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks. That unit hasn't posted the same kind of results as the Seattle one did on their way to a 28-24 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago, but they'll get a chance at gaining a better result in Houston.

And based on their offensive approach in their AFC Championship beatdown of the Steelers, they might well have a little something in store for Quinn and his defense.

Heck, the Patriots coaching staff might even surprise their own players. As ESPN.com's Mike Reiss put it, "Imagine the reaction among players when Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels began detailing the team's offensive plan for the AFC Championship Game.

"'OK, men. We've run 1,187 offensive snaps this season and played a lot of good football. So in the most important game of the year, with our season on the line, we're going to rely heavily on a personnel grouping we've utilized for a grand total of 12 times all year.'"

Reiss went on to suggest that makes little sense, and it likely wouldn't happen in most locker rooms. But in New England, this script has played out similarly in past years, and it speaks volumes about how ambitious, diverse, ever-evolving and confident the Patriots are with their offensive approach.

In turn, it creates a dilemma for opposing defenses -- as it will for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI -- because they never quite know what the Patriots will do.

What the Patriots sprung on the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game was their four-receiver package, pairing it with a turbo-like tempo. They had run it just 12 times all year, unveiling it for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4 (for 10 snaps) and then using it twice against the New York Jets on Dec. 24. In all, they threw a total of six passes with four receivers on the field during the regular season, while the Green Bay Packers threw a league-high 291 passes out of the grouping.

So as Reiss described it, the AFC Championship Game was, in many ways, "a calculated sneak attack." The Patriots unleashed it on the Steelers on the second play, forcing them out of their nickel package and into dime, and pushed the foot down on the accelerator with an aggressive pass-first approach.

How could Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler have known it was coming with such force?

In all, the Patriots played with four receivers on the field for 13 first-half snaps in opening a 17-9 lead -- one more play than they had used the package over the first 17 games of the year.

"We knew we wanted to do a few things out of some different groupings that we felt like could help us move the ball, make first downs and score points. I think they went out there and did some things, were able to convert on a few third downs and help us move the ball," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.

How the Patriots ultimately decide to attack the Falcons in Super Bowl LI is what McDaniels and his staff are currently in the process of determining. Those decisions can also be impacted by injury-related factors as well.

"I think each week we go into it and we try to look at a group of players that we've got a lot of guys that can help us be productive on offense in a lot of different ways and in different roles," McDaniels explained. "You look at what you have available to you and you look at how the other team plays you or you think that they're going to play you in those groupings and then try to make the best decisions you can to gain the most advantage.

"That's why sometimes maybe it's more of a fullback and two tight ends, and another week maybe it's three receivers, a fullback and a tailback. There are a lot of different things that you can use and hopefully there's a rhyme and a reason for all of it because the most important thing is you're trying to put your guys in a position to have some success doing things that they do well. The defense and their matchups, that's always a critical component of making those choices."

The Falcons' overall speed has stood out to Belichick, as Atlanta's scheme has some carryover to the Seahawks under Quinn.

Bleacher Report's Doug Farrar pointed out that some have opined that Tom Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

Farrar concedes these things are all true.

However, Farrar went on to remind readers that when the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Quinn's modus operandi was similar -- the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes.

They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

So there is ample flexibility for New England.

Will it be four receivers again? Or something altogether different?

As Reiss summed up: "Unpredictable and ever-evolving, the Patriots are happy to keep everyone guessing. ..."

Still, if we're looking for potential game plans, the Sports Xchange believes the zone-based scheme Quinn runs is susceptible to spread sets. Given that, we should expect such looks, including Dion Lewis in the backfield. McDaniels may even go with some of the four-receiver formations New England used against Pittsburgh, taking advantage of a now-healthy corps of receivers. That approach will be balanced out with just enough LeGarrette Blount running at a speed-based Falcons front and the team's nickel packages.

Really, the only question is whether the New England offensive line produces at the level that's been more than good enough nearly all season or if it struggles like it did in the playoff opener against Houston. If the line is up to the task against Vic Beasley (league-best 15.5 sacks) and an otherwise lackluster rush, Brady should like what he sees in terms of room work through the air.

Speaking of Brady, nobody is going to be arguing the team doesn't have the quarterback to get the job done.

As Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith pointed out this week, Brady is already the owner of several Super Bowl records, and he'll add to those milestones this weekend. Here's a look at the records Brady owns:

Games played: Brady and former Broncos and Bills defensive lineman Mike Lodish are tied for the most Super Bowls played, with six. Brady will play in No. 7 and have the record to himself after Super Bowl LI.

Super Bowl MVPs: Brady and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana are the only players to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award three times. Brady could make it four against the Falcons.

Pass attempts: Brady already has the record at 247, and he'll almost certainly have the record by more than 100 after Super Bowl LI: Peyton Manning is second in Super Bowl history, with 155 passes thrown.

Pass completions: Brady has the all-time record, with 164. Peyton Manning is again second, with 103. Brady also owns the Super Bowl records for completions in a game, with 37 in Super Bowl XLIX, and for consecutive completions, hitting 16 in a row in Super Bowl XLVI.

Passing yards: Brady owns the all-time record with 1,605. With a huge game he could reach 2,000 career yards in the Super Bowl; second is Kurt Warner, with 1,156 career Super Bowl yards.

Touchdown passes: Brady has thrown 13 touchdown passes, two more than second-place Joe Montana, who threw 11 touchdown passes in his four Super Bowls.

Put it all together, and Brady is 164-for-247 for 1,605 yards, with 13 touchdowns, in six Super Bowl games. ...

On the other side of the ball. ... As the Xchange framed it: "Football cliche and history tell us that defense wins championships."

It has certainly been a key part of the Patriots' dynastic success in the Super Bowl over the years. Though Belichick's team is known for the Brady-led offense, the defense was critical to the title runs in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Certainly, New England's last title came in large part thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler's gave-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX.

Still, much of the hype leading up to Super Bowl LI will focus on the glamour of the Brady-led No. 3 scoring attack taking on Matt Ryan's No. 1 Falcons scoring offense. But, it's really how New England's No. 1 scoring defense matches up with Ryan, Julio Jones and the full complement of Atlanta playmakers that could key the Patriots' drive for a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Historically, the No. 1 defense has taken on the No. 1 offense five times in the Super Bowl and won four of the battles. ...

Other notes of interest. ... The Patriots haven't trailed in a game since Nov. 27 against the Jets. Brady threw a game-winning TD pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 1:56 remaining in a 22-17 victory that day and New England has gone 421:56 without being behind in a game. New England trailed by 10 points at one point in that game, their largest deficit of the season with Brady active. If it's hard to take a lead against the Patriots, it's even harder to come back. New England has won 57 of the past 58 games when leading after three quarters with the lone loss coming last season to Brock Osweiler and Denver.

Teams blitzing the Patriots have had little success this season, with Brady leading the NFL with a 124.3 rating against the blitz. The Steelers tried to combat that by rushing three on 19 of Brady's pass attempts last week, but he completed 13 of those for 137 yards.

Brady has been one of the best QBs at converting sneaks in his career, getting first downs on 98 of 108 (90.7 percent) runs on third or fourth-and-1 in his career, compared to a league-wide rate of 69.8 percent in that span. After being nearly perfect (66 for 67) from 2004-12, Brady has been more ordinary of late at 21 for 28 the past four years.

It's no surprise the Falcons' Jones is the NFL's most dangerous big-play receiver. His 31 catches this season of at least 20 yards lead the NFL. But he hasn't been able to match the far less heralded Chris Hogan in the postseason. Hogan has eight catches of at least 20 yards in New England's two playoff wins and needs just one more in the Super Bowl to tie Larry Fitzgerald (2008) and Greg Jennings (2010) for the most in a single postseason since 2000. ...

On the injury front. ... The Patriots listed nine players as questionable on last Friday's final Bye Week injury report: Martellus Bennett (knee), Hogan (thigh), Mitchell (knee), Danny Amendola (ankle), RB Brandon Bolden (knee), ST Nate Ebner (concussion), K Stephen Gostkowski (illness), LB Dont'a Hightower (shoulder) and DE Jabaal Sheard (knee).

Of the players of fantasy interest, expect Gostkowski, Bennett, Hogan, Mitchell and Amendola to play as usual. ...

And finally. ... It didn't get a lot of attention, but Gostkowski set an all-time NFL record during the AFC Championship Game.

Gostkowski kicked his 67th career postseason extra point on Sunday, which moved him ahead of Adam Vinatieri, who has kicked 66, for the most in NFL history.

Since replacing Vinatieri as the Patriots' kicker in 2006, Gostkowski has played in 21 postseason games. Vinatieri has played in 30 postseason games, 17 with the Patriots and 13 with the Colts.

In third place on the all-time postseason extra point list is Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who has made 59.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Sam Howell, Jacoby Brissett
RBs: Brian Robinson Jr., Antonio Gibson, Chris Rodriguez
WRs: Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson, Curtis Samuel, Dyami Brown, Jamison Crowder, Byron Pringle, Mitchell Tinsley
TEs: Logan Thomas, Cole Turner, John Bates