Showdown Between Brady, Ryan Intriguing

BY ESPN

One is a two-time NFL MVP and a four-time Super Bowl champ. The other is this year's likely MVP and just made it to his first Super Bowl.

The showdown between New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Atlanta Falcons signal-caller Matt Ryan makes Super Bowl LI that much more intriguing. Both have praised each others' play, and the friendship between them led to plenty of exchanged text messages throughout the season.

So who has the upper hand on Sunday in a matchup that could come down to which quarterback has his offense flowing better? Ryan enters the Super Bowl with 18 touchdown passes and no interceptions during a six-game winning streak. Brady has an NFL-best 13 touchdown passes in the Super Bowl.

As Super Bowl LI approaches, we take a tale-of-the-tape look at the two offenses from ESPN Falcons reporter Vaughn McClure and Patriots reporter Mike Reiss:

CALLING CARD

Falcons: Diversity. This isn't just the Ryan-to-Julio Jones show, although Ryan is the likely MVP and Jones is arguably the best wide receiver in the game. Defenses can key on Jones all they want with the way Ryan continues to spread the ball around for the NFL's top-scoring offense, with the Falcons averaging 40 points per game in the playoffs. Ryan established an NFL first, according to Elias Sports Bureau research, when he completed touchdown passes to 13 different receivers during the regular season. One minute, Ryan is hitting Taylor Gabriel on the go-route. The next, he's going across the middle to physical receiver Mohamed Sanu. And the genius playcalling of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has led to targets being wide open, such as fullback Patrick DiMarco on his 31-yard reception in the NFC Championship Game and running back Tevin Coleman on his 14-yard touchdown catch in the divisional playoff win. Ryan has completed passes to nine different players this postseason and has hit four different targets for touchdowns. Such diversity makes the Falcons nearly impossible to defend, although the Patriots boasted the NFL's top-scoring defense in allowing just 15.6 points per game.

Patriots: Game-plan offense. The Patriots pride themselves on morphing their plan into something new on a weekly basis based on what takes advantage of the vulnerable areas of the opposing defense. So one week it could be power running in heavier personnel groupings, and the next it could be spreading things out with three- and four-receiver packages and attacking through the air. They also challenge defenses with different levels of tempo, and of course, it helps to have Brady as the conductor of it all. And putting a bow on it all, they are talented and deep at the skill positions to be able to absorb the season-ending loss of tight end Rob Gronkowski in late November.

MOST IMPRESSIVE GAME OR STRETCH OF GAMES

Falcons: A four-game winning streak near the beginning of the season included road wins over Super Bowl-champ Denver and up-and-coming Oakland as well as back-to-back wins over division foes New Orleans and Carolina. Although the Falcons lost two in a row after that stretch, defeating Von Miller and the Broncos 23-16 showed they were ready to compete with anyone. A 48-33 home win over Carolina showed the Falcons were ready to unseat the Super Bowl runner-up Panthers atop the NFC South. In the win in Denver, Shanahan showed off his masterful playcalling by creating mismatches with the running backs against the Broncos' linebackers, leading to 286 combined yards and two touchdowns for Coleman and Devonta Freeman. Against the Panthers, Ryan established a franchise record with 503 passing yards, while Jones set a team mark with 300 receiving yards.

Patriots: There are two ways to look at this, and the first is how they played the first four games of the season without Brady and still went 3-1. That's extremely impressive and highlights the potential and promise of backup quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett. Then there is the Brady portion of the schedule, which featured a strong finish as the team has scored 41, 35, 34 and 36 points in its last four games. The passing offense hasn't looked any sharper than it did in the romp over Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game, which was one of the best playoff performances of Brady's career.

THE ONE TO WATCH

Falcons: Jones, no doubt, for several reasons. For starters, no one truly can defend him one-on-one, even if Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler feels like he's up to the challenge. Jones is coming off a nine-catch, 180-yard, two-touchdown performance in a 44-21 win over Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game. Jones put up those numbers despite aggravating a toe sprain in the divisional-round win over Seattle. He was supposed to rest all three practices last week prior to the Falcons' arrival in Houston for the Super Bowl, but his return to limited action on Friday was a positive sign. Jones can be dominant even if he's hobbling. And if the Patriots figure out a way to limit Jones' production by devoting added defensive attention his way, it will only open up things for guys such as Sanu, Gabriel, Justin Hardy and rookie tight end Austin Hooper to win their one-on-one matchups. Jones has a team-leading 15 catches for 247 yards and three touchdowns -- including a 73-yard, catch-and-run score against the Packers -- in two games this postseason.

Patriots: Everyone watches Brady, so let's make this a non-Brady choice. Wide receiver Julian Edelman is his go-to target, and he has 84 career playoff receptions (which extends his own Patriots record), putting him seventh on the all-time NFL list. Only Jerry Rice (151), Reggie Wayne (93), Wes Welker (88), Hines Ward (88), Michael Irvin (87) and Andre Reed (85) have more. His quickness, fluidity to get in and out of his breaks and knack for picking up run-after-the-catch yardage make him a tough cover. Edelman, who plays with a feisty edge that reflects his underdog status as a seventh-round draft choice who had to scrap to make the team in his early years, also handles the team's punt-return duties and is a threat to break one every time he touches the football.

SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T KNOW

Falcons: The Falcons were the only team to have the same five players start along the offensive line in all 16 games this season. Four-time Pro Bowler and first-year Falcon Alex Mack solidified the group from the center position, although Mack enters the Super Bowl recovering from a left fibula injury suffered in the NFC Championship Game. If Mack suffers any type of setback, the Falcons are confident in Ben Garland stepping in at center, as he did against Green Bay. But Mack said on Sirius XM Radio that he'll be ready for Sunday, so it looks like that streak regarding the offensive line starters will stay intact. The group, consisting of left tackle Jake Matthews, left guard Andy Levitre, center Mack, right guard Chris Chester and right tackle Ryan Schraeder, works well in unison running Shanahan's outside zone blocking scheme. Having a running back with great vision and cutback ability such as Freeman, and one with blazing speed in Coleman, makes the line's job that much easier.

Patriots: When offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia returned to the team after a two-year retirement, one of the first things he talked about was the hope of generating more continuity with his linemen. If things went according to plan, he would scrap a rotation and settle on five linemen after a season in which the Patriots used a league-high 39 combinations up front. His goal was accomplished, as the Patriots used just nine combinations in 2016. The starting five -- left tackle Nate Solder, left guard Joe Thuney, center David Andrews, right guard Shaq Mason and right tackle Marcus Cannon -- has started every game since Oct. 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals, with each of the players on the top unit totaling more than 90 percent of playing time on the season.