15 bold predictions for Super Bowl 51
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots will meet in Houston for Super Bowl 51. Here are 15 bold predictions for how this title bout will play out.
We’re almost there. Super Bowl 51 is about to be upon us. Playing for the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy are the AFC Champion New England Patriots and the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons.
This is the ninth time that New England will be playing in a Super Bowl. Quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick will be in their seventh title bout as a tandem in New England. For Atlanta, this is the first time quarterback Matt Ryan has ever been in a Super Bowl.
In only his second year with the Falcons, head coach Dan Quinn has his team playing for it all. This is his third trip to the Super Bowl in four seasons. Remember that he was the defensive coordinator for the 2013-14 Seattle Seahawks, who won the NFC two and three years ago.
While the NFL Playoffs have largely underwhelmed, Super Bowl 51 has the potential to be one of best games in the event’s history. Here are 15 bold predictions for Super Bowl LI.
15. Julian Edelman and Julio Jones will combine for over 200 receiving yards
This one doesn’t come as much of a surprise. In all likelihood, we’re going to see a great game from the two best wide receivers playing in this game: Atlanta’s Julio Jones and New England’s Julian Edelman.
They are both starting quarterbacks’ favorite receiving targets. There will come a point in this game for both teams where they will be force-fed the ball to keep the chains moving. We’ll probably see a scoring drive for both teams where Edelman and Jones were largely responsible for its orchestration.
Together, expect Edelman and Jones to be dominant possession receivers on Sunday. They will have somewhere between 15 and 20 combined receptions. While the bulk of those receptions won’t go for touchdowns, we can expect that Edelman and Jones will combine for over 200 receiving yards on Super Bowl Sunday.
That means one of the guys will have over 100 yards through the air on Sunday. Though not necessarily both will hit that receiving threshold, expect both star receivers to be major factors in the narrative of Super Bowl LI.