• Falcons D relying on rookies
• A pre-season Browns cut could sink Pats
• Can Malcolm Butler come up big again?
The lead-up to the Super Bowl is always about the stars.
Hundreds of members of the media packed into the small space in front of Tom Brady‘s podium Monday night at Minute Maid Park, while fellow MVP candidate Matt Ryan got much the same treatment. Julio Jones, after turning heads for the umpteenth time in the NFC title game, garnered plenty of attention. Even Bill Belichick’s suit got tons of love.
But often the biggest games come down to the players who attract the least attention, and Super Bowl LI will likely be no different.
So here are two players (one offensive, one defensive) from each the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons who may be getting overlooked now but could come up big on Sunday.
Taylor Gabriel, WR, Atlanta Falcons
On Sept. 3, Gabriel was without a team, just cut by the Cleveland Browns.
The Falcons picked up the speedy third-year receiver on waivers three days later, and now he’s prepping to play in the Super Bowl. That’s so Browns.
Statistically, 2016 wasn’t Gabriel’s best season (he had more receptions and yards in his rookie year with the Browns in 2014), but he did catch a career-high six touchdowns and proved to be Atlanta’s x-factor more than once over the course of the year.
After chipping in a couple of touchdowns in the first half of the season, Gabriel broke out with a monster game against the Cardinals in a Week 12 win, racking up 75 yards on four receptions including this do-it-all catch-and-run to put the Falcons up for good.
Despite a quiet showing against the Packers in the NFC title rout (two catches for 24 yards), Gabriel could prove to be a key factor against the Patriots with Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia surely focusing much of their attention on Julio Jones.
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Deion Jones, MLB, Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons’ defence relied heavily on rookies this season, and for much of the campaign it showed: Atlanta ranked 27th in points allowed and 25th in yards allowed in the regular season, which included fielding the fourth-worst pass defence.
But growing pains are natural on a young defence, and experience is always the best way to get better.
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In the playoffs Atlanta’s youngsters are making NFL history: The Falcons were the first team ever to start four rookies on defence in a conference-championship game, and if the lineup remains the same this Sunday, they’ll become the first team to do so in a Super Bowl.
Deion Jones, Keanu Neal, De’Vondre Campbell and Brian Poole all played key roles in the dismantling of Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay’s offence in the NFC title game. Poole, Jones and Neal led the Falcons in tackles against the Packers, combining for three hits on Rodgers.
Jones has been a steadying force for Atlanta’s defence throughout the season and the playoffs — he led all rookies in tackles this season and tied for most INTs (3) — and can create pressure up the middle, a proven weakness of Tom Brady’s.
In order for Atlanta to lift the Lombardi Trophy, all four rookies will need to do real damage, but Jones has the potential to blow up Josh McDaniel’s game plan.
Dion Lewis, RB, New England Patriots
Outside of Brady (and Rob Gronkowski, when healthy), the Patriots don’t seem to have a consistent game-breaker. That said, they have multiple players who can take over a game.
We saw just that from Lewis in the divisional round. With Brady and the offence struggling to get anything going against a tough Texans defence, No. 33 took matters into his own hands and made a little NFL history in the process.
Lewis has been the typical Belichick steal since debuting for New England in Sept. 2015 — unable to find success with any of the three teams he was on prior to the Patriots, Lewis has flourished as a pass-catching back in Belichick’s system much like Shane Vereen or Kevin Faulk before him.
That type of playmaking ability could come in handy Sunday night should the Falcons stuff LeGarrette Blount or take away deep throws from Tom Brady — screens and passes to the flat into the hands of Lewis could prove decisive.
If anything, Lewis is a Patriots good-luck charm.
Malcolm Butler, CB, New England Patriots
Butler will always be most remembered for the play that won the Patriots their fourth Super Bowl. And rightly so.
But in the two years since that night, No. 21 has transformed into New England’s most reliable defensive back, leading the team in interceptions (4) and passes defended (16) in 2016. Butler and Logan Ryan have become one of the league’s top cornerback tandems.
To be fair, the games mentioned in the tweet above were against Trevor Siemian, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Moore and Brock Osweiler, but Butler proved his recent form is no fluke by doing his part against Antonio Brown in the AFC title game after being burned by No. 84 in Week 7.
The Patriots cornerbacks face the biggest challenge of any of the players who’ll take the field Sunday night: They have to cover Julio Jones. For shutting down No. 11 to become a reality, Butler may have to play Super Bowl hero once again.