Brief and to the Point ...
• All the focus and fuss over Super Bowl LI, at least from the Atlanta perspective, will be on the Falcons' choke, collapse, gag, Lady Gaga Plunge, whatever virulent term anyone might attach to how they lost.
Which is fine and fair.
But here's hoping, from the Pittsburgh perspective, that the Steelers' coaches were paying attention to everything that the Falcons achieved in building up that big lead.
I didn't think it would be possible for Mike Tomlin, Todd Haley and Keith Butler to look worse than they did after the AFC Championship Game. I was wrong. They sure do now. In just about every way, but especially on defense. Because it's one thing for the staff to flip its defensive approach from aggressive to passive in spite of the former having powered a nine-game winning streak. And it's quite another to see New England's offense rattled by Tom Brady getting hurried and harassed the way he should have been two weeks ago in Foxborough.
Let's agree on this much: Atlanta's defense didn't blow the Super Bowl. The offense did, by seldom staying on the field and having a couple dozen snaps through three quarters. By the time the Patriots rallied in the fourth, according to participants on both sides, the Falcons' defenders couldn't come up for air.
In all, the Falcons came hard at Brady and successfully pressured him 20 times in 70 dropbacks, meaning five sacks and 15 quarterback hits. If that doesn't sound like a lot, well, it is. When the Broncos beat the Patriots in last year's AFC Championship Game, the Denver defense sacked or hit Brady a combined 20 times, the most any quarterback had been hit in any game all season. The Broncos won, 20-18.
Breaking the Super Bowl down further, the Falcons pressured Brady an incredible 16 times in the first half, then another four early in the third quarter, then none in his final 15 snaps. When Brady was pressured, he was 6 of 14 for 67 yards and that ugly pick-six. When he wasn't pressured, he was 37 of 48 for 399 yards.
This isn't exactly expert analysis. That's how you beat Brady. It's always been how you beat Brady.
And this year, more than most, that was partly because New England's offensive line is nothing special. Grady Jarrett of the Falcons had three sacks, matching his regular-season season total. He tormented the Patriots' right-side combo of Shaq Mason and Marcus Cannon all night long:
But those guys looked like Hall of Famers next to left tackle Nate Solder, who was charged with allowing a sack, a quarterback hit and -- get this -- 12 hurries, 10 more than anyone else on the line.
Yeah, that's the guy James Harrison could have been eating alive if he and Bud Dupree hadn't been dropping back into pass coverage.
Ugh. You get the idea.
• Maybe I'm wrong, but my own experiences in Atlanta leave me seriously doubting any long-lasting damage to the city's collective psyche from this. The two big cities in our country that care the least about sports are Atlanta and Phoenix, and I'm not even sure which order I'd place them.
• Roger Goodell wants to speed up NFL games, he told reporters in Houston. Well, good luck with that. Unlike other commissioners of other sports, he's basically got two options:
1. Make replay reviews quicker.
2. Cut down on the time allotted to TV commercial breaks.
Otherwise, there's already a play clock that no one would touch, halftimes are already short for a realistic recovery period for the participants and ... and ... yeah. Replays happening more quickly won't shave but a few seconds, and this league will begin turning down ad revenue right after Marvin Lewis raises the Lombardi.
Don't hold that breath for the league to turn down ad revenue.
• The Patriots are cheaters. Documented, proven, on-the-record cheaters.
Some amazing things happened Sunday night for that franchise to claim a fifth Super Bowl, and I've got a ton of respect for that, including for Brady and Bill Belichick. But when it comes to legacy, nothing ever could or should wipe cheating off anyone's slate in any walk of professional sports.
• Sidney Crosby's probably a better-than-even bet to put up his 1,000th point tonight, needing only three against the Flames at PPG Paints Arena. And yet, it seems like just one gust of a larger whirlwind related to his greatness over the past year and change.
Maybe the most uplifting aspect of that has been the utter annihilation -- bordering on eradication -- of debates about who's the best hockey player in the world, something that's best defined, I think, from this defining statistic: 1.36 points per game.
That's fifth all-time.
Behind Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Bobby Orr.
Next on the list among active players?
Evgeni Malkin at No. 14, with 1.18. And well down the list come Alexander Ovechkin, Jaromir Jagr and way, way down at No. 47 is Patrick Kane. There's no one else in the top 50, a powerful reminder that the Gary Bettman Era of hockey that's crushed scoring and creativity has so, so few players who've been able to rise above.
Taking this further, if one accounts for the difference in scoring between the eras, only Gretzky and Lemieux have been more productive than Crosby.
Sounds about right.
• Wait a minute, Malkin is 14th all-time?
Yeah, he is. But let the continuing embarrassment on the Garage League happen without any egging from Geno himself, who admirably -- and cleverly -- took the high road Monday with his first words on the subject of the Top 100 snub: "Maybe next year, the NHL is 101, and maybe they'll send me a great black jacket, and I will be No. 101."
• A smart, stout defensive center who can kill penalties and take timely draws?
Yes, please, to Carter Rowney.
• There are no positives to injury, but even before Carl Hagelin was lost to a concussion Saturday in St. Louis, Jake Guentzel was looking more than fine alongside Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino. With the odd, occasionally recurring bouts the Penguins have had with wobbly legs over the past month, working fresher legs into the process is a must. I'm not directly comparing Guentzel to Hagelin -- different players entirely -- but rather, stressing that depth won't be optional heading into the playoffs.
• Besides, man, 'KGB Line' is just too good.
• Goaltending pants got smaller and tighter this past week, per the first phase of terribly overdue NHL regulations on the size of equipment. A few of those directly affected complained, but none too vociferously. The Blackhawks' backup, Scott Darling, piped up the loudest by saying, "It's a waste of time and money. But whatever the league feels they need to do."
Credit where due here: Bettman lifting a pinky finger to promote scoring is progress from the default mode.
But to Darling's remark: A more visible, popular NHL -- and that's how this stuff works when scoring increases and records are in play -- is anything but a waste of time or money. The higher the ratings and attendance, the more money gets split among all players. Goaltenders included.
• The coming spring will be overloaded with rich statistical analyses about the Pirates moving Andrew McCutchen to right field rather than left.
Here's mine: He's being moved there to facilitate the aftermath of a trade.
Once the trade occurs, there would be no question at all -- assuming there's any now -- that Starling Marte belongs in center, Gregory Polanco in left. And, in all likelihood, Josh Bell would be in right, as he isn't remotely capable of covering all the bonus ground in PNC Park's left. Thus, no reason to have Polanco re-learn the outfield in midseason. He can just do it now.
• Hats off to Cutch for a first-class tweet after the news:
— andrew mccutchen (@TheCUTCH22) February 6, 2017