As Patriots coach Bill Belichick prepares a defensive game plan aimed at slowing down the Falcons offense (they need a good nickname), the Falcons are essentially shrugging.
Running back Devonta Freeman, during a Thursday night phone interview with PFT, was blunt and matter-of-fact about the prospect of the Patriots or anyone else stopping Atlanta from gaining yards and scoring points.
“We can do whatever we want,” Freeman said, adding that the Patriots like any other defense facing the Falcons will have to “pick your poison.”
“It’s on us to execute,” Freeman admitted, expressing confidence that both he and his teammates will be properly focused on doing just that.
Despite the team’s lack of Super Bowl experience, Freeman pointed out that he has been in big games before (he won the National Championship with Florida State in his final season there), and that he will strip away the clutter, the people, the media, and the noise and at all times remember that it’s still a football game.
“We’re grown men,” Freeman said. “We’re going down there for one reason and one reason only. And that’s to handle business.”
Here’s the point where I handle business. Freeman’s appearance was provided by Microsoft Surface, which is giving fans a chance to create the footwear Freeman and Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler will wear during pre-game warmups . Freeman will serve as one of the judges for the Custom Cleat Design Competition (fan submissions can be made at the NFL Experience on Surface Studio and Hub devices), which means he won’t end up in the gaudy shoe equivalent of the puffy shirt or the urban sombrero.
The broader goal is to secure a gaudy piece of jewelry on Super Bowl Sunday. While the Atlanta defense versus the New England offense will be a major factor in the final outcome, the ability of Belichick to slow down the Falcons offense will get more of the focus. And as Belichick likely continues to prepare his array of alignments and tactics for keeping Atlanta’s scoring in check, the hay already is in the barn for the Falcons.
Asked when the Falcons would be getting their offensive game plan, Freeman said, “We’ve had the game plan. The game plan doesn’t change.”
It’s an intriguing contrast. For the Patriots, the offensive game plan shifts and changes and morphs based on both the specific challenges presented by the opposing defense and the broader strategy for aligning the offensive and defensive theories in order to ensure that New England ends up with more points than its opponent. For the Falcons, who quietly have put together one of the best offensive attacks in league history, it’s about lining up and doing what they do regardless of what the Patriots do to stop them.
Something ultimately will have to give. We’ll all get to see what that is in nine days.
