The Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots are set to face off in Super Bowl LI. This isn’t the matchup that most people expected at the beginning of the year, but it gives us the type of high-powered, high-octane matchup that everyone wants.

The main story-line of this Super Bowl is offense, and everyone loves offense. The Falcons showed out their high-powered aerial and ground attack this past Sunday, totaling 496 yards and scoring 44 points by the early fourth quarter. They could have easily put up a 50-spot if they wanted to.

Now, granted the Falcons will be going up against a #1 scoring defense in the Patriots that isn’t on its eighth string cornerbacks like the Packers, but I think we can still expect some points. And although the Falcons defense stifled the mighty Aaron Rodgers, it’s safe to think that they won’t be able to replicate the same performance against Tom Brady.

What this means is that we are all in for a shootout in Super Bowl LI.

How the Falcons will win Super Bowl LI

Here are 3 ways that the Falcons will win Super Bowl LI and prevent Tom Brady from winning his fifth Super Bowl Ring.

1) Pressure Brady

If we learned anything from seeing Tom Brady in the playoffs, AFC Championship, and Super Bowl just about every single year, it’s that he doesn’t do well when he gets hit – and hit often.

We can look to last year’s AFC Championship Game against the Broncos, this year’s AFC Divisional Game against the Texans, and the two Super Bowl losses to the New York Giants.

Although Tom Brady has consistently been the best quarterback under pressure all season, according to PFF, it’s evident he doesn’t like to get hit. We see this with a lot of quarterbacks today, especially the older ones like Brady, Eli, and even guys like Flacco who just drop upon impending sacks.

The Falcons do have guys that can get to Brady, especially Vic Beasley Jr. What needs to happen is to lay some big hits on Brady, get him on the ground, and make him feel a presence. The Falcons were able to do this to Rodgers, especially with this hit by Brian Poole on AR12:

Brady, although playing flawlessly against the Steelers, made some un-Brady-esque plays against the Texans, due to some constant pressure by Whitney Mercilus and Jadeveon Clowney. Mercilus started pressuring Brady mid-way through the second quarter, relentlessly attacking Brady to the turf.

Clowney, three minutes later, made this freakishly athletic play to lay the hammer down on Tom Brady. Again, these hits were only three minutes apart, and they get into a quarterback’s head. Quarterbacks start to feel the presence of pressure making throws start to come out sooner – and yes, this even happens to the greatest of all time in Tom Brady.

What these hits lead to are errant throws; throws that can lead to turnovers, or 50-50 balls to give your DB’s a chance to make a play. Look at the play below where Brady throws this beautiful rainbow to Julian Edelman while taking an absolute shot. Yes, this is an absolute dime, but it’s also a ball that hangs up in the air forever.

This pressure on Brady also leads to interceptions, and this has happened in his past two Super Bowl appearances, throwing two interceptions against Seattle and one against the New York Giants in 2011. Against the Texans, upon impending pressure he throws the ball into a window where a linebacker is lurking, who tips it into an interception.

The same thing happened in Super Bowl 49, in the red zone, as Michael Bennet closed in on Brady. This is just an outright awful throw, something that we’re not used to seeing by Brady, especially in the Super Bowl.

The Falcons need to find ways to create pressure in the pocket, to close it in, and to get hits on Tom. For a quarterback who may be the most comfortable pocket passer ever, Atlanta needs to get him out of his comfort zone. Dwight Freeney, Vic Beasley, and Dieon Jones all need to be relentless in attacking Brady in order to become Super Bowl LI champions.

2) Take Away Quick Throws

The Patriots offense is predicated on getting the ball out quick and letting their playmakers make plays after the catch. James White ranked sixth in the NFL in YAC, with 540, and Julian Edelman ranked eighth with 505 yard after catch. The Patriots want the ball out quick, take what the defense gives them, and hopefully turn a four yard catch into a ten to fifteen yard catch.

If anyone is willing to re-watch Super Bowl 49, Brady broke the completions record mainly because he was throwing quick out routes, slants, and swing passes. He threw the ball downfield very minimally.

Not much has changed in philosophy with today’s Patriots. Edelman, Hogan, and White are the quick throw guys. They want the ball in these guys’ hands fast, hoping to find holes in a zone quickly, or just to out flank the defense.

The Falcons need to disrupt this game plan, either by getting pressure on Brady very quickly or by picking their poison. Do they want Brady completing at a high percentage on short throws or have him kill them with a home run shot. I think the Falcons need to settle somewhere in the middle, otherwise the Patriots will methodically march down the field like we saw this past weekend against the Steelers.

3) Julio Jones Needs to Win

Julio Jones is the best wide receiver on this planet when healthy. His combination of size, strength, speed, ability to run after the catch, and his crazy range to go up and grab just about any pass makes him the elite of the elite.

However, Malcolm Butler is not too shabby of a corner. Sitting on the line between elite and top tier, he did tweet back in 2012 for him to get a chance to “check” Julio Jones.

Be careful what you wish for Malcolm, because you may just get a huge stiff arm to the face as Julio takes off down the sidelines for a 70-yard catch and run.

However, don’t expect to see Julio covered solely by Butler. Bill Belichick has always tried to take away an offense’s best weapon and will center his defensive plan around that. This past weekend Antonio Brown was bracketed on top of Butler being glued to his hip. Jones should expect the same type of treatment, but if he can be productive, the Falcons offense will roll like it has been.

The Falcons have too many weapons to just completely shut down, but Julio Jones needs to be a force, because there is no way to shut down Julio Jones one on one.

Prediction: Falcons 35, Patriots 31.

I think that the Falcons get just enough pressure on Brady to force an errant interception, and their offense does just enough to win the first Super Bowl in Atlanta Falcons history and have Tom Brady fall to 4-3 in Super Bowls.