Editor’s note: Each week during the NFL season, former Bears defensive lineman Alex Brown has shared his football wisdom with RedEye. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Considering the NFL postseason has provided almost zero drama, we’re due for an instant classic in the Super Bowl. Fortunately, this matchup between New England and Atlanta is the classic immovable object vs. the irresistible force.
“It’s the No. 1 offense [of Atlanta] against the No. 1 defense [of New England],” former Bears lineman Alex Brown said. “Something has to give, and I want to see what does.”
RedEye’s final chat of the NFL season with Brown yielded a slew of predictions and projections. Oh, and by the time the next presidential election rolls around, he believes Chicago fans might see their own team back in the Super Bowl.
If New England wins, the MVP will be …
Tom Brady. Period.
If Atlanta wins, the MVP will be …
I think it would have to be Matt Ryan, but I could see Julio Jones getting in there and really going after it. He nearly broke the NFC championship all-time record [for receiving yards]. So if he gets in the Super Bowl and breaks the receiving record, catches a couple touchdowns, I can see him being the MVP.
Will this game come down to the last drive?
Oh yeah. That’s the way it should be. It’s the Super Bowl. You don’t want that San Francisco-San Diego-type game [in Super Bowl XXIX] where San Francisco just beats ’em up from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. I want one of those [games] where it’s all the way down to the last field goal. I hope that it ends up being Atlanta has the ball down by four and they’ve got to score a touchdown against the top defense in the league.
How many lead changes will there be?
Five. I think it’s gonna be a great Super Bowl, so all my answers are going to come from there. I don’t think it’s gonna be a blowout. I think it’s gonna be back and forth, but I think you’ll see some defensive presence.
What’s more likely on Sunday: That there are two 100-yard rushers or two 150-yard receivers?
100-yard rushers, probably. I could see New England, one of their guys, grinding out 100 yards. I can absolutely see one of the backs from Atlanta getting 100 yards. They come at you in waves, and if you miss a tackle, they’re up to your second or third level quick. And my gosh, they can break off a 50-yard run in a heartbeat.
Who will have more catches: Atlanta wide receiver Julio Jones or New England tight end Martellus Bennett?
Julio Jones. Double-teaming Julio does nothing. You can put him in the slot, you can put him out wide. It’s hard to double-team a guy that’s running a slant across the field. And then when you double him, you’ve got other guys on that team who can make plays. You never know about Martellus; [the Patriots] have so many other weapons, and all their short passes tend to go to Dion Lewis. Tom Brady can throw the ball to a number of different players, and we know that Matt Ryan can do the same, but when push comes to shove, the ball is going to Julio. When push comes to shove for the Patriots, the ball isn’t necessarily going to Martellus Bennett.
Who wins?
I want Atlanta to win it. [Laughs]. But I think it solidifies two pretty major things if the Patriots are able to pull it off: that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback to ever play, and that Bill Belichick is the greatest coach to ever coach. Because however you look at that from now on, they’ve won the most Super Bowls, they went to the most Super Bowls, [and] you just can’t compare after that if they win it.
I’m going to go with New England. Atlanta [players look] happy to be there. [Whereas] every comment I heard from the New England Patriots is “we’ve got one more.” The goal is not to make it there, the goal is to win it, and when you look at the record with Bill Belichick and coaches that have coached against him for the first time, those coaches are 3-22 [since 2010], and this is the first time that [Atlanta coach Dan] Quinn will be going against Bill Belichick [as a head coach]. You don’t understand how good they are until you have to play them.
If I had my last $100 [to bet], there’s no way I’m going against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
How close are the Bears to being in the Super Bowl conversation?
You’ve got to pick players that turn out to be players. You have to not have big injuries to those players, and those are things that you don’t bank on too much. In three to four years, the Bears will be in that conversation of making a run in the playoffs because I think they’ll be in a position where they can be competitive in a division that has three real quality teams in the Minnesota Vikings, the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.
Give it three years. We should see some positive things this year, positive things the next year, maybe just miss the playoffs, then get in the playoffs that third year and then that fourth year, the guys will come in assuming, “We’re going to make the playoffs, it’s just a formality. [Now] what are we going to do after that?” But that’s assuming everything stays intact. You lose a coach, you lose a GM, now you’ve got to start over. Assuming everything stays the same … yeah, three or four years.
Alex Brown is an analyst on CSN Chicago’s “Bears Pregame Live” and “Bears Postgame Live.”
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SUPER BOWL LI
New England vs. Atlanta
At NRG Stadium in Houston
5:30 p.m. Sunday, Fox
