Super Bowl LI marks the seventh time that Tom Brady and his New England Patriots have made it to the final game of the National Football League season. Yet, for their opponents the Atlanta Falcons, Super Bowl LI marks their first appearance in this title game since 1999. Former Denver Bronco and member of the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame Karl Mecklenburg can speak from experience about the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.
“It’s an interesting thing, as a player you’re not involved in all of the partying and the excitement and the fog that’s around the Super Bowl,” Mecklenburg told Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro during The Afternoon Drive on Mile High Sports Radio. “You’re there to play the game.”
Atlanta has put together an excellent offensive season, as have the Patriots. Quarterback Matt Ryan has made a case for this year’s MVP, while Tom Brady has continued to build his argument as the greatest quarterback of all time. With this overwhelming offensive talent, the game may come down to the other side of the ball.
“You can say what you want to say, but more often than not, it’ll come down to a defensive play,” said Mecklenburg. “When you give coaches of this caliber two weeks to figure a team out, often times they’ll be able to slow down that offense.”
With Atlanta having playmakers all over the offensive side of the ball, Mecklenburg feels that the Patriots will play a lot of zone defense, and try to keep plays in front of them.
“They’ve got such quick backs out of the backfield that instead of blocking, they’ll swing them out, and get the ball in their hands,” said Mecklenburg. “Trying to one-on-one tackle those guys are a nightmare.”
To hear more of Karl Mecklenburg’s full interview, as well as his thoughts on the Broncos offensive line, listen to the podcast below.
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Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro every weekday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.
Image courtesy of DenverBroncos.com