Our defense just has the feel of a team on the verge of one of those 5 take away games. We were an eyelash away from 2 picks agaisnt Carolina, and all season it has been on the verge of one of those games. Brady likes his jersey clean. It won't be. And the Hawks love these get up games.
But Gronk is just as tough as anyone on our team. Lloyd's numbers on the Rams should hold up, he is actually getting targeted more in NE. But Browner, who gave up a lot of the stuff to Lloyd, is also better than last year.
I also like the matchup for our offense, I feel like we match up well OK what New England tries to do. They have keyed on stopping the run in New England this year, that is part of the reason the Patriots pursued Red Bryant last year. But they are vulnerable to cutbacks.
The wildcard is the coaching matchup. I have an irrational fear of Bill Belichick, and I suspect he will have some wrinkle to his gameplan that Pete will not expect, like running 10 times in a row from the gun or something like that. But it won't matter, the crowd noise will fuel our defensive lines getoff and create some big plays.
This will be another cardiac game, but I think we have the defensive matchups to win this thing.
Then on to the brawl by the Bay. That is going to be the fistfight of the year. Winning games is always the goal, but the SF game is going to have a very different feel. Win or lose, winning the battle of physicality has to be THE goal in that game.