The Falcons and Patriot will face off on Sunday night, which means there’s going to be a lot of references to the last time those two teams played each other.
That was in Super Bowl LI, of course, and it’s easy to imagine the Falcons would like a chance to replay that game after they saw a 28-3 lead evaporate in the second half of what turned out to be a 34-28 overtime loss. As coach Dan Quinn pointed out on Wednesday, however, that’s not an option and the Falcons can’t have their heads in the past if they are going to win in the present.
“One of the sayings we have is ‘the only fight that matters is the one you’re in,’” Quinn said, via ESPN.com. “So that’s where our focus is. Even deeper than that, our focus is for us to play at our best. We’re not there yet, so that’s what we’re out chasing. We don’t want to go in the rematch world because we’ve learned our lessons and you don’t get to apply them until you’re back in them again. If we keep looking back in the rear-view (mirror), we’re not going to be where we want to be.”
The Falcons have several players who weren’t at the Super Bowl in big roles, including cornerback Desmond Trufant and first-round defensive end Takk McKinley, and they don’t have offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan anymore. They will also have to deal with tight end Rob Gronkowski, who didn’t play for the Patriots because of a back injury. Their presence will be a clear sign that this chapter will play out based on the current state of the two teams rather than how it did in Houston last February.