Because its this year not how ever many years ago.
Look, football is about matchups. Which is why the team A beat team B who beat team C and thus A>C logic especially doesnt work and is retarded. You hear dumb fans spouting this shit on every forum. Some teams just matchup better vs others even if their players might not be as good. Philosophies DO matter, and the Atlanta offense is a lot more dangerous than the Seattle one.
The Falcons matchups defensively were harder vs GB than you guys. Why? Because man-to-man is inherently high risk high reward because if your corners are not strong enough to jam the receivers at the line, they can get leverage (outside or inside) and beat them deep. In the play above, that corner at the top got beat but the safety was over top. That receiver though is Jordy Nelson, who is notoriously hard to defend in man because he is big and strong and can laugh that shit off vs most corners. The Patriots receivers are white but they are not Jordy Nelson. Cobb is also more physical than your receivers. The Falcons corners vs your receivers should be a big matchup favor their way.
This is where Bellichick will likely counter. Delayed handoffs to a guy like Blount could be devastating if he gets free. A) hes strong and B) the corners will have their backs turned so if he gets through the line, hes will run free for awhile. Fyi, this strategy is how the Colts absolutely raped the Bears in the SB, just go look at how many rushing yards the Colts backs had....Manning didnt have to do shit...it exploited the Chicago defensive strategy. Even though Manning was by far their best player, Chicago sold out to stop the WRs and the Colts countered and won in a big way. Im not saying Brady will be shut down by any means, just that he would need other options.
There is that, and then there is also a guy like Bennett who will be a tough matchup in man. Like most defenses, you pick your battles and try to limit their options. Bennett vs the Falcons safeties and linebackers imo will be key. As will a power running game with Blount. If Blount starts breaking off big runs sometimes it will force a team out of man to keep corners up. Or even Lewis if he thinks he can beat the Falcons D outside there will be no corners there.
Who knows who will win, by on paper I like how Atlanta matches up personnel wise and philosophy wise. The Pats have ALWAYS had trouble with teams who are good at man to man. The Jets when Rex was there did the same thing to you guys and it worked. Not saying you will get dominated, by any stretch, but that I think it will be close. Turnovers etc though can completely throw a spanner in the works though, so theres always that. On the other side I think Atlantas balance on offense will be critical. Im sure Butler will probably shadow Jones and they will bracket him as they did with Brown to make Atlanta go somewhere else. Sanu, Gabriel and the running game has to be there for Atlanta. If not it could be a long day offensively. I love the way the game looks on paper though, it should be a good one I think and close.