Falcons' Shanahan: Patriots have the best defense we've seen

Kyle Shanahan isn't about to underestimate Bill Belichick.

Speaking at length about his team's Super Bowl LI opponent, the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator expressed confusion about criticism the New England Patriots' defense has received throughout the season.

"That blows my mind that people would be doing that,'' Shanahan said, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN. "It's the best defense that we've seen in the NFL this year. The numbers show it. And watch the film and you see exactly why their numbers are the way they are. They are extremely tough to score against. That's why they're No. 1 in the NFL. I believe only one game this year someone scored 30 points.

"They have very good players all around: players that are interchangeable that can be pass-rushers, that can be linebackers, that can be corners, that can be safeties. And they have an extremely good scheme. So, it's by far the biggest challenge we've had this year.''

To Shanahan's point, New England's defense finished the regular season ranked first in scoring and eighth in total yards.

That success carried over into the playoffs, where both the Houston Texans and a high-powered Pittsburgh Steelers offense were kept in check en route to an AFC title.

Shanahan's offense has been an unstoppable force throughout the 2016 campaign, following up a league-best average of 33.8 points per game in the regular season by putting up a combined 80 against the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers.

Maintaining that momentum against an immovable object will, of course, be imperative to the Falcons' chances on Feb. 5 in Houston.

Helping Atlanta to its first ever Super Bowl against a Belichick-led defense would all but cement Shanahan's status as an elite offensive mind looking ahead to his expected head coaching tenure with the San Francisco 49ers.