After an exciting regular season plus an equally exciting playoffs the Super Bowl is now set! It will be the number two seed from the NFC the Atlanta Falcons against the number one seed from the AFC the New England Patriots.It has been a tough road for both teams as they fought hard to make it to the Super Bowl. They are one win away from football immortality as their season comes down to one final game. For the Patriots it is basically the same old story with them. Tom Brady leads the team through a great regular season getting them a first round bye and reaching the Super Bowl. This year is different for the Patriots especially Tom Brady. During the first four games he was suspended by the league due to his involvement with deflategate. This put a fire under the Patriots as they went 3-1 without Brady and then went 11-1 with Brady. Brady threw 28 touchdowns while only throwing two interceptions. They basically bullied their way through the AFC as they look to capture a fifth Super Bowl with Tom Brady.
On the other side of the ball it is the Falcons representing the NFC as the number two seed. This will be their second Super Bowl appearance with their last one ending up with a lost to John Elway's Broncos. Matt Ryan will be leading the NFL's best offense into Houston as he had a MVP type season. He has one of the best receivers in the league with Julio Jones and some great teammates like speedster Taylor Gabriel and Mohamed Sanu. Also having one of the best running back duos in the NFL with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman doesn't hurt either. Center Alex Mack has been a great addition to the team hiking the ball to Ryan and protecting him. These high flying Falcons flew their way threw the NFC as the number two seed as they beat the Seahawks and the Packers in the playoffs which is tough for any team to do. Now they look to beat the Patriots to capture a Super Bowl title for Atlanta.
Why the Falcons will win
This will be Matt Ryan's first year playing in the Super Bowl while Tom Brady will be playing in another one. A lot of people are counting these Falcons out due to their Super Bowl experience but they will be ready when it comes down to game time. They have who I believe will be the MVP this season quarterback Matt Ryan. He is the leader of the NFL's best offense as he threw for almost 5,000 yards with 38 touchdowns,7 interceptions, and a 69.9 completion percentage rate. Having one of the best wide receivers in the game Julio Jones helped Ryan with his MVP candidate season. Julio Jones contributed six touchdowns with about 1,400 yards including a monster 300 yard game in the regular season. They have the weapons to exploit New England's bend but don't break defense. The Patriots ranked twelfth in the regular season with passing defense and third in the league with rushing defense. Expect a lot of passing coming from Atlanta. Even though the Falcons have a young defense who rank 28th in pass defense and 17th in rush defense they can still play. Look out for tackle machine Vic Beasley in this game as he will try to attack the Patriots vulnerable offensive line. They will try to defeat a team who has been to the Super Bowl many times while people bet against them.
Why the Patriots will win
The New England Patriots will be heading to a NFL record 9th Super Bowl looking for their fifth win with Tom Brady. They will be going against the best offense in the league in the high flying Atlanta Falcons. The Patriots are considered the favorites and there are many reasons why. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots have been here before they know what it takes to win a Super Bowl. They also have one of the league's best offenses which ranked fourth in passing and seventh in rushing all without Rob Gronkowski their star tight end. They also have a good defense this year which ranks 12th in pass defense and 3rd in rushing defense. Their defense shut down one of the league's best wide receivers in Antonio Brown in the AFC Championship so expect the same gameplan for Julio Jones. Also they could hold running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman in check. Also Tom Brady is undefeated all time against the Falcons with four wins while Matt Ryan has not beaten the Patriots or Steelers in his career. Expect this game to be a shootout and definitely keep an eye out for wild card Chris Hogan.
Who I think will win
I have the Patriots winning a very close but high scoring game. I believe that Tom Brady being the great quarterback he is he will dissect the Falcons young defense and the New England defense will hold Julio Jones and the rest of the Falcons in check just like they did the Steelers. They will give up points but the Patriots offense will keep them in this game. There will be a lot of back and forth scoring and whoever ends up with the ball last could possibly win the game. I have Tom Brady being the Super Bowl MVP with over 325 yards with four or more touchdowns.
Score: Atlanta 38 New England 42
Thank you everyone for reading my NFL Playoff series and next week I will get back to the NBA will giving my choices for the All Stars as well as All star weekend. Everyone have a nice day and I hope you guys enjoy the Super Bowl!
