With both the AFC and NFC Championships in the books and new conference champions crowned, the table is officially set for Super Bowl LI. And with each team coming off of blowout victories, there should be no shortage of fireworks when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots square off against Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons come February 5. But aside from claiming division crowns and dismantling their opponents in the playoffs in blowout fashion, the road these two teams have taken to get this far are very different from one another.
In what will be New England's fourth trip to the Super Bowl in the last decade and an NFL record 9th appearance overall, the Patriots who feature the number one ranked defense in the league, were able to shake off the early distraction of being without their star quarterback for a quarter of the season as Tom Brady served his 4-game suspension due to his connection with the Deflategate scandal. While the team would go 3-1 in his absence to begin the year, they wouldn't skip a beat upon his return either and were near perfect with their leader on the field to the tune of a 14-2 regular season record while ranking tops in the league in Wins and Losses: 11-1 (1st), Point Differential: +208 (1st), Points Per Game: 30.7 (2nd), and Points Per Game Allowed: 15.9 (1st). Even a red-hot team like the Pittsburgh Steelers, winners of nine straight, couldn't get in the way of Brady and company as the Patriots handed Pittsburgh their worst loss in an AFC Championship in their 16 trips -- a 36-17 shellacking on Sunday. Brady would register a near perfect performance by passing for 384 yards and 3 touchdowns in the victory that would send his team to the big game. His go-to target in that game? Undrafted journeyman Chris Hogan who hauled in a career-best 180-yards and two touchdowns on 9 receptions.
As for the Falcons who made it this far under second-year head coach Dan Quinn by way of their high-octane offense which led the league in scoring spearheaded by MVP candidate Matt Ryan, the big game will be only the second trip to the Super Bowl for Atlanta in the franchise's 51 year history. With the Falcons' one and only Super Bowl appearance coming in 1998 -- an eventual loss to the Denver Broncos in the last game of John Elway's Hall of Fame career, the franchise is still seeking its first piece of hardware. Finishing atop the NFC South with an overall record of 11-5 during the regular season, the Falcons were a mediocre 7-5 on the year through their first 12 games before flipping the switch and winning their last four to closeout the season strong and hold off the surging Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the division. And while most teams lacking Super Bowl experience are unable to translate their regular season success to the playoffs, the Falcons offense has been every bit as potent in the postseason as evident of their 44-21 handling of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers who entered Sunday's NFC Championship winners of 8 straight and playing out of this world at the QB position. But in the biggest game of his career and the Falcons' last game at the Georgia Dome, QB Matt Ryan was able to match and out-duel the performance of Rodgers by throwing for 392 yards and 4 touchdowns in a turnover-free game which gave him a passer rating of 139.4, the second-highest ever posted in a conference championship game behind only Kurt Warner's rating of 145.7 in 2009, bidding the perfect farewell to the team's home since 1992 and further solidifying his case for something no Atlanta Falcon has ever won before -- an MVP Award.
Ryan also added a rushing touchdown in Sunday's win over Green Bay to become the first-ever QB in Falcons franchise history as well as the first in playoff history to pass for four touchdowns and rush for another in the same game. He also became the first QB in history to record a passer rating of 120.0 in six consecutive games. Ryan's favorite target and in my opinion the best receiver in the league -- Julio Jones, led the way with a game-high 180-yards and a pair of touchdown grabs on nine receptions, eerily similar to Hogan's stats for the Patriots. Another team performance like that in a winning effort would make the Falcons the highest-scoring team to ever win a Super Bowl. Not to mention a title would do wonders for the city's fan base as Atlanta's only championship in either of the four major sports (NFL, MLB, NBA & NHL) came in 1995 (Atlanta Braves). But as we all know, that last win is always the hardest to get. And with history on New England's side, odds makers have the Patriots as 3-point favorites out of the gates. In case you were wondering the last time the Falcons defeated the Patriots, you'd have to go back to Week 10 of the 1998 season during Atlanta's only other Super Bowl run and before Brady was even drafted. Since then, the Patriots are a perfect 4-0 against Atlanta in the Brady era and are one of six teams the 2-time league MVP has never lost to in his career.
What also makes this match-up intriguing is that it will mark the seventh time the league's No. 1 scoring offense will meet the league's No. 1 scoring defense. A stat that figures to favor New England considering No. 1 offenses are 1-5 all-time versus No. 1 defenses in the Super Bowl. The last team sporting the league's best offense to fall victim to the league's best defense was Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos who set numerous records on offense during the regular season but were no match for the Seattle Seahawks' dominant defense in 2014 at Super Bowl 48. In fact, the only team with the No. 1 scoring offense to defeat a team with the league's No. 1 ranked defense was the 1989 San Francisco 49ers who blew out the Denver Broncos in record fashion with the largest blowout in Super bowl history, 55-10. A win for New England would give them five Lombardi Trophies, tying them with the 49ers and Dallas Cowboys for the second most Super Bowl victories of all-time with five. Brady will be trying just as hard to bring the Patriots their fifth title. Regarded as one of if not the greatest quarterback of all-time, Brady who will be making a record seventh Super Bowl appearance, can silence the critics once and for all if he's able to capture that elusive fifth Super Bowl ring, one for the thumb if you will, to add to his Hall of Fame resume.
But unless you're a Patriots fan, live in New England or just a Tom Brady fanboy, there's no reason you shouldn't be rooting for the Falcons to claim their first ever Super Bowl win. Unless for some odd reason you enjoy seeing the same thing over and over again. That's no diss to Brady and Pats head coach Bill Belichick who are undoubtedly the greatest quarterback-head coaching duo the NFL has ever seen, but the two have long been the commander and chief of the Evil Empire. You know, that team you've grown tired of watching win year in and year out. The Falcons on the other hand are both refreshing (seeing as they've never won it before), and exciting to watch. The Little Engine That Could, if you will. And for what it's worth, a computer simulation of Madden17 predicted back in August that the Falcons would make it to and win Super Bowl LI. With that said, here's to hoping for an exhilarating game (unlike last year's snoozefest) and a Falcons victory. Prediction: Falcons 27, Patriots 24.
Catch Super Bowl LI from Houston - Sun, Feb 5 Live on FOX @ 3:30PM PST.
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With the San Francisco 49ers' 2016 season officially in the books and very few bright spots to look back on, one thing Niners fans can be excited about is defensive lineman DeForest Buckner who was named to the 2016 All-Rookie team by the Pro Football Writers of America. Despite San Francisco's struggle-filled season in which they finished with a franchise-worst record of 2-14 and failed to send a single player to the Pro Bowl, Buckner tallied 6 sacks and 73 tackles in his rookie campaign. After being taken by the 49ers in the first round of last year's draft (7th overall), the Oregon alum played alongside last year's first round pick and Oregon Ducks teammate Arik Armstead and even out-shined him on the field. Though Buckner was left still seeking his first sack through the first four weeks and sat out in Week 5 with a foot injury, he returned to the field in Week 6 vs Buffalo where he would record the first two sacks of his career. The game would serve as Buckner's coming out party as he also recorded 9 tackles and his first of two fumble recoveries on the year.
Buckner would continue to grow better as the season wore on as he recorded three sacks in the final four games of the season, further proving the 49ers made a good choice in the draft by selecting him. A freakish athlete weighing in at 300 lbs. and standing at 6-feet, 7-inches tall, the kid is a force to be reckoned with and is one of the building blocks that the 49ers will look to build on going forward as they look to right the ship on defense, something that has ailed them in each of the last two seasons. The same goes for the offense which ranked among the worst in the league in 2016 -- 27th in points per game, 31st in yards per game and dead last in passing yards per game. But help should be coming in 2017 if the rumors are true that Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is the next man in line for the Niners' vacant head coaching position after the firing of Chip Kelly. Seeking their fourth head coach in as many years, Shanahan has been San Francisco's top candidate alongside Patriots OC Josh McDaniels since the job became available. But with both Shanahan and McDaniels still on the sidelines helping their respective teams in hopes of winning this weekend and making a trip to the Super Bowl, the 49ers who are the only team without a head coach at this point, are left playing the waiting game until either team is eliminated. And with recent reports of McDaniels pulling his name from consideration for the job in San Francisco due to an unwillingness to relocate across the country, the job appears to be Shanahan's for the taking. And after helping the Falcons rank 2nd overall in yards per game over the past two seasons, why wouldn't it be?
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Week 17 - Hoping to close out the 2016 regular season on a positive note, something they've had very few of this year, the (2-13) San Francisco 49ers would play host to the rival (9-5-1) Seattle Seahawks. Of the 22 starters for San Francisco that played in Week 3 when these two teams last met, only 11 would be healthy enough to play in this one and it showed early on. With 49ers running back Carlos Hyde out with a knee injury, backup Shaun Draughn would get the call to start Sunday and would give Seattle a gift right out the gate. On the second play of the game, Draughn would fumble the hand-off exchange from QB Colin Kaepernick, recovered by the defense. With Seattle already in scoring range, the 49ers would comp the NFC West champion Seahawks with an early 3-point lead on Steven Hauschka's field goal.
However, Kaepernick and company would answer back quite nicely on their next possession by marching 75 yards as a trio of short passes would result in big gains which ultimately set up Draughn who redeemed himself by running it in for a 1-yard touchdown to put the Niners ahead, 7-3. After forcing a three and out on defense, San Francisco's next possession would also end in success, turning a 14-play drive into another touchdown as Draughn punched in yet another 1-yard score, this time converting on fourth down. But after taking a 14-3 lead following a hot start from Kaepernick who logged over 100 yards passing in the first quarter but threw for only another 115 the rest of the way, Seattle would storm back with 19 unanswered-points, seven of which coming off another 49er turnover as DuJuan Harris was stripped of the ball. With Seattle pinned back in their own end zone, San Francisco would manage to get two of those points back as a high snap on a punt attempt was airmailed out of bounds over the head of Seahawks punter Jon Ryan for a safety. The 49ers would inch even closer on a fourth quarter touchdown from Kaepernick to tight-end Garrett Celek to make it a 2-point game with under six minutes remaining.
But even with Seahawks backup quarterback Trevone Boykin taking over for Russell Wilson (258 yards passing, 1 touchdown) under center midway through the fourth, the 49ers were unable to get a stop on defense when they needed it most as Boykin and the Seattle offense successfully milked the clock, sealing the 25-23 victory. With Seattle's ticket to the playoffs already punched, the Seahawks improved to 10-5-1 on the year and will host the winner of the second NFC Wild Card -- Detroit Lions. As for San Francisco, the loss would drop the 49ers to 2-14 on the year, tying a franchise worse record of 14 losses in a season. It would also be their seventh consecutive loss at home, setting a new franchise record. With much speculation regarding the firing of 49ers GM Trent Baalke heading into the week, the team made the announcement official following the game and he wouldn't be shown the door alone. After inking head coach Chip Kelly to a contract last offseason, the 49ers decided to relieve Kelly of his duties just one year into his four year pact he signed last January. All this coming after someone paid to have a plane fly over Levi's Stadium before kickoff with a banner that read: Levis Stadium, The House That Harbaugh Built.
The move comes after another disappointing season by the Niners who will now be in search of a new GM as well as their fourth head coach in as many years as the state of the franchise continues to spiral out of control since 49ers CEO Jed York cut ties with Jim Harbaugh in favor of Baalke who is now without a job. Niner fans have been calling for Baalke's head since the decision and though it came much later than we would've hoped, better late than never as the team seeks a new direction. While the hiring of Kelly was looked at as being an experiment to try and help revive the luster of Colin Kaepernick's career who took the league by storm upon winning the starting role at QB, the firing comes off as unfair given what 49ers brass was asking of Kelly in such little time. Known as an offensive mastermind, the talent on offense simply wasn't there for Kelly to attempt to work his magic and the defense was equally as bad following the injury to All-Pro linebacker NaVorro Bowman, giving up the most rushing yards in a season in NFL history. And with Kaepernick most likely the next to go as he has a 2017 player option and can opt out of his contract, next year's 49ers team figures to be an entirely different crop of players as they possess the No. 2 overall pick in April's Draft.
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