PREMIUM
NFL Game of the Week (Rogers' 10* Super Bowl Side)
(NFL) New England vs. Atlanta,
Point Spread: -3.00 | 106.00 New England (Away)
Result: Win
Point Spread: -3.00 | 106.00 New England (Away)
Result: Win
The set-up: The Falcons are in the Super Bowl for just the second time in franchise history (joined the NFL for the 1966 season), while the Pats will be making a record 9th appearance, one more than the Cowboys and Steelers. Dan Quinn is in just his second season as a head coach and owns a 19-13 career record, not including his 2-0 playoff record this season (obviously, his first Super Bowl appearnce. Bill Belichick coached the Browns for five years (just 36-44 and 1-1 in the postseason) but is in his 17th season with the Pats, going 201-71 (.739) in the regular season plus 24-9 in the postseason. This is his 7th Super Bowl appearance (4-2 in first six), an all-time record. Atlanta's Matt Ryan entered the season 1-4 in his postseason career but with wins over the Seahawks and Packers, he has a chance to even that record at 4-4 by winning his first-ever appearance in a Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Tom Brady joins his head coach by making a record 7th Super Bowl appearance (naturally, 4-2 like Belichick) and owns a record 24 playoff wins by a starting QB, against nine losses.
Atlanta: Dan Quinn's first season as the Falcons' head coach saw Atlanta begin 5-0 and 6-1. However, a 23-20 Week 8 home loss to the Bucs in OT began a six-game slide with the Falcons finishing 8-8. Atlanta QB Matt Ryan had topped 4,000 yards in five consecutive seasons but he was also coming off a campaign in which he threw the second-fewest TD passes (21) and second-most INTs (16) of his eight-year career. There were legitimate questions being asked as the season opened as to whether Ryan's moniker of "Matty Ice" had in fact, begun to melt away! Numbers don't lie. Ryan was entering the fourth season of a five-year, $103.75 million contract that he received after taking the Falcons to the NFC Championship Game in 2012 but Atlanta was just 18-30 in the first three years of that contract. Well, all Ryan did was pass for 4,944 yards with 38-7 ratio & 117.1 QB rating) the regular season. He then completed 70.7% for 730 yards with a 7-0 ratio & 132.6 QB rating in two playoff wins. Matt Ryan's career year, a terrific RB duo of Freeman & Coleman (both can run, catch and run after the catch), an excellent receiving corps led by Julio Jones, a superb solid offensive line that has had the same linemen start every game and all master-minded by offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. It's created a juggernaut that led the NFL in scoring at 33.8 PPG and finished second with 415.8 YPG. Then came playoff wins which ended the seasons of former Super Bowl-winning QBs Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers, as Ryan led Atlanta to 36 and 44 points! We all know the defense has had its problems but will it matter?
New England: Tom Brady sat out the season's first four games (you may have heard why) but returned to throw for 3,554 yards in just 12 games, completing 67.4 percent with 28 TDs and two INTs (112.2 QB rating). Most of that came without Gronk but with Brady, it just never seems to matter who his receivers are. Houston held the Pats to 98 yards rushing (yards on 3.6 YPC) in New England's first playoff game plus was able to force Brady into just 18 completions in 38 attempts while intercepting him twice (Brady had been picked off just twice in 432 regular season attempts). Houston also recovered a New England fumble but the Pats still managed to score 34 points and cover an outrageously high pointspread. Brady made sure the Pats' AFC title game against the Steelers was not going to be a nail-biter. He completed 32 of 42 for 384 yards (a franchise record for the postseason) with three TDs and no INTs (127.5 QB rating). The unheralded Hogan caught nine for 180 yards (two TDs) and Edelman had eight catches for 118 yards (one TD). For all the talk about New England's offense, the Patriots permitted a league-low 15.6 PPG in the regular season, as the Pats held six of their last seven opponents to 17 points or less. Then came the game against Houston, which was held to 285 yards and 16 points (went 3 of 16 on third down!), while Osweiler was intercepted three times and sacked another three times. The Steelers only scored 17 points with their final TD coming with about 3 1/2 minutes left (can you say concession?).
The pick: New England owns the big-game pedigree, the superior defense, a well-balanced offense led by Brady and Belichick has had two weeks of preparation. The Falcons are not used to this kind of buildup and media attention, while its defense ranked 27th in points allowed (25.4 PPG), 25th in yards allowed (371.2 YPG), were 26th in third-down defense and last in red-zone defense. Bottom line is this. Brady's "redemption tour" has now reached the Super Bowl and one could argue that this will be Brady's biggest game of his long and magnificent career. He has a chance to stamp his reputation as the G.O.A.T. Don't bet against him. New England is a 10* play.
Atlanta: Dan Quinn's first season as the Falcons' head coach saw Atlanta begin 5-0 and 6-1. However, a 23-20 Week 8 home loss to the Bucs in OT began a six-game slide with the Falcons finishing 8-8. Atlanta QB Matt Ryan had topped 4,000 yards in five consecutive seasons but he was also coming off a campaign in which he threw the second-fewest TD passes (21) and second-most INTs (16) of his eight-year career. There were legitimate questions being asked as the season opened as to whether Ryan's moniker of "Matty Ice" had in fact, begun to melt away! Numbers don't lie. Ryan was entering the fourth season of a five-year, $103.75 million contract that he received after taking the Falcons to the NFC Championship Game in 2012 but Atlanta was just 18-30 in the first three years of that contract. Well, all Ryan did was pass for 4,944 yards with 38-7 ratio & 117.1 QB rating) the regular season. He then completed 70.7% for 730 yards with a 7-0 ratio & 132.6 QB rating in two playoff wins. Matt Ryan's career year, a terrific RB duo of Freeman & Coleman (both can run, catch and run after the catch), an excellent receiving corps led by Julio Jones, a superb solid offensive line that has had the same linemen start every game and all master-minded by offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. It's created a juggernaut that led the NFL in scoring at 33.8 PPG and finished second with 415.8 YPG. Then came playoff wins which ended the seasons of former Super Bowl-winning QBs Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers, as Ryan led Atlanta to 36 and 44 points! We all know the defense has had its problems but will it matter?
New England: Tom Brady sat out the season's first four games (you may have heard why) but returned to throw for 3,554 yards in just 12 games, completing 67.4 percent with 28 TDs and two INTs (112.2 QB rating). Most of that came without Gronk but with Brady, it just never seems to matter who his receivers are. Houston held the Pats to 98 yards rushing (yards on 3.6 YPC) in New England's first playoff game plus was able to force Brady into just 18 completions in 38 attempts while intercepting him twice (Brady had been picked off just twice in 432 regular season attempts). Houston also recovered a New England fumble but the Pats still managed to score 34 points and cover an outrageously high pointspread. Brady made sure the Pats' AFC title game against the Steelers was not going to be a nail-biter. He completed 32 of 42 for 384 yards (a franchise record for the postseason) with three TDs and no INTs (127.5 QB rating). The unheralded Hogan caught nine for 180 yards (two TDs) and Edelman had eight catches for 118 yards (one TD). For all the talk about New England's offense, the Patriots permitted a league-low 15.6 PPG in the regular season, as the Pats held six of their last seven opponents to 17 points or less. Then came the game against Houston, which was held to 285 yards and 16 points (went 3 of 16 on third down!), while Osweiler was intercepted three times and sacked another three times. The Steelers only scored 17 points with their final TD coming with about 3 1/2 minutes left (can you say concession?).
The pick: New England owns the big-game pedigree, the superior defense, a well-balanced offense led by Brady and Belichick has had two weeks of preparation. The Falcons are not used to this kind of buildup and media attention, while its defense ranked 27th in points allowed (25.4 PPG), 25th in yards allowed (371.2 YPG), were 26th in third-down defense and last in red-zone defense. Bottom line is this. Brady's "redemption tour" has now reached the Super Bowl and one could argue that this will be Brady's biggest game of his long and magnificent career. He has a chance to stamp his reputation as the G.O.A.T. Don't bet against him. New England is a 10* play.
