Atlanta Falcons: The “Just Because” Underdogs in Super Bowl 51
By John Follett
The Atlanta Falcons remain the Super Bowl underdog but for what reasons? If we’re talking the current NFL season, the Falcons have traveled the tougher road.
The Atlanta Falcons remain three-point underdogs heading into Super Bowl 51. Las Vegas is nudging bettors to get in and get in big, but are the Falcons really the underdog? I have yet to see a reasonable argument to support the New England Patriots as the Super Bowl favorite. We have to respect what they’ve accomplished over the last decade, but this is 2017 and these Falcons are a different breed.
Somebody please find me on Twitter or Facebook if there’s a legit article to provide X’s and O’s reasons why the Patriots will win Super Bowl 51. I’ve spent several days searching and all I can find is basically, “Patriots win because…they are the Patriots”. That’s not good enough for me or the city of Atlanta. It’s arrogant and totally discredits everything the Atlanta Falcons have accomplished over 2016.
I can’t write it enough, the Falcons have to approach Super Bowl 51 knowing they are the better team this season. There’s no outsmarting Bill Belichick required, just do what has worked with confidence that the Patriots don’t have the players to stop it. Belichick said it himself recently, the players on the field are the ones who win games.
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The AFC Was Very Weak in 2016
The AFC was always Tom Brady’s for the taking. I said this when he came off suspension and it proved to be true many weeks later. There were numerous articles throughout the NFL season and into the playoffs to suggest the same. Fact is, if any team stood a chance to knock off the Patriots, it was the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unfortunately for the steel city, their football was very, very broken heading into last week’s AFC Championship.
The Steelers were easily the best team New England has played over this season. Much of my analysis on the Patriots is after Week 9, following the Jamie Collins trade. Find me an opponent similar to the Atlanta Falcons from Week 9 to now and I’ll stop writing. There isn’t one. The Falcons are the Patriots’ their biggest challenge since Brady’s four-game suspension.
It's their greatness, but also the weak AFC East, more than the entire AFC. https://t.co/3Aj1kcxlS1
— Steve Wolf Sr. (@stevewolf44) January 17, 2017
Falcons are Unlike Anything the Patriots Played This Season
New England played eight regular season games after NFL Week 9 and not a single opponent featured a top five offense. The best offense they saw was Seattle’s in Week 10, a 31-24 loss at Foxboro. Russell Wilson was 25/37, with 348 yards, and three touchdowns that afternoon. The game ended on a goal line stand, but the Seahawks should’ve put it away much sooner. Four of Seattle’s seven drives in the red-zone resulted in field goals.
The Atlanta Falcons have have had few issues putting up seven points when in the red-zone. They’re actually not far below the Patriots at a 63.16% conversion rate for 2016. That rate was above 70% in their last three games of the season. It rose up again after the playoffs began.
Call me a “homer” but the Falcons are the more ‘battle-tested’ team on the way to Super Bowl 51. They were 2-0 against the only offense (New Orleans) that put up similar or better numbers this year. Convincing wins over Seattle and Green Bay in the playoffs also helps. Atlanta actually hasn’t played a bad or even sloppy game since Week 13 vs. Kansas City. That was a game Dan Quinn knows his team gave away.
The Falcons have continued to play better each week too, especially coming out of bye weeks.
Next: The 10 Plays that Led Falcons to Super Bowl 51
Again, I challenge any fan out there to shoot me a legit argument to support New England’s trip through the AFC bracket over the NFC. I’m liking the Atlanta Falcons to win Super Bowl 51 more and more by the day. For me to take a step back, the Boston media has to produce something of actual substance on the topic.