Why I Love This Year’s Super Bowl Matchup

Super Bowl LI is tomorrow and I could not be more excited for this matchup.  Not only are my Patriots in yet another Super Bowl, but the NFC Champions are the Atlanta Falcons.  This matchup features two evenly matched teams with explosive, league leading offenses and virtually unbeatable defenses, not to mention that each team is led by Super Bowl Champion Head Coaches that have also come from successful backgrounds as Defensive Coordinators.  This year’s Super Bowl matchup is without a doubt a can’t miss game, and I’ve broken down why this matchup is so significant to me.  

Finishing the season at 14-2, the Patriots were the best team in the league during the regular season.  With a somewhat top heavy AFC, the Patriots were able to roll through the Divisional Round and Conference Championship fairly easily to make it to Super Bowl LI.  Brady’s stellar performance throughout the season, along with the Patriots’ naturally ability to have a thriving pass offense, an unrelenting rush offense, and a defense that let up the least amount of points per game at 15.7 this season, it’s no surprise that the New England Patriots are on the verge of potentially winning their 5th Super Bowl Championship.  In my opinion, I can’t imagine that Tom Brady and the Patriots will find a way to lose this game, but with Atlanta’s league leading offense and punishing defense, it will definitely be a close game from start to finish.  

This year, the NFC Champion is the single most underrated team in the entire league.  The Atlanta Falcons, who finished the season as the NFC South Division Champs with an 11-5 record, were completely overlooked throughout the entire season.  Despite their multiple 15+ point wins that solidified their high powered offense and lock down defense, all the league could talk about in the NFC was how good the Cowboys were.  Of course, I understand that it’s a big deal for “America’s team” to finally have a successful season like the one the Cowboys had this year, but this excessive hype overshadowed the Falcons’ insane performance they showcased every week and the fact that Atlanta was the team to beat this season.  Led by league MVP, Matt Ryan, who recorded the 5th highest QB Passer Rating in NFL history with 117.1, the Atlanta Falcons were an unstoppable force in the regular season, Divisional Round, and the NFC Championship game.  The Falcons, while featuring a starting Quarterback with the highest QBR in the league, also have an impressive lineup that includes the 2nd best Wide Receiver in the league, Julio Jones, who recorded 1,409 receiving yards, the 9th best Running Back in the league, Devonta Freeman, who recorded 1,079 total yards, and one of the best defensive units in the league that includes a handful of notable rookies and veterans like Vic Beasley Jr. and Deion Jones.  The rest of the league has finally recognized Atlanta’s profound success, and this dominant performance on the field will definitely show in tomorrow’s game in Houston.

Tomorrow’s game is sure to be an instant classic and I could not have asked for a more perfect matchup.  The battle between one of the greatest Head Coaches ever, Bill Belichick, and an on the rise coach, Dan Quinn, is sure to be an intense and memorable matchup.  Especially when noting their past Super Bowl successes as Defensive Coordinators, I’m sure whoever comes out with this win will have had to go through a hard fought battle against an unrelenting defense.  As much as I would love to see Roger Goodell hand over the Lombardi Trophy to Tom Brady, especially after the ridiculous deflategate, I honestly wouldn’t be that upset if the Falcons do pull off the win.  Not only would they solidify their superb season by beating the greatest Quarterback/Head Coach combo of all time, but they would bring a Championship to the city of Atlanta, who hasn’t seen a Championship in any major professional sport since the Atlanta Braves won the World Series in 1995.  Both teams have rolled over the rest of the NFL with their league leading style of gameplay and regardless of who wins Super Bowl LI, it will, without a doubt, be one of the greatest Super Bowl matchups in recent memory.

Written by Erik Clark