The Road to Super Bowl LI

Super Bowl LI is almost here.  We will find out tomorrow who will be competing for the NFL’s ultimate prize.  In the AFC, we have the usual suspects: New England and Pittsburgh.  The NFC is another story.  It’s no surprise that Green Bay “ran the table” and found their way into the NFC Championship game, but I don’t think many people counted on the Atlanta Falcons to make it.  Last year, the Carolina Panthers had an unbelievable run to the Super Bowl and expectations were high that they would produce another good season.  It didn’t happen this year.  Despite their struggles in the playoffs in the past, the Atlanta Falcons find themselves at home playing for a chance to make it to the Super Bowl for the first time in almost 20 years.

The Dallas Cowboys had a fairy tale season.  They had the best record in the NFC (13-3) which provided them with a bye week and home-field advantage for the playoffs.  Led by two Pro Bowl rookies, running back Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys were on pace to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 90s.  In an epic battle at AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys fell short to the Green Bay Packers, 34-31.  Super Bowl LI will be played in Houston, so fans were hoping that Dallas and/or the Houston Texans would be able to play in their home state.  The Texans made it to the divisional round with a win over the Oakland Raiders, 27-14, but the New England Patriots proved to be too much defeating the Texans, 34-16.  

No matter how you feel about the New England Patriots, you have to respect their success.  Tom Brady served a four-game suspension this season for the Deflategate saga and the Patriots still managed to finish the season with the best record in the NFL (14-2).  A patron asked me before the season how they would fare without Brady and I told him that even if they lost all four of those games, New England still had the potential to finish 12-4 with Brady in the game.  It turns out that New England only lost one of the first four to Buffalo and their second loss with Brady at quarterback happened against Seattle.  With Pittsburgh playing on the road, I have to believe that the Patriots are headed to another Super Bowl.  I desperately want the Atlanta Falcons to win the NFC Championship game, particularly at home, but Aaron Rodgers has that “look in his eye” and it will be a tall task for Atlanta, especially considering what happened in Dallas.

Both games will be exciting and I can’t wait to see who emerges.  It has been a great football season and I hate to see it come to an end.  Enjoy the games.

• The View from the O-Line
• Belichick and Brady
• The Mannings: The Fall and Rise of a Football Family
• Snake: The Legendary Life of Ken Stabler