This is it. There’s not much left to say. All football freaks will be once again treated to 60 minutes of intense action from two of the NFL’s best. One one side you have the Falcons’ explosive offense, and on the other, you have the unpredictably good offense and defense of the Patriots.
Have you made your picks? Read on below and see what experts from around the web are saying. We’re also including some key stats and trends from both squads.
Points allowed per game: 25.4 – 27th in the league
Passing yards per game: 295.3 – 3rd in the league.
Rushing yards per game: 120.5 – 5th in the league.
Matt Ryan has a 18-0 TD-INT ratio in his last six games (310.1 passing YPG).
Ryan is 0-2 in his two career games with the Patriots, with two TDs and one INT (310 YPG).
Passing yards allowed per game: 266.6 – 25th in the league.
Rushing yards allowed per game: 104.5 – 18th in the league.
The defense has six interceptions in their last four games.
New England Patriots’ key stats and trends
Points per game: 27.6 – 3rd in the league.
Points allowed per game: 15.6 – 1st in the league.
Passing yards per game: 269.2 – 4th in the league.
Rushing yards per game: 117.0 – 7th in the league.
Passing yards allowed per game: 237.8 – 12th in the league.
Rushing yards allowed per game: 88.5 – 3rd in the league.
Currently on a nine-game winning streak.
Has a winning margin of 21.8 points in their last five wins.
The defense has 14 takeaways in their last five games.
Super Bowl 51 Expert Picks and Predictions
IB Times (Anthony Riccobono)
PREDICTION (SU): Falcons 34, Patriots 30
Riccobono likened this year’s Super Bowl matchup to last year’s, where the seemingly unstoppable offense of the Panthers faced the seemingly unstoppable defense of the Broncos – The Falcons are this season’s best-scoring team, while the Patriots allow the fewest points per game.
Unlike last year, though, Riccobono believes that the offense will win this time, adding that Julio Jones and the entire Atlanta receiving corps could edge the Patriots’ defense.
Forbes (Tim Wood)
PREDICTION (ATS): Patriots will beat Falcons and cover the -3.5 spread
Wood is old-school, and goes with a “defense wins championships” angle in his pick and prediction. He added that Tom Brady is “trending upward” in his Super Bowl game, which might be accurate since in his performance in SB XLIX against the Seahawks was his best – 37-for-50 for 328 yards (four TDs, two INTs).
Sporting News (David Steele)
PREDICTION (SU): Patriots 26, Falcons 24
Steele seems to be quite fascinated by the matchup, as he implied that both teams are in for their toughest test of the season, because again, it’s number one offense vs. number one defense. Like Wood, however, he went with Patriots, and believes that great defensive teams always topple great offensive teams.
TopBet (Mark)
PREDICTION (ATS): Falcons (+3) 35, Patriots 31 – FULL PREVIEW
Mark, by far, has the most interesting prediction out of all these experts. He’s hyped with the Falcons offense (just like most of us) but he also pointed out two great things why they might win. Aside from 11 of the last 15 Super Bowl underdogs being able to cover the spread, he believes that the football gods will again hit the Patriots hard, as they are still in debt from all the controversy they were caught in.
