Super Bowl 2017: 5 reasons the Atlanta Falcons will win
By Luke Sims
Super Bowl 2017 gives the Atlanta Falcons a chance to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl and they may have what it takes to beat the New England Patriots.
It won’t be easy going up against the experienced New England Patriots in Super Bowl 51, but the Atlanta Falcons certainly deserve to be there and they have put in work worthy of being Super Bowl champions. One more game and they may just be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
There is a reason the Falcons have made it to Super Bowl 51 and it isn’t just because of a high-flying offense led by the NFL MVP. The Falcons are a whole team and they have many select reasons for deserving to be in the Super Bowl.
We examine just five of them here.
1) No offense is as good as the Falcons’
Getting the obvious out of the way, the Atlanta Falcons offense has, frankly, been on fire in the 2016 season and playoffs. The Green Bay Packers couldn’t even keep pace in the playoffs as they walked into the Falcons “buzz saw” of an offense.
The 11-5 Falcons powered their way through the 2016 season by scoring more points than any other team in the NFL and racking up the second-most yards in the NFL as well. Led by Ryan, who had a Hall of Fame-level season, the Falcons passing attack posted a ridiculous 9.3 yards per attempt and accounted for 38 touchdowns. That is an impressive feat, displaying efficiency and high levels of production.
Quarterback Matt Ryan hasn’t hit a speed bump all season, never passing for less than 237 yards and only throwing seven interceptions all season. It’s the kind of play that head coaches mostly only dream of.
Ryan is complemented by a rushing attack that is sometimes easy to overlook. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman combine to head a rushing attack that ranks fifth in total yards. They can rarely be slowed down and run behind one of the better offensive lines in football.
The Patriots will undoubtedly be competitive, but the Falcons have the potential on offense to completely run away with this one if things start to break their way.