A Texans Playoff Game For The Ages

Like much of Houston, was watching the Texans AFC wild card playoff game with the Buffalo Bills.

So many folks were glued to their televisions that I heard or saw no cars rolling up or down the streets of my neighborhood during the roughly three hours the game was on

I was not a happy camper during the first half as the Texans stunk up NRG Stadium with one of their patented slow starts.   Deandre Hopkins was being shut out, and the one pass he caught in the first half he fumbled

Down 13-0 at halftime, visions of Houston area Cowchip fans hatin' danced in my head and only added to the frustration of watching what was looking like another Bill O'Brien orchestrated early round playoff failure.

 They spotted the Bills a 16-0 lead before hitting the comeback trail started by a JJ Watt sack that forced a Bills field goal, woke up the Texans and the NRG Stadium crowd. 

The Texans then scored 19 unanswered points to take a 19-16 lead. 

Buffalo fought back and got into position deep in Texans territory to kick a game tying field goal, but the Texans defense once again rose to the challenge and forced two huge losses, one on a 4th and 27 play to give the Texans the ball deep in Buffalo territory with a chance to close out the game 

Instead of kicking the field goal that would have put them up by six points, the Texans went for it on 4th and 1 and failed.   Buffalo said thank you very much for the reprieve and drove down the field with no time outs to get the Steven Hauschka field goal to send the game into overtime. 

After both teams failed to score on their initial overtime possessions, then came the drive that will forever live in Texans playoff lore. 



Next week we play the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional round, and we'll see if the Texans can keep the momentum going

TransGriot 2018-19 NFL Playoff Predictions- Divisional Round

No thanks to the Texans forgetting they had a playoff game to play, a partially blocked game winning field goal, and the road teams winning three of the four wild card round playoff games, I laid an 0-4 egg in my wildcard weekend playoff predictions.

Let get busy getting back to .500

Saturday Playoff Games

#6 Indianapolis Colts (11-6) at #1 Kansas City Chiefs (12-4) at 3:35 PM on NBC

The Colts (boo hiss) ended the Texans season in large part to them rushing for 200 yards and being nearly perfect on third down.   But they face a another challenge in playing in a snowy Arrowhead Stadium against the presumptive NFL MVP in Patrick Mahomes

Mahomes will be in his first playoff game, Luck his eighth.   What will also in the back of KC's minds are being sick and tired of hearing about what happened the last time they faced the Colts in the playoffs. 

The Chiefs built a huge 28 point lead in that January 4, 2014 game lead, only to fall to Indy 45-44 after Luck and crew executed the second largest comeback from a playoff deficit in NFL history.

With the weather condition I don't think you'll see 99 points scored in this game.

The Colts are on a roll, the Chiefs have been one of the best teams in the AFC all season.  They are  well rested and ready to defend their snowy turf.

The Chiefs to end Indy's season and advance to the AFC title game

#4 Dallas Cowboys (11-6) at #2 Los Angeles Rams (13-3)at 7:15 PM CST on FOX

The Saturday night game is an NFL classic matchup between two teams that have frequently bumped heads in the playoffs .

The Cowboys won their first playoff game in four years when they eliminated the Seahawks at Jerry World, but now they have to head to the Left Coast to play the Rams in this divisional round game in
LaLa Land. 

While the Rams and Cowboys, this is the first time they have done so in Los Angeles since 1985 when I gleefully watched Eric Dickerson run over around and through them for 248 yards in a Rams blowout divisional round win.  In fact, the last time the Cowboys won a road playoff game was in 1993 up I-5 in San Francisco.

While the Cowboys have shown a propensity for shutting down high powered offenses this season, they have also had a problem scoring in the red zone.

That will bite them in the behind today..  Rams to advance to the NFC championship.

Sunday Playoff Games

#4 Los Angeles Chargers(13-4) at  #2 New England Patriots (11-5) at 12:05 PM CST on CBS

The Chargers had to sweat out a late fourth quarter run by the Ravens before they secured the win, and now they step into Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Patriots.

It'll be a clash between future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Phillip Rivers, and the Chargers have been one of the best teams in the league all season.   New England hasn't been their usual dominant self , but it may finally catch up to them in this game.

It's hard to pick against Brady and Belichick in Gillette Stadium, and the fact that Philip Rivers has never bested Brady in the playoffs.   That streak has to end sometime, and I'm listening to my instincts like I failed to do last weekend and going for the upset. 

The Chargers to move on to the AFC title game

#6 Philadelphia Eagles (10-7) vs #1 New Orleans Saints (13-3) at 3:40 PM CST on FOX

It's the only one of the four divisional round games that is a regular season rematch and being played indoors

The defending champion Eagles are only back here in the Mercedes Benz Superdome because of  Treyvon Hester's partial block of a game winning field goal that bounced off the upright and crossbar at Soldier Field and agonizingly for Bears fans ended their season.

The Saints spanked that behind 48-7 back in Week 11, and  the Eagles since then have been in desperation playoff mode for several weeks now.  They have had to scratch and claw and get lucky breaks at times just to get into the playoffs and have the opportunity to defend their crown.

But once again, they are playing the Saints in NOLA, where they are even more dominant than they are outside of it.   This is also Drew Brees' best shot at returning to a Super Bowl , and he's motivated after falling short last year. 

Nick Foles' playoff magic gets a voodoo curse placed on it called the Saints defense

The Saints go marching into the NFC Championship game after winning what won't be a blowout.

TransGriot 2018-19 NFL Playoff Predictions- Wildcard Weekend

The 2018 NFL season didn't result in me getting the prognostication title back, but still need to keep up my skills for when the 2019 season kicks off in September.

It's the NFL Wildcard Weekend round of the 2018-19 NFL playoffs, and time to get busy making those picks for today's and Sunday's games.

Saturday Playoff Games 

#6 Indianapolis Colts (10-6) vs #3 Houston Texans (11-5) on ABC at 3:35 PM CST

This is the third round of a fight between two AFC South Division rivals in the Colts and the Texans that split the season series between them.

The Texans completed a worst to first season and overcame an 0-3 start to capture their fourth AFC South division title in the last five years. 

The Texans started a team record nine game winning steak with a 37-34 overtime win in Indy on September 30 against the Colts to get their crucial first win of the season and drop the Colts to 1-3. The Colts slid to 1-5 before they went on their own winning streak and won nine out of their last ten games. One of those wins was in Week 14 when they walked into NRG Stadium and ended the Texans streak with a 24-21 win.

This playoff game is probably going to be determined by who has the ball last and whether the Texans secondary can stop Texans killer TY Hilton, who burned them for 199 yards in the game at NRG. 

In order to emerge victorious, the Texans defense needs to give our Houston homeboy Andrew Luck a very rude playoff homecoming and have him taste the NRG turf a few times while the Texans offensive line keeps Deshaun Watson's jersey clean and open holes for Lamar Miller to wreak havoc.

Let's just say the Texans will be highly motivated to end the Colts season at NRG and move on, especially in light of the fact many pundits are picking the Colts.

.It'll be close, but I'm picking the Texans to win this game and go to the next round.

#5 Seattle Seahawks (10-6) vs #4 Dallas Cowboys (10-6) on FOX at 7:15 PM CST

The Saturday nightcap is a rematch of a Week 3 game at CenturyLink Field in which the Seahawks emerged victorious with a 24-13 victory against the Cowboys.

But that was before the Cowboys added Amari Cooper via trade to add to their Ezekiel Elliott powered rushing attack and their defense started jelling.   This playoff game will also be played at Jerry World instead of the Pacific Northwest.

Won't matter.  Even though the Cowboys won seven of their last eight games to finish the season and capture the NFC East title, the  Cowboys are 0-6 this year against teams with a mobile quarterback.  They held Russell Wilson to -1 yards rushing in that September 23 game and the Seahawks still got the win.

Seattle also comes into this game having won six of their last seven games down the stretch thanks to the NFL's best rushing attack.

If you shut Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott down, you pretty much shut down the Dallas Cowboy offense.  The Seahawks don't have the Legion of Boom patrolling their secondary anymore, but they do have a defense that is more than capable of executing that assignment.

It's one and done for that NFL franchise in North Texas as the Seahawks take this game to move on to the divisional round.

Sunday Playoff Games

#5 Los Angeles Chargers (12-4) vs #4 Baltimore Ravens (10-6) on CBS at 12:05 PM CST

Like the Saturday playoff games, this one is a rematch of a Week 14 game in which the Ravens went to LA and rolled after administering a 22-10 beatdown at the StubHub Center against the Chargers. 

The AFC North Champion Ravens needed their defense to step up and make a season saving play against the precocious Cleveland Browns on fourth down last weekend to capture the division crown for the first time in six years and host this game at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Chargers are no slouches.  They tied the Chiefs for the best record in the AFC and split the season series with them.   They lost out on the AFC West title and home field throughout the AFC playoffs on a tiebreaker because of division record (5-1 KC vs 4-2 LAC).

This game being the early Sunday one may play a factor in the outcome. 

West coast teams have to deal with body clock issues as a result of the time change and cross country travel.   This plus playing against a confident Ravens team with a phenomenal defense to back up their rushing attack may be enough, despite them starting rookie Lamar Jackson in his first NFL playoff game against veteran QB Phillip Rivers who is having one of his best seasons.

I believe it will be a much closer game than the one in LA was, but because of location, location location and the Ravens already having beaten them once, think the Ravens will do so again.

#6 Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) vs #3 Chicago Bears (12-4)  on NBC at 3:35 PM CST.

This is the only playoff game that isn't a regular season rematch.

The defending NFL champs won five of their last six games to get the number six seed and into the NFC playoff bracket in large part because Nick Foles, the guy who led them to that Super Bowl crown, is back under center again and the defense is starting to play the way they did during their championship run.

But Foles is dealing with a bruised rib suffered after Jadaveon Clowney clobbered him December 23 during that 32-30 win over the Texans.

Now Foles and the Eagles have to face Khalil Mack and the Monsters of the Midway 2.0 at Soldier Field.

Da Bears clinched their first NFC North crown since 2010 and finished the season on a roll, winning nine of their last ten games    They also have their own good quarterback in Mitch Trubisky.

As to who will win this one?   As the defending champs, the Eagles will claw, scratch and fight in every second of this playoff game.   But I believe the Bears will handle their business and end the Eagles attempt to repeat as champs.
..

2017-18 NFL Playoffs - Championship Sunday

Upsets played havoc with my Divisional Round picks to the point where the only game I got right was the Tennessee- New England one to go 3-5 picking games in these 2017-18 NFL playoffs. 

Then again if Maurice Williams had tackled Stefon Diggs I would have gotten the Minnesota-New Orleans game right, too 

So it's onward to Championship Sunday.   Only two games that will determine which one of these final four teams gets to play at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII.

So let's get to it.

AFC Championship Game
#3 Jacksonville Jaguars at  #1 New England Patriots on CBS

The Jags shocked the world by racing out to a 21-0 lead on the Steelers in their Divisional Round clash before the Steelers woke up, narrowed the deficit to 28-14 at halftime, and putting up a fight in the second half that had the Jags hanging on for dear life to preserve the 45-42  upset win.

The Jaguars qualified for their first AFC title game since 1999 as a result.

Meanwhile New England was methodically punching their ticket to their seventh consecutive AFC title game by beating down the Tennessee Traitors Titans 35-14 in Foxborough.

But the Jags ain't 'scurred' of the Patriots, and Jalen Ramsey is actually trash talking them online.  Also sitting in their football operations room is Tom Coughlin, who engineered two Super Bowl upsets of the Patriots, one of which ruined their bid for a perfect season. 

So if the Jags pull off the upset, you'll know one reason why including their defense which has been doubleplusgood in forcing turnovers all season. 

But unfortunately for the Jags, Blake Bortles is their quarterback and the Pats have future Hall of Famer Tom Brady. It's been a nice ride for Jacksonville, but NFL football reality is about to pimp slap them in the face.

I can't go against the Cheatriots Patriots at home where they are 18-3 in the playoffs after last week's win.   Patriots (boo hiss) to hoist the Lamar Hunt Trophy after the game .

.NFC Championship Game
#2Minnesota Vikings at  #1 Philadelphia Eagles on FOX

The Vikings needed a miracle play for the ages at home as time expired to get past the New Orleans Saints 29-24, advance to their first NFC Championship game since 2009 and keep their bid to become the first NFL squad ever to play in a Super Bowl in their home stadium alive.

The Eagles needed a dramatic goal line stand to preserve a 15-10 win over the Falcons at home to advance to their first NFC championship game since 2008. 

Now these two teams who have had more than their share of playoff frustration over the years battle each other for NFC supremacy at Lincoln Financial Field with a trip to Super Bowl LII on the line. 

The Vikings and Eagles have been the two best teams in the NFC all season.  The Eagles lost QB Carson Wentz fo the season in Week 14, and are having to ask Nick Foles and their defense to get them through another high stakes playoff game at home in their bid to win their first NFC crown since 2004 and their first NFL championship since 1960.

Meanwhile Case Keenum (Go Coogs!) and the Vikings are coming off the high of stunning the Saints at home and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.   Can they beat the Eagles on the road, earn their first NFC title since 1976  and make history by becoming the first NFL team to play in a Super Bowl in their home stadium?

Yes they can.  I made the mistake of misunderestimating Case Keenum and should've know better after seeing him play at UH.   I won't make that mistake again

Skol Vikings!.   Vikings to hoist the George Halas trophy for the first time since 1976 after the game 

2017-18 NFL Playoffs - Divisional Round

The NFL playoffs move into the divisional rounds as the survivors from Wild Card Weekend play the highers seeded teams that got to chill and watch them play last weekend.

Went 2-2 last weeknd.   Got the Sunday wild card games rights but the Saturday ones I didn't.

Let's see If I can do a better job on this this weekend's playoff games.

Saturday Games

#6 Atlanta Falcons at  #1 Philadelphia Eagles on NBC

The opening Saturday game has the Falcons traveling to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection to take on the NFC East champion Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

And the Eagles will be trying to get through this game with their backup QB Nick Foles after Carson Wentz went down with a torn ACL in Week 15.   The Falcons sant the Rams packing with a 26-13 win in LA, and they'll send the Eagles packing as well

Falcons to move on to the NFC Championship game

#5 Tennessee Titans at #1 New England Patriots on CBS

The Saturday nightcap game has the Traitors  Titans taking on the Cheatriots Patriots at Gillette Stadium    The question going into this game is will the Titans be able to run the ball down New England's throat or will the Patriots do unto them what they do to a lot of teams and take away what that team likes to do best?     I'm betting they will.

And after reading that story about their dynasty may be over, the Patriots are going to be in an angry mood.

Patriots to advact to the AFC Championship game

Sunday Games

#3 Jacksonville Jaguars at #2 Pittsburgh Steelers on CBS

This is a rematch of a Week 5 october 8 game in which the Jags marched into Heinz Field and walked out with a 30-9 win that served notice to the rest of the league these aren't the Jags that sucked through much of the last decade.

However, this isn't the same Steelers team they faced in October either.   Since that game the AFC North champs have gone 10-1 with the only loss being a questionable officated one to the Patriots. You can also bet that Ben Roethlisberger won't be throwing five interceptions like he did in that October game

It's playoff time and the Steelers will be itching for payback.    And oh yeah, temp is forecast to be 18 degrees at kickoff.

And they'll get it too.    Steelers to advance to the  AFC Championship game.

#4 New Orleans Saints vs  #2 Minnesota Vikings on FOX

This Sunday night game is also a rematch of a regular season game.   The Saints traveled to US Bank Stadium in the opening week of the season to play the Vikings in a game that wa s 26-16 win for the Vikings. 

Sam Bradford was the Vikings quarterback at the time,  now it's Case Keenum (Go Coogs!) 

The Vikings under Keenum have been 11-3.   But the Saints have also evolved since that Week 1 loss.   Their secondary went from being a mess to one of the strengths of the team,.   Their rushing attack with Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram is one of the most potent in the league

Case is also making his first playoff start.

So who is going to win this game?   As much as I'd love to see Case in the NFC title game and the Super Bowl that's being played in their home stadium, I'm going with the playoff experience of Drew Brees 
 
Saints to march all the way to the NFC Championship

2017-2018 NFL Playoffs - Wild Card Weekend

I lost my shot at a 2017 TransGriot NFL prognostication threepeat title due to some unforced efforts and a disastrous sub. 500 last week of the regular season that added up to me losing by one game after the regular season was completed, but that's over now. 

Mr. Watts earned it.   Here are his picks for Wild Card Weekend.

It's NFL playoff time, and specifically NFL Wild Card Weekend   So time to get some practice in for when the 2018 regular season resumes and I go for three titles in the last four years starting in September.

NFL Wild Card Weekend 

NFL Saturday Playoff Games

#5 Tennessee (9-7) at #4 Kansas City (10-6)  on ABC/ESPN 

Ugh.  It was bad enough my hometown  team not only failed to make the playoffs, but the Tennessee Traitors did for the first time since 2008   This early Saturday game is one in which I see the team formerly known as the Oilers travel to Arrowhead Stadium to play the Chiefs

The Titans have lost three of the last four games down the stretch, but the one game they won was the divisional one against AFC South champ Jacksonville in the last week of the season that punched their playoff ticket. 

The Titans are a throwback team in that they love to run the ball, and stopping the run is the Chiefs Achilles heel.  The Traitors Titans finished the season with the number 13 ranked defense in the NFL, but has a secondary ranked a pathetic 31st out of 32 teams. 

That Titans secondary will have to confront a Chiefs squad that boasts the number 5 offense in the league even though they don't throw the ball deep that much.

However, AFC West champ Kansas City is on a roll again.   They started the season 5-0, went through a midseason 1-6 slump, and won their last four games going into this playoff game.
And yes, one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL will live up to its rep

Let's just call this one now,  Kansas City to win this game to my delight and move on to the divisional round. 

Yeah, never gonna forgive Bud Adams for moving them to Nashville.

#6 Atlanta (10-6)  at #3 Los Angeles Rams on NBC

The Saturday night game features the defending NFC champion Falcons taking on the NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams/   They are hosting their first playoff game at the Coliseum in nearly 40 years and in only its second season back in LA after spending 22 years in St. Louis.

The Rams are gunning for their first playoff win since 2004, when they called St Louis home 

While the Rams were only 2-2 in their last four contests, they were 6-3 after their bye week   They are also a 2017 season worst to first story.  They were 4-12 last year but are a playoff club thanks to first year head coach Sean McVay's offense and their rapidly improving defense under Wade Phillips

Meanwhile the Falcons struggled through several must win games in the competitive NFC South just to qualify for this game,  going 3-1.   But they haven't looked like that offense juggernaut that was 11 minutes from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at NRG Stadium last year and their defense is still questionable.

The biggest question going into this game is more about the LA fans. Will they show up to fill the cavernous Coliseum for this playoff game, and if they do, how loud will it get?

They definitely have plenty to cheer about with a high flying offense ranked sixth in the league that averaged a league best 29.9 points per game . 
But the Rams were a pedestrian 4-4 at home vs 7-1 on the road.

This is going to be a close one, but I'm going to go with the Rams in this one.

NFL Sunday Playoff Games

#6 Buffalo Bills (9-7) at #3 Jacksonville Jaguars (10-6) on CBS

This is an intriguing matchup of two squads that haven't seen any parts of the NFL playoffs for a while.  The Bills last made the playoffs in 1999, only to be ousted by the Music City Miracle vs Tennessee that propelled the Titans to the Super Bowl.

The AFC South champion Jaguars aftes sucking for the entire Obama Administration, captured their first playoff berth since 2007 and their first division title since 1999 when they topped the AFC Central Division.  They get to reward their fans for their patience with a playoff game at EverBank Stadium

Jacksonville and their defense has annoyed and pissed people off in the NFL all season.  Their defense trailed only Pittsburgh in terms of sacking the quarterback, excels at creating turnovers, is the number one ranked pass defense in the league and goading opposing players into fights.

They are legit. I witnessed them beat down my Texans twice and clinch the AFC South title with a 45-7 blowout win in Jacksonville over my fave NFL squad.

Their big question mark in terms of whether they will make a long playoff run of bow out is how will Blake Bortles play?   Will we see good Blake Bortles or bad Blake Bortles?  The other problem with the Jage is them loving to play on the edge to the point they go over it and take stupid personal foul penalties.

Buffalo is only in the postseason because Andy Dalton connected on a 4th and 12 pass play for a TD to stun the Ravens.   They have the number 29th ranked run defense in the NFL, which probably is making  Leonard Fournette salivate just thinking about it 

And after Lesean McCoy sprained his ankle in their game against the Dolphins, if he can't play Sunday, their chances of pulling an upset on the Jags are as likely as me walking the Victoria's Secret fashion show   The  Bills love to run the ball, and stopping the run has been the one thing the Jags defense hasn't done well for much of the season

The Bills also have a -57 point differential they are carrying into this game, and 'Saxonville' is poised to have a wonderful day making Tyrod Taylor's playoff debut and the Bills first playoff game in the 21st Century a miserable one.

On paper, this looks like it's going to be a lopsided game, and we'll see if that plays out after the whistle blows.  I think it will     The Jaguars to move on to the divisional round   

 #5 Carolina Panthers (11-5)  at #4 New Orleans Saints (11-5) on FOX 

This is the only Wild Card weekend game that is a rematch of a regular season game, and it features two NFC South teams playing each other for the third time. 

The NFC South champion Saints have already beaten their NFC South division rivals twice in the 2017 season, smacking them in Charlotte in Week 3 of the season 34-13 and beating the Panthers in the Mercedes Benz Superdome 31-21 back on December 3.

The Saints even with a future Hall of Fame QB in Drew Brees at the helm, have reinvented themselves and developed a devastating rushing attack with tow versatile backs in Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram to complement their passing attack. 

The Saints defense has also stepped it up big time and become adept at taking the ball away.  They forced six turnovers in the two NFC South games against the Panthers alone.

The Panthers are also feeling salty because they are 6.5 point underdogs going into this game and have been an afterthought in the playoff conversation despite being two years removed from their Super Bowl 50 appearance. .  Carolina's inconsistency has also factored into why many pundits think their season will be over on Monday.

Yes, it is hard to beat an NFL team, and especially your divisional rival  three times.  This game is being played in NOLA and the Saints have a team that is quite capable of going all the way to Minneapolis for Super Bowl LI.   Carolina will put up some resistance, but the Saints will definitely want to prove it to themselves, their home crowd and a national TV audience they are a Super Bowl caliber team. ..

Saints to beat Carolina for the third time and move on to the Divisional round.

2016-17 NFL Playoffs- Super Bowl LI

30 NFL teams started out with the goal of playing at NRG Stadium in my hometown for the Vince Lombardi Trophy and only two remain.

This is the third Super Bowl we have hosted in H-town, with the previous ones happening in 1974 and 2004.  If SB 6 unfortunately passes, it'll be the LAST one we get to host  

But back to talking about the big game on Sunday

Got one last prediction to make to close out this 201617 NFL season, and in addition to successfully repeating as the TransGriot NFL prognostication champion, I've gone 9-1 during the NFL playoffs.

So let's get to the final prediction of this season for Super Bowl LI.

We have a battle between the AFC Champion New England Trumpriots Patriots (16-2) and the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons.(13-5)

The Falcons come into this game at NRG Stadium on a roll, having won their last six games after that December 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at the Georgia Dome.  

They secured the number 2 seed, and then  their number one offense went to work obliterating their playoff opponents the Seahawks and Packers by a 80-41 margin.  

The defense has stiffened considerably since that December 4 loss to the Chiefs.

The Patriots also come in on a roll,  They've won nine straight games, and haven't last since the Seattle Seahawks beat them 34-21 at Gillette Stadium on November 13 by stopping them on the 1 yard line on a fourth and one pass play with 14 seconds left to preserve the win.  The Patriots were also coming off their bye week at that time.

They also rolled through the AFC playoffs, outscoring the Texans and the Steelers 70-33 in their two playoff games.

As for the Super Bowl LI itself, it'll be a matchup of the number one offense vs the number one defense.

For the Falcons to pull the upset, they will have to replicate on defense what the Texans did to them in their playoff game.  Force Tom Brady out of the pocket by blitzing up the middle. Punish him with hits when they do so and come up with schemes that get their All Pro linebacker Vic Beasley loose to terrorize them. .

The Falcons NFL MVP quarterback Matt Ryan is going to have to play like he has over the last several weeks and score early and often by flinging passes to Julio Jones and Mohammed Sanu for starters.

If they can overwhelm them on offense and the Falcon defense can #RiseUp, force Brady off his spot in the pocket, beat him up, get some turnovers in the process and turn them into TDs they have a shot at taking the NFL title back to the ATL.

If they don't, and the Patriots defense does to Atlanta what they consistently do by taking away what you like to do best, and by extension shut down the high flying Falcons offense attack, it's going to be a long day at NRG for the Falcons.  

Now as to who will take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy.   While my heart is with the Falcons and will be rooting for them because I hate the Trumpriots for a lot of reasons starting with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, my head and my money are on the Patriots

Patriots to win Super Bowl LI