Atlanta Falcons, 44 Green Bay Packers, 21
Even by the standards of this year's postseason- rich with blowouts- QB Matt Ryan and Falcons offense steam-rolled the Packers defense to the point of embarrassment. The Falcons offense drove for 500 yards and 7 touchdowns in little more than 3 quarters before the Falcons' back-ups came to mercifully kill off rest of the 4th quarter. It was not the classic shoot-out fans were hoping for. The Packers' D was pitiful while the Falcons' D was opportunistic. The day pivoted into a nice rolling celebration for the city of Atlanta and the final game in Georgia Dome.
So why wasn't this game close? Why couldn't Aaron Rodgers -currently on one of the most statistically handsome stretches of his career- keep up? What may be lost as time fades is that the Packers did move the ball through the same world-class Rodgers efficiency we have seen the last two weeks but unlike the Giants and Cowboys, the Falcons had some key stops early. Including two third down stops that resulted in a missed field goal and a punt, as well as a fumble and an interception. The Falcons scored 24 points in that time.
MVP : WR Julio Jones. The Falcons continue their swiss-army attack, but not many spread offenses have a Julio Jones. Ryan is routinely hitting 8-9 different receivers per game, an arsenal of running backs, tight ends, fullbacks... and one Julio.
Julio torched the Packers for 9 catches for 180 yards including a powerful slant-turned 73 yard TD that showcased his elite speed, elite power and toughness battling through a foot injury. Julio's dominance is not required for the Falcons to win football games, but it is a nice tool for them to have.
NewEngland Patriots, 36 Pittsburgh Steelers, 17
After Atlanta's joyous can-you-believe it celebration, Americans tuned into to see New England's spoiled fans dust off their Tom Brady jerseys for the first game of the season that they have to care about: the routine AFC Championship. However, the Patriots handled the Steelers with ease completed a 4th full day of NFL playoffs that did not produce a genuinely competitive game. This was the 8th playoff game (out of 10) to feature a home team defeating an away team by 15+ points.
After only four plays the engine of Steel hope, RB Le'Veon Bell, was hurt. WR Antonio Brown was smothered. The pass rush on Brady nonexistent and we have seen the story enough to know what will happen. With no pass rush, Brady will find the soft spot, a role player to make look like a superstar. This time it was WR Chris Hogan (9 receptions, 180 yards) who was an invisible man to the Steelers secondary.
The Patriots offense was able to move the ball the entire game- WR Julian Edelman had over 100 yards, RB LaGarrette Blount had 16 carries, Tom Brady we never stressed for options. The pressure was on the Steelers offense to compete in a shoot-out with Bell was out with a groin injury. Although RB DeAngelo Williams played well, the Patriot resources were turned and focused on Antonio Brown. Rothlisberger's tired arm was forced to manage with the likes of Cobbie Hamilton, Sammie Coates and Eli Rogers- all of whom played okay, but not nearly enough to keep Bill Belichik and Tom Brady from a 7th Super Bowl.
MVP: QB Tom Brady is also going to his 7th Super Bowl and this time on the back of an epic 384 yard, 3 TD, 0 INT domination of a young and hungry Steeler defense. While he remains tied with Bradshaw and Montana with 4 Super Bowl wins, he has earned almost twice as many appearances as both of them across a much wider range (2002-2017).
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