The fifty-first Super Bowl will be held at the NRG stadium in Houston, Texas on February 5 and broadcast on FOX.  AFC Champions, the New England Patriots and the NFC Champions, the Atlanta Falcons will kick off at 6:30 eastern time.  The halftime show performer will be Grammy winning pop singer, Lady Gaga.

According to sportingnews.com, since coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady, and franchise president Robert Kraft have been together, the Patriots have won 7 Super Bowls in the last 16 years.  In contrast, the Falcons have only been in the Super Bowl twice in history, and this is their first time in 18 years.

Sportingnews.com predicts the Patriots will win because of their strong defense. However, David McCracken of bleacherreport.com says, “Atlanta is the real deal , and they’ll be looking to prove it one final time.”

All predictions call for a close match-up. According to forbes.com Vegas oddsmakers set the spread with New England as only a three-point favorite.

The National Football League’s simulation engine, which works by using a complicated series of algorithms, simulated the Falcons Patriots 501 times with the average score being an extremely close 25 to 24 with the Patriots winning 55 percent of the time.

The road to the Super Bowl began with Wildcard Week.  Falcons and Patriots were early favorites, earning the bye in each of their divisions. On Saturday, January 7, the Houston Texans beat the Oakland Raiders at home 27-14 led by Brock Osweiler, who went 14 for 25 on passes and picking up 168 passing yards. On that same day, the Seattle Seahawks beat the Detroit Lions in Seattle 26-6 where running back Thomas Rawls ran a key game for Seattle.

On January 8, in Pittsburgh, the Steelers beat the Dolphins 30-12 with Le’veon Bell leading the team picking up about 167 rushing yards. Later, the Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants 38-13 in Green Bay. A key player that stood out for Green Bay was quarterback Aaron Rodgers with 362 passing yards and four touchdown passes.

The following week, on January 14, the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Atlanta 36-20 with Matt Ryan playing a huge role in the game. Matt Ryan went 26 for 37 on passes and achieved 338 passing yards on the game.

That same day, Julian Edelman led the Patriots to victory with 8 receptions and 137 yards against the Houston Texans in Massachusetts with the score being 34-16.

On January 15 the Green Bay Packers played against the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington. The Green Bay Packers barely beat the Cowboys on a game winning 51 yard field goal.

Later that day, the Steelers were confirmed victorious over the Chiefs 18-16 in Pittsburgh. Antonio Brown shined brighter than most of the players with 6 receptions and 170 yards.

Finally, the matchup of Super Bowl LI was determined last weekend when the Atlanta Falcons beat the Green Bay Packers 44-21 in Atlanta and the New England Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Foxborough 36-17.  Matt Ryan had 27 completions out of 38 attempts and 392 passing yards. Out of the 27 passes complete, four were touchdown passes. The Patriots’s Chris Hogan had a great game with nine receptions, 180 yards, and two touchdown passes.

In the postseason, the Atlanta Falcons had a two-game average of 40 points scored, and the Patriots a comparable 35.  Sports fans will tune in to FOX Sunday, February 5 for the culmination of the 2016-2017 NFL season and to see who will take home the Lombardi trophy.