Sporting Insights: Atlanta Falcons are headed to Super Bowl 51

Many people thought the Green Bay Packers were going to continue their hot streak and beat the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, despite the Falcons being five-point favorites. Those people were wrong, as the Falcons destroyed the Packers with a final score of 44-21.

Matt Ryan has been unbelievable this year. Ryan is an elite quarterback, but he seems to be under appreciated by many NFL fans. He threw four touchdowns to go with 392 passing yards and no interceptions. This is nothing new for him because he has been doing this pretty much all season. Ryan managed to top his performance last week against the Seattle Seahawks, which was a 338-yard and three touchdown performance. I cannot wait to see what he has in store on Super Bowl Sunday.

Wide receiver Julio Jones getting a chance to play in the Super Bowl is very exciting. Jones has been one of the most exciting players in the NFL since he was drafted in 2011. The only bad thing about him is that he is always on the injury report, so he tends to drive fantasy football owners crazy all season long. I would be stunned if he isn’t on the injury report heading into the Super Bowl. The guy is just always banged up, but he is good. His 73-yard touchdown run in the third quarter Sunday showed us just that. Thoughts and prayers to the Packers players he bullied on his way to the end zone.

The Atlanta defense is pretty good, too. The Packers offense did not score until they were down 31-0, which seemed like an impossible task going into the game because Aaron Rodgers has been playing out of his mind. Rodgers looked unstoppable in his first two playoff games against the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. The defense played as good as they could have.

•The New England Patriots and •Pittsburgh Steelers await a date with the Falcons in Houston for •Super Bowl 51. Both of those teams have elite quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, who both have multiple Super Bowl rings. It will take Atlanta’s best effort to take either one of them down. Big Ben and Brady are winners and will not go down easily. However, Atlanta is going to be a pain in the butt. Ryan is playing his best football and has a shot to truly prove that he is elite. I cannot wait to see Ryan match-up with Ben or Brady. 

Get me to Super Bowl Sunday already. 

Mike Smith is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you think the Atlanta Falcons have what it takes to win the Super Bowl? Let Mike know by emailing him at ms983012@ohio.edu.