In a little over a week from now, the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons will take the field in NRG Stadium for Super Bowl 51. The Patriots are currently favored by 3 points, and it will most likely stay that way as we approach February 5th. The city of Houston last hosted the Superbowl in 2004, where the Patriots beat the Panthers 32-29.

For the Patriots, this is business as usual. Tom Brady has been to a record breaking 7 consecutive AFC Championships, giving him a strong case for the greatest of all time. Patriots coach Bill Belichick runs a tight ship, and has made a tradition out of making championship runs. Even though the Patriots missed Tom Brady for the first four games of the season, they still finished the season with a league leading 14-2 record, only faltering against the Bills and the Seahawks. Dion Lewis has reemerged as one of the leagues premiere scat backs, adding yet another dimension to Brady’s offense. Brady has been nearly unstoppable with Martellus Bennett, Julian Edelman, Dion Lewis, and the legendary Chris Hogan at his disposal. The Falcons will have a lot to handle. The Patriots defense is also no slouch, being the best scoring defense in the league. Devin McCourty and Malcom Butler provide a solid secondary and a front seven led by Dont’a Hightower remains formidable.

The Falcons have had a season that many didn’t expect. Matt Ryan is coming off the worst year of his career, Dan Quinn is still a fresh head coach, and the Falcons were returning from a historic late season collapse after starting the 2015 season 5-0.  But the Falcons have hushed all the critics, with Matt Ryan forging into the seasons leading MVP candidate. Julio Jones has been astounding as usual whenever he is on the field, and the Falcons defense has been surprisingly good, especially late season. Vic Beasely leads the league in sacks, and has been a breakout player this year. The Falcons defense isn’t in the conversation for the best, but they’ve made big plays when needed and are the textbook definition of “bend don’t break.”

Both teams match up well and the Superbowl should be exciting. Tune in on Feburary 5th to find out who wins.