The Falcons opened the game with the ball after a touchback on the opening kickoff, and scored on their first possession, with Matt Ryan connecting with Julio Jones for a 13 yard TD.  Devonta Freeman had 3 carries for 31 yards on the 8-play, 75 yard drive, and fullback, Patrick DiMarco had a 24 yard catch and run.  Atlanta 7 – New England 0.

On New England’s first possession, on a 3rd & 5, Tom Brady scrambles for 8 yards but, after a jarring tackle from Falcons linebacker, Vic Beasley, coughs up the ball and strong safety Keanu Neal recovers it for Atlanta at the Patriots 38 yard line!!

Ryan and company need only three plays to score another touchdown . . . . Freeman had an 18 yard run, Taylor Gabriel hauled in a 14 yard pass and Mohamed Sanu caught a 6 yard TD pass from Ryan.  Atlanta 14 – New England 0.

The Falcons continue to frustrate Brady and forced New England to punt.  Ryan hit Austin Hooper for a 17 yard completion and Hooper fumbled the ball, but teammate, Sanu, recovered it on his own 49 yard line.  Atlanta then drove all the way to the Pats’ 15 yard line, helped by another big run (23 yards) by Freeman.  And, this time, it was Tevin Coleman finding pay dirt on a 15 yard TD run.  Matt Bryant, however, shanked the extra point try, but the Falcons increase their lead to 20-0!

More bad news for the Patriots.  Early in the second quarter, Brady comes up limping and will have to play “hurt” for the remainder of the contest.  He will be considered a “1” rated QB for matchup purposes, and all of his results will be read one column worse than normal.  This will definitely hurt New England.

Still, he leads the Patriots to their first score, finding Julian Edelman open in the end zone from 3 yards out.  On that drive, despite being hurt, Brady hit Martellus Bennett for 28 yards and Michael Floyd for 24.  Atlanta 20 – New England 7.

The Patriots finally stop the Falcons . . . . sort of.  Atlanta drove from their own 25 to New England’s 24, when the drive stalled out and Bryant nailed a 42 yard field goal with 8:00 left to play in the first half.  Atlanta 23 – New England 7.

New England continues to hurt themselves, uncharacteristically, with penalties!  They had two first downs called back because of infractions and ended up punting to Atlanta.  Eric Weems had a nice 18 yard punt return to put the Falcons in business at their own 49.

 From there, Ryan went to work . . . hitting Taylor Gabriel for 15 yards, handing it to Freeman (13 yards) an Coleman (12 yards) and finally hitting Sanu for his second TD pass from 3 yards out.  The Patriots look shell-shocked as the Falcons increase their lead with 3:15 left to play in the half.   Atlanta 30 – New England 7.

Brady shakes off a couple more holding penalties from his offensive line and marches the Patriots all the way down the field, hitting Floyd with a big 29 yard pass, and then finding Malcolm Mitchell all alone for a 30 yard score with only 1:30 left to play, to pull within two touchdowns.  Atlanta 30 – New England 14

Amazingly, Atlanta marches 75 yards in one minute, helped by two HUGE penalties on New England – a Roughing the Passer and a Defensive Hold – both coming on third down plays where the Falcon failed to convert.  Coleman runs it in from the six yard line with only 30 seconds left in the half to give Atlanta a remarkable half-time lead!!  Atlanta 37 – New England 14 (Half).

The Pats come out in the second half firing!!  After holding Atlanta to a three and out, they force Matt Bosher to make his first punt of the game!  Edelman returns it 22 yards into Falcons territory, and Brady and company march down to the Atlanta 7 where LeGarrette Blount carries it in.  Pats once again within two scores . . . 10:15 left in the third quarter.  Atlanta 37 – New England 21

Ryan and the Falcons answer!  “Matty Ice” hits Aldrick Robinson for 14, Levine Toilolo for 16 and Freeman for 17 yards before stalling out and watching teammate, Bryant, calmly nail a 43 yard field goal with 6:00 to play in the quarter.  Atlanta 40 – New England 21

Brady is not done yet . . . . . . he leads New England on a furious drive, hitting Bennett for 27 yards, Gronkowski for 28 an Edelman for nine down to the Falcons’ two yard line . . . where Blount runs it in for his second touchdown of the quarter.  There are now 30 seconds left in the third period and the Patriots are only down by twelve points.  Is Brady’s 4th quarter magic about to make yet another appearance?????  Atlanta 40 – New England 28

Ryan is having none of this “Brady Mystique!!”  He leads the Falcons on another drive, this time finding Austin Hooper for 26 yards and Jones for 29 before Coleman roared into the end-zone from 29 yards out!!  Still a lot of time left . . . but the Pats need to get going . . . 13:15 remaining in the game.  Atlanta 47 – New England 28

The sun is starting to set on New England . . . . . after a short Bosher punt, they took over at the Falcon’s 49 yard line, but could not complete a fourth and four from Atlanta’s 34 yard line.  The pass to Edelman was incomplete.  Atlanta took over and put what just might be the final nail in the Patriot’s coffin – when Coleman scored his fourth rushing TD of the game (and Atlanta’s SEVENTH touchdown of the game!!), this one from 33 yards out, and that’s how the game ended . . . Atlanta 54 – New England 28

This game started out just like last year’s real Super Bowl, with the Falcons dominating the Patriots in the first two quarters . . . but, unlike their real-life experience, this time they kept it up in the second half, rushing for an amazing 261 yards and rolling up 558 yards of total offense in their very convincing and well-deserved Super Bowl victory!

GAME STATISTICS

 Passing

Ryan      26-37-314-3 tds-0 ints                                                     Brady    22-38-297-2 tds-0 ints

Rushing

Freeman              16-140-0                                                               Blount   19-68-2

Coleman              10-110-4                                                               White      3-23-0

Gabriel                   1-  13-0                                                               Brady      2-  6-0

Ryan                        1-(-1)-0                                                               Slater      1-(-2)-0

Receiving

Jones                    5-90-1                                                                   Gronkowski        4-69-0

Freeman              5-43-0                                                                   Bennett               4-66-0

Sanu                      4-41-2                                                                   Floyd                     3-65-0

Hooper                 3-35-0                                                                   Edelman              4-35-1

Gabriel                 2-29-0                                                                   Mitchell                1-30-1

DiMarco               1-24-0                                                                   White                    4-25-0

Toilolo                   1-16-0                                                                   Blount                   1-  5-0

Robinson             1-14-0                                                                   Develin                 1-  2-0

Hardy                    2-  9-0

Coleman              1-  9-0

Perkins                 1-  4-0

MVP:  Tevin Coleman

It’s funny . . . . . . I started my 2016 single elimination tournament back in August, and, after all those games, it still came down to Atlanta and New England!!  So, on Sunday at noon, before the REAL Super Bowl, I will be playing my big game!

And, because of the way that I randomly calculate injuries, we have a number of players who will not be participating, and some of them are pretty important.  So, these injuries could have a dramatic impact on the outcome of the game, especially on the defensive line for the Falcons, and for both offense and defense for the Pats.

Here is a list of those injured players, and their numerical ratings, who will miss Sunday’s Super Bowl:

ATLANTA:

Jacob Tamme (TE – 3-A), Brian Poole (CB – 3), Desmond Trufant (CB – 3), Adrian Clayborn (DE – 3), Courtney Upshaw (DT – 3), Tyson Jackson (DE – 3), Jalen Collins (CB – 3), Ra’Shede Hageman (DT – 3)

NEW ENGLAND:

Dion Lewis (HB – 3-B), Danny Amendola (WR – 3-B), Rob Ninkovich (LB – 4), Jabaal Sheard (DE – 3), Logan Ryan (CB – 4), Shea McClellin (LB – 3), Kyle Van Noy (LB – 3), Trey Flowers (DE – 3)

Dallas – Philadelphia Recap Sheet

After a horrific 2-4 start to my 2016 Dallas Cowboys replay, they won their last ten games to finish 12-4!  And, this one was a little special, because long-time Dallas quarterback, Tony Romo, made his one and only appearance in the season.  He came in early in the 4th quarter, after Philadelphia had clawed back from a 27-10 halftime deficit to within a touchdown, 27-20.  And, on his very first pass, he hit Jason Witten with a 53 yard touchdown pass!  He ended up 3-3 for 84 yards . . . and his card is ridiculously awesome . . . but those were the only three passes he attempted in the replay!

I will tabulate and publish Dallas’ final stats in a few days.

AFC Championship Recap Sheet

New England quarterback, Tom Brady, who had missed the previous two Patriot playoff games, threw four touchdown passes and let his team to a 37-19 victory over Kansas City and earned a return trip to the Super Bowl!

The Chiefs actually scored the games first two touchdowns in the opening period and appeared to be running on all cylinders as they took a 13-0 lead.  But Brady methodically led his team to 37 unanswered points to blow out Kansas City, who really hurt themselves with turnovers (3) and penalties (10 for 104 yards).

NFC Championship Recap Sheet

The Atlanta Falcons, despite being completely out-played by the Green Bay Packers, found a way to win the game and advance to the Super Bowl!  The Packers ran 85 offensive plays, compared to the Falcons’ 50, and outgained Atlanta 452-249.  But, a huge 94 yard interception return by Falcon’s defensive back, Robert Alford, and four field-goals by Matt Bryant was the difference in this game.

Green Bay scored a touchdown with only 23 seconds left to play and then, remarkably, recovered an on-sides kick . . . but a “Hail-Mary” pass to Randall Cobb fell incomplete as time expired as the Falcons earned their trip to the Super Bowl.

Detroit – Dallas Recap Sheet

The Cowboys got 121 yards rushing from Ezekiel Elliott and forced three turnovers in a 23-9 victory at home over the Lions.  Detroit punt returner, Andre Roberts, had a horrible day, muffing two fair-catch attempts deep in his own territory, leading directly to ten Dallas points.

The Cowboys, with one game to play, run their record to 11-4.

After five months of playing this single-elimination 2016 APBA Football Tournament, we’re down to four teams.  In the NFC, it will be the Green Bay Packers going to Atlanta to take on the Falcons . . . and, in the AFC, the Chiefs will travel to Foxboro to challenge the New England Patriots.

As always, in my format that relies on individual match-ups, injured players can really make a difference.  So, here is the list of players who will NOT be available to play for their respective teams in the Conference Championship Round, and there are some notable names here (underlined and in bold print), including an All-Pro Linebacker for Atlanta (Beasley):

Green Bay:  Eddie Lacy, Jared Cook, JC Tretter, Datone Jones, Joe Thomas, Quinten Rollins, Julius Peppers

Atlanta:  Taylor Gabriel, Adrian Clayborn, Courtney Upshaw, Tyson Jackson, Brooks Reed, Jalen Collins, Vic Beasley

Kansas City:  Chris Jones, Ramik Wilson, Justin Houston, Daniel Sorensen, Tamba Hali

New England:  Dion Lewis, Chris Long, Malcolm Brown, Kyle Van Noy, Shea McClellin, Jabaal Sheard

Pittsburgh – New England Recap Sheet

Brady?  Who needs Brady?!!?

In the second consecutive game without their All-World quarterback, the New England Patriots rallied behind Jimmy Garoppolo to pound the Pittsburgh Steelers and advance to the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs!

Garoppolo was terrific, completing 20 passes for 314 yards and a touchdown.  But, it was the Patriots’ defense that really rose to the occasion, holding the Steelers to only 249 yards of offense in their 27-13 victory.

Green Bay – Dallas Recap Sheet

A tough week for the Cowboys.  First, they lose a game against the Bucs in my season replay . . . and, then, they drop this elimination game in my tournament against Green Bay!  The Packers beat the Cowboys on a game-ending 33 yard field goal by Mason Crosby to advance to the NFC Championship Game and a date with the Atlanta Falcons.

Green Bay quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, and Dallas quarterback, Dak Prescott, were both terrific, combining for 49 completions, 782 yards and six touchdowns!  But four fumbles by Ezekiel Elliott (losing three of them) and a crucial 24 yard pass interference penalty against the Cowboys in the games final seconds proved too costly as the Packers move on!

Tampa Bay – Dallas Recap Sheet

The Bucs end the Cowboys win streak at seven games with a three-point victory.  Dallas shot themselves in the foot with three turnovers, and had no answer for Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans, who hauled in 11 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.

Dallas is now 9-5 in my replay with two games to play (Detroit and Philadelphia).