The end is in sight. Only two teams are left fighting for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Will it be the Atlanta Falcons, or the New England Patriots, who end up victorious in Houston?
One thing I have learned is that it’s not worth me picking against my predictor. Twice I’ve picked against mt predictor in the playoffs, and twice I’ve made the wrong call.
Picking the Patriots as the winners of the AFC Championship game was relatively easy, but my predictor correctly predicted the Falcons would see off the Green Bay Packers – and they did it very easily. The Packers’ defense couldn’t stop the Falcons’ offense, and the Packers didn’t generate much offense of their own for much of the game.
The Patriots, meanwhile, made mincemeat of the Steelers and were never really tested. I suspect the Falcons, with their ability to generate pressure upfront, and their much more potent offense, will do a better job in the Super Bowl. But will it be enough?
In truth, I don’t really know, but the stats suggest the Patriots are the more likely winners in this contest. Whilst the Falcons generate pressure, the Patriots are good at restricting opponents to field goals, whilst neither offense is easy to stop. It should be a great game.
The Patriots have won 6 out of 7 games against playoff opponents this season, whilst the Falcons have won 4 of 6. Both teams lost to the Seattle Seahawks. On the road, the Patriots were 2 of 2, whereas the Falcons were 1 of 2. The Falcon’s home loss was to the Kansas City Chiefs.
My own view is that it’s easier to see the Patriots putting up 30 points on the Falcons, than the Falcons putting 30 points up on the Patriots. And, whist the Falcons lead the league in points rank, the rank comfortably behind the Patriots on everything else.
For the Super Bowl, as there is no real home and road team, I designed a new predictor, by comparing home and road data for the two teams. I compared the following:
- Average road scores
- Average home scores
- Average allowed road scores
- Average allowed home scores
- Comparisons of the above
I won’t bore you with the technical details, but if they’re evenly matched, they should win 6 games each in this table.
| Basis | Road | Home | R-Pred | H-Pred | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE-R | Patriots | Falcons | 28.5 | 16.5 | Patriots |
| NE-H | Falcons | Patriots | 16.5 | 30.5 | Patriots |
| ATL-R | Falcons | Patriots | 34 | 25 | Falcons |
| ALT-H | Patriots | Falcons | 30 | 37 | Falcons |
| NE-R-ADJ | Patriots | Falcons | 31.45 | 25.9 | Patriots |
| NE-H-ADJ | Falcons | Patriots | 26.5 | 30.25 | Patriots |
| NE-R-ADJ | Falcons | Patriots | 32.1 | 28.6 | Falcons |
| NE-H-ADJ | Patriots | Falcons | 36.125 | 29.5625 | Patriots |
| Road-OFF | Patriots | Falcons | 28.5 | 34 | Falcons |
| Home-OFF | Atlanta Falcons | Patriots | 37 | 30.5 | Falcons |
| Road-DEF | Falcons | Patriots | 16.5 | 25 | Patriots |
| Home-DEF | Patriots | Falcons | 30 | 16.5 | Patriots |
As you can see, the Patriots win 7 times, the Falcons 5. So it’s not a big mismatch at all. What is interesting is margin of victory.
Without adjustment, the Patriots win on average by 13 points, whereas the Falcons win by 8.
If looking only on offense, the Falcons should win, by 6 points. If looking only at defense, the Patriots should win, by 11 points.
When making adjustments for the Super Bowl opposition, the Patriots win on three of the four scenarios. Taking the Falcons’ base averages at home and adjusting for the Patriots’ road averages, the Falcons lose, by 6.56 points. Which is funny, because the Falcons are the designated home team in the Super Bowl, if that matters at all… which I doubt.
Anyway, if you add up all these match-ups you get the grand total. So what does it say…?
It says the Patriots will win 29.54 – 26.84. So let’s call that 30-27.
My pick: Patriots.
Predictor says: Well, it doesn’t predict neutral games, but if the Patriots are the road team, it confidently predicts the Patriots by 5 points. If they’re the home team, it’s less confident, but it still picks the Patriots by 5.
I’m sure Tom Brady would settle for another Super Bowl ring, and picking up the MVP car from Roger Goodell and let Matt Ryan keep his league MVP award.
Roger Goodell? He might not enjoy that so much.