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Key Contributors Each team in the Super Bowl has key contributors, on both offense and defense. These players will play key roles in determining the outcome of the game, and are very much in the conversation for Super Bowl MVP. Here is who I believe are the top seven players for both teams: Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan - Quarterback Julio Jones - Wide Receiver\ Alex Mack - Center Vic Beasley Jr. - Edge Rusher Devonta Freeman / Tevin Coleman - Running Backs Dwight Freeney - Edge Rusher Keanu Neal - Defensive Back New England Patriots: Tom Brady - Quarterback Devin McCourty - Defensive Back Malcolm Butler - Defensive Back Julian Edelman - Wide Receiver Dont'a Hightower - Linebacker LeGarrette Blount / Dion Lewis - Running Backs Nate Solder - Tackle

Patriots, Falcons Will Face Off in Super Bowl LI The Atlanta Falcons demolished the Green Bay Packers 44-21. The New England Patriots demolished the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17. Now, the Patriots and Falcons will face off in an epic battle a week and six days from now in Super Bowl 51. Here is a recap of how the games went down yesterday: Atlanta Falcons 44 - Green Bay Packers 21: The Falcons destroyed the Packers from the beginning of the opening drive. Matt Ryan played like an MVP once again - he threw four touchdowns and ran for another TD - and Julio Jones was an absolute monster. The Packers were unable to stop this offense, and the only team to do so were the Philadelphia Eagles. Every other team has struggled against them. The Falcons are clicking on all cylinders, and the defense has improved tremendously over the last five weeks (which has ultimately led to more points). On the other hand, the Packers simply had no fight left in them. The injuries caught up to ...

The X Factor Every team left in the Conference Championship games has many playmakers on both offense and defense, and they all have great players who can do some damage. These teams also have players who sometimes go under the radar, and here is who I believe will be an X-factor for every team during the football games this Sunday: Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons: Keanu Neal (Safety) - Atlanta Falcons - Neal is in the race for Defensive Rookie of the year, and is helping the Falcons become a better defense. He adds toughness and identity to the team, and has incredible tackling ability. Bryan Bulaga (Guard) - Green Bay Packers - Bulaga must stop Vic Beasley if they want to keep Aaron Rodgers upright. If he can guard the Falcons' pass rushers, Aaron Rodgers will have even more time to find a wide receiver who is open for a lot of yardage. Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots: Dion Lewis (Running Back) - New England Patriots - Lewis is a great...

Ranking the Players Left The Conference Championship is full of great quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers, all of whom will play large roles if their teams are to win and move on to the Super Bowl. Here are my rankings for quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, and kicker: Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers Matt Ryan - Atlanta Falcons Tom Brady - New England Patriots Ben Roethlisberger - Pittsburgh Steelers Running Back: LeVeon Bell - Pittsburgh Steelers Devonta Freeman - Atlanta Falcons Ty Montgomery - Green Bay Packers LeGarette Blount - New England Patriots Tevin Coleman - Atlanta Falcons Dion Lewis - New England Patriots Wide Receiver: Julio Jones - Atlanta Falcons Antonio Brown - Pittsburgh Steelers Julian Edelman - New England Patriots Jordy Nelson - Green Bay Packers (questionable to play) Davante Adams - Green Bay Packers Mohamed Sanu - Atlanta Falcons Randall Cobb - Green Bay Packers Taylor Gabriel...

New Coaches Five out of six teams have found a new coach this offseason, with one, the San Francisco 49ers, still searching for a general manager and a head coach. Here are the latest updates: Buffalo Bills - They signed Sean McDermott , the former defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers, as their new coach. He is the anti-Rex Ryan, and does not have a big mouth. He will try to give the team a new identity and build toughness. He must figure out first and foremost if the Bills should resign Tyrod Taylor or not. Los Angeles Rams - They signed Sean McVay , the youngest head coach in NFL history, and he is only 30 years old. He is the former offensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins. McVay reminds many people of a young Jay Gruden, and someone who will try to work his magic to make Jared Goff play like a #1 overall pick, and help Todd Gurley run with fire. Los Angeles Chargers - They signed Anthony Lynn , the former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator ...

Leaders The top MVP candidates for this season include Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Ezekiel Elliot, Tom Brady, and Derek Carr, but every team had their own MVP that helped them win games during the season. In fact, even the Cleveland Browns have an MVP. I have compiled a list of who I believe is the MVP of each team in the NFL (In alphabetical order). Arizona Cardinals - David Johnson (Running Back) Atlanta Falcons - Matt Ryan (Quarterback) Baltimore Ravens - Justin Tucker (Kicker) Buffalo Bills - LeSean McCoy (Running Back) Carolina Panthers - Greg Olsen (Tight End) Chicago Bears - Jordan Howard (Running Back) Cincinnati Bengals - Adam Jones (Cornerback) Cleveland Browns - Joe Thomas (Offensive Lineman) Dallas Cowboys - Ezekiel Elliot (Running Back) Denver Broncos - Von Miller (Linebacker) Detroit Lions - Matthew Stafford (Quarterback) Green Bay Packers - Aaron Rodgers (Quarterback) Houston Texans - Jadeveon Clowney (Defensive Lineman) ...

Who Will Win this Weekend? Here are my game picks for this weekend in the divisional round: Atlanta Falcons 31 - Seattle Seahawks 23 New England Patriots 28 - Houston Texans 13 Green Bay Packers 38 - Dallas Cowboys 31 Pittsburgh Steelers 27 - Kansas City Chiefs 24

Ranking the Playoff Teams The Wild Card Weekend was relatively mild to be completely honest, as most of the games ended in blowouts. We now know the top eight teams in the league going into the divisional round, and here is how I rank them: New England Patriots (14-2) * Dallas Cowboys (13-3) * Green Bay Packers (11-6) Pittsburgh Steelers (12-5) Atlanta Falcons (11-5) * Kansas City Chiefs (12-4) * Seattle Seahawks (11-5-1) Houston Texans (10-7) New York Giants (11-6) Miami Dolphins (10-7) Oakland Raiders (12-5) Detroit Lions (9-8) What do you guys think? Comment below.

Ground Zero Many teams at the top of the draft order including the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Chicago Bears, are all searching for answers to explain why their teams have not been good for the past couple of years. They have to rebuild from the ground up, and gain a foundation and identity for the team that they can potentially build around. I am going to be kind, and give these teams an explanation of how to build through the draft and free agency to improve their teams. The formula is actually pretty simple, as seen by the success of the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, and Atlanta Falcons this season. In the first and second rounds of the NFL Draft, draft stud offensive or defensive linemen - forget about drafting a quarterback for now. During the free agency period, retain a capable quarterback (for now) and find other strong pieces to add to the offensive and defensive lines. Next year, during the draft, find some more linemen to solidify the fr...

The Pack, 'Hawks, Three B's, and Houston Win The Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Green Bay Packers all won over the weekend, and will move on to the Divisional Round. All of the home teams won, but now they will have to go on the road to play the teams who were on a bye. All four games this past weekend wear essentially blowouts, and here is a recap of each game: Houston Texans 27 - Oakland Raiders 14: There are still many problems with the offense of the Houston Texans, but for the second time this season (first time was Week 6 against the Colts), Brock Osweiler played like an 18 million dollar quarterback. He made some good plays, was able to throw the ball down the field, got the ball to DeAndre Hopkins, and even ran for a touchdown. Lamar Miller did not run particularly well, but still was decent. The defense led by Jadeveon Clowney (who is finally playing like a #1 overall pick) is the best overall defense in the league, and forc...

Who's Gonna Win? This week will mark the beginning of the playoffs for this season, on the road to win Super Bowl 51. Four team are on a bye - Patriots, Cowboys, Chiefs, and Falcons - while the other eight are playing for four playoff spots in the divisional round. Here are my game picks: Houston Texans 20 - Oakland Raiders 14: The quarterback situation for both teams is absolutely terrible in this game. The Texans paid $72 million to Brock Osweiler last offseason, but he has definitely not been worth the money, and has by far been one of the worst quarterbacks of this season. He was even benched for Tom Savage, but is the starter again because Savage got injured. The visiting team, the Raiders, has to start Connor Cook, a rookie, in his first ever start. Derek Carr got injured two weeks ago, and then Matt McGloin got injured last week. We don't know what to expect from both offenses, although I will expect some of the playmakers to help their quarterbacks out....

Ranking the Top Offensive Players at Each Position After the Regular Season Now that the regular season has ended, I am going to rank who I believe were the best players at their positions for the entire season. Here are my rankings for offense. Quarterback: Matt Ryan - Atlanta Falcons Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers Tom Brady - New England Patriots Andrew Luck - Indianapolis Colts Derek Carr - Oakland Raiders Kirk Cousins - Washington Redskins Running Back: Le'Veon Bell - Pittsburgh Steelers David Johnson - Arizona Cardinals Ezekiel Elliot - Dallas Cowboys LeSean McCoy - Buffalo Bills LeGarrette Blount - New England Patriots Devonta Freeman/Tevin Coleman - Atlanta Falcons Wide Receiver: Odell Beckham Jr. - New York Giants Julio Jones - Atlanta Falcons Antonio Brown - Pittsburgh Steelers T.Y. Hilton - Indianapolis Colts Jordy Nelson - Green Bay Packers Mike Evans - Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tight End: Gr...

Matt Ryan is my MVP Unlike last year when Cam Newton was the clear-cut MVP based on his performance throughout the regular season, throwing and running for a significant amount of yards and leading the Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 record as well as a Super Bowl berth. This year, many candidates are in the mix, including a couple of quarterbacks and running backs, as well as some other players as well. Here are my rankings for the top ten MVP candidates: Matt Ryan - Quarterback - Atlanta Falcons Aaron Rodgers - Quarterback - Green Bay Packers Ezekiel Elliot - Running Back - Dallas Cowboys Tom Brady - Quarterback - New England Patriots Derek Carr - Quarterback - Oakland Raiders Le'Veon Bell - Running Back - Pittsburgh Steelers David Johnson - Running Back - Arizona Cardinals Von Miller - Linebacker/Pass Rusher - Denver Broncos Odell Beckham Jr. - Wide Receiver - New York Giants Matthew Stafford - Quarterback - Detroit Lions I do not apprecia...

Top Teams Head to Postseason, Others Head to Offseason We have finally reached the end of the 2016-2017 regular season, and twelve teams are moving on to the postseason setting their sights on winning Super Bowl 51, while the other 20 are looking to change their teams to make them contenders moving forward. Here are my power rankings following the final week of the regular season: New England Patriots (14-2) Dallas Cowboys (13-3) Kansas City Chiefs (12-4) Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5) Atlanta Falcons (11-5) New York Giants (11-5) Green Bay Packers (10-6) Seattle Seahawks (10-5-1) Miami Dolphins (10-6) Oakland Raiders (12-4) Detroit Lions (9-7) Houston Texans (9-7) Denver Broncos (9-7) Washington Redskins (8-7-1) Tennessee Titans (9-7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7) Arizona Cardinals (7-8-1) Indianapolis Colts (8-8) Minnesota Vikings (8-8) Baltimore Ravens (8-8) Cincinnati Bengals (6-9-1) Buffalo Bills (7-9) New Orlea...

Kyle Shanahan, Josh McDaniels Drawing Interest from Many Team Entering the first Monday after the regular season, we already know that six coaches have been relieved of their duties, and we are still waiting on news from a couple of other teams and their plans, such as the Indianapolis Colts, New Orlean Saints, and Cincinnati Bengals. Many teams are already scheduling interviews with the most coveted coordinators and coaches as soon as possible. Here is a team by team rundown: Los Angeles Rams: This team is very attractive because of its location, and also because the team has a lot of young, raw talent that can be developed, including Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and Aaron Donald. Head Coach INTERVIEWS: Jon Gruden, Sean Payton (Saints head coach), Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia, Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan. San Francisco 49ers: If a coach wants to build a team from the ground up, this is the team to join. Jed York just fired the general manager and the coach, and are l...

Broncos Coach Might Step Down Reports by NFL.com and ESPN have said that there is a good possibility that Gary Kubiak might retire at the end of this season. He led the Denver Broncos to a Super Bowl win against the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, in Peyton Manning's last year as a quarterback. This season, his team has struggled a bit due to stagnant offensive play, and currently 8-7. They will miss the playoffs. Kubiak has been considering retirement after Week 17's game against the Raiders because of health concerns. In one game this season, he had to leave the game and go to the hospital as a result of certain ailments, and was unable to coach in the next game. Kubiak has had a great career as a player and a coach, and if he retires, the Broncos will have to search for a new coach - someone who can lead the team back to the playoffs and another Super Bowl. They will also have to figure out what to do about the quarterback situation along with John Elway. Here are...