Super Bowl

And then there were two. On January 22, the stage was set for Super Bowl 51. The New England Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17, while the Atlanta Falcons beat the Green Bay Packers 43-21. The Patriots and the Falcons will headline in what many say is the biggest stage in sports.  The game will take place next Sunday, February 5th, in Houston, Texas.

The Falcons are quarterbacked by top MVP candidate Matt Ryan who spearheads one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL.  They score on average 33.8 points per game, which ranks first in the league.  The Patriots are lead by Hall of Fame lock Tom Brady, who was suspended for the first 4 games of the season.  He will be looking to win his 5th Super Bowl, while he is making his 7th trip to one.  This is the first time Ryan has played in the big game.

On January 30th, AHSNeedle, the school’s news based twitter account, ran a poll asking who people thought the winner of Super Bowl 51 would be. Of the 48 voters,  63% said the Atlanta Falcons would win, while 37% said the New England Patriots would be the winners.

We went around and asked students thought of the game. When asked who was going to win the Super Bowl, all  freshman Rauley Ruiz had to say was, “49ers!” It seems that Ruiz is a 49ers fan and is hopeful for next season.  Spanish teacher Daniel Vargason said “Falcons.  Their offense is just too good.”  When asked about his plans, he said he would have a few friends over to watch the game and eat some wings.  Sophomore Jordan Zarbano has a different opinion. “The Patriots will win, because their run game cannot be stopped. I hope to watch the game at Chase McLaren’s house, like last year.”

Last year’s Super Bowl had around  111 million viewers. This year NBC sports predicts that their views will go up to at least 120 million. The halftime performance will be Lady Gaga. The national anthem will be sang by country singer Luke Bryan.