A Sports Filled Weekend It Was

The matchup for Super Bowl LI in Houston on Feb. 5 is set, and it brings to town a set of familiar faces and a new challenger.

The New England Patriots, by virtue of a 36-17 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Steelers, advanced to an NFL-record ninth Super Bowl, and the seventh since coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady became a pair. Brady passed for a franchise playoff record 384 yards and three touchdowns in erasing the Steelers.

The Pats’ opponent two weeks hence is the Atlanta Falcons, who mashed the Green Bay Packers 44-21 in the final game at the Georgia Dome. Matt Ryan pitched four touchdown passes and the Falcons built a 31-0 lead on the Packers. “Frankly,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said afterwards, “we ran out of gas.”

The Falcons will be going to the Super Bowl for the second time in their 51-year history, still seeking their first NFL title. The opening line on the game has them as three-point underdogs. The Patriots have won the Super Bowl four times.

Brady, you will recall, opened the season serving a four-game suspension for “Deflategate,” in which the NFL alleged the quarterback had a role in letting air out of several footballs before the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell incurred so much vitriol from Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Patriots fans after the prolonged fight over the suspension that he has not attended either of New England’s playoff games. One assumes he’ll be at the Super Bowl. One assumes it will be awkward if he’s handing the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Kraft, Belichick and Brady.

BASEBALL: Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura, 25, who helped Kansas City to a World Series championship in 2015, died in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic early Sunday. Former major league infielder Andy Marte also died in a separate car accident in the Dominican Republic. Marte had played the last two seasons in South Korea.

GOLF: Hudson Swafford shot 67 in the final round of the CareerBuilder Challenge at LaQuinta to earn his first PGA Tour victory. He won by one shot over Adam Hadwin, who shot 59 on Saturday.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman