. However, the GB team they played was not the same GB team that finished the regular season quite strongly. The GB players were dropping like flies, and I think they lost 4 or 5 starters before halftime of the Atlanta game.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Houston would have beat the GB team that was playing in the 2nd half. They were a mess.
Yes, Atlanta just throttled two good teams - but the Patriots just throttled a good team and put up 34 points on what might be the best defense in the league.
New England is the better team here, and by a significant amount. They are, and should be the favorite. The two teams have similar offenses, and NE has significantly better defense and special teams. Frankly, I think the spread should be 4-5, and not 3.
3 Points makes sense in a neutral matchup, but the Falcons have been abysmal at covering running backs and slot receivers, and that is an enormous weakness to have playing the Patriots. The games where teams have largely been successful slowing down Atlanta they've stopped Atlanta's running game early, which forced Atlanta to be one dimensional - and NE has better run defense running the nickle than most teams do in a base set.
Atlanta is good enough that anything can happen here, but NE is a bad matchup for them, and a better team. That doesn't mean NE will win - margins are thin enough at this level where a bad throw, or fumble early in a game can change the whole shape of the game.
No, the NE defense will not stop Atlanta from scoring, but they don't have to. They just have to keep the scoring down a little, because barring anything unforeseen, the Patriots are going to put up a lot of points on Atlanta.