Wednesday 25 January 2017 11:41, UK
Rise up! That's the mantra for the Atlanta Falcons and they certainly did that on Sunday, dominating the Green Bay Packers and booking their place in Super Bowl LI.
What a way to bring down the curtain on the Georgia Dome - their home since 1992 - ahead of next season's move into the state of the art $1.5billion Mercedes Benz stadium. For their fans, this is the stuff dreams are made of.
Samuel L Jackson, their cheerleader-in-chief was as loud as anybody, and a cacophony of noise engulfed the stadium from kick-off until the moment the clock hit zero. Freddie the Falcon broke out his best dance moves, cheerleaders shed tears and everyone was showered in ticker tape as Atlanta partied on Sunday evening, long into the night.
The realisation for everyone present, that this team, these fans now have one more game to look forward to.
The Atlanta Falcons have never won the Lombardi Trophy - in fact they've only ever appeared in the Super Bowl once! The task ahead is daunting.
The New England Patriots, four-time Super Bowl winners, led by a quarterback, Tom Brady appearing in his seventh Super Bowl! However, fans and players alike in Atlanta don't appear concerned. The team refer to the bond they have as a "brotherhood."
Their success-starved fans are certainly buying into it. They've seen the Falcons score more points than anyone else this season. Their quarterback, Matt Ryan, is the favourite to be named the NFL MVP and they all believe in a defence which feels it's been overlooked. In their two play-off games, this unit dismantled the Seattle Seahawks and had the answers to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers when others have failed.
When Super Bowl LI kicks off there's every chance the bookmakers will tag the Patriots as favourites, but everyone who has been around these Falcons will tell you they've been overcoming the odds all year.
They won a division which the Carolina Panthers were supposed to dominate. They beat a Seattle team with too much play-off experience to doubt and now they head to Houston as the NFC champions after dominating a Packers team, who rode into Atlanta on an eight-game winning streak.
So, as many Atlanta fans told me while leaving the Georgia Dome on Sunday evening, when Super Bowl LI arrives, they will be ready to rise up one more time against the New England Patriots.
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