Super Bowl 2017 preview: Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots

The Falcons dance on stage Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, celebrating beating the Packers 44-21 in the NFC Championship game in Atlanta to advance to the Super Bowl.

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

The Falcons dance on stage Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, celebrating beating the Packers 44-21 in the NFC Championship game in Atlanta to advance to the Super Bowl.

The Atlanta Falcons will meet the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

When: Game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017.

Where: Houston's NRG Stadium, home of the Texans, will be the site of the game.

How to watch: The game will be broadcast on Fox. It will be available via livestream on NFL's GamePass and mobile apps.

How to listen: The game can be heard locally on 92.9 The Game or Sirius XM satellite radio.

Super Bowl history: The Falcons are appearing in their first Super Bowl since 1999. This will be the Patriots' NFL-best ninth Super Bowl appearance. It will be the team's seventh appearance under head coach Bill Belichick.

Betting line: The Patriots opened as a three-point favorite over the Falcons.

Larry Hartstein, of sportsline.com, writes that the underdog has covered 11 of the past 15 Super Bowls. Eight of those 11 underdogs won outright.

It is expected to be among the highest scoring Super Bowls.

A record $132.5 million was wagered on the Super Bowl last year at Nevada sportsbooks.

About the Falcons: The Falcons are led by second-year coach Dan Quinn. The Falcons' offense, with nine-year quarterback Matt Ryan, led the league in scoring at 33.8 points per game. In two games this season the team was held to under 360 yards of total offense. One of those games was a 42-14 win over the Rams.

About the Patriots: New England, who started the season without Tom Brady as he served a four-game suspension, was third in the league with 51 offensive touchdowns. Its defense allowed a league-low 250 points all season.

Head-to-head: The Patriots are 7-6 all-time against the Falcons since 2001. With Brady under center, New England has won their last four meetings with against Atlanta by an average of 10 points.