Atlanta played 4 reasonably good defenses this season and they scored in the mid to high 20s.
W3 vs Kansas City (ranked #6) - 28 points (2 point loss)
W9 vs Tampa Bay (ranked #15) - 43 points
W6 vs Seattle (ranked #2) - 24 points (2 point loss)
W5 vs Denver (ranked #3) - 23 points
Atlanta is likely to be at least in the 24-28 points range, and maybe a bit higher if you factor in momentum, etc.
The times NE played 2 reasonably good offenses this season and the opposing team scored in the 20s-30s.
W10 vs Seattle (ranked #18) - 31 points (Seattle scored 9 points above season average)
W8 vs Buffalo (ranked #10) - 25 points (Buffalo scored exactly the same as season avg)
NE's scoring defense rankings benefited a lot from playing just terrible offenses, with 8 games with teams ranked 22 or worse in scoring offense.
- In those 8 games, NE's opponents avg 17.8 points per game while NE held them to 9.1, or 8.7 points below avg.
- In the 7 games against opponents ranked in the top 18 in scoring offense, NE's opponents avg 24.0 points per game while NE held them to 21.0, or 3.0 points below avg.
NE's track record suggests they can hold a good offense to a field goal lower than their scoring average.
Atlanta's scoring offense is adversely impacted by playing more teams with higher scoring offenses, with 12 games against teams in the top 18 of scoring offenses ranks.- In those 12 games, ATL's opponents avg 24.5 points per game while ATL gave up 27.3, or 2.9 points above avg.
- In the 3 games against opponents ranked in the bottom of scoring offense, ATL's opponents avg 18.0 points per game while ATL gave up 14.0, or 3.7 points below avg.
Atlanta's track record suggests they will give up an extra field goal to a good offense vs their scoring average.
If you use this to cap the game:
- Atlanta avgs 33.8 points per game, and will be held to ~3 points below average. Atlanta scores 30.8 vs NE.
- NE avgs 27.6 points per game, and will score a field goal more than average. NE scores 30.6 vs ATL.
The game is virtually a pick'em. I'm taking the points and the over.