On Saturday, I noted that Matt Ryan and Tom Brady were the top two quarterbacks in ANY/A in 2016, setting up a rare Super Bowl matchup of the two leaders in that metric. The Falcons and Patriots offenses as a whole also rank 1st and 2nd in ANY/A: Matt Ryan averaged 9.03 ANY/A, and since he handled all but 3 of the Falcons pass attempts this year, you won’t be surprised to know that the Falcons offense averaged 9.01 ANY/A. Brady averaged 8.81 ANY/A, but of course missed four games due to a suspension; the Patriots team ANY/A was 8.46, still good enough for second-best in the NFL.

But as regular readers will remember, the Falcons and Patriots don’t just rank 1-2 in ANY/A; they rank first and second in ANY/A differential, too. Atlanta’s ANY/A differential was 2.70 (9.01 on offense, 6.31 on defense), just a hair ahead of New England (8.46, 5.78, net of 2.68). No other team was within 1 ANY/A of those two, making them the clear best teams in the NFL in ANY/A differential.

How rare is it to have the top two teams in ANY/A meet in the Super Bowl? This will be just the 6th time:

• In Super Bowl I, the Packers and Chiefs met in a clear matchup of the two dominant teams in pro football.  Green Bay ranked 1st in the combined NFL/AFL in offensive ANY/A and 1st in defensive ANY/A; the Chiefs ranked 2nd in the combined NFL/AFL in offensive ANY/A and defensive ANY/A.  By definition, then, the Packers ranked 1st in ANY/A differential (+5.92) and the Chiefs ranked 2nd (+3.98) in ANY/A differential.

• The 1978 season featured another pairing of the top two teams in offensive ANY/A; and while Pittsburgh and Dallas were both great on offense, the two teams also ranked in the top five in defensive ANY/A.  As a result, the Steelers (+2.77 ANY/A) and Cowboys (+3.03) easily paced the league in ANY/A differential.

• The third example, 1984, also featured the top two teams in offensive ANY/A.  The Dolphins ranked 1st in ANY/A and 11th in ANY/A allowed, but were so far ahead of the league on offense that Miami finished with an ANY/A differential of +4.43, as the team’s offensive ANY/A (8.85) doubled up the ANY/A allowed average (4.43).  San Francisco (7.82, 4.25, +3.57) was nearly two full ANY/A ahead of the rest of the NFL (excluding Miami), in ANY/A differential, making this a titanic clash.  The 49ers ranked 2nd in offensive ANY/A and 9th in defensive ANY/A.

• The fourth example is a Super Bowl we don’t often think about: in 2002, the Bucs ranked 15th in ANY/A, but a historic showing in ANY/A allowed was enough to have Tampa Bay blow away the field in ANY/A differential (5.68, 2.34, +3.34).  The Raiders (6.94, 4.90, +2.04) were pretty far behind, which makes it even odder than Oakland was the Super Bowl favorite.  The Raiders finished 2nd in offensive ANY/A to the Chiefs, and 10th in defensive ANY/A, good enough for a 2nd place finish in ANY/A differential.

• The last game on our list is one very similar to the ’02 Super Bowl.  In 2013, the Seahawks had a historic pass defense and the 5th-ranked passing offense (7.27, 3.19, +4.07), over a yard better than the rest of the league.  Denver, meanwhile, had a great passing offense but a mediocre defense, ranking 1st in ANY/A but 16th in ANY/A allowed (8.77, 5.94, +2.83).

For what it’s worth, the top team in ANY/A differential is 3-2 when facing the runner up, with the Packers, Bucs, and Seahawks carrying the day and the Cowboys and Dolphins failing.  Given the Brady suspension, though, you could argue that the Patriots really should be thought of as the ANY/A king, as (based on our projections, at least) New England will get 100% of Tom Brady in the Super Bowl, not 75%.

The worst ANY/A Differential Super Bowl? That would be 16 years ago, when the Ravens ranked 23rd in ANY/A and 4th in ANY/A allowed, while the Giants were 10th in ANY/A and 11th in ANY/A allowed. You may be shocked to see that Baltimore only ranked 4th in ANY/A allowed (the Dolphins were first at 3.29, followed by the Titans at 3.57 and Bucs at 3.59) at 3.88. But that Ravens defense was historically great against the run, not the pass.

Finally, let’s close with a look at where every Super Bowl team ranked in ANY/A differential:

The team with the worst ANY/A differential to make the Super Bowl? That was the 2007 Giants, of course, at 18th. New York was at -0.68 that year; the ’79 Rams (-0.25) are the only other Super Bowl participant with a negative ANY/A differential.