ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: What will happen in Super Bowl LI?

DAVID DOREY

Super Bowl LI will be very competitive as both teams are much less when on the road so no advantages there. The Patriots have the better defense but not by as much as it may seem – they hardly play a tough schedule in most any year thanks to the otherwise inept AFC East. The Falcons are hitting on all cylinders on offense but their defense is a weakness. That should result in higher points in this game than usual. I would expect the Patriots to nurse a small lead into the fourth quarter and then it will all depend on Matt Ryan passing, Devonta Freeman rushing and someone other than Julio Jones stepping up as a receiver. The Patriots are going to score points in all kinds of ways. The only question is if the Falcons can overcome a better defense to win – always tough in this venue. The Pats are either going to win by a touchdown but the Falcons are going to take it very late – maybe final drive – throwing the ball to a non-Jonesian receiver. Reason says the Pats take this by a score with the better defense and experience. The heart says the Falcons steal it very late. I’ll take the Falcons with a balanced offense the Pats cannot shut down.

Dorey is the co-founder and lead NFL analyst for The Huddle and author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level. He has projected and predicted every NFL game and player performance since 1997 and has appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, radio and television.

MICHAEL NAZAREK

The Atlanta Falcons will upset the New England Patriots on a late field goal by the score of 38-35. As a New York Giants fan, I can't pick the Patriots to ever win this game.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its web site. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is a four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a former columnist for SI.com. For more info go to www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.

IAN ALLAN

I looked at both sides carefully. I posted the Patriots preview yesterday, and I’ll get the Falcons up shortly. I don’t see a lot of difference between the two offenses. I think they’re both going to move the ball effectively and score a lot of points. I expect a higher-scoring game that could go either way, with both teams scoring in at least the mid-20s. Won’t surprise me if both Tom Brady and Matt Ryan go for 300-plus yards and 3-plus touchdowns. Both offenses might score 4 TDs. On a fantasy level and looking at individual positions, the best players to me appear to be Devonta Freeman and Martellus Bennett. That is, they grade out with the biggest statistical difference relative to the No. 2 players at those positions. The quarterbacks to me look pretty much interchangeable (I’ve actually got Ryan higher than Brady). New England is favored by 3, and I think that’s too many. In each of the last five Super Bowls, the underdog has not only covered but won the game. In a game that looks to me like more of a pick ‘em, I would instead select Atlanta with the benefit of those extra 3 points.

Allan is the senior writer for Fantasy Football Index. He's been in that role since 1987, generating most of the player rankings and analysis for that publication. His work can be seen in Fantasy Football Index magazine, and also at www.fantasyindex.com.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

I like the Patriots in a high-scoring game, something like 34-30. A slight coaching and experience edge, that matters. And the two weeks to prepare plays into Belichick's wheelhouse.

Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for 20 years and writing about it for 17. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.

ALAN SATTERLEE

It's so hard to bet against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, so really to me this can go either way but I think Matt Ryan and the Falcons are going to complete their magical season and run down the stretch to take the title. Atlanta comes out on fire early with all those skill-position weapons and gets up, allowing their defense to get some pressure on Brady. Look for a lot of points. Matt Ryan takes home the MVP, and just like that, Ryan vaults into the discussion for getting into the NFL Hall of Fame someday (in another 4-5 years Ryan will be in the elite levels of all-time passing leaders).

Satterlee is a co-owner and senior writer for Dynasty Football Warehouse. DFW is comprehensive site covering dynasty, redraft, IDP and Daily formats. DFW has a large writing crew with many people from the DFW community contributing to the insights and discussion. He is also the Fantasy Football Insider for the Charlotte Observer and is syndicated in a few other newspapers in the southeast.

SAM HENDRICKS

Atlanta wins it in the trenches with a great ground game as opposed to the Matt Ryan-Julio Jones show. Instead Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman will run and run and run some more. The 4th quarter will be decisive. This will not be a blowout but instead a close contest decided by a Falcons drive to remove much of the remaining fourth-quarter time. Brady will need a TD to win and the Atlanta defense will thwart him with a pick on the last play when he forces one to the end zone. Final score Atlanta 30, New England 26.

Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at ExtraPointPress.com, at all major bookstores, and at Amazon and BN.com. He is a 25 year fantasy football veteran who participates in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He is drafting live in the FFPC in Vegas this year. He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.

ANDY RICHARDSON

I think the first quarter, moreso than the fourth quarter, will be critical to the outcome of this game. If Atlanta is able to get some pressure on Tom Brady early, maybe forcing a punt or turnover or two, this should be a good, competitive game that could go either way; a nice back-and-forth 34-31 type of battle. My fear is that New England will move the ball effectively early on and maybe take a 17-3 or so lead in the first quarter, getting the Falcons out of their comfort zone and then forcing a mistake or two. If that happens -- and that's what I'm currently predicting -- New England should lead by 10-14 points for most of the game, and win its fifth Super Bowl. I'm calling it New England 34, Atlanta 27, and hoping I'm not giving the Falcons enough credit.

Richardson has been a contributing writer and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual experts draft and auction leagues since their inception. He previews all the NFL games on Saturdays and writes a wrap-up column on Mondays during the NFL season.