This year's two Super Bowl teams have arrived in Houston, and one team preparing for Sunday's big game is following up a mediocre season just one year ago.
The Falcons finished the 2016 regular season 11-5 and cruised through the playoffs, ultimately defeating the Packers in the NFC Championship to head to the Super Bowl.
In 2015, Atlanta posted an 8-8 record after starting the season 5-0.
Others, including Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph, have noticed the turnaround.
The Falcons placed nine of their players on injured reserve (and a 10th on PUP), including three offensive linemen, at some point throughout that 2015 season.
After the Vikings played out a very similar storyline and finished the 2016 season 8-8, their message to both fans and themselves was clear: .500 wasn't good enough.
Safety Harrison Smith said Minnesota is better than the mediocrity its record suggested and the appropriate response now is to look ahead rather than back.
"We have a ton of faith," Smith said following the Vikings final game of the season. "I know I personally do, and the guys in this locker room, and the guys that lead us and the guys that coach us.
"We just didn't get quite enough this year," Smith added. "And going forward, we just need to do that."
Just how high is Smith setting the bar? He and his teammates may have missed the postseason this past year, but they haven't changed their goals.
"We're not here to just make the playoffs," Smith said. "We're here to continue and to chase the Super Bowl."
The Vikings hope to follow the path of the Falcons, who aren't the only team to hit the milestone a year after finishing at or below average.
Since the very first Super Bowl culminated the 1967 NFL season, there have been 19 instances of a team finishing at or below .500 and appearing in the Super Bowl the following season.
Ironically, Minnesota was the first team to ever accomplish the feat.
The 1972 Vikings finished their season 7-7. In 1973, Vikings Head Coach Bud Grant led the team to a 12-2 mark in the regular season, and they went on to play in Super Bowl VIII, where they were defeated by the Dolphins 24-7.
Under Grant's reign 45 years ago, five of Minnesota's losses were determined by one touchdown or fewer; in 2016, the Vikings lost four games by one touchdown or fewer. The 1972 team scored 34 touchdowns – 19 (56 percent) were passing, 11 (32 percent) were rushing and four (12 percent) were defensive scores. In 2016, the Vikings scored 36 touchdowns – 20 (56 percent) were passing, nine (25 percent) were rushing, four (11 percent) were defensive and three (8 percent) were scored on special teams.
Both of the .500 Vikings teams played their respective seasons with changes at quarterback. While the 2016 Vikings saw the debut of Sam Bradford in Purple, the 1972 squad also had an adjustment in Fran Tarkenton. Although Tarkenton originally played for Minnesota to start his career, he was with the Giants from 1967-71 until being brought back in 1972. Tarkenton played his final seven seasons with Minnesota, leading the Vikings to three Super Bowl appearances.
Super Bowl LI is not the first time the Falcons have made it to the main stage following an average season. In 1997, Atlanta finished 7-9 before rolling to 14-2 in the 1998 season. Four other teams – the Bengals, Patriots and Giants – have also accomplished the feat two different times.
On three occasions in NFL history, both teams in the Super Bowl reached that point after a .500 or below season. In 1980, the 49ers and Bengals each went just 6-10 before finishing the 1981 season at 13-3 and 12-4, respectively, and facing each other in the championship game. Back-to-back Super Bowls XXXIV and XXXV were played between two teams who surged in 1999 and 2000. The Rams and Titans finished 4-12 and 8-8 in 1998 before both going 13-3 in 1999. The Ravens and Giants finished 8-8 and 7-9 in 1999 before both finishing 12-4 in 2000.
Of the 19 times teams that have appeared in the Super Bowl one year removed from a season at .500 or below, seven teams were crowned champions. The full results are listed below:
1972 Minnesota Vikings, 7-7 | Finished 1973 season 12-2 | Lost Super Bowl VIII to Dolphins
1980 San Francisco 49ers, 6-10 | Finished 1981 season 13-3 | Won Super Bowl XVI over Bengals
1980 Cincinnati Bengals, 6-10 | Finished 1981 season 12-4 | Lost Super Bowl XVI to 49ers
1981 Washington Redskins, 8-8 | Finished 1982 season 8-1* | Won Super Bowl XVII over Dolphins
1987 Cincinnati Bengals, 4-11 | Finished 1988 season 12-4 | Lost Super Bowl XXIII to 49ers
1988 Denver Broncos, 8-8 | Finished 1989 season 11-5 | Lost Super Bowl XXIV to 49ers
1993 San Diego Chargers, 8-8 | Finished 1994 season 11-5 | Lost Super Bowl XXIX to 49ers
1995 New England Patriots, 6-10 | Finished 1996 season 11-5 | Lost SB XXXI to Packers
1997 Atlanta Falcons, 7-9 | Finished 1998 season 14-2 | Lost Super Bowl XXXIII to Broncos
1998 St. Louis Rams, 4-12 | Finished 1999 season 13-3 | Won Super Bowl XXXIV over Titans
1998 Tennessee Titans, 8-8 | Finished 1999 season 13-3 | Lost Super Bowl XXXIV to Rams
1999 Baltimore Ravens, 8-8 | Finished 2000 season 12-4 | Won Super Bowl XXXV over Giants
1999 New York Giants, 7-9 | Finished 2000 season 12-4 | Lost Super Bowl XXXV to Ravens
2000 New England Patriots, 5-11 | Finished 2001 season 11-5 | Won Super Bowl XXXVI over Rams
2002 Carolina Panthers, 7-9 | Finished 2003 season 11-5 | Lost Super Bowl XXXVIII to Patriots
2006 New York Giants, 8-8 | Finished 2007 season 10-6 | Won Super Bowl XLII over Patriots
2007 Arizona Cardinals, 8-8 | Finished 2008 season 9-7 | Lost Super Bowl XLIII to Steelers
2008 New Orleans Saints, 8-8 | Finished 2009 season 13-3 | Won Super Bowl XLIV over Colts
2014 Carolina Panthers, 7-8-1 | Finished 2015 season 15-1 | Lost Super Bowl 50 to Broncos
2015 Atlanta Falcons, 8-8 | Finished 2016 season 11-5 | Facing Patriots in Super Bowl LI
**A 57-day-long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine-game schedule. *
