It's an old publishing trick: dummy up the cover or back page covering the obvious angles, and then when you know the result, simply press the button on the one that fits best.

One plotline was the safest bet of the weekend so there he was, a steely-eyed Tom Brady staring down the barrel of the lens, black grease smeared under each eye, and the headline tells the score …

Brady's Revenge.

The Patriots quarterback was banned from the first four matches of the regular season because of Deflategate, the name given to the so-called scandal in which Brady was eventually found guilty for knowing about ball tampering - a slightly deflated ball is, apparently, easier to catch and pass in cold conditions - in a play-off match in 2015.

The matter dragged on and then escalated to hearings before US federal and appeals courts as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell doggedly pursued Brady like Elliott Ness going after Al Capone. In the end, Goodell got his man.

That's why, deep in the third quarter of the Pats' 36-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game, you could hear the crowd chanting "Rooooger! Rooooger!"

Asked afterwards if he'd heard the chants, Brady deadpanned: "Didn't hear the Roger chants, heard them sing Bon Jovi - that was cool."

Bon Jovi was sitting in the box of Patriots team owner Robert Kraft as his iconic song, Livin' on a Prayer, shook Gillette Stadium.

It was an incongruous appearance. Bon Jovi sung at Hillary Clinton's final campaign rally before the US presidential election. Kraft is a proud Donald Trump supporter. So is Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Brady won't answer questions about his relationship with Trump even if Trump last week said he'd received a call from Brady congratulating him on being named the most important quarterback in the country - the one who runs offence for the White House.

Their relationship has been a talking point since September 2015 after one of Trump's "Make America Great Again" red hats was spotted in Brady's locker.

Given the US has just witnessed the largest protests since the Vietnam War, let's hope and pray the lead-up to this Super Bowl isn't about Trump, because the storyline is already good enough.

Having ensured Brady missed the first game of the season, will Goodell now hand the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Brady following the final game of the season? Brady's Revenge.

The Patriots are already favourites to win when they meet the Atlanta Falcons at Houston's NRG Stadium on February 6 AEST. Ladbrokes put them up as $1.62 favourites.

The Falcons halted the Green Bay Packers' runaway season to win the NFC Championship, winning 44-21, but are $2.30 outsiders.

"This guy next to me is a war hero — he's a beast," Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said of receiver Julio Jones, who scored two touchdowns including a 73-yard effort in which he danced along the sideline, fending off Packer defenders with his left hand like he was swotting flies.

There's every chance many of those colleagues wasting valuable work time watching the Super Bowl on February 6 would never have heard of Jones - but they know Tom Brady.

Brady is one of those athletes who transcends your typical sporting celebrity. He's married to Brazilian-German actress-model Gisele Bündchen, been on Dancing with the Stars and regularly features on Family Guy.

These are fun facts. The real story about Brady is that he's bordering on best-ever status.

This is the seventh Super Bowl for the Patriots in the Brady-Belichick era. A win would give them a fifth title, and their second in three seasons. Quarterbacks Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw have also won four Super Bowl championships.

Against the Steelers, Brady threw three touchdowns and completed 32 of 42 passes. He broke his own post-season record of 384 yards for his franchise.

Two of those touchdowns were scored by Chris Hogan, the second coming from a "flea-flicker" in which Brady handed the ball off to Dion Lewis, who then raced to the line of scrimmage, who then turned and sent it back to Brady.

It was that fast you could barely see it happen. Neither could the Pittsburgh defence. It gave Brady all the time in the world when he seems to have enough of it already, and he found Hogan in open space, just a few metres from the end zone.

A year ago, in San Francisco, another legend in Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl at the age of 39 for the Denver Broncos. Manning triumphed but he was on the way out. He announced his retirement a month after.

Brady is also 39 and has kept his arm and body in sublime condition. Some say better condition. He's the country's most famous vegan, and hasn't lost any strength and weight like other sportspeople have when they've decided to take that route.

His work ethic is legendary. When his teammates were given a week earlier this month, he was on a field behind Gillette Stadium throwing leather. When he was suspended earlier in the season, he had Patriots coaching staff belt him with padding on the training field to simulate a match.

"We trained harder than the sport itself demands," Alex Guerrero, Brady's body coach, has said. "The four weeks he was off, he worked really hard. He trained so when he came back it didn't look like he had taken four weeks off."

For the next fortnight, Brady will want to talk about Deflategate as much as he wants to talk about Trump.

"It was a good day," he told reporters after Monday's win. "We're going to Super Bowl, man. Shit. You gotta be happy now."

Super Bowl. Otherwise known as Brady's Revenge.