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Rise Up Falcon Fans, Rise Up!

Atlanta Falcons play Seattle Seahawks in a division playoff game to-morrow (Sunday) at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons had the best record of any team (13-1) in the regular season, and ordinarily they should be favorites to win. That they are not is a symptom of their poor playoff record under Head Coach Mike Smith and quarter back Matt Ryan.

Matt Ryan’s first trip to the playoffs was not a pleasant one. The Falcons finished the 2008 regular season with a record of 11–5, and the fifth seed in the playoffs. Atlanta was crushed in the wild-card round by eventual NFC champion Arizona Cardinals, 30–24, in Glendale, Ariz. (2008)

Matt Ryan’s second playoff appearance wasn’t any better than the first. After a regular season in which the Falcons went 13-3 and secured the top overall seed in the NFC playoffs, the Packers sacked Atlanta in the Divisional playoff game scoring a Green Bay playoff record 48 points en route to a Super Bowl winning season. (2010)

Atlanta’s playoff losing streak reached four games with a 24-2 shellacking at the hand of the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in the Wild Card game. The game featured the first safety in NFL postseason history. (2011)

I guess there is consolation in the fact that the last two teams to defeat them in the playoffs were the eventual Super Bowl Champions. It would appear their main obstacle is now a physiological one and not merely their opponents. Seattle is the hot team in the playoffs having won 8 of their last 9 games which included defeating Washington Redskins in the Wild Card Round last Saturday.

Atlanta’s main strength is their triumvirate receiving crew comprising Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez. Gonzalez is arguably the best tight end to have played the game, but the future hall of famer has never won a playoff game in his illustrious career with Kansas and more recently The Falcons.

Seattle believes they have the corner backs to take on White and Jones one on one. They’re big enough at 6’ 4’’ and 6’ 3” respectively, but I’m sure Falcons’ receivers will relish the challenge. The Falcons’ running game is a major concern since Michael Turner is not nearly as effective as in previous seasons, but perhaps in tandem with Jacquiz Rodgers they can cause enough problems for the Seattle defense.

In contrast one of Seattle’s strengths lies in the running game. Rookie quarter back Russell Wilson is more than capable of running amok, and tail back Marshain Lynch is one of the top three running backs in the NFL. Atlanta’s defense has problems stopping the run down the middle, and does not relish a running quarterback.

The outcome of the game could rest on the health of two ankles. John Abraham injured his ankle in the last regular game of the season, but hopefully with an extra week’s recovery time he should be good to go. Lynch injured his ankle playing on the cabbage patch that Washington laughingly calls a playing field. The Seattle media has been somewhat evasive in their reporting on Lynch’s ankle, but he will play.

I’m a little nervous about Atlanta’s chances in this game because I’m not confident that we have the defensive tools to stop Seattle’s running game. Seattle’s defense is also ranked one of the best in the NFL, and good defenses usually outlast good offenses. Typically the team that commits the least turn overs usually wins. Reluctantly I’m taking Seattle to win 24-17, but I sincerely hope I’m wrong. Go Falcons!

Postscript: That was a nail-biter if I ever saw one. The Falcons were leading 27-7 entering the 4th quarter and proceeded to surrender 3 touchdowns for Seattle to lead for the first time with 31 seconds remaining on the clock.

Jacquiz Rodgers returned the Seahawks kick off for 27 yards. Ryan threw a 22 yard pass to Harry Douglas. He then threw a 19 yard pass to his favorite receiver Tony Gonzalez who managed to reach Seattle’s 30 yard line leaving kicker Matt Bryant with a 49 yard field goal attempt.

Seattle’s coach called the now customary time out as Bryant was about to attempt the field goal. Bryant went through with his kick to give him a sighter much to the consternation of gum-chewing Pete Carroll.

Bryant steadied himself once more and placed his kick immaculately between the goal posts. It’s over; we’ve won! Not quite! There were 8 seconds remaining, and it appeared the Falcons were determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith called for a grubber kick with a low trajectory from the ensuing kick off, but the punter turned it into a on-side kick which unaccountably gave Seattle an opportunity to win the game.

Rookie Russell Wilson’s first pass moved his team closer to the Atlanta half of the field, but with only 6 seconds left, his second throw had to be a hail Mary into the Atlanta endzone which happily was caught by Atlanta receiver Julio Jones.

Watching and supporting the Falcons is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Bring on the San Francisco 49ers for next week’s NFC Championship decider,and a  prescription for valium wouldn’t go amiss.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2013 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Atlanta, NFL, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.