In a battle of pre-season mantras, it?s Atlanta?s ?Rise Up? vs Seattle?s rah rah ?Always Compete?. By now we all know the Falcons chief goal - levitation to the next playoff round (at the bare minimum), mandatory for a program that has failed to do so on three occasions under head coach Mike Smith. Thing is, even if the Falcons don?t float to the NFC Championship, it?s hard to imagine big changes for Atlanta. What are you going to do? Fire Smith, who is guiding this once lowly franchise through its most successful era? No chance. If it doesn?t happen today against the streaking Seahawks you just try, try again.
Having said that, this is their best chance to avoid that fate, as Atlanta have put together a stellar 13-3 campaign, picking up steam as they head towards the postseason. In an interview back in August at the teams Flowery Branch, GA HQ, Smith told me:
?There were certain things that we didn?t do very well last year. We put this new offense together, new defense together. Not only have the coaching staff been involved with the playbook but we?ve gotten a number of players involved with it as well.?
Casting that wide net seems to have paid off - the team is better and certainly more confident. The passing game is finely tuned with quarterback Matt Ryan leading the NFL in completion percentage, which helps make up for a defense that can be on the leaky side. An upgrade at running back would be nice, but you can?t have everything, and overall, the team is relatively well rounded. If there is something that makes you go hmmmm, it?s the schedule they played - the Falcons faced just two playoff teams all season, beating Denver and Washington early. Since then they?ve faced an assortment of weak NFC South opponents and a series of also rans - they did beat the Giants 34-0 in what was a confidence building late season victory, but the Giants being the Giants, it?s hard to tell just how big a victory that was. Oh, one more thing that makes you go hmmmm: it seems that statistically speaking, Ryan is a much better quarterback on the road, which is kind of odd. So having said that, when Ryan faces his toughest opponent of the season in the Seahawks today, one does wonder if the Georgia Dome will work to his advantage.
Seattle come into that eyesore of a dome on one of the greatest rolls in franchise history, battle tested, scorching hot. They?ve won six games in a row, a run that includes a dominating victory over the San Francisco 49ers, a team that looked half decent in the second half yesterday against Green Bay. Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and company are well balanced on offense, but will have to play without sack man defensive end Chris Clemons who suffered a season ending injury - that will put more pressure on a strong secondary that will have its hands full with Julio Jones and Roddy White. Another x-factor is how the Seahawks will play after back-to-back east coast trips - apparently, the last west coast team to win two playoff teams in EST were the 1989 Los Angeles Rams, who beat the Eagles and the Giants (Flipper Anderson).
Here?s the thing with Seattle - I have no doubt they want to take this thing all the way to New Orleans, but they are a team that?s already exceeded expectations, a group that features a rookie quarterback with a playoff win in this pocket. This is all gravy for them - all the pressure must be on Atlanta, don?t you think?
Let me know - email david.lengel.freelance@guardiannews.com or tweet @lengeldavid. Kickoff is around the corner - please stand by.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/jan/13/playoffs-divisional-weekend-seahawks-falcons-live
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