NFL playoffs | Atlanta Falcons vs. Seattle Seahawks
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan looks downfield against the Eagles during a game in Philadelphia on Nov. 13.
The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series title in 108 years last fall, and the Cleveland Cavaliers ended their city’s 52-year championship drought by winning the NBA title last June.
Could the Atlanta Falcons, who have never won a Super Bowl in their 51-year history, end more than five decades of futility with their first title?
“It would huge,” defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux, the team’s longest-tenured player, told reporters this week.
“The city of Atlanta has been waiting on a Super Bowl for many years now. To have a season like we’ve had, to be able to play the way we’ve been playing, everybody’s excited, man.”
The Falcons have a championship-caliber quarterback in Matt Ryan, who set a franchise record with 4,944 yards, plus had 38 touchdown passes versus seven interceptions. He has a dynamic target in Julio Jones, who was second in the NFL with 1,409 receiving yards despite missing two games because of a toe injury.
They do not have a championship-caliber defense, ranking 28th in the NFL in passing yards and 17th in rushing yards allowed this season, so they could have difficulty containing Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, a two-way threat who is 8-3 in 11 postseason starts.
Familiar faces
The Seahawks, under seven-year Coach Pete Carroll, will be making their sixth playoff appearance in seven years, a run that included a Super Bowl win in 2013 and a Super Bowl appearance in 2014.
The Falcons, under second-year Coach Dan Quinn, the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator during both Super Bowl runs, last reached the playoffs in 2012.
Falcons defensive end Dwight Freeney, a 15-year veteran who won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts in 2006, acknowledged the playoff experience matters.
“Maybe you’re a little more comfortable with the moment,” he said.
“I think you know what to expect, so that will help you a little bit. Sometimes, when you haven’t been there, you will let the moment overwhelm you. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it can happen.”
Ground gain
The teams met in Week 6, the Seahawks rallying down the stretch for a 26-24 victory in which they gained 72 yards rushing.
Seattle running back Thomas Rawls missed that game because of a leg injury, but he is a force the Falcons will have to deal with today.
Rawls punished Detroit Lions in last week’s 26-6 opening-round victory, rushing for 161 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries behind an offensive line that struggled with inconsistency for much of the season but jelled last week.
By the numbers
How teams compare statistically. All stats are per-game averages, except for sacks and turnover differential, which is for the season (league rank in parentheses):
Category | Seattle | Atlanta
Points scored | 22.1 (T18) | 33.8 (1)
Points allowed | 18.3 (3) | 25.4 (27)
Pass offense | 257.8 (10) | 295.3 (3)
Rush offense | 99.4 (25) | 120.5 (5)
Pass defense | 225.8 (25) | 266.7 (28)
Rush defense | 92.9 (7) | 104.5 (17)
Sacks | 42 (3) | 34 (T16)
Penalty yards | 60.6 (13) | 52.9 (8)
Turnovers | +1 (16) | +11 (T4)
Sam Farmer’s pick
Without Earl Thomas patrolling the back end of Seattle’s defense, the Seahawks will be hard pressed to contain Atlanta’s passing game. Falcons’ front four will get pressure on Russell Wilson.
FALCONS 31, SEAHAWKS 24
Follow Mike DiGiovanna on Twitter @MikeDiGiovanna
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