Falcons survive Seahawks

This game, the one over the weekend I looked forward to the most, was what I expected. Atlanta benefited from big home field advantage and the Falcons (NFL’s least penalized team) were only penalized for 11 yards. Seahawks looked jetlagged to start and fell behind 20-0 at halftime. Russell Wilson showed a little inexperience at the end of the first half as the Seahawks were unable to get any points, even though they moved the ball into the red zone. Seattle turned it on in the second half and nearly pulled off the upset. In the end Atlanta won by 2 points, my pregame prediction.

The Falcons won, but it's tough to feel very confident going forward. Losing a 20 point lead at home in the fourth quarter, barely averting disaster with a field goal in the last seconds sends up alarms. Three things really bother me about the Falcons in this game. The first was the inability to close out and keep the Seahawks out of the game. Seattle had four long touchdown drives of 60+ yards in the second half. Atlanta couldn’t stop them on defense or get a first down on offense.

The second thing is the Falcons defense, especially the secondary. They are terrible tacklers. They try to get by on shoulder bumps and one arm grabs, and Seattle really lit them up in the second half. Watching the Patriots/Texans right after the Falcons was night and day, literally and metaphorically. In the late game both teams were great tacklers; Atlanta has very poor technique. I am going to start taking note of players who miss tackles frequently; they don’t get enough attention.

Finally, Matt Ryan finally got his win but he very well could have lost it. In the fourth quarter right after Seattle just scored, the Falcons had a second down in their own territory with a 13 point lead with about 11 minutes left. (video) Matt Ryan stared down Roddy White the whole time, telegraphing the play to the safety Earl Thomas, then forced the throw into double coverage. Not only that, it was a poor pass, overthrowing the receiver. Earl Thomas intercepted it easily, and the momentum was rolling Seattle’s way. The only thing that could save the game for the Seahawks were forcing turnovers, and that one was a gift. It only took them four plays to get the ball into the endzone and make it a 6-point difference. (The Falcons responded with a three-and-out punt.) That was a brutal play that kept the Seahawks hanging around. In four career playoff games, Matt Ryan has committed 8 turnovers.

On the other side, even though the Seahawks lost you have to feel good about their future. In my mind, Russell Wilson was clearly the best quarterback from this year's rookie class. For the second week in a row, in a road playoff game, RW, Pete Carroll and the 'Hawks shook off a big deficit to come back and put themselves into a position to win. Wilson threw for 385 yards, ran for 60 more, scored three touchdowns, and time after time ran away from defenders to avoid taking big hits. Unlike mobile guys like Vick, Tebow, Big Ben and RG3, Wilson uses his legs to get away from defenders and free up his receivers. The Seahawks were one defensive play away from a win, when Tony Gonzalez got open in the middle of the field with 10 seconds left. And even then, Seattle had a chance to win.

I hope (but I doubt) that this is the last we see a coach "ice" the kicker. It doesn't work. Especially on a 51 yard field goal, Coach Carroll messed up big time. If you want to call a timeout, do it much before the ball can be snapped. A 50+ yard shot is really a 50/50 chance, and Carroll allowed Matt Bryant to get a practice kick in before the real thing. He missed wide right the first time and on the second try nailed it right through the center.

I picked: Falcons by 2. Outcome: Falcons by 2