Falcons earn second straight NFL playoff berth
The Vince Lombardi Trophy on display at the Super Bowl. (D. Orlando Ledbetter/AJC)
With Green Bay’s 35-21 victory over Chicago, the Falcons clinched a playoff berth for the third time over the past four seasons on Sunday night.
The Falcons (9-5) play the New Orleans Saints (11-5) at 8:30 p.m. Monday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The playoff berth marks the first time in franchise history that the team has made the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
In addition to Chicago’s loss, the Falcons needed losses from Dallas and Arizona. Philadelphia beat Dallas and Cincinnati beat Arizona on Saturday.
The Falcons can win the NFC South title and earn the No. 3 seed with victories over New Orleans and Tampa Bay coupled with a loss by the Saints to Carolina.
The Falcons would host a home game if they can land the No. 3 seed.
“This is exactly where we wanted to be, in the mix in December with everything we want still in front of us with two games to play,” said quarterback Matt Ryan when asked about the playoffs on Thursday.
In 2008, the Falcons were eliminated by the Arizona Cardinals in the wild-card round. Last season, the Falcons were the No. 1 seed but were upset at home by Green Bay in the divisional round. Arizona and Green Bay went on to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
The Falcons are one of the league’s hottest teams. They have won seven of their last night games and could go into the playoffs with a lot of momentum if they can defeat New Orleans and Tampa Bay.
“You want to be playing your best ball in December,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said recently. “One of the things that we talk about as an organization and a football team, we want to be relevant in December. To be relevant, you have to be playing good football. . . It becomes very important that you win games going down the stretch.”
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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268 comments Add your comment
fired van gorder
December 26th, 2011
11:17 pm
FIRED VAN GORDER
Michael M.
December 26th, 2011
11:17 pm
11:06 to go in the 4th, clearly they are the better team today……….hats off to the Saints on the victory and NFC South Champs ! there, you happy ?
BL
December 26th, 2011
11:23 pm
We like to act like we are the Patriots…minus the know-how, talent, and scheme! RISE UP!
Michael M.
December 26th, 2011
11:30 pm
Watch Carolina go down there and kick their tails next week.
hiramsaint
December 26th, 2011
11:40 pm
sorrry , guess i was wrong on that 17 pt. prediction!
Michael M.
December 26th, 2011
11:43 pm
Thats alright Son, we accept your apology…………knew it wouldn’t be long until you showed up rubbing our noses in the dirt.
ChiFalcon
December 26th, 2011
11:48 pm
We really need to make a change and remove Mike Mularkey and Van Gorder. Its the same story – they are not good against winning teams. The falcons offense look very average with the same draw plays that don’t work despite the talent. The defense does not have any pressure on the quarterback despite Edwards. There has to be changes, its been three years!!
hiramsaint
December 26th, 2011
11:54 pm
and that concludes today’s lesson
Michael M.
December 26th, 2011
11:55 pm
I am disgusted !
Michael M.
December 26th, 2011
11:58 pm
Offense let us down with field goals and defense just let us down period…..shaking my head here.
MarkATL
December 26th, 2011
11:59 pm
Well see how far the Saints go in the playoffs. Congrats to your Brees Saints.
Gary
December 27th, 2011
9:30 am
There’s NO WAY in the world that the Falcons are going to make it to the Super Bowl with the
porous — no tackle — defense and a secondary that couldn’t keep up with Fatty Arbuckle. When are the dolts who decide the draft going to get serious and get some defensive players who can rush, tackle, and play pass defense? It’s a bloody shame Matt Ryan is going to be stuck on this 3rd rate team.
maurice
December 27th, 2011
9:39 am
With Green Bay’s 35-21 victory over Chicago, the Falcons clinched a playoff berth for the third time over the past four seasons on Sunday night.
So are fans supposed to be happy because once again they clinched a spot in the playoffs? This is getting old.
Who Dat
December 27th, 2011
11:10 am
Wow! I see it’s rather quiet up in here after that record setting, convincing behind whooping by Brees and the Saints. Is Mike Smith and the crying birds still boo-hooing about the Saints going for it? And why is the writer giving y’all false hope about a title in the Atl? Men wins championships not whiny girly men…..lmao Y’all a joke….Who Dat
rush2112
December 27th, 2011
12:50 pm
Seriously how can you put a title of “Falcons EARN playoff berth??? They didn’t earn squat, Chicago lost, so that’s how we “earned it” and then we go out and show the country how CRAPPY we really are. Great teams lose, but great teams ALWAYS play competitively, something the Falcons have yet to do this year, even against teams we are supposed to beat. Saints were 9 for 9 on 3rd down at one point and then got stopped and Brees was pissed, we miss 3rd and 4th downs and no one seems to care NO EMOTION and NO PASSION………and finally Van Gorder needs to find a new home, defense is pathetic even if it was Drew Brees, you have to step up. What’s that commercial OH YEA….Rise Up, need to show it at the team meeting this week, another one and done in the playoffs
Josh Valentine
December 27th, 2011
6:15 pm
To Deapp: I’m a proud Falcons fan like you. But, love it when they are the underdogs because it humbles The Falcons. Plus, it’s making them be consistent winners in the past 4 years.
Falcon Fan 24/7
December 27th, 2011
9:59 pm
Ryan became just the second quarterback in franchise history to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season after posting a career-high with 373 passing yards. This season, Ryan has thrown for 4,065 yards, which trails QB Jeff George’s club record of 4,143 yards, set in 1995, by just 78 yards. Ryan, also tied his career highs with 32 completions and 52 pass attempts, and finished the game with a 92.9 passer rating.
The third-year signal caller has completed 339 of 557 pass attempts this season and is on pace to break his franchise records of 357 completions and 571 attempts set in 2010.
Ryan has thrown for 300-or-more yards in six games this season breaking George’s team record of four 300 yard games in 1995.
Joey the Bull
January 1st, 2012
11:51 pm
New York Weather Sunday=48′ Sunny-Turf. The Falcons will do just fine. We shall easily dispatch the lowly Giants. They think they are good, their not. They think they have talent-they don’t. They think they will win-they won’t. Thank you Green Bay for making our path to the big show much easier. We can make a run-I actually think the NFC picture looks pretty good for W/C teams-I just hope that the W/C teams win out. There is a chance-albiet slim-that the Falcons host the NFC Championship game-Detroit can score-and they are the only team that could beat the Saints. The Giants are by far the worst team in the NFC playoffs-so the Falcons win in a run-away. Get rid of NO and have Detroit re-match GB and Atlanta will spank San Francisco and maybe we host Detroit in the NFC Championship game….RISE UP!