If our pal, Gil “The Godfather” Brandt is correct, the Falcons need to start preparing for the Seattle Seahawks.
Brandt, a senior analyst for NFL.Com, gave his predictions.
He has the Packers beating Minnesota and Seattle beating Washington in the wild card round of the playoffs.
As the No. 5 seed, the Seahawks would be the lowest seed to advance and under that scenario, would face the top-seeded Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13th at the Georgia Dome.
Brandt also ranked the playoff quarterbacks. He has Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers as the No. 1 quarterback in the playoffs and Minnesota’s Christian Ponder as the 12th rated playoff quarterback.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is the fifth rated quarterback in the playoffs behind Rogers, Denver’s Peyton Manning, New England’s Tom Brady and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, according Brandt.
Here’s what he wrote about Ryan:
5) Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
Ryan’s got 56 wins in five years, but he hasn’t played well in the playoffs. Where guys like Flacco play better in the postseason, Ryan seems to have trouble. The quarterback should be the guy making the difference; Ryan should be coming to the fore when the stakes are high. Perhaps offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, who’s done a great job in his first year with the Falcons, will help Ryan find postseason success.
Ryan is 0-3 in the playoffs.
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65 comments Add your comment
Whadda Ya Know?
January 4th, 2013
3:02 pm
Deborah, get past the Redskins first and then come talk to us–if Minnesota doesn’t beat Green Bay that is.
Getaway
January 4th, 2013
4:39 pm
We’ll see what happens, but I don’t think the Falcons will be taking any team for lightly this year.
Getaway
January 4th, 2013
4:43 pm
and Old Mule, please stop saying “we” and “us” when talking about the Falcons. No one here believes you or phil are Falcons fans.
Dilla
January 4th, 2013
5:34 pm
This guy is crazy to think Flaco is better than Ryan, by the same logic. Trent Dilfer is better than Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, and Jim Kelly. Alot great players who’s team didn’t excel in the playoffs and Alot of ok players have a superbowl ring just cause they wore the right jersey.
bullrusher1
January 5th, 2013
2:31 am
Well top5 is good, so, WHAT?! BEHIND FLACCO! ARE YOU FREAKING INSANE GODFATHER! Face it, Ryan is the only great or even above average QB to come out of the 08 draft.
Ledbetter blocked me
January 5th, 2013
9:29 am
Hard to disagree with the Godfather on this one. Flacco doesn’t get the deer in headlights look like Matty. Flacco plays with heart, the team feeds off of that and he exhibits more leadership in those big games. …..And finally the Ravens have just had better veteran leaders…..Falcons don’t.
Esquire
January 5th, 2013
2:32 pm
SawThat1nce
January 4th, 2013
9:09 am
All of these guys, on all of these different networks and organizations, predicting the outcome of these NFL games, are just like all of us ordinary fans, they are just guessing.
I think that the Redskins will beat the Seahawks, that’s my guess.
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A little bit of research, a little bit of luck………..successfully picking winners is still just a guess. I’m beating both Collinsworth and Simms in Beat the Insiders, prognosticators R US.
Esquire
January 5th, 2013
3:07 pm
Ledbetter blocked me January 5th, 2013 9:29 am
Hard to disagree with the Godfather on this one. Flacco doesn’t get the deer in headlights look like Matty. Flacco plays with heart, the team feeds off of that and he exhibits more leadership in those big games. …..And finally the Ravens have just had better veteran leaders…..Falcons don’t.
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You don’t think Ryan plays with heart? I won’t even debate you on that until you give some input on how you arrive at that conclusion, but you’re wrong. Deer in the headlights look? Maybe former Falcon QB Tony Graziani (poor kid looked scared to death) but I’ve never seen Ryan nothing but calm, cool, and collected.
Flacco has had his moments but not in the playoffs. I am reposting what I wrote to a Flacco Farter recently about Joe’s playoff performances:
Joe Flacco
January 2nd, 2013
9:59 pm
Cheer up guys, I will be posting my 5th straight year with a playoff win. I have no idea what it’s like to go 1 and done. Matty Ice can you tell me how that feels?
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Joe, why can’t ya get to the big dance. I’d say too many interceptions and poor performance in the playoffs has a lot to do with it.
2009 you got past Miami and Tennessee then threw for a measly 141 yards and 3 interceptions giving the Steelers a trip to the Super Bowl. Miami gave you 5 turnovers and you had a passer rating of 59.1 …..WOW!! Against Tennessee you managed to get only 9 first downs…………..Tennessee gave you the game with 3 turnovers and you were lucky to hit that winning field goal. But here’s where it gets better. In the AFC Championship Game to go to the SUPER BOWL you managed an 18.2 Passer Rating to go along with those 3 int’s, one of those a pick 6 to Troy Polamalu in the fourth quarter.
2010 Here you managed against New England a 10.0 Passer Rating, 4 of 10, for 34 yards, no touchdowns and 1 interception, the lowest rated game for a “winning” quarterback in a playoff game EVER. New England gifted 4 turnovers to you along with the game.
Against the Colts you managed an incredible 48.4 Passer Rating, no touchdowns and 2 interceptions. A very comfortable 20-3 win for Indy as Baltimore committed four turnovers including your two interceptions. Good Bye Ravens in the 2010 playoffs.
2011 So the Ravens beat KC 30-7, a mediocre team at best in a mediocre division Kansas City giving up the ball 5 times. Against Pittsburgh Jan 15th, 2011 A 61.1 Passer Rating. What happened Joe, you had a 21-7 halftime lead and let this one get away 31-24, another Steelers victory. You managed “3″ second half first downs…………..what’s up with that…….???
Last year you beat Houston and had a 97.1 Passer Rating, 14 of 27, 176 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT not too bad Joe. You had some help from some Houston turnovers (TJ Yates threw 3 interceptions) on a short field. Only scoring 3 points in the 2nd half isn’t really championship caliber football but you got the “W” in spite of it. You got sacked 5 times by holding the ball and only managed 11 first downs the entire game. I’m really impressed Joe. Of course, then you followed this up with a loss to New England………….whoops out of the playoffs.
Joe, here is the thing. Your record is deceiving, you haven’t played very well, hence an incredibly low playoff QB passer rating and no shot at the Big Dance. You have lived on your Defense and that is the only reason why you have the playoff wins that you do. Your defense has forced 25 turnovers in 8 playoff games, Just for perspective no team since the Eagles in 1989 has forced 50 turnovers OVER A FULL SEASON. And frankly you have done little with those gifts.
In those same years the Atlanta Falcons have faced either the NFC Super Bowl representative or the eventual Super Bowl Champion……………we’ve had no chump playoff games on the schedule. If you want to compare Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco let’s see which one leads his team to a win at the Super Bowl……………..nothing else really doesn’t matter.
ROGUEr Goodell
January 5th, 2013
3:28 pm
Until Matty Ice puts the team on his back and plays like a beast, this dude will NEVER get us to the next level. I see a lot playoff QBs playing better currently than him with waaaaay more intuitiveness… Also, please score more than 25 points!!!
Rick in Warner Robins
January 5th, 2013
7:38 pm
Ryan can make all the throws, put up all the points in the world, but if the defense can’t stop anyone, they will be one and out. The corners are horrible…can’t cover anyone so a good quarterback…i.e., Aaron Rogers and Peyton Manning will eat them alive….especially Robinson. The Falcons have absolutely zero pass rush, so they’re in deep doo-doo.
Go back to warner robins rick
January 6th, 2013
6:33 am
you mean “elite” qb’s like Drew brees. peyton, or eli??? Those? yeah cant cover anyone… dang only 11 interceptions on those three QB’s what was our defense thinking???
MarkATL
January 6th, 2013
7:34 pm
Looks like the Godfather is right folks. I’m sure the Falcons were watching the game together at Flowery Branch.
hawkzone
January 7th, 2013
8:09 am
looks like ATL better get ready for a real team instead of the practice squads they have been playing. Just remember. Don’t throw towards ET or RS
hawkzone
January 7th, 2013
8:10 am
Enter your comments here
JoFo
January 7th, 2013
8:25 am
ON January 4th, 2013 @ 9:19 am
Elvis is Alive said:
“Bring the SEA-CHICKS on!
Rookie QB in our house!
Hope Abe is able and Kroy and Babineaul attack! (I know they will, they are monsters).
If Willie Mo is back n the secondary and Asante plays without the Celebratory Victory Dance(CVD) (save the CVD for your personal DVD) we should be able to disrupt their rhythm.
They have an excellent secondary so our OL needs to keep them away from MR2.
Will Michael”Stone Legs”Turner prove he is capable of fighting for yardage?
Will he run like it is Last Call at the bar?
I cannot wait fo the game whoever we play!
Remember Falcons..”It’s Now or Next Year”..
Prove the talking heads and the haters wrong!
Focus and discipline. Stay awake for the trick college play!
Play to win!!
Rise Up..Angry Birds..Rise Up..”
I love it! LOVE it! GO FALCONSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!