Atlanta Falcons: Falcons to face white-hot Seahawks at 1 p.m. Sunday at Georgia Dome
The Falcons' Michael Turner (center) rushes against Seattle in first half action last season. (Associated Press).
FLOWERY BRANCH – Coach Mike Smith, the winningest coach in team history, has the Falcons poised to make an unprecedented third straight appearance in the NFL playoffs.
The Falcons, the No. 1 seed, will host the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC divisional round at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Georgia Dome. The Seahawks advanced with a 24-14 victory over Washington on Sunday.
The Falcons are 0-3 in the playoffs under Smith, but are determined to reverse the direction of their recent playoff fortunes.
Each time they lost to the team that went on to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl and the last two playoff defeats were to the eventual Super Bowl champion in Green Bay and the New York Giants.
Smith doesn’t have to look too far for a signal that things are going to change.
“Matt (Ryan) has had a great regular season for us this year,” Smith said of his quarterback. “He’s got the individual accolades. He’s led our team through some tough ball games and been able to pull them out. Those experiences will help us in the post-season.”
In a meeting with Seattle last season on Oct. 2, 2011, the Falcons jumped out to a 27-7 lead, but had to hold on for a 30-28 victory.
Seattle kicker Steven Hauschka missed a 61-yard field goal attempt at the buzzer. It was short and wide left.
In the last meeting, Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch was held to 24 yards on eight carries and one touchdown. He rumbled for 131 yards on 19 carries and one touchdown against the Redskins.
The Falcons faced quarterback Tarvaris Jackson in that previous matchup. The Seahawks are a much different team with rookie Russell Wilson at quarterback.
“I’m just very impressed with his maturity,” said Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, who broadcasts Seattle’s games in an interview on 790 The Zone. “His work ethic and the way he just comes to work with a sense of purpose every day; it doesn’t change. It doesn’t waiver. It doesn’t matter what the situation is. It doesn’t matter if they won the game by 50 or lose by 7, he comes to work with that same attitude each and every day.”
The Seahawks also received a boost against Washington from the return of cornerback Brandon Browner, who was suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Unlike in 2010 when the Falcons were the No. 1 seed, the Falcons had a full week of practice during the bye week. They are hoping the extra work will allow them to stay in a rhythm.
The players contend this playoff trip will be different.
“The coaching, the locker room, the brotherhood in the locker room is totally different than 2010,” defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux said. “I think that guys are eager to get into the playoffs and make our presence known. We are a team that’s going to be able to make this run in the playoffs.”
The Falcons know that stopping Lynch will be a key to their efforts against the Seahawks.
“Every play starts with the (defensive) line,” Babineaux said. “What we do up front dictates a lot of what happens on the back end. It’s our job to fill in our gaps, secure our gaps and make sure that the ball doesn’t run in our gaps. If it does, we have to make the tackle. That’s the type of attitude that we have to have from here on out. We have to be stout in everything that we do.”
The Falcons are facing arguably the hottest team in the NFC. The Seahawks have won their last six games.
Before the playoff game, the Seahawks had outscored their five previous opponents 193-60, including a 58-0 rout of Arizona and a 42-13 rout of San Francisco.
The Seattle defense has not given up more than 28 points in one game this season.
The Seattle won all eight game home games, but they had to learn how to win on the road.
“That was the hurdle they had to get over,” Moon said. “When you have a young football team. When you have a young quarterback, you just have to figure out what it takes to win out on the road, especially in close football games.”
LATEST NEWS
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Smith to ramp up bye-week practices
Smith expects Abraham, Robinson to be ready for playoff game
Falcons’ run defense to be tested in divisional playoff game
Falcons to open playoffs at 1 p.m., Sunday Jan. 13th
OTHER RECENT STORIES
Finishing regular season ‘the right way’
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NFL Playoffs: Seahawks beat Redskins 24-14 – CBS News
January 6th, 2013
8:57 pm
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Voice of Reason
January 6th, 2013
8:58 pm
The last 3 QBs the Falcons have lost to in the post season may all be in the Hall of Fame some day: Kurt Warner (first ballot, in my opinion); Aaron Rogers (one of the best ever, maybe); Eli Manning (HOF creds with 2 SB rings). Russel Wilson ain’t that.
stendek
January 6th, 2013
8:59 pm
Sunday will be right time to resurrect the Grits Blitz! Young Seahawk QB will be too shaky to think! Or play soft zone with no pressure. Who wants to play after Sunday anyway?
Georgia
January 6th, 2013
9:00 pm
The Seahawks are fearsome. They play sixty minutes. I don’t want to get hurt watching this playoff game. I don’t want my guts splattered all over the floor like the last time I cared enough to get hurt. I wish I could hold back, but there’s just no way. I’m in all the way. If they lose, I get my heart broken in a thousand pieces. I remember the 1980/81 season against Dallas, when we lost the NFC divisional in the last moment, (30-27) on a White to Pearson wounded duck that just hung up there and hung up there…….OMG the horror…..and it took me two weeks to be able to get to sleep, and then only if I drank wine. I’ve really never recovered. It was just not fair and just no good. I barely survived that one. Think I’m kidding? No, being a football savant and a number one fan has its downside. I guess it is possible to care about football too much. It’s cause of my high school coach. he never gave me a chance. I coulda been first string, but everytime I did something great he was watching the cheerleaders or little birdies in the trees, or the clouds. He had his head so far up his own behind……..aw, I don’t wanna talk about it. And the assistant coaches were even bigger idiots.
Go Falcons!
Maalox Customer Service
January 6th, 2013
9:01 pm
Eric C.
Have you seen how those huge dbs mug receivers?
stendek
January 6th, 2013
9:03 pm
If the Falcons do lose this weekend I expect lots of changes! LOTS. It will be one status quo no Bird watcher wants.
drew
January 6th, 2013
9:06 pm
Teams better than the Falcons: Packers, Patriots, Seahawks, 49ers…..think that about sums it up…
Eric C.
January 6th, 2013
9:06 pm
Roddy is a wrestling champ and Julio is as big and fast as they come…we’ll see who gets mugged
NtheNo
January 6th, 2013
9:07 pm
Falcons do not have a “play-off” gear. One & done.
Greg Camp
January 6th, 2013
9:07 pm
Go Falcons! You have the ball in your court! A week off and homefield advantage. Send them back to Cosco-land!
Eric C.
January 6th, 2013
9:08 pm
The same 49ers that got blown out by NYG and lost to Seattle by 4 TDs? They are better than the Falcons?
stendek
January 6th, 2013
9:10 pm
NFC teams I fear: Packers Of AR. AFC teams I fear: Broncos of PM. That pretty much sums it up!
Josh
January 6th, 2013
9:11 pm
I’ll be in Atlanta to watch the Falcon’s get Hawked. Blah, blah, blah……. Talk is cheap. Redskins fans said almost the exact same crap and you see where it got them. LMFAO
stendek
January 6th, 2013
9:14 pm
If Matthew Ryan is going to be remembered as a QB worth a damn it must begin Sunday. The honeymoon period ended long ago! Four long seasons ago for me.
Bleed Red
January 6th, 2013
9:14 pm
So after the beat down on the SEA TRASH mite get a that a BOY GO FALCONS
MATT RYAN
January 6th, 2013
9:17 pm
I am playing to go to the Pro Bowl. Congrats to the Seahawks Superbowl Champs!!!
trollhawks
January 6th, 2013
9:18 pm
To the folks that mentioned your receivers….lol
Our Safeties and Corners are arguably the best in the NFL. They can go 1on1 against anyone. The only problem the Hawks need to actively address is there soft middle zone coverages. If they tighten that coverage up a bit, I don’t see anyone scoring more than 10/game against them. We also may have lost our sack leader in today’s game.
Daniel Snyder’s cheap ass cost him Bobby Three Sticks career today (possibly) and Clemons for us. That field was an absolutely disgrace today.
WILCO
January 6th, 2013
9:19 pm
ATL will beat seattle easily—book it! they don’t match up with the ATL D!! ATL 30 seattle 13—ATL beats SF and will go to the super bowl!!! Rise up!!!
Sparks
January 6th, 2013
9:23 pm
So just getting to the playoffs is no big deal huh? Like being MLB division champs for 14 straight years was no big deal either…spoiled, uninformed fans, just damn.
HPDawg
January 6th, 2013
9:24 pm
Stendek, shut your stupid face…….. GO FALCONS!
Priceless
January 6th, 2013
9:24 pm
0-4 with Smitty and the Meltster-BOOK THAT !
Falcon Fan
January 6th, 2013
9:26 pm
Bruce Irvin (#51) left DE is a great story of someone turning their life around. From Atlanta with a troubled past. Played at West Virginia University, controversial first round pick and led the NFL Rookies in QB sacks this year. Recently donated $100,000 to WVU for their weight room. We better block him!
Whadda Ya Know?
January 6th, 2013
9:27 pm
Here come all the trolls and negative Nancys. Seahawks are a young up and coming team, but they are not the teams we lost to in the past that had Kurt Warner, Aaron Rogers and Eli Manning. These corners are NOT shutdown by any stretch of the imagination. The QB can be gotten after and confused with schemes he’s never seen before. We will beat the Seachickens next Sunday regardless of all the media hype and the haters that come on this board only wishing their teams were in this position.
mark
January 6th, 2013
9:27 pm
hawks win you guys can not ontrol our defense no we wont impressive today and ye still won
you defense is consdered soft so we will see
and we have two dominate teams in our devision you next best team was the panthers lol GO HAWKS
G-dub
January 6th, 2013
9:38 pm
Seattle defense is too physical. Corners will manhandle receivers. Tony G may have to have a career day because White and Jones will be manhandled. That kid Browner is a beast.
Matty Bicep
January 6th, 2013
9:38 pm
Jerry, we put the worst beating on a defending SB champion EVER, AND we beat the AJC#1 seed, AND beat a healthy RG3. All you can do is beat the teams they put in front of you.
Ray Edwards
January 6th, 2013
9:38 pm
I’m spilling all the secrets.
Philip
January 6th, 2013
9:47 pm
I wonder if Thomas Decoud can do another show ad singing the Party is over Atlanta. 0-4
Joe Flacco
January 6th, 2013
9:49 pm
I just became the 1st qb in NFL to win a playoff game for 1st 5 seasons. Whats up Matty?
chickenwizard
January 6th, 2013
9:50 pm
Once SEA got their offense going, no one has been able to stop them. They were down 14-0, and then only went and uncharacteristic 1 of 6 in the red zone. This was just a few plays away from another Seahawk blowout. Atlanta has one of the worst running Ds in the league having to focus on stopping Lynch, which gives Wilson’s options to run or pass. SEA will outscore anyone at this point.
houstondawgfan
January 6th, 2013
9:54 pm
Have a weird feeling, the Falcons come out and lay another egg but lose by a missed fg. And we are stuck to watching the Media do the Seattle vs San Fran rematch and Seattle comes up short there. Don’t know but, I hope this doesn’t happen, because ATL has enough talent to win it all this year.
Philip
January 6th, 2013
9:59 pm
Smitty opening presser after they lose to the Seahawks. We did not get the outcome we wanted and have ton of things we have to correct.. Duh lol! Please get MJD next year. So we can have a balanced attack on offense.
kenny d
January 6th, 2013
9:59 pm
If Turner is not hitting the hole hard and with authority, we need to get Snelling in early. We need the running game early against this team.
Matty Bicep
January 6th, 2013
10:01 pm
Chicken, we must have watched different games, I saw a team with a bad defense getting blown off the field until a QB with a torn ACL got hit and twisted his knee. Then it took 21/2 more quarters to get within point, until that knee finally buckled and they got a gift on the 3 yard line. It hardly a dominating performance, looked more like the a Disney move about a inept football team with a leprechaun QB.
Marc
January 6th, 2013
10:05 pm
Man I hope we win but am concerned anyway. Beating the Giants was huge.
Dwayne C
January 6th, 2013
10:07 pm
Prediction: Seattle Seahawks 27 – Atlanta Falcons 17, Atlanta’s flaws exposed. The worst part isn’t going to be this defeat but rather what the Falcons front office doesn’t do in the offseason, including the next draft, to address these flaws. I told a friend of mine yesterday I believe this team under head coach Mike Smith has a window of 2-3 more years(after their next playoff game) to make a run to the Super Bowl. They make get to a SB but it won’t be this SB. lol
take it from me.
January 6th, 2013
10:07 pm
Was not impressed with the skins or the hawks,Falcons will win this one,, if Ryan don’t get those happy feet going,and the o line ,and d line do the job they are suppost to do.to much talent on this team to lose to the seabirds at home,but you never know about the Falcons,remember tj yates last year! the Falcons allways make first year QBs look like all world players.
Mora less Petrino
January 6th, 2013
10:07 pm
The NFL has cancelled the game in ATL! The media “experts” and troll bloggers have already given the Seabuzzards the W, so no point in playing the game.
On a more serious note, the oddsmakers, (the dudes who put their money on the line), have ATL favored by 3!
sflanagan21
January 6th, 2013
10:09 pm
I don’t know a single real Falcons fan that knows football that is worried about the freaking Seahawks! 35-14 Falcons
Falco
January 6th, 2013
10:18 pm
31-20
atlanta wins it.
real talk.
January 6th, 2013
10:22 pm
if atlanta can get those early turnovers like they did against denver and new york, they have a really good chance at winning.
Brian from Seattle
January 6th, 2013
10:22 pm
The Falcons are a great team this year and can beat the Seahawks – but only if they are able to bottle up Wilson in the pocket. Marshawn will do what he always does… carry 6 defensive players another 4 – 8 yards after initial contact. But he can’t win the game on his own. Let Wilson get out and scramble and he’ll either pass or run his way to a win. Seahawks defense is likely going to show up and be physical, but they can be pushed around some – like Washington did during Q1. But it won’t happen for the entire game. Going to be interesting – that’s for sure.
If the Falcons crash and burn, at least you’ll still have that Southern fried cooking to help get you through it…
older1
January 6th, 2013
10:24 pm
Falcons need to focus on strength training, sure tackling and endurance running, up until Friday Noon, then rub down with BEN-GAY COME OUT SUNDAY AND KICK butt.
jo
January 6th, 2013
10:27 pm
The seachickens looked suspect today and would have been beaten if not for rg3 going down. If the falcons play serious, they win 27-19.
Kennesaw Falcons
January 6th, 2013
10:30 pm
Falcons will take care of business Sunday. Seahawks are pretty good, falcons are better.
Ripster
January 6th, 2013
10:37 pm
Lookit. Two top teams. My Hawk Fandom does not blind me to how tough the Falcons will be in their home roost. Suffice to say I believe the winner will be the Super Bowl champs
tom
January 6th, 2013
10:38 pm
talk, talk, talk. We will see.
Fan since 66
January 6th, 2013
10:42 pm
Once again I’m amazed at the haters who get their ro@ks off coming on the blogs slamming the Falcons. What make you folks tick? Do you really think your opinion matters to us? I agree with Matty Bicep…the ‘Hawks barely won a game against a team who effectively lost their starting QB in the first quarter. They received a gift fumble on the 3 and still couldn’t put the ‘Skins away till late in the game. I don’t need to predict a huge win for the ‘Birds. I am confident that this team is different than any other Falcon team I’ve ever seen before.We will win on Sunday…plain and simple. I’m just going to sit and enjoy reading the blogs this weekend predicting disaster for Atl. football fans…and wonder what makes these people tick!
Go Falcons!
bigtime meat
January 6th, 2013
10:49 pm
Atlanta Falcons 41 Seattle Seahawks 13 ……. now what!!!!!!
Reggie
January 6th, 2013
10:51 pm
White hot? Really? No excuses, the Seahawks offense isnt nearly as good as the Packers 2 years ago and their defense isnt nearly as good as the Giants last year. The Redskins or Seahawks should get destroyed on Sunday. Enough of the hot team crap…Atlanta has the best record in the NFC so that should make us ultra white hot. The 3 losses came to divisional rivals aka teams that know all our tricks and vice versa, that makes us 10-0 vs the rest of the NFL, stop making excuses.