LIVE BLOG: If Falcons win, it could be Super Bowl dance
John Abraham and the Falcons celebrated after a 20-17 win over the Packers Nov. 28 at the Georgia Dome. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
Win tonight. Go to the Super Bowl. So sayeth I. (Sorry. I saw, “The King’s Speech” last night and got carried away with the whole English thing.)
Most believe the Falcons and Green Bay are the two best teams in the NFC. They just happened to be meeting in the conference semifinals. I fully expect the winner of this game to beat the winner of Sunday’s Chicago-Seattle semi. So winning today could mean a trip to Dallas.
It has been nearly two weeks since the Falcons last played — a lopsided home win over Carolina. It has been only six days since Green Bay played — last Sunday’s win in Philadelphia in the wild card game. Logic says the Falcons will be rested and the Packers will be beat up. (Remember, this is a team that also had to scramble down the stretch and win its last two regular season games just to make the playoffs.) What we can’t predict is whether the week off will affect the Falcons’ timing, but I doubt it.
Is Green Bay a better team? When healthy and at full strength, probably. But neither of those two are the case right now. The Packers lost running back Ryan Grant in the season opener and generally haven’t been able to run the ball this season, last week’s win over the Eagles notwithstanding (seldom-used rookie James Starks rushed for 123 yards).
The Falcons’ keys are fairly obvious and I touched on a couple of them during the week. But here they are:
– Get running back Michael Turner going. Turner has been good this year but not consistent. Green Bay’s defense this season ranked fifth against the pass but only 18th against the run, and Turner rushed for a 110 yards and a touchdown when the teams met in Nov. If he can duplicate that feat, it helps quarterback Matt Ryan. Which leads to . . .
– As a I wrote earlier in the week, Ryan has shown he can win games in the fourth quarter. But the Falcons are not at their best if they’re a pass-dominated offense. They need balance. Ryan has excelled this season in clutch situations and threw a career-low nine interceptions with a career-high 28 touchdowns. That stems from making good choices. Assuming that continues tonight, the Falcons will be fine.
– Defensive end John Abraham has had one of the best seasons of his career with 13 sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception, despite the backdrop of his mother battling lymphoma. The defense needs to get pressure on Rodgers and move him off the spot (to use a football phrase). Abraham is the key to that. He’ll be opposed by Packers left tackle Chad Clifton.
That’s it for now, I’ll be here blogging all game. Before I go, for what it’s worth, here are some odds from the online sports book Bodog (for entertainment purposes only, of course). The Falcons are anywhere from a 1½-to-3-point favorite.
Odds to win the 2011 Super Bowl XLV New England Patriots 8/5 Atlanta Falcons 11/2 Green Bay Packers 11/2 Pittsburgh Steelers 6/1 Chicago Bears 8/1 Baltimore Ravens 9/1 New York Jets 12/1 Seattle Seahawks 40/1 Odds to win the 2011 AFC New England Patriots 5/7 Pittsburgh Steelers 3/1 Baltimore Ravens 5/1 New York Jets 15/2 Odds to win the 2011 NFC Atlanta Falcons 8/5 Chicago Bears 2/1 Green Bay Packers 11/5 Seattle Seahawks 14/1 ♦What will be the Exact Super Bowl XLV Matchup? New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons 13/4 New England Patriots vs. Chicago Bears 4/1 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers 8/1 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Atlanta Falcons 9/1 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Chicago Bears 11/1 Baltimore Ravens vs. Atlanta Falcons 14/1 Baltimore Ravens vs. Chicago Bears 16/1 New England Patriots vs. Green Bay Packers 17/4 Baltimore Ravens vs. Green Bay Packers 18/1 New York Jets vs. Atlanta Falcons 20/1 New York Jets vs. Chicago Bears 22/1 New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks 22/1 New York Jets vs. Green Bay Packers 25/1 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Seattle Seahawks 55/1 Baltimore Ravens vs. Seattle Seahawks 80/1 New York Jets vs. Seattle Seahawks 100/1 ♦
Total Passing Yards – Aaron Rodgers Over/Under 290.5 Total Rushing Yards – James Starks Over/Under 50.5 Total Receiving Yards – Greg Jennings Over/Under 85.5 Total Passing Yards – Matt Ryan Over /Under 240.5 Total Rushing Yards – Michael Turner Over/Under 85.5 Total Receiving Yards – Roddy White Over/Under 80.5 ♦
♦
Falcons blogs from the week:
– Matt Ryan’s notes, intangibles driving his success
– Falcons’ Abraham excelling, even with thoughts on ill mother
– Digi-Blog goes to Falcons’ camp (and there’s no Flowery Branches)
– Poll time: Who’s most important Falcons player against Packers?
– Saints gone, Vick gone and Falcons ready to defend turf
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC; friend me at Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2,080 comments Add your comment
Steve
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
Really Valpo? Are you serious? This performance tonight is exactly why the Falcons fans are they way they are. I can’t blame them for leaving.
Hurst
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
This is beautiful. Couldn’t have happened to a more soulless, lifeless wannabe city. RISE UP, so you can get knocked down again!
valpo_95
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
How about Matty Toast?
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT WITH THE EAGLES,SAINTS, RAVENS, FALCONS, ELIMINATED THE SEAHAWKS ARE STILL ALIVE AMAZING ADD THE COLTS GONE TOO
FHZ
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
Let’s see, Green Bay has 14 players on IR, Atlanta 1. Atlanta has home field advantage and 2 weeks rest, AND gets blown out! Hysterical! What a bunch of posers. Good news is all you bandwagon jumpers probably still have your receipts so you can return your jerseys.
__________________________________________________________________________
“Falcon Up”, baby!
lol.
Something was wrong…
Nervous…Curses…lol.
They could not waste their time during the bye because of the ice storm, but who knows?
ijonathan
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
I feel liberated CHOKE. I can finally see the light. Maybe I’ve been born again today, not you.
ls1z28chris
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
RISE UP!
oscar00
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
disgusting…..i sacrificed every Sunday for this SH1T…..As usial the Falcons let us down.. you wont do it to me next year…good rid-uns….oh by the way.. Dunte Robinson is the most OVER RATED player on the team…dont believe me? look at the stats….. thats what we paid 57M FOR………GD it !!!!!!!!
tvlgds
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
Oh and now we have the #1 seed losing to the #6 seed after the nasty fans trashed the Saints for losing to the Seahawks. Paybacks are a beotch! I am loving every minute of this. Falcons fans will be contemplating their navels on Super Bowl Sunday! HA! We still DAT!
Chillin on Paradise island
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
Atleast all the band wagoners are gone now.
Anthony
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
Blank ain’t going no where. He is thinking about what old scrub he should overpay for next season just to hype up Falcons fans.
JB
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
defense still needs major work!!!
dawgs01
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
Matt Ryan is not a great qb he took ten steps back tonight We looked like we did not practice once over the two weeks
Former FaLCON fAN
January 15th, 2011
11:11 pm
As a former Falcon Fan, I’d like to take the opportunity to say to the entire falcons Organization, You are an embarrassment, and a damn disgrace to the City of Atlanta, and the State of Georgia!
Until this front office can deliver some damn cornerbacks taller than my four year old, and that can run faster than a retard, i am done with being letdown by these incompetent overpaid, underwhelming b@stards!
Don’t send me a Season Ticket renewal pacakage, unless it has Tampa on it! this from a brand new Buccaneers Fan….
Falcons can go to HElll!
valpo_95
January 15th, 2011
11:11 pm
Steve wouldn’t happen in Green Bay.
Flaming Falcons
January 15th, 2011
11:11 pm
Hey Falcons fans, don’t depair, party in Midtown tonight!!! Join us!!! The Falcons aren’t the only ones who suck!!
JB
January 15th, 2011
11:11 pm
defense still needs major work!!
eeghead
January 15th, 2011
11:11 pm
EXPOSED!!!! HA HA HA HA….FRAUDS….LOSERS….#1 SEED AND GOT BLOWN OUT AT HOME BY A SIX SEED…LMAO……LOSERS…
Hollywood
January 15th, 2011
11:11 pm
Some how, some way, this has to be Bobby Petrino’s fault. LMAO!!!
Not ready for prime time players
January 15th, 2011
11:11 pm
Dear God,
Please bring us a REAL football team, with MEN not these sissy boys we currently have on defense
and at QB.
root4au
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
Hey Richt…Van Gorder is available….Nice D Falcons…
TNScott
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
What a lose-lose situation!!! Get 45 points hung on your defense in the first round of the playoffs then finish with 13 wins so you don’t get a high first round draft choice to help your unimpressive defense.
jb
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
Some much for being Unbeatable at home!!!
Norm van Broklin
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
This is the best the falcons can do after 2 weeks preparation? Go Braves and take the falcons with you!! Fire Mike Smith and the sucky defense!!– What a joke!!!-Never to be falcons fan again..
Reg, the founder and glorious leader of the PFJ
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
This is why Atlanta sports NEVER gets any respect…
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
I HOPE THE SEAHAWKS WIN IT ALL THATWOULD BE FUNNY
JB
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
defense still needs major work!!!!!!!
ijonathan (formerly a Ryan defender)
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
My only question now is…which post-game radio show do I turn on?
Grady Baby
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
They could not waste their time during the bye because of the ice storm, but who knows?
**********************************
They should have been made to live in the dorm at the complex for the entire week to prepare!!!
SRF
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
you guys keep banging on Ryan – but all three phases of the game were HORRIBLE
One and Done Birds
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
I just saw on another channel advertising this so called game, being re-played on the Comedy Channel!
Can anyone confirm?
I think I heard them say ICE would be called “Barney Fife” to protect ICE’s ID !!???
What a REAL JOKE!!!
Former FaLCON fAN
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
Chris Owens should be mowing grass, that sonofabitc.h should never see a football field again
and BVG, You suck B@stard!
FALCLOWNS are losers
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
Falcons – suck! Redneck Bulldawgs – suck! Ga sports = LOSERS! Who Dat? You ain’t dat! What an embarrassment….
No lombardi
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
That little yellow bus awaits the losers
Charlotte Falcon
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
One terrible loss does not make the entire season a loss. There are still holes in the team that need to be addressed, and the leadership will do it. But this blog is like talk radio. The main people that respond are the extremist that do not represent the majority. Be proud of the fact that you have a team that is in the city and doing a good job, and not like a team 4 hours north in Charlotte that are 2-14 and crying because a college QB chose to stay in school than deal with their crap. Be proud of a team that won 3 times as many games as it lost.
SeenThisB4
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
Ah, ha, ha ha ha, ha! One and Done!!
iTiSi
January 15th, 2011
11:12 pm
Recipe for disaster: Take one Brave, add in one Hawk, throw in a Falcon, and you come up with Loserville Pudding.
Ted
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
Bye bye Falcons…
D-Man
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
JEFF – MAYBE YOU CAN DO A COLUMN INVESTIGATING WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO A TEAM THAT IS SUPPOSEDLY WELL COACHED, DISCIPLINED AND SOMEHOW BECAME THE TRAIN WRECK WE SAW TONIGHT. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE SOME EXPLANATIONS….
FHZ
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
“Steve
January 15th, 2011
11:10 pm
Really Valpo? Are you serious? This performance tonight is exactly why the Falcons fans are they way they are. I can’t blame them for leaving.”
——————————————————————————————————————-
Can’t have faith in these local franchises..And they never have dominant players..who can party all night, and still show-up for the game.
Damn!!
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
I think the falcons just ran into the Super Bowl champs tonight! Aaron Rodgers is the best GB in America, forget the pretty boy in Connecticut, this guy and his receivers coupled with their offensive coordinator won’t lose another game till next year. Falcons need DB’s with size and speed. Brian van gorder looked like willie martinez tonight, no answer!
dirtman
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
Just jumped over here from the New Orleans boards cause we miss all the Atlanta trolls there now. Did they come over there to cry??? This is just too too good
Tenndawg65
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
Falcon fans have ALWAYS been fair-weather. There are hard core folks like me, but the *hitheads who buy the tix and go, then don’t stay to support b/c they’ll save 5 min in traffic should not be allowed back in. Transient city, Atlanta. Sucks. Still…if you paid for the tickets you should have the courtesy to stay.
dawgs01
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
This is embarrassing i cant wait to see Matty dink and dunk’s press conference
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
48-14
valpo_95
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
Lambeau south baby! Blow on the road against #1 seed. Love it.
SaintJT
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
It was nice of the Falcants fans to Rise Up and leave the stadium so the Green Bay fans could get close to the field and cheer their team.
Falcons Are No One
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
Looks like the falcant “fans” have risen up and left the building!
Matt Ryan II
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
Joe Buck: “Is that a flashlight in your pants or are you happy to see me?”
Troy: “Naw…it’s the Aaron Rodgers effect”
mj
January 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
Mongrels. That’s our defense. Van Gorder suxs