Divisional Round Afterword: Falcons vs Seahawks

Julio Jones intercepted Russell Wilson's Hail Mary attempt as time ran out,
clinching Atlanta's first playoff win since January 2005. Photo credit to AL.com.

Here is the snap, Matt Bryant with the kick, and it is NO GOOD!! But wait, a timeout was taken by Seattle! And Pete Carroll wants to know who called for the timeout.

Video clearly showed Carroll asking for the timeout just before Atlanta’s snap, but what most people don’t know is the actual reason Carroll was upset. Before the game, officials told the coaches that they would not allow practice kicks in a situation like that. Carroll made it clear during his post-game press conference that he was displeased that Bryant was allowed to take that practice kick after the timeout was called. In my opinion, though, it was Carroll’s own fault for waiting until the last moment to ask for the timeout.

Bryant had a second chance to kick the game-winner, and he made it to clinch Atlanta’s first postseason win with Mike Smith and Matt Ryan. It was also Tony Gonzalez’s first postseason win in his career, which is expected to end after this season.

Matt Ryan played a very good game overall, though it was far from perfect. He threw two interceptions, but the first one appeared to be at least partly the fault of Tony Gonzalez. The second looked identical to an interception Robert Griffin III threw down the left sideline during last week’s playoff game against Seattle.

Russell Wilson had many more passing yards than Ryan, but that was mostly because of soft defensive play during the second half by Atlanta, who had a 20-0 lead at halftime. Wilson had to throw a lot because Marshawn Lynch was held to just 46 yards on 16 carries.

Atlanta, meanwhile, had the dominant ground game on Sunday. Michael Turner ran for 98 yards on 14 carries while Jacquizz Rodgers had 64 yards on 10 touches.

Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and Jason Snelling each had touchdown receptions for Atlanta. Julio Jones was a big part of the passing game, with six receptions, but his only touch in the end zone was a game-ending interception when he came in to defend a Hail Mary attempt by Russell Wilson, who already had a game-winning interception this season. This one, however, was ruled correctly and Seattle’s impressive season came to an end.

Atlanta is the only team advancing to the conference championships this season that was not in this round last year. Atlanta will host San Francisco Sunday at 3:00 p.m. on FOX for the NFC Championship.

Divisional Round Preview: Falcons vs Seahawks

Game 3:

Sunday, January 13, 2013

1:00pm – FOX

Seattle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons

Despite consistently being one of the best regular season quarterbacks
in the NFL, Matt Ryan has yet to win a playoff game. He will try to win
his first on Sunday against Seattle. Photo credit to SBRforum.com.

This was a very tough one for me to dissect, as it is the only Divisional Round game that is not a rematch of a 2012 regular season game. The Falcons only game against the NFC West this year was a narrow win over the Cardinals in Week 11. The Seahawks lone meeting with an NFC South team was a 4-point victory in Carolina early in the season.

Atlanta had a solid season. They were undefeated against all non-NFC South opponents, losing in road games to New Orleans and Carolina and at home in Week 17 to Tampa Bay. Speaking of that home loss, it was their only loss at home this season and Matt Ryan has never lost consecutive home games in his collegiate and professional career.

Seattle’s defense looked shaky on the road in Washington. They were torched on their first two defensive drives and it’s hard to believe that their later success wasn’t primarily because RG3 was not himself.

Atlanta is in the bottom half of the league defending both the run and the pass, and that will play into Seattle’s favor. Marshawn Lynch had a terrific game against Washington’s stingy defensive line and I don’t expect much to be different this Sunday.

One piece of news that could affect that, though, is the possible returns of John Abraham, Dunta Robinson and William Moore. Abraham practiced Wednesday and Moore returned last Saturday. Robinson suffered a concussion against Tampa Bay in Week 17 but may be cleared in time for Sunday’s contest.

Seattle just does not play the same on the road and their ‘high-scoring offense’ is looking more and more like a three-week phenomenon. The Redskins’ defense held them to 24 points. The Redskins! Seattle won’t get the same big plays through the air they found in Washington and I’m not sure Lynch will be enough to get back-to-back road wins for Seattle.

Puff’s Pick:

Seattle Seahawks – 17

Atlanta Falcons – 27

MVP: Matt Ryan

Wild-Card Afterword: Redskins vs Seahawks

Marshawn Lynch had 20 carries for 132 yards and a score
against Washington's usually-stingy run defense.
Photo credit to USA Today.

The Redskins got off to a fast start and it seemed like they were well on their way to trouncing the visiting Seahawks. Washington’s first two possessions resulted in 14 points while their defense held Seattle to nothing in the first quarter.

The Seahawks remained calm, however, and their defense went to work on the Redskins while their offense came up with some big plays. They pulled the game to within one point at half time.

The Redskins hung in there and the defense forced a big goal-line turnover and some key third down stops, but Seattle’s generally poor rushing defense played very well and their passing defense was up to par with where it was during the season. It certainly didn’t help the Redskins that RG3’s passing mechanics were poor throughout the last three quarters. He just couldn’t keep the ball down in this contest.

Marshawn Lynch, who averaged 5 yards per carry during the regular season, averaged nearly two more yards per carry at FedEx Field.

Russell Wilson played well, too, and is the only rookie quarterback who will advance to the divisional round. The Seahawks will play in Atlanta at 1:00 p.m. Sunday. Atlanta has not won a postseason game with Matt Ryan at quarterback.

RG3 re-injured his knee in the fourth quarter against Seattle and will spend the off-season getting healthy. Monday’s MRI results were inconclusive (difference of opinion with several doctors) so he is flying down to Florida with Dan Snyder today to get another MRI and go through some fitness tests with Dr. James Andrews.

It is a disappointing exit from the postseason for the Redskins. Still, the fact Washington made it this far after a 3-6 start is remarkable.

It does sting Redskins fans, though, that they have been bounced from the playoffs by the Seahawks for a third consecutive time.