Falcons await Cowboys or Packers for NFC title game

While the Seahawks’ offensive line earned praise for its dominant run-blocking performance against Detroit, it also allowed slumping Lions pass-rusher Ezekiel Ansah to register two sacks, as many as he tallied throughout the regular season.

The Atlanta Falcons beat the Seattle Seahawks 36-20 to advance to the NFC Championship game. Like I said, get out of my face. Try me again, see what happens.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, building off a spectacular regular season, threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns to help the Falcons to a 36-20 playoff romp over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.

For team owner and rich guy Arthur Blank there were more. “We were fired up and ready to go”. Then, as now, they won. Ezekiel Elliott uses a spin move to escape the hands of Packer Clay Mathews to not only gain a first yard, but place the Cowboys into a nice spot to tie the game, and they do.

No such late heroics were necessary this time around.

He was the superior quarterback to Russell Wilson (two touchdowns, two interceptions, 75.0 rating).

Matt Ryan led the Atlanta Falcons to a win over the Seattle Seahawks. “This time it was plus-2”. It also bottled up running back Thomas Rawls, who ran effectively early in the game but ended with just 34 yards, 15 fewer than Wilson. First of all former Falcon returner, Devin Hester, took a kickoff back 50 yards to give Seattle good field position for a short drive leading to a 33-yard Steven Hauschka field goal.

Atlanta went 75 yards in 13 plays to start the third quarter, with Devonta Freeman scoring from a yard out. This game comes down to a field goal.

Finally, the match up that I’m most intrigued by – the No. 1 seed Dallas Cowboys vs the No. 4 seed Green Bay Packers. “Because both teams have been hot, one of the best indicators for playoff success, it’s time to go with another factor”. And three of the five losses were by three points or less. One of eight left. “We don’t take that for granted”. “But guys came in and played as well as they could”.

On Sunday, the Falcons will find out what comes next.

“The greatest thing Earl Thomas does for the Seahawks – and I know they played with him for part of the season and they weren’t getting a lot of turnovers with him – but what he does is he allows everybody else to cheat”, ESPN analyst and former National Football League quarterback Trent Dilfer told “Brock and Salk” earlier this week. It’s been a long road for Atlanta’s young defense to get to an NFC Championship bid, but they’ve learned how to mask their deficiencies. I just put my heart on the f******* field.

From the moment head coach Dan Quinn arrived in Atlanta, he has stressed two things – playing fast and playing physical.

“Don’t point (at us) and say we didn’t do what we needed to do, OK?”

Yet on this particular evening, the crowd seemed to have the most energy. That’s got to be as loud as it’s ever been.

This was easily one for the story books. The Falcons, meanwhile, have not been dominant at home record wise (5-3), but their offense is much explosive at the Georgia Dome than other where else. They won’t have their usual insane loud atmosphere to play in but face a Falcons team that have a lot to prove in the postseason.