Well, that was exciting. I’m sure more exciting than Falcon fans wanted to see. Wilson just needs to work on getting in gear in the first half next season.
Oh man the 49ers are going bird hunting next week.
Regardless of who won today.
Damn, that was an exciting playoff game. If the Falcons offense shows up like that for two more games, they have a real chance at a title. Of course, their problem at the end of the season was that they didn’t show up every week.
Also, once again, the foolishness of icing the kicker was shown. When will coaches learn to stay away from that shit?
SlyFrog
1648
That was a great game. You can’t lose - I feel bad for Wilson (both because I’m from Wisconsin and because he is one of those charismatic guys that you can’t help but cheer for), but it’s nice to see Matt Ryan and the Falcons lose at least a little bit of monkey of the “good team that can’t win a playoff game.”
After the shutout in the first half and the comeback in the second half, there was a quote about Atlanta’s defense that I was trying to remember. I couldn’t think of where I saw it. I just found it in Simmons’s mailbag:
My fears for picking the Falcons: You can do whatever you want against their defense (literally, whatever you want)
Oh, now I see what you mean.
Another good call:
My fears for picking against the Falcons: … the fact that Seattle always seems to play these dramatically tight road games (and the Falcons have been pulling those games out of their butts all season, regardless of how they played in the first 50 minutes of the game).
Hey, the covered the spread!
Man, as bad as the Seahawks looked in the 1st half, they figured it out in the 2nd half. Fun game to watch. I was kind of hoping Seattle would pull it out, but I really can’t be sad Atlanta came though (plus, Pete Carroll rubs me the wrong way).
It occurs to me that when a team habitually does poorly in the first half and then comes back in the second, it might just be a coaching problem. It could be that Carroll and his crew are very poor at forecasting their opponent’s gameplan, but they are brilliant at adjusting to it once they see it in action. Wilson, being a rookie, probably doesn’t have that much control over what the offense does in the first half vs the second.
Seriously, the Falcons pass rush was a cuddly kitten following behind Wilson on his leisurely jogs out of the pocket before he flicked the ball over linebackers too scared to cover and too slow to hit.
I think it’s a bad omen for Houston to be in scoring position like they were and only get a field goal out of it. They need every point they can get against the Patriots.
They didn’t know what to do. With a hard rush Wilson just juked them and took off for 10-20 yard runs. I think the best thing you can do is keep Wilson in the pocket and make him beat you that way, even if it means going with a soft rush designed to contain.
Amazing finish, too. I wonder if Longwell has leg enough to even try a FG at the end. They were on the 48. That would have been about a 65 yarder.
robsam
1655
Well damn, I’m going to be forced to cheer for Baltimore next weekend.
Yeah, my fear is we’ll have an Atlanta - New England Superbowl. That’s about the most boring match up I could have imagined when the playoffs started.
Maybe Baltimore can upend the Pats. Last year they should have won. It will be tough playing in New England though.
robsam
1657
I have a new player to really despise, Talib is a total jackass.
The universe doesn’t want Manning or Brady showing up to Manning v Brady AFC Championship, the Texans must and will win this game.
edit: Nevermind. Grab the ball when it pops up next time, Houston.
As a fan my experience has been seeing a team like the Ravens, coming off an emotional if not miraculous victory, having a let down the following week. This is not necessarily fatal, depending on their next opponent.
The Ravens next opponent is New England…FATALITY!
SlyFrog
1660
I really want to cheer for Ray Lewis. He is very charismatic. He has such enthusiasm.
Yet I feel guilty for both wanting to like and cheer for a dude who quite possibly stabbed someone to death, and who at the least was guilty of lying about what he knew and who did it.
olaf
1661
The Seattle-Atlanta game was great fun to watch. I love it when icing a kicker bites a coach in the ass. Not a Pete Carol fan either so, yay. I did think the Seahawks would win because I thought Atlanta had a really weak schedule. Its nice to see Tony Gonzalez get a playoff win though and a chance at a Super Bowl. He is an incredible athlete and football player, and seems to be a good human being to boot.
Texans-Patriots, less so. Texans had a nice run to end the first half but the game never felt close.
I think we will see a 49er-Patriot Super Bowl.
