The Seahawks are going to beat the Falcons, and it's probably not even going to be very close.
The Hawks should have put up 38 points on Washington, easily. They won't make the same errors they made in that game. And the Falcons' defense is worse than Washington's. If Russell Wilson hits his deep throws and Marshawn Lynch holds on to the football, the Hawks should be able to score 35.
Everyone thinks the Falcons are going to put up a ton of points. They average 26.2 points per game, but they scored just 17 in a five-point loss to Tampa Bay at home in the season finale.
Atlanta has gone over 35 just once all season -- in the opener. They beat the Giants 34-0 and the Lions 31-18 in Weeks 15 and 16, but they otherwise had been scoring around 23-24 points per game throughout the second half of the season. The Hawks give up 15 points per game, and they shut out Washington in the final three quarters.
Nah, this game won't be close. Not after the first quarter anyway. The Hawks will do what they couldn't quite do in Dan Snyder's barnyard last week; they will finish drives with touchdowns.
Don’t believe it? Consider these tidbits then:
**The Seahawks were No. 2 in red-zone efficiency this season, scoring 51 times in 54 possessions inside the 20-yard line -- 31 touchdowns and 20 field goals. Marshawn Lynch's fumble last week was their first red-zone turnover of the season.
**The Falcons surrender 123 rushing yards per game and are the second-worst team in allowing yards after contact. Lynch makes a living breaking tackles.
**The Falcons were 3-2 in games in which players surpassed 100 yards rushing. Lynch has gone over 100 in five straight games, including 132 against Washington.
**The Falcons lost their season finale to Tampa Bay, at home, 22-17. They were 3 for 14 on third downs in that game, and Matt Ryan was sacked twice.
**Wilson has 11 touchdowns (eight passing, three rushing) and one interception in the past five road games, counting the wild-card win in Washington.
And the kicker:
The NFC’s No. 1 seed has lost in the divisional round in four of the last five seasons.
Comments