Look to the skies on Sunday as we will see two of this season’s best quarterbacks—and two of the top candidate for MVP—air it out with Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers trying to lead their respective teams to the pinnacle event in American Sports. The Atlanta Falcons will be at home against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday in what will be a rematch of an October game that saw the teams combined for 65-points.
Don't miss the NFC Championship Game from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA at 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 22, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on FOX.
NFL Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Packers +4
Falcons -4
Over/Under 60
Odds Analysis
The spread has actually grown a point in favor of the Falcons since opening despite the Packers being the ones that unseated the conference top seed to make it to this conference title bout.
Likewise, the total is also on the rise, now sitting at 61, which is fair considering these teams combined for more than that in their previous meeting, but that game saw the two teams battling it out into the final seconds. Are we in for an equally thrilling game once again?
That is likely the case. Both of these offenses can score while neither defense inspires enough confidence to expect either offense to be beaten by anything more than its own mistakes.
Team and Coaching Playoff History
In terms of playoff pedigree, Rodgers and the Packers have the advantage. They went through the Falcons on their way to Super Bowl XLV. Given that Super Bowl, Green Bay—and Rodgers specifically—has shown the ability to take control in the postseason while Ryan has been lackluster at best in his previous postseason experiences.
We’ve seen the Falcons overcome their playoff shortcomings so far and Ryan does have the offensive weapons to allow him to success, but is this defense strong enough to hold down Rodgers and company? The Packers are a dynamic team, particularly in the red zone, while the Falcons’ defense has been unable to stop the opposition inside their own 20.
The fact that Atlanta has made it this far should be seen as a major victory for the Falcons. They were a .500 team a season ago and below .500 in back-to-back campaigns after dropping to the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game following the 2012 season.
That conference title loss, however, came under a different head coach as Dan Quinn has been impressive in his first chance at the helm of an NFL team. In two seasons, he turned a losing team into a team that’s got a shot to win the conference. Of course, he does come with some postseason coaching experience given his two seasons with the Seahawks, serving as their Defensive Coordinator in both their Super Bowl appearances. But, can he get his own defense up to championship caliber?
On the other side of the gridiron, the Packers are in their eighth straight postseason though they’ve only made it to the Conference title game three times in Mike McCarthy’s 11 years at the helm, two of those coming with Rodgers under center.
The last appearance was a loss against Seattle as Quinn’s defense picked off Rodgers twice and held Green Bay’s defense to nine points after the first quarter. Of course, the time before that resulted in a Super Bowl; the team’s fourth Super Bowl victory in franchise history. The Falcons, meanwhile, have just one Super Bowl appearance: a loss in 1999.
Recent Games of Note
The Falcons beat the Packers when these teams met in Week 8 at the Georgia Dome, snapping a two game losing streak for Atlanta and kicking off a four game skid for Green Bay.
The game was a title battle with Atlanta getting the 33-32 victory thanks to an 11-yard touchdown pass from Ryan to Mohamed Sanu with just 31 second left.
Ryan and Rodgers went back and forth in the game, each putting up big numbers with Ryan throwing for 288 yards and three touchdowns to Rodgers’ 246 yards and four scores. Ryan also had the better completion percentage.
Rodgers, however, added 60-yards on the ground to help propel the Packers’ rushing attack as neither team got much on the ground. Devonta Freeman rushed for just 35 yards—though he did scores a touchdown—while Green Bay was without its top two running backs, both figure to be out on Sunday as well.
It’s hard to take away too much from that game since the teams were neck-and-neck, so what changed to give one team an edge over the other? For starters, Rodgers is playing out of his mind. He finally gave up an interception against Dallas, but still delivered 356 yards while Green Bay topped 30-points for the sixth straight game. That said, Ryan is playing well, too. The Falcons scored 36 against Seattle and Ryan avoided an interception, completing 26 of 37 passes for 338 yards and three scores. Freeman and Tavin Coleman were both productive in the game, too, giving Atlanta the edge on the ground.
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