Can we expect the postseason legend of Russell Wilson to continue? The Atlanta Falcons could not take care of the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle back in Week 6 and will look get some revenge. They did score 21 in the third quarter, winning the second half to keep the game very close. They’ll also have home field advantage this time around. They enter the game as notable favorites, but the Seahawks have the postseason pedigree behind them and some favorable matchups in the air with Atlanta’s Desmond Trufant out.
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NFL Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Seahawks +3.5
Falcons -3.5
Over/Under 49.5
Odds Analysis
Both the spread and the total have grown since opening, with the Falcons now 4.5-point favorites and the spread sitting at 51 anticipating a bit of a higher scoring affair as Wilson and Matt Ryan duel under center.
Thomas Rawls had his best game of the season against Detroit in the Wild Card game as the Seattle offense took off. The Falcons have had their own issues defending the run and if Rawls keeps it up—and Wilson adds both in the running and passing attacks, they could do some damage against the Atlanta defense without Trufant and with concerns up front.
Meanwhile, Ryan is in contention for the league MVP and will be going against a Seattle secondary that’s not nearly as dominate as it has been in postseason’s past. The ability of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman to move the ball on the ground could be key.
Points will be scored and this game will be a fun back-and-forth shootout.
Team and Coaching Playoff History
Atlanta is back in the postseason after a three year hiatus. Their last postseason moment saw the team fall to the 49ers in the 2012 Conference Championship. That ended what was at the time a three season stretch of playoff appearances.
Seattle is the team that’s got the postseason pedigree. They lost to the Panthers in the divisional round a season ago, but made back-to-back Super Bowl appearances prior to that. Since Wilson’s era at QB began in 2012, this team has not missed the playoffs.
As for the coaches, Pete Carroll’s first foray into the NFL failed miserably in the 90s, but he’s led the Seahawks to two NFC titles and a Super Bowl Championship in his first six years at the helm.
Flip the script to the Falcons, first time head coach Dan Quinn has turned this Atlanta team from a .500 ball club in his first year to a conference champ in year number two, but this will be his first time leading a team in a postseason game.
Recent Games of Note
The Wild Card game was very telling for this Seahawks team and a huge confidence builder for those looking to back the team from the great Northwest.
Seattle’s run of success in recent past was built on a dominant running game, a cool and collected quarterback and an elite defense.
The defense and the rushing attack had both taken a step back this year, but with Rawls’ performance against the Lions, rushing for 161 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. Add in the ever-effective Wilson completing 23 of his 30 passes and this offense was clicking with 24 first downs. The defense also did its thing. Detroit only managed 13 first downs and was unable to reach the end zone. All three key facets were working and working well.
Meanwhile, the other key game of note to this matchup was the Week 6 collision between these two clubs.
We saw flashes of what Atlanta can do in that game. In the third quarter, they scored 21 points and outscored Seattle from the second quarter onward. Ryan was able to pick apart the Seattle secondary, throwing for 335 yards. He was picked off once, but threw for three touchdowns. It was the running game that went silent. Both Freeman and Coleman did next to nothing as the offensive line couldn’t open up running lanes against a good Seattle front seven.
On the other side of the gridiron, the Atlanta rush defense played surprisingly well. They’ve been susceptible to good running games this season, but Rawls was out in that contest. Christine Michael though did get 64 yards and two touchdowns.
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