The Atlanta Falcons Won't Win A Playoff Game This Year

Needless to say, but the Bears are struggling right now. Their offensive line cannot block anyone, their an injury prone team, and they lost Bryan Urlacher - which is equal to losing a Quarterback; therefore, it's unlikely they will go passed the Wildcard, that is if they even make it. The Seahawks are undefeated at home; however, they struggle on the road. They are just 2-5 on it (ESPN), and will have to play on it during the post-season. That means the Giants or perhaps Packers are the likely choices to face them, depending on which seed Falcons end up with. Plus, I'm wondering if my opponent follows football. He points out the Giants are 2-3 in their last five, while the Falcons are 5-1. Anyone who can use the eyeball test realizes how much more of a better playoff team the Giants are than the Falcons. As a matter of fact, they can just look back a year ago when the Falcons played them in the playoffs and despite having a better record they lost. Also, my opponent points out that the Falcons are far from limping in the playoffs. Well, that has actually been one of their many problems. They peak at the wrong time, and it seems when come playoff time, they lose their steam. There is by no means air of confidence in Atlanta now. They were smoked by Carolina Panthers, a team who only had 3 wins before, 30-20; and, critics are consistency saying they cannot win a playoff game. As a matter of fact, peaking at the right time and barely making the playoff has actually been a recent trend of success. The 2 out 2 past Superbowl winners barely made it into the playoff. In the playoffs, they have not only lost to teams with worse records than them, but they also haven't even kept one of the games. Their closest game in the past two years in the playoffs was by 25 points. They are similar to their team in 2010, where they went 14-2 and lost to the 10-6 Packers by 27 points except they actually beat some quality teams that year except their strength was schedule is .484. " The Falcons have certainly benefited from a not-too-hard schedule. However, that doesn't change the fact that the Falcons are fourth in the league in pass yards and eighth in overall yards and points per game." I'm sorry, but I laughed about that statement. Of course it matters! It would be like saying I fought 8 scrubs in the UFC; therefore, I should fight Anderson Silva. It's easier to point up points and yards when you face teams that average less than 4 wins. That's just, well, common sense. And out of every team in the playoffs, the closest to the weakest schedule in the NFC are the 49ers are .485, and even that is a .95 difference. (ESPN Standings). In addition, everyone knows that running the ball successfully in the playoffs is crucial. It makes the play-calling less one-dimensional. The Falcons are 32nd and rushing, and on the other side of the ball, they are giving up the 9th most rushing yards (ESPN Falcons Page). This has been a past trend in recent seasons for the Falcons. They peak early, do enough to get one of top seeds, and then breakdown in the playoffs. History has a better chance of repeating itself than not, and I don't foresee why it won't. The Falcons' success is misinformed by their weak schedule. Compared to their three other seasons, this is significantly. (ESPN). So, that means they are 0-3 in the playoffs with harder schedules before. It will take a lot of lucky breaks for the Falcons to beat, say, the Giants or the Packers, especially when the Giants and Packers are great at getting to the Quarterback and Matt Ryan has already been sacked 29 times this year. It's not sour grapes. It's just pure facts. The Falcons are an one-dimensional offense, vulnerable against the run, having a proven track record of blowing it in the playoffs, their QB's rating is a 71.2 in the playoffs ( which would be almost dead to last if it was in the regular season this year) (pro football), they've faced the easiest teams in the league thus far, and they are most likely going to face Packers or Giants, two teams that have a track record of getting it done in the playoffs. Sources: http://espn.go.com... http://espn.go.com... http://www.pro-football-reference.com...