I normally put way more stock in the matchups than the other stuff, but this games feels different.  Kind of like the first St Louis game felt all wrong, and Miami felt all wrong coming off the bye. 

Except opposite. 

I just heard Pete on 710.  he was Kite high.  loose.  giddy.  This is an opportunity, and he is going to put Irvin in a position to succeed.  Screw the early start east coast thing, it doesn't matter.  Pete is hyped. The big balls Pete is going to Atlanta. 

Atlanta is tight. The coaching staff in Atlanta has tried three different approaches to the first playoff game now.  They are searching after coming up snakeyes twice in a row.  They don't fear the Seahawks, but they really do fear having another post season failure. They are feeling pressure. " We have to stop the run" were some of the words the head coach used.  They spent last week trying to work on some fundamentals they feel were weak, things like better tackling.  There are no padded practices now, so how they do that is beyond me.  They want to work on attack angles, which is directly tied to not letting Wilson extend plays. 

Mike Smith begged fans to show up on time and be in their seats for warmups.  The players are begging fans to make noise in their interviews.  Promises of eyes on Wilson at all times.  Saying how physical Seattle plays, so we have to make sure we play physical.  We have seen enough teams try to manufacture physicality to know it isn't that easy. 

I know, there is nothing to hang your hat on in any of those things.  Nothing real or tangible.  But after getting all angsty this week over some stuff, I am just convinced that Seattle will be the much looser team on Sunday.  And I think "Lets do what we do" beats "Don't eff it up" every time. 

I agree.  That has been noticeable this week.  The dichotomy between the feel-good, playin' with house money Hawks versus a tight, nervous Falcons team that has a lot to lose.  Like you, I'm not sure if we can hang our hat on it or not, but I sure am glad the positions aren't reversed. 

There are three certainties in life.  Death, taxes and the perpetual shuffling of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line. 

Aros wrote:I agree.  That has been noticeable this week.  The dichotomy between the feel-good, playin' with house money Hawks versus a tight, nervous Falcons team that has a lot to lose.  Like you, I'm not sure if we can hang our hat on it or not, but I sure am glad the positions aren't reversed. 

When you play not to lose, you find a way not to win.  I think Seattle came out with the impossible self-expectations last week, and somehow, miraculously, got the victory anyway.  Once they shook off the nerves, they played the way we expect them to do.  If they can keep it going, they'll put Atlanta in a whole that will start the whole team doubting their resolve which they won't shake off(IMO.). 

Last edited by Sarlacc83 on Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:09 am, edited 1 time in total. 

Aros wrote:I agree.  That has been noticeable this week.  The dichotomy between the feel-good, playin' with house money Hawks versus a tight, nervous Falcons team that has a lot to lose.  Like you, I'm not sure if we can hang our hat on it or not, but I sure am glad the positions aren't reversed. 

It's downright embarassing that it took this long to sell out - but indicative of a nervous fan base.  You can sense the "what if?"  undercurrent in the Falcons fan base imagining blowing this one.  Do you keep Mike Smith if they lose??  Why keep a head coach that can't win a playoff game? 

Honestly, they have NO EXCUSE to lose this game.  NONE.  At home, best record in the league, top-flight offense, rested after a bye, exra time to prepare for the Seahawks...and yet I sense the pressure is stacking up on their shoulders. 

They are going to play a good game - I have no doubt.  They will be fired up - and I think it's going to start a little rough for us.  But I think they don't have any notion of how patient and poised our young team is in any situation.  We haven't lost a game since right after Thanksgiving, and we are confident in any scenario,

Our mental toughness cannot be overstated. 

Last edited by FlyingGreg on Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:11 am, edited 1 time in total. 

I'm nervous as hell about this game too, but I gotta agree with the sentiment of this post.  It's hard to continue to think we're going to come up just a bit short in light of everything I'm seeing. 

Bill Wixey from Q-13 Fox is in Atlanta, prepping for the 'Hawks game, and he had a special this morning on the news where he went around looking for Falcons fans, trying to convince folks to root for the 'Hawks.  He said it was absolutely eerie, the lack of anything Falcons related in Atlanta.  Said he saw a whopping three people dressed in Falcons gear the first two days he was there, and two of them were Falcons employees showing up for work at the stadium.  There is zero interest right now in Atlanta.  None.  Zip.  Nada.  And that does not bode well for the team's psyche, especially in the face of a "must-win" game. 

"The ultimate number is W's, and that’s what matters in Santa Clara.  As such, Jed York does not own the 49ers; Russell Wilson does." -  Paul Gutierrez

Aros wrote:I agree.  That has been noticeable this week.  The dichotomy between the feel-good, playin' with house money Hawks versus a tight, nervous Falcons team that has a lot to lose.  Like you, I'm not sure if we can hang our hat on it or not, but I sure am glad the positions aren't reversed. 

bestfightstory wrote:Well I am nervous as hell so I appreciate well-reasoned optimistic posts like this.  We are in such need of a forceful and energized start to this game. 

It cracks me up that this game has not sold out yet. 

Yes, it has. 

News was still reporting this morning there were plenty of tickets still available for purchase.  And looking at StubHub, there are still 3,592 as of right now.  86 of them available in the "Lower Prime" sections on the Falcons side, the lowest level between the 40's. 

"The ultimate number is W's, and that’s what matters in Santa Clara.  As such, Jed York does not own the 49ers; Russell Wilson does." -  Paul Gutierrez

bestfightstory wrote:Well I am nervous as hell so I appreciate well-reasoned optimistic posts like this.  We are in such need of a forceful and energized start to this game. 

It cracks me up that this game has not sold out yet. 

Yes, it has. 

News was still reporting this morning there were plenty of tickets still available for purchase.  And looking at StubHub, there are still 3,592 as of right now. 

All the talk of tickets for sale are through Stubhub, NFL Ticket Exchange, or other individual sellers/ticket brokers.  These are secondary markets.  The availability of tickets on secondary markets has absolutely no bearing on whether or not the game is sold out.  That being said, yes, the Falcons have the most available tickets on secondary markets. 

If we used the metric you are implying, no game would be sold out for any team at any point, because there are always available tickets to any game on secondary markets. 

cboom wrote:Wilson is the worst QB I have seen as a Hawks fan.  And I have been around long enough to see them all. 

the tickets will be sold out by Sunday...its hard to buy tickets when you have no job :-( but as a whole the fan base id call it...nervously confident, as fans we have seen what the Falcons are capable of this year and know that if they play that type of game its gonna be good game for the Falcons..

on the other side of that is the game's we have seen in the past 5 years where they do nothing but destroy a fans trust in the team...call people pathetic fans or whatever you want, the true point is we havent had good succes in the playoffs since i think it was 02'ish?  and in a town so used to the Falcons failing (look at the history of the Falcons...alot of losing went on) i think its going to take alot more than a few winning seasons to rebuild all that has been lost

HawksFTW wrote:All the talk of tickets for sale are through Stubhub, NFL Ticket Exchange, or other individual sellers/ticket brokers.  These are secondary markets.  The availability of tickets on secondary markets has absolutely no bearing on whether or not the game is sold out.  That being said, yes, the Falcons have the most available tickets on secondary markets. 

Of course.  But try telling me that's sold out when I'm scouring the bowels of the Internet for Seahawks tickets during the regular season.  They're out there, but good tickets are a hell of a lot harder to find for far less important Seahawks game than they are for the Falcons in the divisional round of the playoffs.  I can still find 200+ prime, low, midfield tickets available - from just one site - for that game, something that's a damned impossibility for pretty much any Seahawks game almost as soon as it's scheduled. 

At the very least, those tickets here are bought and scalped.  There, I'd bet scalpers aren't buying them because they don't want to be left holding them when nobody bites. 

"The ultimate number is W's, and that’s what matters in Santa Clara.  As such, Jed York does not own the 49ers; Russell Wilson does." -  Paul Gutierrez

They run the NFL Ticket Exchange, so yes they do have a secondary market.  As for it being sold out, everything that I have read says they are sold out.  I haven't checked, but in years past, I have bought tickets from Ticketmaster that were directly off of the NFL Ticket Exchange, but went through the main Ticketmaster site.  I am not sure if that is what you are referring to as I haven't attempted to purchase tickets to this game, but there are multiple people saying:

The game Sunday at the Georgia Dome is sold out, but plenty of those tickets ended up on the secondary market.  As of Tuesday afternoon, StubHub.com was offering more than 9,000 tickets that started at $60 for single upper end-zone seats. 

Secondly, if the game WASN'T sold out, we would be hearing talk of it possibly being blacked out and the team most likely receiving a deadline extension for the black out rules.  Seeing how it is Friday, and that is not the story flying around, I highly doubt the game isn't sold out.  Regardless, all the media hype about the game being sold out, are referring to the 9,000+- tickets available on Stub Hub, not once actually referred to this game being blacked out or anything along those lines. 

cboom wrote:Wilson is the worst QB I have seen as a Hawks fan.  And I have been around long enough to see them all. 

The Falcons would also like to remind fans that the game is sold out and there is a potential danger of counterfeit tickets being sold in the secondary market.  Because of the heightened demand for Falcons playoff tickets, the club has advised the following guidelines to avoid purchasing counterfeit tickets. 

Fans may choose to purchase tickets at www.nfl.com/ticketexchange or www.ticketmaster.com.•The NFL Ticket Exchange is the only resale marketplace endorsed by the NFL, providing fans with the opportunity to purchase seats listed by Falcons season ticket holders or other fans....“The NFL Ticket Exchange powered by Ticketmaster, the only marketplace for fans to buy and sell guaranteed authentic NFL tickets, provides Atlanta Falcons fans looking to buy or sell their playoff tickets a safe, convenient, and League-approved resale platform,” said Clay Luter, Ticketmaster’s senior vice president of Stadium, Outdoor & College Sports. “ Through the NFL Ticket Exchange, the Falcons are able to deliver fans access to the only barcode-authenticated playoff game tickets.” 

What I am telling you is it may be through Ticketmaster.com, but the tickets they show and are selling are THROUGH NFL Ticket Exchange. 

cboom wrote:Wilson is the worst QB I have seen as a Hawks fan.  And I have been around long enough to see them all. 

FTW.  You have taught me something I did not know (re ticket exchange).  Nonetheless, this game cannot be seen as a sellout at this point according to the people at Ticketmaster.  I just spoke with them on the phone. 

This back and forth only serves to accentuate the point of this thread which is that Atlanta sports a shameful fan base.  Psychological advantage: US. 

bestfightstory wrote:FTW.  You have taught me something I did not know (re ticket exchange).  Nonetheless, this game cannot be seen as a sellout at this point according to the people at Ticketmaster.  I just spoke with them on the phone. 

This back and forth only serves to accentuate the point of this thread which is that Atlanta sports a shameful fan base.  Psychological advantage: US. 

I think the fact that there are so many tickets available is a positive thing, yes. 

I don't know who to trust Ticketmaster, or team officials reporting that the game is sold out.  I tend to distrust team officials, but having dealt with Ticketmaster over the years, I distrust them more. 

Anyway, the link you have posted, I am not sure if you quite understand it.  That 85% the article is talking about the fact that teams can now set the bar lower to still be above the blackout limit, but would have to share a larger revenue of ticket sales with the rest of the NFL.  I believe zero teams took advantage of this new rules, so it doesn't apply here. 

cboom wrote:Wilson is the worst QB I have seen as a Hawks fan.  And I have been around long enough to see them all. 

Atlanta is a bible belt.  A lot of people tend to arrive from church after the game has already started which is why our players are urging fans to come early.  People show up a lot earlier for our night games. 

Keep the faith boys, as we are going to win this game. Yes, Atlanta is an offensive powerhouse.  We do not fear them, but my guess is that they fear our run game.  A max dosage of The Beast along with DangeRuss on the read option, plus a little Turbinator to change things up will set up our play action pefectly.  We will succeed at this. Atlanta has spent the whole week game planning against the Seahawks.  They had to spend the whole week trying to figure out Lynch, Wilson, and the read option. We will be loose and ready. 

Do not freak out if this game starts out similar to last weeks game.  Throughout the course of this game, our smashmouth style will slowly break them and and break their will. We won't be able to stop them, we only need to slow them down, just a little.  Their offense averaged 26 PPG during the regular season.  If we hold them to a score of 1 less FG than their average, that should ensure our victory. 

Scottemojo wrote:I don't think Atlanta has worse or better fans that Seattle.  But I do think they are ready to sit on their hands and shut their mouths at the first sign of adversity.  They have been conditioned. 

If Seattle comes out firing, I would love to see this happen.  The inside of a dome can be pin drop quiet, which I know from experience having been to St. Louis. 

cboom wrote:Wilson is the worst QB I have seen as a Hawks fan.  And I have been around long enough to see them all. 

Right now the Seahawks feel like the 2010 Packers, and the Falcons feel like the 2007 Seahawks.  The 2010 Packers had belief.  The 2007 Seahawks had a nervous brand of hope.  I would have to agree, Seattle comes in with the psychological edge at kickoff. 

Scottemojo wrote:I don't think Atlanta has worse or better fans that Seattle.  But I do think they are ready to sit on their hands and shut their mouths at the first sign of adversity.  They have been conditioned. 

If Seattle comes out firing, I would love to see this happen.  The inside of a dome can be pin drop quiet, which I know from experience having been to St. Louis. 

Scottemojo wrote:I normally put way more stock in the matchups than the other stuff, but this games feels different.  Kind of like the first St Louis game felt all wrong, and Miami felt all wrong coming off the bye. 

Except opposite. 

I just heard Pete on 710.  he was Kite high.  loose.  giddy.  This is an opportunity, and he is going to put Irvin in a position to succeed.  Screw the early start east coast thing, it doesn't matter.  Pete is hyped. The big balls Pete is going to Atlanta. 

Atlanta is tight. The coaching staff in Atlanta has tried three different approaches to the first playoff game now.  They are searching after coming up snakeyes twice in a row.  They don't fear the Seahawks, but they really do fear having another post season failure. They are feeling pressure. " We have to stop the run" were some of the words the head coach used.  They spent last week trying to work on some fundamentals they feel were weak, things like better tackling.  There are no padded practices now, so how they do that is beyond me.  They want to work on attack angles, which is directly tied to not letting Wilson extend plays. 

Mike Smith begged fans to show up on time and be in their seats for warmups.  The players are begging fans to make noise in their interviews.  Promises of eyes on Wilson at all times.  Saying how physical Seattle plays, so we have to make sure we play physical.  We have seen enough teams try to manufacture physicality to know it isn't that easy. 

I know, there is nothing to hang your hat on in any of those things.  Nothing real or tangible.  But after getting all angsty this week over some stuff, I am just convinced that Seattle will be the much looser team on Sunday.  And I think "Lets do what we do" beats "Don't eff it up" every time. 

Atlanta is changing their game plan because of the playoff thing.  This is very good for us.  The worst thing they could do is just go in there and play their game - the game plan that got them the best record in the league.  The Seahawks have everything to win and Atlanta has everything to lose.  This is a total psyche job.  Eyes-of-steel Russel Wilson is gonna go in there and rip some asses open.  Lynch is gonna fricken go off. 

Not sure bout anything related to ticketmaster but i can tell you this from a season ticket holder.i will NEVER sell a ticket through any other source other than NFLEXCHANGE through ticketmaster, it is the only NFL and team approved system. I was told by my lovely rep that if i sell to any 3rd party and they get kicked out i lose my tickets for ever... Unless it is sold through the nfl exchange, as i then wave all my liablity. 

You can also by game day tickets through ticketmaster as well as the 400 or so tickets that are sold at the GATE each game day that are NOT allocated to online sales.. now this is seattle only....

they can say that seattle has a sold out season, however when in reality it doesn't count tickets allocated for Extra seatings.. (did that make sense?)I"m sure that the atlanta game has officially sold out by now if it hasn't WOW...... just WOW. 

kearly wrote:Right now the Seahawks feel like the 2010 Packers, and the Falcons feel like the 2007 Seahawks.  The 2010 Packers had belief.  The 2007 Seahawks had a nervous brand of hope.  I would have to agree, Seattle comes in with the psychological edge at kickoff. 

Additionally, the 2007 Seahawks were badly overrated after a terrible schedule, running an easily exploitable brand of defense and an outmoded, unbalanced philosophy on offense.  The 2010 Packers were playing with a mastery of the "hot hand" of NFL offensive styles and had proven their depth and resilience.  Tons of parallels between these two teams. 

I KNOW the difference between face value tickets through Ticketmaster and the ticket exchange. 

Previous posters are correct, at this exact moment, there are STILL many tickets available, through Ticketmaster, at face value plus standard fees. 

I might also add that most of the listings on StubHub that I saw for upper level seats a couple days ago were actually less than face value!  I think there were scalpers who assumed that they'd get Washington or Dallas, either one is a short flight to Atlanta, and both teams have fans that would travel that distance... but when Seattle ended up being the team, well, they were probably pretty screwed, is my guess. 

Go load it up yourself -- standard Ticketmaster site, find Atlanta Falcons, find the game, Find Tickets, and the little map that loads, everything in blue is available at face value. 

(You'll also see the ad at the bottom right, "Buy Falcons Playoff tickets direct from season ticket holders and other fans on NFL Ticket Exchange by Ticketmaster!  Note: resale prices often exceed face value."  NFL Ticket Exchange and a separate link.) 

Contrast this with Seattle 2005 where the tiny number of tickets that went on sale to the public sold out in 18 minutes... season ticket holders got to buy a few extras before the public on sale, and between the stadium already being ridiculously sold out from season ticket holders, and that opportunity, there were only several thousand, I think something like 6,000 to 8,000 tickets even available... and that includes club seats... and handicapped...

I heard on the radio today - from an ATL radio guy, I think - that the Falcons have never had back to back winning seasons before the Mike Smith, Matt Ryan, and Tom Dimitroff (GM) era.  Did I hear that correctly?  If so, that does explain some trepidation on fans' part. 

But still.  Come on.  The fact that we're even debating the nature of the available tickets is so frikkin laughable.  Either people didn't buy them in the first place, or people bought them and want to get rid of them!  LMAO!  I feel bad for vested, true Falcons fans that they get a bad rap because not enough people are as passionate as them.  But that assumes there are die hard Falcons fans in the first place. 

I don't need to tell anyone here that we have endured some shit-ass periods of losing in Seattle.  While the winning brings out more casual fans, I think the hard-core base has been alive and well through thick and thin for a long time. 

The psychology is totally on our side.  I read some article on ESPN tonight from their divisional blogger named Pat Jackelope or something like that.  Anyway you could tell he was trying to convince himself that the Falcons will win on Sunday because they should win.  Why, because the other three times they lost they were not the better team and this time they are.  He never mentions the stats that show Ryan clearly doesn't play as well in the playoffs.  The team and coaching staff don't handle pressure well this is why they have lost and lost big to boot.  He does remind everyone the Giants beat them 24-2 last year.  24-2 because the offense didn't show up.  Why didn't the offense show up I ask?  Because they don't' handle pressure well.  They have more pressure this year than ever.  I truly believe we are the better team all around.  If we show up and play to our potential we win.  Easy as that. 

It's sounding like to me the Falcons are trying hard to manufacture....something.  Bravado ?  Confidence ?  Physicality ?  Fan support ?  Not sure, but they sure don't seem to be as confident as the Hawks are going in.  How do I know this ?  Hell, just a feeling. 

One thing I'm sure of, if we jump on them early, or take them out of the game early, or even get up by a FG and hold that lead, I can see us taking the crowd right out of it, and early.  Once we get the crowd out of it, it gets even easier. 

Scottemojo wrote:We have seen enough teams try to manufacture physicality to know it isn't that easy. 

I always hate to quote a single sentence of a post, as if I'm cherry picking.  But as a Seahawk fan since the early 90s, watching some teams take the field that you would never call physical, to the 'Hawk team we have today... this one line stood out as a pearl of truth to me.  You cannot just become ˈfɪzɪkəl. 

physical (ˈfɪzɪkəl) —adj1.  of or relating to the body, as distinguished from the mind or spirit2.  of, relating to, or resembling material things or nature: the physical universe3.  involving or requiring bodily contact: rugby is a physical sport4.  of or concerned with matter and energy5.  of or relating to physics6.  perceptible to the senses; apparent: a physical manifestation

The Falcons should be very concerned.  At the very least it will be an extremely violent game until the last ticks of the fourth quarter. 

I'd be more worried, except that Smith usually locks the team down for a big game this year.  Before the other playoff games, players were on twitter a ton, there wasn't an air of seriousness...this is the same way they reacted after the Carolina loss. 

And I know you might not put much stake in that victory we had...but I sure as heck do. 

Going to be a great game.  Loose and undisciplined doesn't always play to your advantage.