RARE BIRDS
Red-hot Falcons looking to earn much-deserved respect
THE Packers are perceived as the hottest team in the NFL playoffs having won eight straight games to reach Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the Falcons in Atlanta. And bettors in Las Vegas have jumped on the Green Bay bandwagon, with Bovada on-line betting tracking 77 percent of the wagering being put on the Packers, who Bovada listed as a 4-point underdog.
“We’ve grown a lot as the season went along,” said Packers defensive end Julius Peppers. “We had a rough stretch at the midpoint of the season where we were in a funk. But that’s where the most growth came from as we grew through that adversity.”
The Packers’ winning streak born from Aaron Rodgers’ prediction that Green Bay would “run the table” has overshadowed the fact the Falcons are on their own winning streak.
Atlanta has won five straight after a 36-20 victory over the battletested Seahawks in last weekend’s divisional playoff game. If the Packers are playing their best football of the season, so are the Falcons.
“This team, from the things we’ve been through, our bond has gotten tighter and tighter every time we played,” said Falcons 12-year veteran defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux. “We have to take advan- tage of this opportunity. We can’t take it for granted.”
The Packers are the sexier team. They have history as the winners of the first two Super Bowls. Heck the Super Bowl trophy is named after a Packers coach. And they have Rodgers, who has replaced Peyton Manning as the most marketable quarterback in football.
Atlanta is known for being pretty good, but mostly not good enough. The Falcons lost their only Super Bowl appearance in 1998 and last reached the NFC Championship in 2012, when they lost to the 49ers. Their 11-5 record this season was good enough to win the NFC South in Dan Quinn’s second season as head coach, but they are hardly America’s team.
But here’s why no one should sleep on the Falcons. They are motivated by history. The Falcons insist their loss to the 49ers in the 2012 NFC Championship game won’t be a factor Sunday, but there are a few players such as quarterback Matt Ryan and Babineaux who can spread the message of how a defeat one game short of the Super Bowl feels. “It was a bad feeling being so close to the ultimate goal as a player and see the team you lost to go on to the Super Bowl,” Babineaux said. “It something I’ll always remember.”
The versatility of their running backs will be a huge challenge, with Devonta Freeman gaining 1,541 yards from scrimmage and Tevin Coleman 941.
“Devonta and Tevin are as good as it gets in the league,” Ryan said. “We’re lucky they’re both so versatile. We’ve got the complete package back there.”
The Falcons’ defense is playing at a higher level, creating 11 turnovers during the winning streak.
“We’re playing much closer to the style and vision we’d like to play with the speed, intensity and tackling,” Quinn said. “It came from experience. We needed more turns together to get the communication better. Having gone through some of the difficult games, that communication has picked up. It allows the player right next to you to play a little bit faster.”
They have played mobile quarterbacks before. Rodgers can’t be more elusive than Cam Newton, whom the Falcons face twice a season.
They’re also playing their final game in the Georgia Dome. The Falcons will move into MercedesBenz Stadium next year. Playing the final game in the Georgia Dome should add some extra energy to the crowd.
“Everybody in Atlanta is excited,” Babineaux said. “The opportunity we had a few years ago, we weren’t able to cash in on a Super Bowl. But everybody bought into what Coach Quinn brought to this city. We’re going out to let it loose on Sunday.”