Drought vexes Falcons
Seahawks 1st hurdle on road to winning 1st title in 51 years
The Cubs won their first World Series title in 108 years last fall, and the Cavaliers ended their city’s 52-year championship drought when they won the NBA title in June.
Could the Falcons, who never have won a Super Bowl in their 51-year history, end more than five decades of futility with their first title?
“It would be huge,” defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux, the team’s longesttenured player, told reporters this week. “The city of Atlanta has been waiting on a Super Bowl for many years now. To have a season like we’ve had, to be able to play the way we’ve been playing, everybody’s excited, man.”
The Falcons have a championshipcaliber quarterback in Matt Ryan, who set a franchise record with 4,944 yards and threw 38 touchdown passes with just seven interceptions. He has a dynamic target in Julio Jones, who was second in the NFL with 1,409 receiving yards despite missing two games because of a toe injury.
They do not have a championshipcaliber defense, ranking 28th in the NFL in passing yards and 17th in rushing yards allowed this season, so they could have difficulty containing Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, a two-way threat who is 8-3 in 11 postseason starts.
Been there, done that: The Seahawks, under Pete Carroll, will be making their sixth playoff appearance in his seven years, a run that includes a Super Bowl triumph in 2013 and another appearance in 2014.
The Falcons, under second-year coach Dan Quinn, the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator during both Super Bowl runs, last reached the playoffs in 2012. Falcons defensive end Dwight Freeney, a 15-year veteran who won a Super Bowl with the Colts in 2006, acknowledged that playoff experience matters.
“Maybe you’re a little more comfortable with the moment,” he said. “I think you know what to expect, so that will help you a little bit. Sometimes, when you haven’t been there, you will let the moment overwhelm you. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it can happen.”
Ground gain: The teams met in Week 6, with the Seahawks rallying down the stretch for a 26-24 victory in which they rushed for just 72 yards. Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls missed that game because of a leg injury, but he is a force the Falcons will have to address Saturday.
Rawls punished the Lions in last week’s 26-6 opening-round victory, rushing for 161 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries behind an offensive line that struggled with inconsistency for much of the season but jelled last week.
Sam Farmer’s pick: Without Earl Thomas patrolling the back end of their defense, the Seahawks will be hard pressed to contain the Falcons’ passing game. The Falcons’ front four will get pressure on Wilson.