Top offense and defense to collide

The Falcons’ strength is their offense. The Seahawks’ strongest unit is their defense.

The Falcons, who dazzled at times this regular season, led the NFL by scoring 33.8 points per game. Seattle’s defense, which is led by middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and defensive ends Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, gave up 18.3 points per game, third in the league.

The Falcons amassed 415.8 yards per game, which ranked second in the league. The Seahawks gave up 318.7 yards per game, which ranked fifth.

Falcons All-Pro quarterback Matt Ryan completed 373 of 534 passes (69.9 percent) for 4,944 yards with 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions for a 117.1 passer rating, the fifth-highest single-season passer rating in NFL history.

The Falcons have amassed 34 plays of 30 yards or more this season, tops in the league. They also have a league-leading 14 touchdowns of 30 yards or more.

The Seahawks will play without All-Pro free safety Earl Thomas (broken leg), but strong safety Kam Chancellor, who didn’t play in the regular-season matchup, will play.

The Seahawks held the Falcons to 52 yards rushing without Chancellor and forced two turnovers.

“There’s only one Earl Thomas, and definitely it’s nice not having him in there, but Steve Terrell has come in and done a great job,” Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said. “He’s a guy who can run very fast, too. He’s always in the middle, too, and can cover a lot of ground.”

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ / AP Linebacker Bobby Wagner is a big reason why the Seahawks allowed only 18.3 points a game during the regular season, third-best in the NFL.