The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Falcons DE Clayborn to miss remainder of playoffs,
Veteran Falcons defensive end Adrian Clayborn will miss the remainder of the playoffs after suffering a torn biceps, his agent confirmed in a Twitter post Sunday.
Clayborn suffered the injury Saturday during the Falcons’ 36-20 victory over the Seahawks in the NFC divisional playoff game.
“I feel absolutely terrible for my man @AJaClay,” agent Blake Baratz wrote in a post to his Twitter account. “Keep your head up. You were a huge part of this success. I’m so proud of you Adrian.”
Clayborn recorded five sacks over 13 games during the regular season. He missed three games because of a knee injury, returned to play the final two regular-season games and played three snaps against the Seahawks before the biceps injury forced him to leave the game for the day.
With Clayborn sidelined, the Falcons still were able to generate an effective pass rush against Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, sacking him twice. But Clayborn is a key member of a pass-rushing group that often uses stunts to create pressure. — MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM
The Falcons have a 51 percent chance of advancing to the Super Bowl no matter their next opponent, according to a FiveThirtyEight forecast based on computer simulations.
The Falcons advanced to the conference championship with a dominant 36-20 victory over the Seahawks on Saturday at the Georgia Dome.
FiveThirtyEight’s forecast model uses Elo ratings, a measure based on headto-head results and quality of opponents.
After Saturday’s victory, the Falcons’ Elo rating improved by 21 points to 1,664, compared to 1,618 for the Cowboys and 1,635 for the Packers.
The FiveThirtyEight forecast gives the AFC’s Patriots a 41 percent chance of winning the Super Bowl, compared to a 21 percent chance for the Falcons. — MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM
What they said after defeating the Seahawks QB Matt Ryan
On the offense: “I think we went where we should with the ball. When they played zone coverage and dropped their guys deep, we checked down and our running backs did a good job of getting as many yards as they could in those situations. When they went man-toman coverage, I give our running backs, tight ends and wide receivers a lot of credit because they beat some really good corners and tough guys to go against in man-to-man coverage.”
DT Jonathan Babineaux
“We knew we had to make (Seattle QB Russell Wilson) uncomfortable in the pocket. We had him frustrated and running around. We were able to get some balls overthrown or thrown out of bounds for a stop.”
S Ricardo Allen
On rebounding after Seattle’s score on the opening drive:
“The first 15 minutes are usually the toughest to figure out because that is their game plan. Once we saw what they were trying to do to us, our sideline coaching is amazing so we were ready for everything they had.”
On the Seahawks’ penalty on Devin Hester’s long punt return:
“The penalty was huge for us. He popped a couple of them out. The penalty pushed them back and the safety jumped us up. It changed the whole dynamic of the game.” On team’s physicality: “We go out there and we are going to make you pay. If they didn’t want to test us deep and they wanted to throw it under, we are going to come out and make you pay.”
S Keanu Neal
On the defense’s play: “We are growing. We’re young but we are starting to mold together as a unit and it showed today. They drove and scored on the first drive but after that, we buckled down and really handled business.”
On playing against Wilson:
“We wanted to keep him in the pocket for the most part and we did a great job with that. Sometimes he had to force some balls and it allowed us to make some plays with him. Man-toman, we covered and zone, we held our own. Overall, we did a great job.”
On the atmosphere in the Georgia Dome:
“This was amazing. The fans and the atmosphere were loud. It was good to play here and I really had a great time playing here.”
LB Deion Jones
On playing in the playoffs: “This is when it gets tougher. This is when guys start playing hard-nosed ball and try to finish out the season well. We have to do the same. We still have to have that grit and finish.” On his interception: “I saw Jalen (Collins) and De’Vondre (Campbell) make a good play on the ball. I was really just trying to get over there and help out with the tackle. The ball was still up and I just knew that I had to grab it before anyone else got there.”
Coach Dan Quinn
On Matt Ryan’s performance:
“They’re a very disciplined group so for Matt, we had certain plays that we liked. I thought the offensive line gave him time. We knew that was going to be a factor. Having the balance for us is key where we’re able to run and have play action where we can get some plays off of that.
In particular, Matt just had a terrific week naturally. I felt the energy from the receivers right from the beginning from our warmup today. I thought they looked great. For Matt and his preparation, he stayed on exactly the same path that he had been on during the regular season. So it was something that we spoke about now. I thought he was on it, like he has been the entire year.”
On the performance of the defense:
“Certainly we came back and did much better. I don’t think I’ve been a part of a game where in the first quarter, I think there were just two drives. So (they) took it all the way down, scored, and we did the same coming back. After that, I thought we settled back in and made more plays and tackled better. I don’t know why we didn’t convert on some of the earlier ones but for sure for us, we knew we were going to have to take a couple footballs to have a chance to win this one. That was a very big emphasis for us so to have the ability where Deion Jones got one at the end, on the tip was one we needed at that time for sure.”
On requesting three challenges and winning:
“I got lucky. Honestly, when you have a chance to go and take a challenge at it, we thought those were ones worth doing. There were a couple others that we talked about but when they don’t feel like it worked, you have a very good shot at it and it’s not the right time. The one where Justin Hardy was on the far sideline, we couldn’t quite tell but we took a shot at the replay and thought that it would be worthwhile to take a shot. It worked out in our favor today. I don’t know what my record is against them but not like today usually, I know that.”
On the emotions of this game:
“Well, I think the first game against them, I’m glad that’s out of the way. From here on, I hope we battle like crazy over the next 10 years against a bunch of really good teams. I’m glad that game’s out of the way and now it’s like anytime you battle any other guy that you have tons of respect for and there are lots of coaches like that. The first game (vs. Seattle) was weird, I’ll be honest with you. It was and then now I’m glad we got that out of the way in the regular season. Like I said, I hope we battle for years to come against one another.” — D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER