The Falcoholic
No player faced more pressure going into the 2012 playoffs than Matt Ryan. The Falcons were the number one seed for the second time in three seasons. They were in the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. It was the first time in franchise history that they had become a perennial playoff team. For all their success, they had nothing to show for it in the playoffs.
Nobody could be critical of them falling short to the Cardinals in the 2008 wild card round after a memorable first year for Ryan and Mike Smith. Being annihilated by the Packers and Giants in their next two playoff appearances left deep scars.
Successful teams can’t be blown out on the biggest stage, yet the Falcons were left soul-searching at the end of the previous two seasons. Playoff success was desperately needed for a franchise that hadn’t won a playoff game since 2004.
Squaring off against an ascending Seahawks team would prove to be a daunting challenge. While the Falcons were 7-1 at home in the regular season, Pete Carroll’s surging young squad was ready to win, led by a ferocious defense and a composed rookie Russell Wilson.
Most playoff matchups are highly anticipated, but this one felt like a championship battle, especially as a feud emerged between Roddy White and Richard Sherman.
Sherman was on a warpath with an itch to start chaos, especially after Trent Williams punched him in the face following Seattle’s win over Washington in the wild-card round. Two things were certain. Ryan wasn’t going to shy away from Sherman, no matter how special he was. White was going to make Sherman feel what it’s like to go against a four-time Pro Bowler who wants all the smoke. What was a colossal divisional round matchup proved to be an absolute classic.
When you have a quarterback who played at a top-tier level all season with three exceptional pass catchers, no defense is going to dictate the terms of how you operate. The Legion of Boom’s emergence put the league on notice. That didn’t faze Ryan in the slightest.
With Dirk Koetter at the helm, who once upon a time was one of the most forward-thinking offensive coordinators in the league, the Falcons were in attack mode from the first drive. While Sherman produced two pass breakups, including one to prevent White from getting in the end zone, it was full speed ahead for the offense.
Despite throwing an ugly interception intended for a well-covered Tony Gonzalez on the second drive, Ryan immediately responded with a scoring drive, which started with White on an impressive 3rd and 14 conversion.
On the next play, Ryan delivered a pinpoint back shoulder throw to Chase Coffman, where only the unlikely pass catcher could get it. That led to a one-yard touchdown pass to Gonzalez, where Ryan rolled to his left and quickly set his feet to place the ball over Kam Chancellor while being hit by an...
