The Falcoholic
Everything was aligning for the Falcons to make the Super Bowl for the first time since 1999. A resounding win over Seattle showed the offense was capable of being as dominant in the playoffs as it was in the regular season. The way the Falcons broke the spirit of a perennial contender like they did sent a message across the league.
Green Bay’s upset win over Dallas meant the Falcons would get one more game inside the Georgia Dome. Nobody could have scripted it better after three seasons of missing the playoffs. The Falcons had the opportunity to give the iconic stadium the best farewell possible. For them to do it against a prestigious franchise with one of the all-time greatest quarterbacks made this NFC Championship even more special.
The Packers were wounded going into the game, but Aaron Rodgers was on one of his vintage hot streaks. The sight of him throwing dimes across the field with his quick release and incredible velocity was terrifying for opposing defenses.
No matter how flawed Green Bay’s roster was, they had a stone-cold assassin at quarterback who had once put on an extraordinary playoff performance in the Georgia Dome. The Falcons didn’t exactly have a stone-cold assassin, but they did have the imminent 2016 NFL MVP. It was Matt Ryan’s time to deliver another all-time great performance to get the Falcons back to the Super Bowl and send the Georgia Dome out in style.
Some of Ryan’s greatest games feature him spreading the ball around. He completed passes to eight different pass catchers in the first half. With Kyle Shanahan mixing up formations, opportunities were often there to dissect a injury-plagued Packers’ defense. Using different motions and bunches created mismatches, starting with Mohamed Sanu’s 13-yard catch against Micah Hyde on 3rd and 11.
The Falcons could go from spread to heavy formations in an instant with their personnel. With Taylor Gabriel running an orbit motion on a play action fake to Tevin Coleman, Green Bay was left disoriented, which led to Patrick DiMarco being wide open for a 31-yard gain. It was evident from the start that Shanahan would have his way against Dom Capers, similar to the first meeting between these teams in October.
Even when the Packers appeared to handle their coverage assignments, Ryan would leave the pocket and make a play out of structure. That happened on his first touchdown pass to Sanu, where he flipped it to the versatile wide receiver on the move. He did it on his next touchdown, where he baited linebacker Jake Ryan into believing he would throw, only to continue scrambling for a 14-yard rushing touchdown. It was all happening for the stellar quarterback.
Whether it was completing intermediate passes to his receivers or checkdowns to running backs, the offense was gaining yards at will. Sanu, Gabriel, Austin Hooper, and Tevin Coleman had their shining moments by either winning their individual matchup or making impressive plays after...
