Falcons vs. Seahawks Winning Predictino

[Freddy Wills]

This game is easily the hardest game to figure out on the weekend. The Falcons who never have won a playoff game with Matt Ryan as their QB have to face arguably the hottest team in the league in the Seattle Seahawks who decided to take a trip back to the west coast after shocking the Washington Redskins. I myself have not decided on which side I will be on in this game.

Originally I told myself whoever won last weeks Divisional round game between the Redskins and Seahawks I was going to back this week. However, after thinking about it and given how poorly and flat the Seahawks defense played last week against the Redskins in the first quarter and how they have to travel across the country and the early game I'm back to being undecided. Hence that this game is like flipping a coin at least for now, but lets take a look at what each team has done to win this year.

When Seattle has the ball...
The Seahawks led the league in rushing attempts per game as well as rushing play% with 55% of their calls being rushing plays. Despite the fact that many believe Russell Wilson was allowed to throw the ball more down the stretch is not the case as they ran the ball 57.3% over their final 3 games. However, they relied on the run 10% more in their play calls on the road. This fact is due to the fact that they probably found themselves behind more often than not. Atlanta is 29th in the league allowing 4.8 ypc overall and at home despite only playing 6 teams in the top 10 of rushing ypc. What is more amazing is they are 5-1 against those 6 teams and that's because they get early leads in most games and are ranked 10th in fewest rushing attempts against.

The key to this game for Seattle is getting an early lead and I'm unsure if they will be able considering how they started their last road game against Washington. However, people continue to under rate Russell Wilson. Wilson actually finished ahead of Ryan in QB rating ranking 4th in the league with a 100.1 and finished the year with a 119.5 over his last three games. Wilson was extremely accurate in college and nothing has changed, and winning on the road has become more common for him winning his last 3 road games. However, this game does come in a dome where he's 0-2 this year.

When Atlanta has the ball...
They will be going up against one of the best and most physical defenses in the league. The Seahawks are in the top 10 in passing yards and rushing yards allowed. Matt Ryan will pose a difficult test for the Seahawks as he has many weapons. The Falcons will try to come out hot to avoid all the pressure of not winning a playoff game to explode in their face. Atlanta is ranked 7th in the league throwing the ball 63% of the time and they are pretty darn good at it. Matt Ryan only gets sacked 4.35% of his drop backs, and is also 6th in the league in QB rating while also ranking in the top 10 in yards per pass attempt.

Their rushing attack which is led by veteran Michael Turner and Jacquizz Rodgers could have a little more trouble if they don't find balance early. The Falcons are ranked 29th with a meager 3.7 ypc average on the season and 3.9 in their home games. It will be interesting to see what type of strategy Ryan and the Falcons come out with. I think we will know very early in this game which team is going to win or lose.

I would bank my on whatever team scores first will win. Either team could come out flat here from the time off or the short rest long road trip or even the pressure that's on the Falcons as this is a huge game for them. I'll have other and to give out over the weekend so stay tuned