Saturday night’s 48-21 drubbing of the Falcons at the hands of the Packers was disappointing on a number of levels. First, Atlanta squandered home field advantage. Second, I hate seeing the Falcons fail so miserably on a national stage. Third, the playoff atmosphere was so fun, that I really wanted to do it again on NFC Championship Sunday. Fourth, I am at a position in my life where I could actually afford the luxury of season tickets and playoff tickets; who knows if that will happen again. Finally, I am a Falcons fan; I never want to see my team get their collective asses kicked ten ways to Sunday.
I am not going to re-cap a lot of the pain and suffering that I saw in the Georgia Dome. I think this summary from the post game report that the Falcons send their season ticket holders will suffice for now.
An NFL playoff record 102-yard TD return by Eric Weems in the 2nd Quarter gave the Falcons a 14-7 lead over the visiting Packers, but after the huge play not much else went right for the NFC’s #1 seed. The Falcons’ defense ran into an offensive buzz saw led by a red hot quarterback, as Aaron Rodgers completed 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards and 3 TD passes (and another rushing TD) during a humbling 48-21 Divisional playoff game rout that ended Atlanta’s magical 2010 season.
Re-seed Needed
A re-seed system is needed, but only after the Wild Card round, where each division champion, even a weak one, gets some credit for winning their division. Without a re-seed for the divisional round of the playoffs, the current system diminishes the value of being the top seed.
I know it sounds a lot like sour grapes; however I am not just calling for a re-seed as a Falcons fan. Sure I was disappointed, but down the road another weak division winner will advance, while a “hot” Wild Card team with a better record than said division winner manages to play their way into the playoffs, and then advance. Wait until this happens to one of the popular teams in the NFL; there would be an outcry for justice.
I have to get this out of the way. Even if a re-seed process was in place that would have allowed the Falcons to play the weakest team, Atlanta played so poorly Saturday night that there would be no guarantees that the Falcons would have beaten the Seahawks.
This year both of the AFC wild card teams were “better” than two of the division winners (Colts and Chiefs), but neither division winner escaped the Wild Card round. The same could not be said in the NFC, where a 7-9 NFC West Seattle team played the #2 seeded Bears, while Atlanta ran into that 10-6 Green Bay buzz saw. Let’s fix the system before it happens again.
Next?
Up next may be an article or two about the AFC and NFC Championship games, along with the Super Bowl; however my attention is going to be narrowed in on what Atlanta needs to do in the off season to correct some of the flaws that the Packers exposed. Of course none of this will matter if the owners move forward with a lockout.
