One of the least talked about teams heading into the season has done the unthinkable and made it all the way into the NFC Championship game. The Atlanta Falcons, a team that wasn’t projected to win very many games heading into the season will now host the Green Bay Packers for the right to go to the Super Bowl. The Falcons and Packers met in Week Eight of the regular season and the game turned out to be a dandy. Atlanta knocked off the Packers 33-32 in the Georgia Dome, thanks to a game-winning touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Mohamed Sanu with under a minute remaining. The game went back-and-forth and it is all but certain that the NFC Championship rematch turns out in a very similar way. Here are Atlanta’s keys to victory.
Atlanta Falcons NFC Championship Keys to Victory
Matt Ryan and the Offense Need to Start Fast
What inevitably allowed the Packers to defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional round last weekend was their 21-3 start to the game. Dallas charged back to tie things up late in the fourth quarter, but their comeback fell short. Atlanta and Dallas have very similar offenses when it comes to scoring points. Atlanta’s offense is built to score in every way imaginable, but they can’t allow the Packers to jump out on them big in the first half.
The Falcons have scored the most points in the first quarter out of any NFL team this year and that trend needs to continue on Sunday. The Falcons led the Packers 10-7 at the end of the first quarter in Week Eight, but faltered in the second quarter. Green Bay struck for 17 second-quarter points, and led the Falcons 24-19 at halftime. Atlanta was able to walk away with the win after a solid second half, but it took the entire four quarters to do so.
If the Falcons are put into a similar position and are tasked with driving the length of the field with just minutes remaining, they have proven they can pull it off. But let’s hope it never comes to that. If the Falcons can jump out to a comfortable lead and ride that into halftime, Ryan and the offense can make just enough plays in the second half to keep Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines.
Attack Green Bay’s Secondary
Green Bay’s secondary was already one of the worst units in the NFL heading into the playoffs, and arguably their best player in that unit will likely miss the game. Safety Morgan Burnett, an Atlanta native who played his college ball at Georgia Tech was knocked out of the Divisional round against Dallas with a quad injury. Burnett led the Packers defense in tackles with eight against the Falcons in the regular season, and without him, that bodes very well for Atlanta.
As long as the Falcons’ offensive line holds up, Ryan will have a field day with this banged up Green Bay defense. Ryan completed 80 percent of his passes (28 of 35) in their regular season matchup and threw three touchdown passes. Expect no less come Sunday.
Feed Julio Jones When Necessary
Julio Jones‘ last two games against Green Bay have been polar opposites. Jones caught 11 passes for a then record 259 yards in a Week 14 matchup with the Packers in 2014. However, in their regular season match-up this year Jones was non-existent, as he caught just three passes for 29 yards before suffering a foot injury with six minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Jones returned to the field after injuring the foot, but did not make a catch in the second half. Jones’ name has been in the headlines all week about the same injury that he suffered against the Packers. In fact, he has not practiced all week, but will without a doubt play on Sunday. Nobody is expecting a big game from Jones, however. When you combine his foot injury with the fact that he only had 29 yards receiving in their first match-up, it’s easy to write him off. And that’s exactly what Jones and the Falcons want.
Jones will be a major factor in this football game. While it may be as a decoy to help free up his teammates such as Taylor Gabriel or Sanu, he will make big plays with the football in his hands. It’s pretty safe bet to say that Jones will finish this rematch with more than 29 yards.
Don’t Allow Aaron Rodgers to Complete Long Passes
Not allowing Rodgers to complete long passes is a lot easier said than done, but if there’s one thing Atlanta’s defense does well, it’s not allowing the big play to happen. Dallas allowed Rodgers to make the big plays when needed. They were undisciplined and didn’t execute their game plan to the best of their ability. And even though Dallas’ defense may be better on paper than Atlanta’s, they won’t make the same mistakes that Dallas made.
It’s going to take two things in order to keep Rodgers from making big plays happen. They will need to apply as much pressure to Rodgers as possible, and they will need to play good man-to-man defense. Atlanta’s Achilles heel all season long has been their zone defense. At times it has looked good, but most of the time it has looked terrible. Dan Quinn is smart enough to know that Rodgers can beat zone defense, especially the Falcons’. Atlanta played zone defense for the majority of the first half in the regular season and that led to a 24-point half. Atlanta came out in man-to-man defense in the second half and held them to eight points.
Atlanta’s corners and speed at linebacker is plenty good enough to guard whomever the Packers start at receiver. It appears as if Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams both have a chance to play, which would put them at full strength. But none of that will matter if the Atlanta defensive line can make Rodgers rush his throws. Vic Beasley needs to have a big game and so do his fellow teammates. Atlanta likes to rush the passer via substitutions. A lot of players will be running on and off the field, which will give Rodgers a lot of confusing looks throughout the game. Let’s see if they can execute.
Unleash Tevin Coleman
The Falcons have one key component to their potent offense that Green Bay didn’t get to see in the regular season. Tevin Coleman, one half of Atlanta’s running back tandem missed the game with an injury, and the way it worked out couldn’t be any better. Not only did the Falcons win the game without him, but now they get to throw yet another deadly weapon into the mix that Green Bay hasn’t seen.
The Packers really won’t know what to expect out of Coleman and that’s terrific. You never know which Falcons running back is going to have the hot hand. Some games it’s Coleman and others it’s Devonta Freeman. Coleman might not make an impact in this game, but you better believe offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will dial up multiple plays in efforts to unleash Coleman.
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