Falcons NFC South Champions - Two Wins Away From Super Bowl
By Don Stone - Football Atlanta
There was some unfinished business on the Falcons'
agenda Sunday. All of this was supposed to be taken care of six days earlier
on Monday Night Football. But, the Saints pushed things back with a 17-14
win, the first Falcons' loss at home all season and the first in eight
games.
Had Atlanta won against New Orleans, they would have
become NFC South Champions and secured home field advantage throughout the
playoffs. Not yet.
Fortunately, the Falcons had a security blanket in
their pocket, a remaining Week 17 game at home against the worst team in the
NFL, division rival Carolina. The woeful Panthers limped into Atlanta having
just fired their head coach, John Fox. He was still on the sidelines for his
final game. Why not wait to fire him until that game was over? No idea.
All of the scenarios that were in place Monday night
still held here. But, a game still had to be played. And, stranger things
have happened in football games where a struggling 2-13 team knocks off a
successful 12-3 team. A victory actually seemed like a foregone conclusion,
though, before the game. Conversations with fans in the parking lot were all
centered on who they would face in the playoffs, not who was on the other
sidelines in the Dome. Even inside, the excitement level was a fraction of
what was there earlier in the week. Normally, Panthers fans show up in
decent numbers for their annual trek to Atlanta. Not this time. Hard to even
spot one. Outside of the rare Carolina fan, no one even considered an upset
a possibility.
Apparently, neither did the Falcons. They started off
tossing the ball around the field and putting up a quick seven on their
first drive, much to the delight of the Quikrete guy chosen on the sidelines
to get $1000 for each point the scored. The Panthers were a lame three and
out. Then, they found out why Eric Weems was voted to the Pro Bowl with six
other Falcons. He took their punt return 55 yards for a touchdown to make it
14-0. They would see Weems a lot. With Carolina not doing much on offense,
they punted a lot. And, it seemed like Weems spent most of the day receiving
those punts around the 50-yard line.
Soon, it was 21-0. At times, it almost seemed like
Atlanta was playing a college team. They seemed to be able to do about
anything they wanted. The score was getting lopsided, even with two trips
for the Falcons inside the 5 yard line with no points to show for it. The
first came on another Michael Turner fumble. Last week's was a game changer.
This one, not so much. But, a new pattern developing that may cause concern.
The other was a fourth down attempt that didn't work. It didn't matter.
Eventually, another ten points were added and a meaningless TD by the
Panthers with time running out sealed the foregone conclusion.
Now, the Falcons reap the rewards of their amazing
season. They get to sit home next weekend wearing their 2010 NFC Champion
caps and t-shirts while the eight other teams have to slug it out on Wild
Card Weekend.
On Saturday, January 8, the Saints will play at tonight's Rams-Seahawks
winner at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, followed by the Jets at the Colts at 8 p.m.
Both games will be on NBC.
On Sunday, January 9, the Ravens will play at the
Chiefs at 1 p.m. on CBS and the Packers will play at the Eagles at 4:30 p.m.
on FOX.
The Falcons get their turn a week later.
On Saturday, January 15, the highest-seeded team among
the Colts, Chiefs and Ravens will play at Pittsburgh at 4:30 p.m. on CBS.
The lowest-seeded team among the Rams, Seahawks, Saints and Packers will
play at Atlanta at 8 p.m. on FOX.
On Sunday, January 16, the remaining NFC team (Eagles,
Rams, Seahawks or Saints) will play at Chicago at 1 p.m. on FOX. The
remaining AFC team (Chiefs, Ravens or Jets) will play at New England at 4:30
p.m. on CBS.
It will be only the second playoff game ever hosted by
the Falcons. The other was an impressive win over the Rams in the 2004
season. If the Falcons win that game, they still stay home and host the NFC
Championship Game, the first time that will have ever been played at the
Georgia Dome.
So, there they sit, two wins away from the Super Bowl,
mixed in with a lot of home cooking. It should be a lot of fun!
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