Atlanta Falcons didn’t win as much as Seattle Seahawks lost per media

The Seattle Seahawks made a lot of mistakes and allowed the Atlanta Falcons to win Saturday. That’s the narrative we’ll hear from national media all week.

The Atlanta Falcons were a favorite against the four-point spread, but few analysts believed they could really put away the Seattle Seahawks. Four quarters later and the Falcons unquestionably proved they are the better team. This will be a tough pill to swallow for the network personalities who claimed Seattle would be “too much for Atlanta to handle”. But don’t count on people like the NFL Network’s Heath Evans to give the Falcons much credit for the big win.

For many on-air “experts”, Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff game will be more about why the Seahawks lost.

Many still don’t understand just how good the Atlanta Falcons are this season. I can’t understand why they don’t understand and it’s frustrating. The Falcons earned a trip the NFC Championship game for the fourth time in team history and the immediate narrative was:

Given the past, part of me can reason with the nay-sayers, but were they not watching yesterday? Seattle opened the game without missing a beat on offense and took a quick lead. There were grumblings all over the Web as if Mike Smith’s Falcons were back. I knew different. I would only feel reason for concern if Matt Ryan was unable to march his offense down the field in response. My favorite tweet from yesterday said it all:

The Falcons didn’t play scared, nor should they have. Dan Quinn’s team was ready to play at the same high level they had during the regular season. Seattle was the underdog yesterday and Atlanta made sure those who tuned in knew it. Whether it be the through the air, on the ground, or with hard-nosed defensive play, the Atlanta Falcons finished off their familiar foes.

But still…

"“Seattle didn’t have Earl Thomas…”“Kris Richard’s scheme was terrible…”“Russell Wilson didn’t have great protection…”"

It will be a litany of excuses and apologists for the Seahawks this week. I expect few to actually give the Atlanta Falcons credit for taking Seattle to the woodshed. It’s unfair, but it’s something the Falcons have to deal with until the day a Lombardi Trophy rests in Atlanta. The bandwagon loads up both in fans and media support once it happens.

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I said that a win over the Seahawks should make the Falcons the NFC Championship game favorite. A 16-point win only further cements my point. Those outside of Falcons Nation still won’t see it this way. Our favorite remains their underdog. This is where Dan Quinn wants his team to be anyways.