Here Is How You Get To The SB....

[calinator]

3 times we've had a bye all 3 times we got to the superbowl. 13 times we've had no bye, 0 times we got to the superbowl.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Actually 50/50 at worst. Please stop this Falcon love it's depressing and will make you look silly after February 5th. 8)

In this conversation the Seahawks are coulda, woulda, shoulda...deal with it and realize Atlanta will be facing a team, coach, defense and quarterback all much better, then some other AFC teams they lost to full strength on both sides. Follow yet?

Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Oakland and New England can and should beat Atlanta 3 out of 4 times. Matt Ryan my ass. The man is this generation's version of Drew Bledsoe. Really awesome until it's not. So please play the game before you and it seems the world, crowns the Falcons and Quinn as the best EVAR!!!!

Their game against the Patriots is irrelevant. They slapped us around in their den and should have beat us in ours. In 2016-17 they were the better team. End of discussion.

The OP's point of getting HFA is valid too. But we weren't setup in a way to get that this year. Losing Earl Thomas was the death blow to an already fragile roster for a deep playoff run.

 

[Hyak]

The Hawks have a great home field advantage that a lot of other teams just don't consistently have even though the Clink has not been as crazy as 2012-2014 in the last 2 seasons IMO.

To the OP, there's only 1 year IMO where they had a legit shot to win a SB going on the road and that was 2012.

That being said, this team was good but not great on defense this year and they were mediocre on offense. Special teams was not stellar (kicking extra points shouldn't be a struggle). I think Atlanta and Dallas were clearly better than us this year and GB was playing much better in December/January that the Hawks were although I'd like to think that a matchup with them in Seattle would still be a win.

 

[johnnyfever]

The other thing not being said is that to get HFA, you are probably playing better. It's not JUST being in your own stadium.

 

[nIdahoSeahawk]

Or just outplay the teams that are in front of you. Homefield thru out would be great tho.

Last four playoffs, home teams haven't lost. Obviously that can change, but recently it's been pretty clear that home field wins.

Last year, the road teams won every Wild Card game. That included us.

Now, the teams that had a 1st round bye won the next week.

To follow up on your brilliant response, Dallas lost this year as well.

 

[mrt144]

The other thing not being said is that to get HFA, you are probably playing better. It's not JUST being in your own stadium.

Yeah, HFA is the outcome of a team consistently winning its games, not the causal factor of winning superbowls.

 

[Steve2222]

If only they could have beat AZ one of those two times.....

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Pretty obvious really. Gotta' get home field in the playoffs. Especially for this team. Atlanta took advantage of it, and were the best team in the NFC.
That being said, I think the Hawks make the Super Bowl if they would have had that 2 seed.

 

[Hasselbeck]

If only they could have beat AZ one of those two times.....

Should have beat them both times, should have beat LA and New Orleans too.

But again, I feel like all of that is moot just because of the injuries. The Falcons would have torn this defense apart anywhere in the world.

 

[LeftHandSmoke]

A lot of people enjoy following College more than Pro football in large part because it seems (and is) more emotional.

More than in Pro, College teams can get excited, get on a roll, produce unexpectedly well, and then maybe the tide changes soon after for whatever reason.

But it clearly happens even at the Pro level too despite the more-even talent levels. HFA is partly about less travel time but the Clink and these fans play a big atmospheric/emotional role too.

RW (and the team) have the best 5 yr home record in the NFL, right? Fantastic.

 

[edogg23]

It's football, your always going to have injuries. We still had a roster with 7 pro bowlers on it. This team underperformed in so many games this year.