Uncle Si":29okngdy said:
Atlanta's regular season record: 11-5
In terms of scoring defense, the Falcons vaunted offense played against top 12 ranked defenses 4 times: Seattle, Denver, KC and Philly. They went 1-3 (beating Denver).
Atlanta has reaped the benefit of a fairly soft schedule just as much as New England has.
Are you using "vaunted" seriously or sarcastically?
TBH I'm tired of debating it. New England fans are humping the leg of the #1 scoring defense animal to no end... it was much more fun debating with Seattle fans.
We'll find out in 6 more days.
As for the defensive rankings I guess it depends on how you are compiling the ranking. New England is #1 in scoring... 8th in YPG and 16th in DVOA.
Atlanta beat #1 in DVOA (Denver), #3 (Arizona), and lost to #4 (Philly) and #5 (Seattle). New England is 16th. So in case you're wondering... nobody here is terrified on how we are gonna score on New England.
Rather than repeat what was said... watch this video if you haven't yet. Rich Eisen and I pretty much share the same opinion.
[youtube]p6UM0pUGTM8[/youtube]
Largent80":29okngdy said:
Left out of the above post is that Atlanta has REALLY come on offensively LATE (when it counts, in the playoffs). Not like Denver when we played them.
And N.E. does not even come close to the Hawks 2013 defense.
Atlanta is going to win.
Yeah, in case anyone is wondering I actually pulled these stats this morning while arguing with a Pats fan claiming their D was like the 2013 Seahawks.
2016 Pats 5223 yards 23 TO
2013 Seahawks 4378 yards 39 TO
So yeah... not even close other than the Pats 250 pts allowed vs 231... that was inflated(no pun intended) by a schedule full of mediocre offenses of which Atlanta is miles above.