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NFL playoffs

Best and worst of Atlanta Falcons

Combing through some different stats, and I see a couple that I’ll pass along before the first playoff game starts in two hours (Seattle at Atlanta).

The Falcons have been really good offensively, scoring a league-high 34 points per game. All those great offenses out there – New England, Green Bay, Dallas – and Atlanta outscored all of them. Only the Saints gained more yards.

But their first-down production is hard to believe. They averaged 7.6 yards per play on first downs. That’s over a yard better than all but one other team in the league. They are pushing it down the field and hitting on chunk plays on first downs.

YARDS ON FIRST DOWNS
TeamPlaysYardsAvg
Atlanta4873,6907.58
Chicago4583,0706.70
New Orleans5073,2456.40
Arizona5002,9285.86
Washington4652,7115.83
New England4712,7005.73
Seattle4542,6025.73
Miami4142,3725.73
Kansas City4382,5005.71
Buffalo4492,5305.63
Dallas4712,6535.63
Carolina4712,6535.63
Indianapolis4732,6265.55
Green Bay4612,5465.52
San Francisco4332,3855.51
Oakland4662,5655.50
San Diego4642,5465.49
Tennessee4472,3805.32
Philadelphia4752,5285.32
Baltimore4672,4785.31
Minnesota4362,2465.15
Jacksonville4632,3845.15
Detroit4402,2365.08
Pittsburgh4612,3365.07
NY Jets4352,1865.03
Cleveland4382,1674.95
Denver4412,1554.89
Cincinnati4642,2674.89
NY Giants4402,1294.84
Tampa Bay4752,2644.77
Houston4612,0954.54
Los Angeles4081,8384.50

Additionally, I was looking at red-zone stats. Defensively, Atlanta was really bad in this part of the field. Opponents got the ball into the red zone on 55 possessions against them, and they scored touchdowns on 40 of those series. That’s remarkable.

Falcons allowed 5.7 points per possessions inside the red zone, which is worse than teams like the Browns, 49ers and … well … everybody.

If and when Seahawks get some chances today, perhaps putting together some decent drives in the first half, they must close those drives with touchdowns rather than settling for field goals.

RED ZONE DEFENSE
TeamPossTDFGPoints
NY Giants4317184.00
Pittsburgh5726194.18
Philadelphia5123194.24
Kansas City5326164.28
Carolina5524264.45
New England4423134.50
Cincinnati4925174.51
Indianapolis5025204.56
Tennessee5529174.56
Seattle4626104.65
Buffalo5730194.68
Dallas5429194.69
Baltimore4726144.70
Miami5129124.71
Arizona4525134.71
Chicago5931224.73
San Diego6636214.77
Jacksonville5530194.82
Minnesota4424154.82
Houston4423174.84
Oakland5733164.86
Washington5432144.89
NY Jets5129164.90
New Orleans5632174.91
Denver4222184.93
Tampa Bay5029165.00
Green Bay4528155.24
San Francisco6641215.26
Detroit5336115.34
Cleveland6040145.35
Los Angeles5237115.56
Atlanta5540115.67

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index