NFC Championship Game, January 20, 2013 at Atlanta Instead of a full-blown statistical breakdown based on the regular season, I'm going to show some trends.

Trend One: Atlanta has a hard time stopping good running teams. In two games against the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton, Atlanta gave up more than 200 rushing yards. They saw 28 read-option plays all year and had trouble defending them. In their 20-30 loss at Carolina, the Falcons surrendered 116 rushing yards to Cam Newton. Hosting an eventual 7-9 Tampa Bay Bucs team to end the season, Atlanta gave up 142 rushing yards to Doug Martin.

Trend Two: the Falcons have no consistent rushing offense. In the losses to Carolina and Tampa Bay, Atlanta gained 35 and 65 rushing yards respectively. In their loss at New Orleans, they only gained 46 rushing yards.

Trend Three: following an emotional, closely fought win, many teams have expended their mojo and find it difficult to regain it. No stats on this, but something I believe most would agree on.

Trend Four: if Atlanta allowed Cam Newton the runner to gouge them, what will happen when they face Colin Kaepernick, a much better passer than Newton? In the playoff squeaker win over Seattle, Russ Wilson ran 7 times for 60 yards and a touchdown. Wilson's passing numbers were 24-36-385-2-1 with a 109.1 rating. Mike Sando at ESPN.com has Colin at 82.8 QBR against Ryan at 67.3. QBR, for those who are not familiar, is a different way of rating QB's than the old NFL system.

Trend Five: Colin Kaepernick has outplayed and beaten Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, the cream of the NFL crop.

It is true that the Falcons are the toughest challenge the 49ers will face this year. They are not pushovers. But, for all the blather one hears about "Matty Ice" the trends don't favor Atlanta.

The 49ers are going to win this game 35-24.

Last Edited By: Shores Dave 01/15/13 01:33 PM. Edited 3 times.