Actually, you want to know the truth? Alex Smith and Matty Ryan are pretty much the same guy. Load up their respective teams with talent and good coaching and you're going to win a shit ton of regular season games. Matt Ryan lost every post season game until this year, when his team eeked out a win over Seattle.
Personally, I've blamed that loss on Pete Carroll for flying his team in on Saturday instead of Thursday. They didn't get hot until the second half and were tired from the 5+ hour flight the day before. But that's neither here nor there because what's done is done.
But in 2013? I see Atlanta, at best, as the fourth best team in the NFC behind SF, Seattle and Green Bay. I expect that Chicago, NY, Washington, New Orleans (with the return of Mickey and Payton) and Dallas to be improved, so they're certainly no shoe-in next year.
Atlanta's playoff games? 34-0 LOSS, none, 48-21 LOSS, 24-2 LOSS, 30-28 Win, 24-28 LOSS.
So, Matt Ryan is elite, eh? Yet he lost by 34, lost by 28, lost by 22, won by 2 and lost by 4.
Kinda makes you think that if he gone to the Dolphins, his career under Tony Sparano would have been much better.
