FALCONS FLIGHT: Atlanta and New York no strangers to the postseason

Sunday’s NFC wild card matchup at MetLife Stadium across the Hudson River from New York City features two teams that have gotten used to advancing to the postseason regularly lately … with mixed results.

The NFC East champion New York Giants (9-7) went on an amazing playoff run in 2007 that ended with a 17-14 upset victory over the then undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona. Since 2005, the Giants have advanced to the playoffs six times.

The No. 5 seed wild card Atlanta Falcons (10-6) have made the playoffs three times in the last four seasons, which is unprecedented territory for a team that is also experiencing its first ever back-to-back postseason runs. The Falcons’ recent regular season success is the product of the collaboration between general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Mike Smith, both hired before the 2008 season.

In their Super Bowl run of 2007, the Giants got hot at just the right time. They lost a shootout to the Patriots 38-35 in Week 17, but they also learned in that game that they could hang with any team in NFL. The Giants nearly ended the Patriots perfect season in the final week. Advancing to the playoffs, New York won three times on the road including a 23-20 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship. Then came the famous upset of New England for a Super Bowl title.

The following season, the Giants went 12-4 in regular season but were upset by their rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles at home 23-11 in the divisional round. 2009 and 2010 were painful years for Giants faithful. Despite going 18-14 over those 24 months, they missed the postseason both years.

The Dimitroff/Smith era has been the best of times (43-21 in the four regular seasons), and in many ways, the partnership has also brought upon the worst of times (no playoff wins over this period). From the dark view of perennial NFL cellar dwellers, the Falcons fans have suffered rich man’s problems.

In 2008, the Falcons were quickly bounced by the eventual NFC champio Arizona Cardinals 30-24 in the wild card round. In 2009, Atlanta won its final three games of the regular season but missed January football with a 9-7 record. Last year, the Falcons cruised to a 13-3 record –clinched home field advantage for the tournament– only to get whipped by the eventual Super Bowl champion Packers in the divisional round 41-28 at the Georgia Dome.

These two teams have been at or near the top of the NFC for at least half of the past decade. With the exception of the Giants Super Bowl run after the 2007 season, their faithful have experienced too much “almost” and too many “what ifs” for their collective emotional well-being.

Both teams have accumulated a decent sample size when it comes to winning in the regular season and making the playoffs recently, but can we draw any conclusions about how this January will treat two teams that have never met in the postseason?

For the Falcons the answer to the question is, “Hopefully not.” No matter how hot the Falcons have entered the playoffs under Smith/Dimitroff, the results have been “one and done.” As in 2008, last year, Atlanta ended the regular season with a victory, so clearly, this is the team that momentum forgot. While the Falcons have not lost two games in a row all season, their longest winning streak is a modest three games.

Atlanta has been dominant on the ground at times this fall. Running back Michael Turner rushed for 1,340 yards. The Falcons have also enjoyed quarterback Matt Ryan’s best season (4,177 yards, 29 touchdowns, with only 12 interceptions). Week to week, the offense normally thrives, but come opening kickoff every week how this team gets their 25 points per game is anyone’s guess. The defense has been in the top third of the NFL against the rush but around the top of bottom third against the pass. This Falcons team has been woefully predictable in recent playoffs, but the first 17 weeks of every season remain promising. History says they will struggle as a playoff team Sunday, but their trends of the 2011 campaign (or lack their of) might suggest otherwise. While Atlanta is 4-4 on the road this year, New York is also 4-4 at home.

In their Super Bowl year of 2007, the Giants lost two of their last three games in the December stretch. In 2008, they lost three of the last four. In 2007, they feasted in the playoffs, famine struck quickly in the 2008 playoffs. Heading into Sunday’s matchup with Atlanta, New York has won three of its last four games, but a hot streak has already spoiled the Giants once this season.

The Giants started the year at 6-2, winning that sixth game 24-20 over Brady and the Patriots. Things were looking good in and around the Big Apple. Then the Giants lost four straight and five of six. New York then beat MetLife co-tenant, the New York Jets 29-14 and finally, the rival Dallas Cowboys 31-14 to clinch the NFC East title in Week 17.

It’s hard to tell exactly what being “hot” means to the Giants, just as is the case with the Falcons. We do know that their hopes for another Super Bowl run rest on the arm of the MVP of Super Bowl XLII, quarterback Eli Manning. Like Ryan, Manning is having a career year, and New York needed his best efforts all season. Manning threw 15 touchdowns in the fourth quarter this season, to set an all-time NFL mark. He also threw for 4,933 yards and 29 touchdowns with 16 interceptions. Unlike Ryan, Manning had to overcome a mediocre at best running game. The Giants top two ball carriers, Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs, didn’t rush for 1,300 yards, combined.

Defensively, the Giants are at the bottom of the NFL in passing yards donated and only hovering slightly above the bottom third of the league in rushing yards allowed.

Neither teams’ recent histories in the regular or postseason allow prognosticators any confident glimpses into a crystal ball when projecting Sunday’s winner. The best thing we can hope for, is the only thing we as fans should expect, a great game between two teams that have both proven worthy of playing for a berth in Super Bowl XLVI a month from now in Indianapolis.