Got to check in with two of my favorite folks around the league this week: the Godfather Gil Brandt and Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. I spoke with the Godfather about the importance of winning the No. 1 seed for the playoffs from a historical perspective. The Seahawks gave us Hasselbeck, who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in sixth round of the 1998 draft out of Boston College, on the conference call. We’d asked for Lawyer Milloy. (Usually, you get the defensive player and they don’t give you the quarterback.) The Godfather, who you can catch on NFL.Com and Sirius Radio these days, always give you more than you need. So I like to share his overflow with you all. “Go back into the 90s in the NFC,” Brandt said. “(Home-field) advantage was a huge, huge deal. It wasn’t quite as much in the AFC.” The NFC home-field advantage in the playoffs was six percent stronger in the 1990s. The home team won 74 percent of the time to 68 percent in the 2000s.
“I don’t think that the home team in most cases has as big of an advantage as they used to have because of the competitive balance in the league,” Brandt said. “It’s a lot closer than ever before. The other thing is that teams have the capabilities of making more big plays than we had 20 years ago or 15 years ago consequently, with that said, it gives the underdog a better chance. The team that comes to your city in the playoffs is the underdog.” The Falcons could wrap up the home-field in the NFC by winning out. The Saints had the home-field last season, but needed some late help from Brett Favre, to reach the Super Bowl. “In the case of the Atlanta Falcons, I think that the crowd is tremendous,” Brandt said. “I think that the quarterback plays really well at home. He plays good on the road, but he seems to play even better at home. I would say that in Atlanta’s case the home-field advantage is a huge, huge advantage.”
The Falcons are 19-3 at the Georgia Dome under Mike Smith. Ryan is 19-1 as a starter. THREE-GAME ROAD TRIP: Brandt noted that the Falcons are trying to win their third game in a row this week and how difficult that’s been. Since 2000, 35 teams have had a three-game road trip and only four teams have won all three. A win over Seattle and the Falcons can join the 2001 and 2005 Jacksonville Jaguars, 2005 Philadelphia Eagles and 2009 New York Giants as teams that have pulled off the feat.
Smith was on the 2005 Jacksonville staff. “It’s really tough to win all three,” Brandt said. “This is a huge game for them against Seattle.” FALCONS ARE SUPER BOWL BOUND: Brandt has been big on the Falcons all season. He predicted that Matt Ryan would win the MVP this season. Brandt helps out with the NFL draft each year and met Ryan and his family before the 2008 draft. On his radio show Brandt talks about how impressed he was with Ryan’s football acumen. “I still think that (the Falcons) right now are the best team in the NFC and I think they’ll have home-field advantage,” Brandt said. “I think they’ll be in Dallas in February.”
ON NEW ENGLAND’S SURGE: It’s pretty hard to ignore the surging New England Patriots. They dismantled the New York Jets and Sexy Rexy Ryan on Monday Night Football and then went to the Windy City and showed the Bears how to get it done in the snow.
“I think the competitive balance is so great,” Brandt said. “Every week we put up our rankings on NFL.com. I changed this week. For the last three, Atlanta was the No. 1 team. I put New England ahead of them this week simply because of what New England did on the road to Chicago. “I think that when you look at these teams, about eight of them are all pretty equal. New Orleans is a very, very good team. I think the Matt Hasselbeck was Brett Favre's understudy in Green Bay. (Associated Press) Matt Hasselbeck was Brett Favre's understudy in Green Bay. (Associated Press)
Giants are good. Philadelphia is good. I thought the Jets were good, but they seem to be going backwards. We’ve got some really good teams. The scramble, the real scramble is going to be for those two wildcard spots, especially in the NFC. I think a team that has 10 wins in the NFC might not make it to the playoffs.”
HASSELBECK REFLECTS: I covered the Packers back when Hasselbeck was in the fold. I asked him to reflect on Favre’s 297-game streak. “It’s a great accomplishment,” Hasselbeck said. “I was talking to him on Monday before the game. He let me know, and I just said, ‘It was a great run, man. It was a great a career and congratulations. Who would have thought?’ “He almost did it in Atlanta. It was close. It was Chris Miller that kept him on the bench. Chris Miller and somebody else too. “He was so much fun to be around. I learned a lot from him. He’s a great storyteller. One of the best was when he wasn’t in the Atlanta Falcons team photo his rookie year and all of that. It’s good stuff.”
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