The psychology of this game is on our side.

[MontanaHawk05]

Right now the Seahawks feel like the 2010 Packers, and the Falcons feel like the 2007 Seahawks. The 2010 Packers had belief. The 2007 Seahawks had a nervous brand of hope. I would have to agree, Seattle comes in with the psychological edge at kickoff.

Additionally, the 2007 Seahawks were badly overrated after a terrible schedule, running an easily exploitable brand of defense and an outmoded, unbalanced philosophy on offense. The 2010 Packers were playing with a mastery of the "hot hand" of NFL offensive styles and had proven their depth and resilience. Tons of parallels between these two teams.

 

[BocciHawk]

Let me stress this.

I KNOW the difference between face value tickets through Ticketmaster and the ticket exchange.

Previous posters are correct, at this exact moment, there are STILL many tickets available, through Ticketmaster, at face value plus standard fees.

I might also add that most of the listings on StubHub that I saw for upper level seats a couple days ago were actually less than face value! I think there were scalpers who assumed that they'd get Washington or Dallas, either one is a short flight to Atlanta, and both teams have fans that would travel that distance... but when Seattle ended up being the team, well, they were probably pretty screwed, is my guess.

Go load it up yourself -- standard Ticketmaster site, find Atlanta Falcons, find the game, Find Tickets, and the little map that loads, everything in blue is available at face value.

(You'll also see the ad at the bottom right, "Buy Falcons Playoff tickets direct from season ticket holders and other fans on NFL Ticket Exchange by Ticketmaster! Note: resale prices often exceed face value." NFL Ticket Exchange and a separate link.)

 

[BocciHawk]

Contrast this with Seattle 2005 where the tiny number of tickets that went on sale to the public sold out in 18 minutes... season ticket holders got to buy a few extras before the public on sale, and between the stadium already being ridiculously sold out from season ticket holders, and that opportunity, there were only several thousand, I think something like 6,000 to 8,000 tickets even available... and that includes club seats... and handicapped...

 

[HawkAroundTheClock]

I heard on the radio today - from an ATL radio guy, I think - that the Falcons have never had back to back winning seasons before the Mike Smith, Matt Ryan, and Tom Dimitroff (GM) era. Did I hear that correctly? If so, that does explain some trepidation on fans' part.

But still. Come on. The fact that we're even debating the nature of the available tickets is so frikkin laughable. Either people didn't buy them in the first place, or people bought them and want to get rid of them! LMAO! I feel bad for vested, true Falcons fans that they get a bad rap because not enough people are as passionate as them. But that assumes there are die hard Falcons fans in the first place.

I don't need to tell anyone here that we have endured some shit-ass periods of losing in Seattle. While the winning brings out more casual fans, I think the hard-core base has been alive and well through thick and thin for a long time.

Finally, I LOVE the vibe of the OP! YES! YES! and furthermore, YES!

 

[Aristotle22]

I just looked on stubhub, 2865 tickets left

 

[Timberhawk]

The psychology is totally on our side. I read some article on ESPN tonight from their divisional blogger named Pat Jackelope or something like that. Anyway you could tell he was trying to convince himself that the Falcons will win on Sunday because they should win. Why, because the other three times they lost they were not the better team and this time they are. He never mentions the stats that show Ryan clearly doesn't play as well in the playoffs. The team and coaching staff don't handle pressure well this is why they have lost and lost big to boot. He does remind everyone the Giants beat them 24-2 last year. 24-2 because the offense didn't show up. Why didn't the offense show up I ask? Because they don't' handle pressure well. They have more pressure this year than ever. I truly believe we are the better team all around. If we show up and play to our potential we win. Easy as that.

 

[Hawks46]

It's sounding like to me the Falcons are trying hard to manufacture....something. Bravado ? Confidence ? Physicality ? Fan support ? Not sure, but they sure don't seem to be as confident as the Hawks are going in. How do I know this ? Hell, just a feeling.

One thing I'm sure of, if we jump on them early, or take them out of the game early, or even get up by a FG and hold that lead, I can see us taking the crowd right out of it, and early. Once we get the crowd out of it, it gets even easier.

 

[RufusPorter]

We have seen enough teams try to manufacture physicality to know it isn't that easy.

I always hate to quote a single sentence of a post, as if I'm cherry picking. But as a Seahawk fan since the early 90s, watching some teams take the field that you would never call physical, to the 'Hawk team we have today... this one line stood out as a pearl of truth to me. You cannot just become ˈfɪzɪkəl.

physical (ˈfɪzɪkəl)
—adj
1. of or relating to the body, as distinguished from the mind or spirit
2. of, relating to, or resembling material things or nature: the physical universe
3. involving or requiring bodily contact: rugby is a physical sport
4. of or concerned with matter and energy
5. of or relating to physics
6. perceptible to the senses; apparent: a physical manifestation

The Falcons should be very concerned. At the very least it will be an extremely violent game until the last ticks of the fourth quarter.

GO HAWKS!

 

[BocciHawk]

Yeah, it's funny, as a long time Seahawks fan, and a more recent season ticket holder, it always bothered me when other teams called us soft.

Well, you know what? We were soft. Really!

Now that I've seen THIS Seahawks team, I have no problems saying every other Seahawks team I've ever seen in person was soft. (That's from 1998 or so up to the present.)

 

[Falcan Moore]

I'd be more worried, except that Smith usually locks the team down for a big game this year. Before the other playoff games, players were on twitter a ton, there wasn't an air of seriousness...this is the same way they reacted after the Carolina loss.

And I know you might not put much stake in that victory we had...but I sure as heck do.

Going to be a great game. Loose and undisciplined doesn't always play to your advantage.

 

[seahawk2k]

There is a difference between loose and undisciplined my friend.

 

[RolandDeschain]

I'm nervous as hell about this game too, but I gotta agree with the sentiment of this post. It's hard to continue to think we're going to come up just a bit short in light of everything I'm seeing.

Bill Wixey from Q-13 Fox is in Atlanta, prepping for the 'Hawks game, and he had a special this morning on the news where he went around looking for Falcons fans, trying to convince folks to root for the 'Hawks. He said it was absolutely eerie, the lack of anything Falcons related in Atlanta. Said he saw a whopping three people dressed in Falcons gear the first two days he was there, and two of them were Falcons employees showing up for work at the stadium. There is zero interest right now in Atlanta. None. Zip. Nada. And that does not bode well for the team's psyche, especially in the face of a "must-win" game.

I wish you hadn't posted this. Now I actually feel sorry for real fans of that team. Seriously, how depressing would it be for us hardcore fans if Seattle was like that?...

 

[Seahawk Sailor]

I'm nervous as hell about this game too, but I gotta agree with the sentiment of this post. It's hard to continue to think we're going to come up just a bit short in light of everything I'm seeing.

Bill Wixey from Q-13 Fox is in Atlanta, prepping for the 'Hawks game, and he had a special this morning on the news where he went around looking for Falcons fans, trying to convince folks to root for the 'Hawks. He said it was absolutely eerie, the lack of anything Falcons related in Atlanta. Said he saw a whopping three people dressed in Falcons gear the first two days he was there, and two of them were Falcons employees showing up for work at the stadium. There is zero interest right now in Atlanta. None. Zip. Nada. And that does not bode well for the team's psyche, especially in the face of a "must-win" game.

I wish you hadn't posted this. Now I actually feel sorry for real fans of that team. Seriously, how depressing would it be for us hardcore fans if Seattle was like that?...

Yea, I have mixed feelings about that. While it's horribly sad for the Falcons to have that little interest, that's just tough in a way. People are going to be interested in things that are interesting. If you can't put a product on the field that really captures a fan base's heart, you're not going to see the interest. I've never seen that sort of apathy. Well, yea, from places like Arizona or Cleveland after an abysmal season. But after 13-3 and the #1 seed in the NFC?