Geoff JohnsonThe Falcons need at least one more win to clinch the NFC top seed, and they will take on the eliminated Lions, this Saturday at 8:30 PM ET at Ford Field.
Atlanta dismantled, humiliated, trashed the NY Giants last week; whatever term you use, it works. The beating was a 34-0 win that sealed them as a top contender in the national conference.
“We love the haters, man,” said Falcons cornerback Asante Samuel, who had and one interception against Eli Manning. “The haters keep us going. So keep your hate coming. We love it. It makes us play with a chip on our shoulder”.
“Our focus was heightened from other weeks,” coach Mike Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of great leaders and mentors in that locker room. They took the message from the meetings and took it out on the field.”
“Last week everybody was talking smack about us,” defensive end John Abraham said. “We just continue what we’re doing.”
Matt Ryan threw three touchdowns and no interceptions in a game that mattered.
The Lions looked even worse than the NY Giants, dropping a loss against the terrible Arizona Cardinals. “This team, the Cardinals, they lost a game last week because of turnovers, because of eight turnovers,” Schwartz said. “We went into the game wanting to take care of the football, wanting to establish the run. We did a poor job of both of those”.
Atlanta is four point favorites against Detroit on Saturday, take them to win and cover.
