3 Falcons up, 3 Falcons down in NFC Divisional Round win over Seahawks

Don't let the 36-20 score fool you; it wasn't nearly that close.

The Atlanta Falcons advanced to franchise's fourth NFC Championship Game with a decisive victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

Who's up and who's down in the divisional round win?

Up

Matt Ryan

Matthew Thomas Ryan is the Most Valuable Player of the National Football League. Hands down, no questions asked. He carved up the vaunted Seahawks defense to the tune of 338 yards and three touchdowns on 26 of 37 passing. Really, what else needs to be said at this point?

Jonathan Babineaux

The 12th year veteran turned in what was easily his best performance of the season. He notched three tackles and a sack and was generally disruptive all game. A fine showing for the long-time Falcon.

Brooks Reed

Like Babineaux, Reed picked a fine time to have his best game of the year. He hasn't quite lived up to his contract, but he terrorized Russell Wilson for a large part of the game and even pulled out a couple of nice spin moves.

Down

Eric Weems

Weems is a great special teams player, but his returning has been up and down. This game falls into the down column. Late in the second quarter he put the offense in a precarious position when he failed to fair catch a punt — although the Falcons ended up driving 99 yards in nine plays for a touchdown.

Philip Wheeler

Wheeler lined up incorrectly on a punt return in the third quarter, giving the Seahawks a second chance on a drive that had stalled out. Luckily, it resulted only in a 26-yard field goal.

Keith Armstrong

In fact, what in the world were the Falcons doing on special teams as a whole? Thankfully, Seattle couldn't get out of its own way with holding penalties across the board.

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Who's up and who's down for you?