Falcons not out to avenge Seahawks, nor ride momentum

If you're a Falcons fan, you're probably looking for a piece of the Seahawks Saturday in the Georgia Dome, mindful of Seattle's 26-24 win over Atlanta in week six. The image of Richard Sherman not being called for interference when he, uh, "covered" Julio Jones late in that game may be burned upon your vengeful brain.

Head coach Dan Quinn wasn’t inclined to reflect much Monday, though, as the Falcons (11-5) began preparing for the divisional round playoff game against the Seahawks (11-5-1) and even dismissive of the concept of momentum that fans embrace.

Nevermind that his team won its last four regular season games, or that Seattle went 2-2 in its final four with a blowout loss at Green Bay (38-10) and a home loss to lowly Arizona (34-31).

He cares much more about the tape from the teams’ Oct. 16 meeting out there than about any possible emotional baggage or late-season trends.

“We don’t talk about the momentum,” Quinn said. “We try not to look too far ahead or behind us. The best that we can do is stay in the process of doing what we do. We recognize going back ‘these are things that worked well and these are things that didn’t,’ but past that you throw it all into this week.”

All four NFL playoff games this weekend are rematches of regular-season matchup, the first time in six years that’s happened.

Already, the Steelers avenged a regular-season loss in Miami with a playoff blowout of the Dolphins Sunday in Pittsburgh, and Houston reversed a regular-season trend with their Saturday win over the Raiders.

The Falcons aim to continue this pattern, where the team that lost the regular-season game on the road won the playoff rematch at home. They remember, but they’re not spitting fire.

“We felt like we had a chance to win that game. Calls didn’t go our way,” said Vic Beasley Jr. “Things could’ve went a different route so we’re looking forward to this opportunity.”

The Steelers and Packers are riding momentum, or seven-game winning streaks, yet the last 10 Super Bowl champions combined over their final four regular-season games to go just 21-19.

So Atlanta’s not looking at any of that. The Falcons are checking tape of a game where Seattle was whipping them in the first half before quarterback Matt Ryan and the offense revved up and scored 21 third-quarter points for the lead.

“You know what can help? Sometimes, the individual matchups for the players. They can look at who they played against,” Quinn said. “With the coaches, we’re so involved with the scheme and how to attack this formation, this defense …

“For the players, it’s how do I match up on that player? How do I set up against his stance? How do I go against the guy? Maybe this move worked against press coverage and this one didn’t. There’s definitely things to gain from it as far as plays and concepts.”

It sure looks like a good thing that this game will be in the Dome.

The Seahawks have won 10 straight postseason games at home since 2005, going 2-5 on the road in the same span with a 10-9 win last year in Minnesota, when the Vikings missed a late chip-shot field goal, and 24-14 in Washington after the 2012 season.

A week later, in Atlanta, they erased a 27-7 fourth quarter lead by the Falcons to lead 28-27 with 31 seconds left in the game. Ryan rallied, and Matt Bryant kicked a field goal for a 31-28 win.

Seattle has been a dramatically different team home and away, with one glaring exception — a 31-24 win at New England (14-2) at midseason.

On the road, the Seahawks went 3-4-1, losing to the meekly Rams while scoring three points, tying the Cardinals 6-6, falling at New Orleans and scoring five points in a loss at Tampa Bay.

Check out the Seahawks’ home/away offensive splits per game in the regular season:

Points scored: 28.4/15.9.

Passer rating: 104.4/82.6.

Touchdowns thrown-interceptions: 15-8/8-8.

Rushing yards per game-touchdowns: 110.8-11/88.1-2.

The numbers are not as stark defensively, although opponents averaged 251.8 passing yards when the Seahawks were on the road, and 203.9 in Seattle even though Ryan laid 335 on them out there.

Falcons left guard Andy Levitra doesn’t give a whit about momentum, and other than the case study that can be made of the tape of the first meeting with the Seahawks, he doesn’t care about that game. He’s not seeking revenge.

“I don’t think about it. Maybe some guys do. It’s a new game to me,” Levitra said. “Absolutely it’s good that we played them earlier in the year to learn from the things we did well and didn’t do well, and grow off those.

“From my own personal view, I don’t think about that other stuff. I just think about the play that’s at hand, not the drive before, the play before … It’s kind of the same with games. You just focus on the task at hand.”