Pressure’s off … sort of
NFL legend Jerry Rice went on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and talked a bit about the 49ers-Falcons rivalry from when both teams played in the NFC West.
The first topic was Rice’s ridiculous numbers against the Falcons: 175 receptions, 2,731 yards, 25 touchdowns in 29 games. The receptions, yards and touchdowns are the most for Rice against any other NFL team.
Rice also said he thinks quarterback Matt Ryan and the Falcons relieved some pressure by earning their first victory in four playoff games under coach Mike Smith — up to a point.
“It can do a lot because this team was 0-3, now (Ryan’s) got that monkey off his back, and they can sort of just enjoy it just a little bit,” Rice said. “But still you’ve got to look at that deficit (on Sunday), it was 27-7 and they let the Seattle Seahawks come back. So they’ve got a lot of work to do.
“But this guy, ‘Matty Ice,’ he knows how to get it done. Just to get that monkey off his back he can breathe a little bit, and now he can say, ‘I just have to go get this next football game.”
Advantage, Falcons?
NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner, who won a Super Bowl as quarterback of the Rams, identified two areas in which the Falcons can exploit favorable matchups against the 49ers.
“They run a lot of three-wide receiver sets in Atlanta, “Warner said. “When you do that, (49ers cornerback) Carlos Rogers, the best cover guy, goes inside. That’s when I think you can attack on the outside with either one of your big-time receivers.
“The other thing San Francisco does is they love to attack the line of scrimmage with their safeties. If you can throw one of those guys in front of a safety then (you can) use a guy like Julio Jones to get behind those safeties.
“Those are the two ways you have to attack the 49ers’ defensive secondary, but you have to protect first and that’s going to be a key.”
Tickets
The game is officially sold out, but lots of seats were available on the secondary market Wednesday.
StubHub.com had about 6,400 tickets starting at $185. The NFL’s official exchange at Ticketmaster was offering more than 5,300 tickets for $160 and up.
View from San Francisco
Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News caught up with John Madden, the former Raiders coach and long-time NFL television analyst. Madden picked the 49ers to beat the Falcons, but also defended coach Mike Smith from criticism of his team’s playoff record.
“That’s the type of stuff that’s really unfair — ‘You can’t win the big one,’” Madden told Brown. “Mike has done a heck of a job, and the Atlanta Falcons have done a heck of a job. And in our society, we don’t have any place for No. 2 or No. 3 or No. 4. No one runs around saying, ‘We’re No. 2! We’re No. 2!’ If you don’t win in the playoffs, you’re nothing.
“Winning last week gets rid of (the criticism) for a week, but if they lose next week, it’s going to come right back.”
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