NFC Divisional Round Recap: Green Bay Packers Surprisingly Blow Out the Atlanta Falcons

Wait a minute...I thought the team with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs was supposed to be the best team in the conference.

For the game's first 18:10, it looked like the Atlanta Falcons were on their way to proving that they are truly the NFC's best team. Eric Weems returned a kickoff 102 yards for the touchdown to give Atlanta a 14-7 lead.

Then, in a wave of 35 unanswered points, the Packers showed that the Falcons were mere pretenders, rather than Super Bowl contenders. Green Bay walked out of the Georgia Dome with a surprisingly-easy 48-21 victory.

The Packers scored all of their first 28 points in the second quarter. The last of their four touchdown was a 70-yard interceptin return by Tramon Williams as the first-half expired.

That was one of two interceptions thrown by Matt Ryan. The Falcons' quarterback completed 20-of-29 passes for a meager 186 yards and a touchdown.

Michael Turner couldn't find any more success in the running game for Atlanta. He carried the ball 10 times for only 39 yards.

In contrast, the Packers ran the ball for a total of 96 yards. James Starks ran the ball 25 times for a respectable 66 yards.

Thanks to the healthy mix of running and passing plays in the Green Bay offense, Aaron Rodgers found some places to throw to. He completed 31-of-36 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns while running for 13 yards and another TD.

With their recent postseason run heading to the AFC Championship Game, the Packers are reminding some football fans of the 2008 playoffs, when three of the teams competing in conference championship games were a fourth seed or lower.

As a Bears fan, I would like to remind you that the one team that reached a conference championship game that year after having a bye week in the Wild Card round (the No. 2-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers of the AFC) won the Super Bowl.