The Atlanta Falcons will be heading east this week to take on the NFC East Champion New York Giants in the first round of NFL playoffs. The Falcons missed out on home field advantage despite having a better regular-season record than the Giants. Now it appears that advantage may be worse news for the Falcons than they initially thought.
Pat Yasinskas of ESPN reports that there is a 40-percent chance for rain in New York on Sunday. The forecast does not bode well for the Falcons, whose domed home stadium removes the chance of inclement weather. Although New York may be an unseasonably-warm 45 degrees on Sunday, that is just the projected high.
As our own Jason Kirk pointed out in 2010, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan does not perform nearly as well away from the Georgia Dome. In particular, his completion percentage plummets in unfavorable conditions. In 2011, the Falcons lost road games against beatable opponents the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears and nearly blew a big lead on the road against the Seattle Seahawks.
If Atlanta Falcons were already nervous about the road trip, the forecast will do nothing to ease their jangled nerves.
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