FTW: 5 reasons Atlanta blew out the Seattle

The Falcons are headed to the NFC Championship after dispatching of the Seahawks 36-20 in Atlanta. After taking the lead in the second quarter, Dan Quinn's team never looked back. Here are five reasons they were able to dominate the NFC West champs…

1. Matt Ryan played like the MVP

This wasn't Ryan's best performance of the season. He missed a few throws. He got away with some poor decisions. But, overall, Ryan was excellent. Especially against pressure. He slid in the pocket and made perfect throws with pass rushers in his grill.

Ryan finished 26-of-37 for 338 yards and three touchdowns. Just another great performance in a season full of them.

2. The Falcons dominated the line of scrimmage

On both sides of the ball. The Falcons offensive line put on a masterclass in blocking the outside zone running play. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman had plenty of time to find cutback lanes and exploit them.

The Seahawks offensive line had a tougher go of it, which is a bit of a disappointment (if not a total surprise) after last week's performance agaisnt the Lions. Most of Seattle's rushing yards came off of Russell Wilson scrambles, as the traditional run game sputtered after an impressive opening drive. The pass blocking was even worse. Atlanta consistently put pressure on Wilson, sacking him three times and hitting another eight times.

3. Kyle Shanahan out-coached Kris Richard

The all-important battle between Atlanta's offensive coordinator and Seattle's defensive coordinator was a mismatch from the start. Shanahan was always a step ahead of Richard. He created mismatches with formations. He kept Richard Sherman off of Julio Jones with bunch and stack alignments, and Seattle was never able to adjust.

Shanahan made one key adjustment from the first time these teams played. Back in October, the Falcons kept their backs into block against the blitz. This time around, Richard, hoping to eliminate Atlanta's backs as receiving threats, sent more blitzes than he normally does. The Falcons were ready for it. They sent their backs out as receivers and Ryan hit them for big gains against the blitz.

4. Russell Wilson couldn't do it all

With the offensive line struggling to hold the Falcons rush for even a few seconds, Wilson was forced to improvise almost every other play. He answered the call for the most part, but the pressure to consistently produce these magical plays eventually took its tolls. Wilson missed at least two would-be touchdown passes to Doug Baldwin and threw an awful interception while trying to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter. His final stat line does not accurately represent how well he played considering the circumstances.

5. The injured Earl Thomas is clearly the Seahawks' defensive MVP

The Legion of Boom just isn't the same without its man in the middle. Thomas is irreplaceable as the Seahawks have found out over the last month or so. Backup Steven Terrell was just too much of a liability for Seattle to continue to run its typical defense as if Thomas was still in there. Pete Carroll did not make an adjustment, and the Seahawks paid for it.

The Seahawks defense has suffered injuries to key players in the past, but non have had the impact Thomas' injury has. The 26-year-old has two years remaining on his contract. You can bet his agent will be bringing up this tough stretch during negotiations when that time comes.