Packers vs. Falcons: Tale of the tape ahead of NFC Championship

Quarterback

Matt Ryan is playing like an MVP, and he’s likely on course to earn the award for the first time. Easily his best season, Ryan piled up 4,944 yards, 38 touchdowns and just seven interceptions this year. Yet he still enters the NFC Championship as the game’s second-best quarterback.

Enter Aaron Rodgers. Two times a league MVP and once a Super Bowl MVP, Rodgers was already regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever grace the field, and that’s before arguably the best eight-game stretch of his career. Since Week 12, Rodgers has thrown 24 touchdown passes with just one interception.

And he continues to make plays nobody else on the planet can. An elite pocket passer, but equally as good when rolling out and throwing on the move, he’s near-impossible to defend when in rhythm. Add in underrated rushing ability and a brain capable of picking apart even the most creative defensive schemes, and you have the man behind Green Bay’s incredible eight-game winning stretch.

Ryan might have to keep pace with his opposite number on Sunday. He proved in Week 8 he’s capable of doing it, but if Rodgers plays like he’s done over the past two months, Ryan will need to be perfect.

Advantage: Green Bay