ATLANTA — Each time Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan zipped the football or placed a pass as soft as a lullaby into his receivers' hands in the end zone during Sunday's NFC Championship Game, the chants began in the rafters and rolled down like thunder at the condemned Georgia Dome.
"M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!"
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers got most of the attention and was, as his State Farm commercial suggests, on fire for the second half of the year and into the playoffs. He knew how to go deep, but it's Ryan and the Falcons who ultimately will go deeper in the postseason.