"The pressure is on Matt Ryan Sunday. A lot has been expected of the first-round draft pick, now in his fourth season. But he is still looking for his first postseason win, having lost his first two playoff games with poor performances marked by gaudy mistakes.

People are starting to doubt whether he's a big game quarterback, whether he is worth the big money.

It should sound familiar. The Falcons quarterback is at the exact place in his career where Eli Manning stood going into the 2007 playoffs. In fact, Ryan is ahead of Manning's pace. His stats blow away Manning's at the same juncture. Of course, to keep that pace, he'll have to be holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy in February. He faces the same challenge Manning did four years ago, opening the wild-card playoffs on the road with the further prospect of beating a divisional rival that swept him during the season and another that beat him once."