At 5:00pm pacific, the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers will take the field to determine one half of the 2011 NFC Championship game. While this afternoon's Ravens-Steelers matchup did not feature any Cal or Stanford football players, this afternoon's half of the NFL playoff schedule features an assortment of former Cal and Stanford football players. More importantly, many of these players involved are some of the primary impact players for their respective team. After the jump I'll take a look at the Bay Area players taking part in tonight's Falcons-Packers matchup.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons feature starting tight end Tony Gonzalez and starting free safety Thomas DeCoud from California. Their Stanford contingent includes backup offensive tackle Will Svitek and backup middle linebacker Coy Wire. Finally, backup cornerback Christopher Owens went to San Jose State.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers feature starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers and starting inside linebacker Desmond Bishop from Cal. They lack Stanford players, but like the Falcons they have a San Jose State alum in backup wide receiver James Jones.
One has to wonder whether the Cal losers of this game will congratulate the Cal winners, much like DeSean Jackson did last week after he lost to Aaron Rodgers' Packers.