Real Falcons ‘fans’ need to thank Coach Mularkey
110801 Flowery Branch - Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey signals to the offense while players run through the first padded practice at training camp in Flowery Branch on Monday, August 1, 2011. Curtis Compton ccompton@ajc.com
FLOWERY BRANCH – Real Falcons ‘fans’ need to step up and send thank you cards to new Jacksonville coach Mike Mularkey.
What he was able to achieve in his four years of unprecedented success in franchise history should be recognized. He doesn’t deserve having some rocks thrown at him on his way out of town.
Some of you, before disrespecting Mularkey, need to reflect and look at his unit’s accomplishments.
The Falcons had to build the offense from scratch, starting with a rookie quarterback, a rookie left tackle, a free agent running back and a new right guard.
The offense was the backbone of the teams that went 11-7, 9-7, 13-3 and 10-6 and made three trips to the playoffs. The good folks of Cleveland and Buffalo would throw parades if they could average double-digit wins.
Here’s more to reflect on about how the unit performed under Coach Mularkey:
New Jacksonville coach Mike Mularkey.
–Ryan tied Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino for most wins over his first three seasons in the NFL.
–Michael Turner rushed for more than 1,300 yards in three seasons and went to two Pro Bowls.
–Roddy White led the league in receptions with 115 in 2010 and has gone to four straight Pro Bowls.
–Tony Gonzalez continued his march to Canton, Ohio.
–Turner broke the franchise record, in just four seasons, for most rushing touchdowns with 50.
–Ryan broke the single-season passing record with 4,177 yards.
–Ryan became just the second quarterback in franchise history to pass for more than 4,000 yards in a season.
–Ryan also set a franchise mark for 300-yard passing games in a season with six.
–The offensive line even started to get recognition as right tackle Tyson Clabo went to the Pro Bowl after the 2010 season.
–The line was a finalist in 2010 for John Madden’s “Most Valuable Protector’s Award” which goes to the top unit in the league.
There’s plenty more, but you get the point.
Some Falcons “fans” have a history of blasting the play caller. They didn’t like Dan Reeves’ offense (too conservative), then Greg Knapp’s attack (lack of structure) and now Mularkey’s (too conservative) unwarranted attacks. Bobby Petrino was here long enough and there were several other distractions.
Here’s the deal on playing calling. All of the plays will work if executed properly and everybody wins their battles. There are no bad plays.
You can’t blame the coordinator when your top receiver drops 14 passes (Roddy White last year). You can’t blame the coordinator when your line can’t get a big enough push to get six inches. You can’t blame the coordinator when the line can’t give the quarterback time enough to throw deep passes. (Ryan had to launch early on those two strikes against Houston to open the game.)
Those are not bad plays calls. That’s a failure to execute. But second-guessing the play caller is the easiest thing for fans to do.
Pro coaches spend so much time getting ready that there are rarely any just absolutely bad calls. You’ll
Former Falcons offensive coordiantor Mike Mularkey and quarterback Matt Ryan opened the game against the Bears in the no-huddle attack. (CURTIS COMPTON/AJC).
never see a goal-line defense on a third-and-long. (I mentioned that to Brian VanGorder and he said, “I got five kids to feed. Why would I do that?”)
I don’t preach or rant to you all often, so thanks for let me get this off my chest.
Also, I’ve got to wish Coach Mularkey good luck right here like I did in a couple phone messages.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
Get instant updates on Twitter at AJCFalcons and you can join the Facebook Fan page at AJC Falcons.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
286 comments Add your comment
Willy
January 13th, 2012
9:25 am
@ Retired. Also agreed
Die Hard Falcon
January 13th, 2012
9:28 am
Wow! Lots of animosity unleashed! I guess sometimes it’s a good idea to open up a can of worms and let frustrations out on a disappointing end to our season.
I agree, Mularkey brought us up to a respectable, consistent level and I am grateful for that, he helped develop our offense and I believe we reached a plateau unfortunately. I am worried that we’ll take a step back, but hopefully a good hire will be made and maybe we can move up to another level, the highest in Falcons history. Personally, I’m pulling for Brian Billick, but whoever gets the nod, I am 100% behind the Falcons, I really just want us to shut the national media, like Michael Lombardi up. In a recent column on NFL.com he really bashes our organization, seems to really be aimed at our GM (he does mention that he’d love to be the GM of a dome team, maybe he’s doing his best to get an interview)and I love my team, from the top to the bottom.
I get frustrated w/ some, Dunta Robinson to name one, but I ALWAYS pull for my guys, b/c that is where we’re at and I hope we make lemonade every year. Here’s to a successful 2012-13 and another hope for a SB to come to my Falcons and what I believe to be a classy owner.
falconsnut
January 13th, 2012
9:30 am
I pay $2600 for one set of season tickets and $800 for two others in the upper deck. How much do you pay DOL?? I think the overwhemling fan opinion has been MM was a terrible play caller. Anyone who watched us knew the first two plays would be Turner up the middle for 2 yards and then a hurried incomplete pass on third down and punt. Just think how far in the playoffs the Falcons could have gone with a decent play caller. I had my picture taken w/ Randy Johnson and Tommy Nobis at a county fair in 67 and have been a die hard fan since. Don’t need you to tell me how to feel. I agree w/ Ackshun above.
In consistent BloGGer
January 13th, 2012
9:32 am
Yeah…..Dunta Robinson has been a huge disappointment. What does it say when he is still a starter on defense when he is out of position so often? Lack of depth?
eastbound and down
January 13th, 2012
9:35 am
ok. so we will blame Dimitroff for not giving Mularkey the tools he needed to make his boneheaded plays work.
also, you have to subtract any calls Ryan made at the line from the totals you provided, since those calls weren’t made by Mularkey
Say what
January 13th, 2012
9:36 am
Paddy O, what does political affiliation have to do with anything? There are bozo liberals and bozo conservatives. And D-Led is just a working man doing his job.
He can have his own opinion on Mularkey. But implying those who differ aren’t “real” fans WAS a major misstep.
mongolikebeer
January 13th, 2012
9:36 am
DLED- You are right on the money- but the monday am qb’s and the locker room lawyers aren’t going to let the FACTS get in the way of their poorly thought out rants. Most D’s rushed 3-4 only so screen game is DOA. Losing OL’s leader last year killed this line- which couldn’t block anyone this year. How that O set records with that line is because the OC is really smart and a really good teacher. I guess we’ll find out next year……
In consistent BloGGer
January 13th, 2012
9:37 am
@ falconsnut
What would you suggest the Falcons do on first and second down? What other plays would YOU call that make your thoughts superior to Mularkey\’s?
Just because you spend a lot of money does not mean you know more. There is no assurance that this team will win a Superbowl every year. Your first love should be the game, your second should be the team.
Get over yourself.
monty
January 13th, 2012
9:38 am
No use kicking dead horses. Good luck Mike. I hope that if the Falcons ever play the Jags and the Jags need 1/2 a yard for a 1st down that you do the same thing you did here, empty the back-field and run a QB keeper.
conalthomas
January 13th, 2012
9:40 am
I think every fan has a right to opinions, even critical ones, but I do agree that they shouldn’t be a jerk about it. I also agree that the Falcons have accomplished a lot during MM’s tenure, but I have to very much disagree with the statement in the article, “There are no bad plays.” Sometimes plays fail because of execution, but sometimes they fail because they’re poorly designed for the personnel involved. It is always the excuse of failed management that the problem was execution – sometimes that’s justified, and sometimes it isn’t.
Falcon Red
January 13th, 2012
9:41 am
DOL – I have to (sort of) disagree with you. As you, and a whole lot of people ‘in football’ say…”it’s a business”. In this business the FANS are the customers. Maybe the Falcons should be thanking the fans that have supported, and continue to support, even though we continue to get what WE percieve as an inferior product. Maybe it’s a bad analogy, but if you supported (lets say) Toyota for years…and over the recent years they have recall after recall, brake failures, gas pedals sticking, and so on – would you expect us to thank the ‘designer’ for his input? I think not…
Die Hard Falcon
January 13th, 2012
9:42 am
@In consistent BloGGer –
I think w/ regards to Dunta that there is a lack of depth, although Franks has shown some promise in limited action, who knows, maybe we can trim some fat off our cap and cut or trade Dunta depending on the cap hit we’d have to take, most often the contracts are front-loaded and parting ways comes easier after the first couple of years. Although I think we should see who takes over the D, if they’re going to be more aggressive and play some press man, Dunta might be good to keep around
monty
January 13th, 2012
9:43 am
How anyone with any integrity can defend Dunta’s play(considering what we gave for him) is not owning up to a mistake. He was supposed to be “the” great corner in the league or at least of of a couple. Laughable!
Eli
January 13th, 2012
9:45 am
How is it that this franchise is in pursuit of greatness but continues to have the less-than-mediocre DOL as our beat writer. Something needs to change.
And there are plenty of bad plays, like that stupid roll out that MM loved so much but Ryan clearly hated since it did nothing but cut the field in half and allow him to make 2 reads at most.
In consistent BloGGer
January 13th, 2012
9:46 am
monty
January 13th, 2012
9:38 am
No use kicking dead horses. Good luck Mike. I hope that if the Falcons ever play the Jags and the Jags need 1/2 a yard for a 1st down that you do the same thing you did here, empty the back-field and run a QB keeper.
=======================================================================
See, it\’s junk like this that expose you as a fair weather fan.
How can you judge Mularkey on ONE play? You have to consider this tenure here and all that went with it…..Including bone headed play calls.
ctfalconsfan
January 13th, 2012
9:48 am
Amen Paddy O… That’s all that needs to be said SHUT OUT AGAINST THE 27TH RANKED DEFENSE!!!
THANK MULARKEY FOR HIS WORK HERE, I THINK NOT!!!
ctfalconsfan
January 13th, 2012
9:51 am
To my knowledge MM won us no play-off games.. In many cases there were games we won inspite of MM.
Alex
January 13th, 2012
9:52 am
D Led, this was a good article and I agree with you. Mike Mularkey did a really good job for us for the most part. Keep up the good work.
ctfalconsfan
January 13th, 2012
10:00 am
Reading this blog DOL are you hoping to get a job with the Jacksonville paper to cover MM?
Living up North these writers tear apart owners, coaches, players and anyone else.
The ajc continues to sugarcoat the play of the Falcons.
- Is there a contractual agreement between the two organizations?
I WILL NEVER FORGET DOL the article in the ajc after we lost to the aints in OT this season stating ” Falcons made the right call to go for it on fouth down”???
- Trying to justify the percentage of stopping aints and getting the ball back..
JUST STUPID JOURNALISM!!! It needs to stop
ctfalconsfan
January 13th, 2012
10:01 am
so DOL I see you are now posting as ALEX… Just terrible
monty
January 13th, 2012
10:02 am
MM was one year away from being canned here. He got out while he was on top, good for him. He will be “OK” even if a few “real fans” think some of his play calling stank. He was one more playoff game with little or no points scored from being dismissed. Do you disagree with that DLED?
Mr. Mustard
January 13th, 2012
10:05 am
Real fan? Come on.
Secondly, this “fake” fan hasn’t been following the Falcons for 40 years, searching for sports bars across the country when traveling to pay more so I can watch the team win a few regular season games.
I watch them in hopes they will reach a high level and ultimately win a Super Bowl or two.
I wish Mr. Mularkey well, and thank him for his efforts, seriously.
Still glad he’s gone and if his well paid professional football squad does not know how to run a screen play at this point in their careers, then I say you just made our point for us.
Cannot expect a professional lineman to know not to run past their blocks? Baloney.
falconfansince03
January 13th, 2012
10:12 am
More insults to the readers, D-Led? You’re unbelievable. And while we’re at it, yesterday’s “demanding” headline on your “article” was misleading… and in my opinion a fabrication of the actual words. I listened to the entire press conference online. I didn’t hear one single word or phrase that suggested Arthur Blank was “demanding” a championship. I don’t care who writes the headlines – you or your editors. It was a poor reference in the article and a misleading headline. Atlanta deserves better reporting on the Falcons. Someone who has a passion for this city and its teams – especially the Falcons.
North FLA Falcon
January 13th, 2012
10:14 am
With all his phone calls and interviews late in the season, I wonder if MM’s head was in the Giants game at all. Or was he phoning it in? With very little time to prepare, just stick to the vanilla offense … at one point, Turner rant it up the middle 3 times in a row!!! With all that offensive talent it is a disgrace that we could not get any offensive points. Thanks so much MM, don’t let the door hit ya on the way out of Flowery Branch.
vesaversa
January 13th, 2012
10:29 am
Dear Mike Mularkey thank you for resigning as Falcons OC good riddance don’t let the door knob hit yah where the good lord split yah.
Chris
January 13th, 2012
10:30 am
You are right. Thanks Mularkey and good luck in J-ville.
johndawg
January 13th, 2012
10:30 am
Mularkey and VanGorder gave up after the Saints loss. There was no game plan in place to beat the Giants. They both new they were gone win or loose and they knew they would never make it passed Green Bay. So, less than 24 hours after loosing BVG is hired at Auburn. That hire didn’t happen in 7 hours… Less than 4 days, Mularkey was hired in Jax. A head coach hired in 4 days. NOPE!
He was hired the weekend JAX was in ATL when that crazy looking new owner was in town.
They both gave up on the Falcons and the fans. To that, I say screw you both!
Glen
January 13th, 2012
10:39 am
I disagree with this. The 4th down call against the Saints was abysmal, in a game they had to win, as was their entire offensive performance against the Giants. Bottom line is despite all of what you’ve said in this article they haven’t won a playoff game. Period. Where the Falcons are this season a playoff win was the bottom line. The coaches didn’t learn from last years loss to the Packers. Some of the decisions by coach Mike Smith have also be questioned. There was some losses this season where the Falcons were just outcoached. To advance they need to make changes, Mularkey I think had to go.
ddog
January 13th, 2012
10:45 am
Whatever…..your opinions are suspect at best. You lack the same creativity of Mularlky and Van Gorder
PreyDawg
January 13th, 2012
10:46 am
@D-Led- What can I say….you’re right. I have been so upset over the Giants loss that I lost some perspective. I have been on Mularkey pretty hard this week. Oddly, it was my 18 year old son (also a die hard Falcon) that lectured me on my attitude last night and then I read your article this morning. My boy was pointing out many of the same things you are here (only he didn’t have the numbers of course).
Maybe a power running attack can still work in the playoffs but we certainly have to go out and get a FA left Tackle and maybe we can find a big strong guard in the 3rd round. Hawley is well suited as a center but not a guard and the other kid is too tall to play there.
I do hope Mike Johnson is healthy for OTA’s and makes a big push for that spot.
PreyDawg
January 13th, 2012
10:49 am
My comments above notwithstanding, I DO wonder how focused Mularkey was on the game plan for the Giants. Cause that game plan was one of the worst of his tenure here. To open the second half with the same three failed plays of the first half…inexplicable.
jay
January 13th, 2012
10:55 am
Good riddance!
THE INFAMOUS DK
January 13th, 2012
10:57 am
Are you serious!!!??? Man I wouldnt pee on Mularkey if he was on fire.. I’ll send him a Flo from Mel’s diner card. Kiss my GRITS!!!
Falcons 4 life
January 13th, 2012
11:02 am
U guys r to hard on Dled. The offense is what made us competitive. BVG hardly got and scrutiny and our defense couldn’t stop my 11year old pop Warner team, and they’ll probably score on a 65 yard pass play.
Mike
January 13th, 2012
11:04 am
DOL
You continue to show why you are the most ignorant sports writer around. I still cant believe the AJC hasnt found anyone better to write for the Falcons yet.
Seriously this article is trash. You are basically trashing MOST falcons fans.
Yes MM was apart of a staff that brought us up from the depths, but he is obviously heavily flawed in his over conservative mundane repetitive play calling. And its largely his fault that this offense has tanked against good teams. When teams actually say that “they didnt do anything we hadnt seen a million times on tape” that a clue that something has to change, yet MM does not. Even by his own ego filled submission and rants to reporters that he feels that what he is doing is just fine.
And dont give me that “ever play is designed to go for a touchdown” crap. How dumb do you have to be. If thats the case then my grandmother could draw up plays. Being a good play-caller is about adjustments to what is and isnt working, and getting the most out of the pieces you have. Well MM continued to insist upon not using guys like HD, Quizz, Snelling, etc…more often.
MM being gone, regardless of what he did for us in the past, is the best thing this franchise could have done.
Wake-up man, do you even watch the games?
THE INFAMOUS DK
January 13th, 2012
11:14 am
Oh the blame goes all around for the team. Roddy is upset cause Julio is here and cant get it together. Turner wont stay in shape. The Line is atrocious. The D Line gets no push. Dunta needs to be cut. DeCoud needs to be cut, maybe he can go on dancing with the stars. This was just a bad loss. And to top it off.. The Aints broke all necessary records against us, so we will be in thier highlight reels from here on out.
ChiFalcon
January 13th, 2012
11:15 am
Good article overall, I think it’s important to recognize how far this team has come, in a relatively short period of time…the Joey Harrington era was only 5 years ago. I think we all can agree that Mularkey’s offensive scheme (as a whole, not just this past year), and development of Matt Ryan was integral in this team’s evolution from a perennial loser to playoff contender. The fact that lack of playoff success after 3 trips in 4 seasons has fans calling for a franchise overhaul says quite a bit about how successful the team has been in building a tradition of winning football games.
However, it became glaringly apparent over the course of this season that in order for the this team to take the next step in the playoffs, a shift in offensive philosophy was necessary.It’s time to further build on the foundation that Mularkey helped to create.
DOL, as far as being a ‘real’ fan is concerned, I think it’s the real fans who recognize that MM’s time in Atlanta had run it’s course and it was clearly time for some sort of change.
1danielbell
January 13th, 2012
11:19 am
Good points. I think the problem is how quickly the change occurred. A fan base that had grown accustomed to meritocracy suddenly had a really good team to cheer for, so they became eager for the next level.
Still, you can put blame on some of his play calling, because it’s his job to know his players and what they can do well, and it’s his job to know how to properly attack opposing defenses.
ChiFalcon
January 13th, 2012
11:20 am
@THE INFAMOUS DK
Can’t get it together? 54 rec/959 yds/8 td…while missing 3 1/2 games w injury. I think Julio is doing fine.
Turner not in shape? Let’s not forget he finished 3rd in the league in rushing this year. I imagine one probably requires a somewhat high level of physical fitness in order to achieve that.
You sound ignorant and reactionary.
Fan
January 13th, 2012
11:26 am
You must be CRAZY man… Matt Ryan made MM…. It was Ryan that pushed that RAG TAG OFFENSE OUT OF PLAYS AFTER PLAYS. You must be crazy MAN
Shady
January 13th, 2012
11:31 am
Kiss my ass.
Pool guy
January 13th, 2012
11:35 am
How can you not blame the guy. We spent our entire draft last year building on the offensive side of the ball when what we needed was defense. Not saying we did not get a very talented receiver but we needed some help at safety .If you should be thanking anyone I would think it would have been Vangorder.If Mularkey could have put points on the board we would have won that game in New York.You look at our losses this year and count the threee and outs. I dont care what kind of d you run if you dont score points you cripple the defense.And will someone PEASE tell me what happened to that o line. If you ask me you took the nasty out of it when you let Dahl go. Chemistry is everything in this game and that line didnt know who was staring where from week one. I put that directly on mularkeys shoulders. Glad to see him go.
Say what
January 13th, 2012
11:35 am
“Matt Ryan made MM”
co-sign. How many times did MM’s offense stall this year, only to be picked up by Matt taking over the play calling? It wasn’t no huddle to change the tempo, it was no huddle to turn playcalling over to Matt because MM’s plan was pure garbage. Turner up the middle, Turner up the middle, short stop route and a prayer for YAC beyond the first down marker. And Mike Smith should not have accepted that from his OC. He should have torn it up and said either do better, or if you can’t, Matt is calling this entire game.
Falcons 4 Real
January 13th, 2012
11:41 am
Thanks for calling it like it is DLed. MM is one of the more respected coaches around the league and deserves our adulation. Best to him until we play them again in 2015.
David Gay
January 13th, 2012
11:49 am
Great Article – I too was glad to hear he is leaving wanting a more wide open offense. However, he did do a GREAT job in helping this team to be a more consistent winner. The past three years has been better than all of those loosing Sundays since the 1960s.
Mack
January 13th, 2012
11:49 am
Who is your favorite coach?
With all the coaching changes being made here in Falcon Land I thought it might be fun to pick your brains.
I personally love M.Tomlin with the Steelers. Is he the best coach in the NFL? I dunno. I just like the guy’s no BS attitude.
Ivan
January 13th, 2012
11:50 am
Wow, D-Led. Never thought you had it in you. Thank you for pointing out to all the “fans” of Atlanta, who really walked out the door for Jacksonville. And tell Mularkey I said, “Thank you” next time you talk to him.
Ivan
January 13th, 2012
11:59 am
“Seriously this article is trash. You are basically trashing MOST falcons fans”
Maybe MOST Falcons fans should learn football from other sources than Fantasy articles and Madden NFL.
Another thing MOST fans are missing, is how Mularkey covered the huge weakness of the O-line for so long. They forget how Ryan was getting killed dropping back in the beginning of the season. And, thanks to his schemes and play calling, it wasn’t a factor again until around week 16.
The fact the O-line couldn’t convert 4th and one or less is evidence enough of their ineptitude.
JSS
January 13th, 2012
12:03 pm
D. Orlando Ledbetter
January 13th, 2012
7:27 am
“UcantCLA — There was no sense in calling a screen pass because the linemen couldn’t pull out and hit moving targets. That’s called a dead/busted play.”
Wow, Ledbetter, you put on your brave pair today! The sad thing about Falcons fans is that rarely look realistically at their personnel and their abilities. It does not matter as you pointed out across the regimes, that has been the case. It was the same when Glanville was here.
I’ve been saying it for years (3), you can’t run effective screens when have you max protect and use your backs so much in your protection packages. This team (as constituted) has never been able to block straight up 5 on 4… Mularkey knew it from Day one, and he never really got that fact out of his head (right or wrong). The thing I hate about “Snarky Central” is that they think other teams don’t look at film and that players are not smart enough to see “keys” for what plays are coming. Screen games in the pros are as much about deception as design and desire to execute. College is not like that, talent mismatches allow you to run what you want most of the time… Your choice of the Carolina screen is a perfect example. What you left out as the strong safety smelled it out and the linemen were just not up to it…
Mularkey was what he was, I had my time in Pittsburgh to weigh against this team offensively. When he that O-line, those backs (Bettis), and Stewart, that offense took chances… This offense aside from Gonzalez (an over used crutch), White (people still don’t stop him as much he stops himself), and Turner (an easy scapegoat for the O-line and Dimitroff’s misses)…
The only thing I fault him on is Bratkowski. That man just can’t coherently call a game. Jacksonville will be interesting to watch because if they can get some real wideouts with Jones-Drew and Lewis has what he had in Pittsburgh, multi-dimensional tools.
Falcon James
January 13th, 2012
12:04 pm
DOL- Most of the time you are a good writer, but this takes the cake. Why do you want to dog out the fan and your readers? Other than a few lowly Saint fan that hang it in here, 98% of everyone whe read your blog is a “real” fan. If you want to continue having readers, you might want to think about not dogging them out.