Archive for December, 2010

Tough Loss, but Goals Still Remain

After no help from O, the D finally breaks (CCompton/AJC)

The defense played great, the offense played terrible, and questionable coaching decisions abound in the Falcons loss to the rival Saints last night. It wasn’t the best performances by either team (at least offensively), but the Saints found a way to hang around just enough and win at the end. It had a playoff atmosphere and the Home Sweet Georgia Dome was rockin’, but that couldn’t will the offense to get anything going. It was a hard-fought game where the Falcons late-game heroics finally fell short. Credit goes to the Saints who proved they absolutely are a legit contender to repeat as Champions. The Falcons players, coaches, and everyone associated with the organization should take this loss, refocus, and deliver on their original goals of winning the division and locking up first the NFC #1 seed and a first round bye. The world isn’t coming to end and many say this was better to …

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Can Falcons Sweep the Champs?

Well, it’s finally here Ladies and Gentlemen, the enormous Monday Night Football showdown with one of the greatest rivalries in sports. Many will point to the legendary NFC East or NFC North when mentioning NFL’s best enemy battles, but the bitter (and long-standing) rivalry between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints should rank as not only one of the best matchups in the NFL, but in all of sports. Maybe it hasn’t always been extremely relevant in the past with mixed success of both teams, but it always has been a serious and hard-fought rivalry. The relevancy is much more obvious now. The Falcons and Saints recent success should vault the NFC South to one of toughest divisions in the NFL, even if it is often ignored by the mainstream media. ESPN at least knew exactly what they were doing when they circled the Falcons-Saints game in The Georgia Dome for one of their last matchups. The new order of having rivalry games at the end of …

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Can the Falcons Finish the Road Stretch?

Can Birds Finish? (AP)

It’s been a really long time since the Falcons played in the cozy confines of the Home Sweet Georgia Dome and they finish out their grueling 3 week road trip on the other side of the country. Up in the great northwest, the Falcons travel to play the Seattle Seahawks where the Falcons are obviously the favorites being 11-2 and the Seahawks being a game under .500 at 6-7 and getting blown out by the 49ers last week. As always, the Birds will get the ‘Hawks biggest fight because their playoff lives hang in the balance and they get them in one of the hardest places to play in the NFL. Can the Falcons finish off the long road trip and come back home to the warm confines of the Home Sweet Georgia Dome? Six searing questions as the Birds fly northwest………

1) Can the Falcons Beat the Road/Jet Lag?

Any road trip by itself is hard enough in the NFL, let along one that has a team finishing out a 3 week road trip to …

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Not the Prettiest, but Another Good Win

A Beautiful Connection (AP)

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but the Falcons did beat the hapless Panthers by 21 points on the road. The Falcons are taking care of business and that’s all that matters. Style points count for nothing in the NFL. Even though the Birds once again tried to let an inferior opponent back in the game, they did a good job of recognizing what was taking place and were able to correct it. This Falcons team is doing some great things, but they are simply not designed to blow the doors off pretty much anyone, at least so far anyway. They seem to play up or down to their competition. All that’s meaningful right now is that the Falcons have put themselves in a magnificent position as the regular season comes to a close. A rather quick review post before a longer Seattle Seahawks preview later in the week. Five film reviews from the Panthers game………

1) This Team Plays to Their Competition’s Level

Whether you’re …

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Can Falcons Take Care of Business in Charlotte?

Can Defense Fire on All Cylinders? (AP)

Fans are still savoring the sweet comeback win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sometimes the best wins aren’t where the teams executes flawlessly for 60 minutes and are clicking on all cylinders, but rather when all hope looks lost and the team simply finds a way to win. It’s a worn out adage, but for good reason. The Falcons continue to just find ways to win by any means necessary. The fans and team alike must find a way to come back to Earth and focus solely on the task at hand, which is traveling up Interstate 85 to face the 1-11 Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.

What a surprising turn of events that has taken place with the Panthers. Only two short years ago, they were 12-4 in the NFC and owned the #2 overall see with the first round bye. Looking good with the Arizona Cardinals coming to town, they were shellacked 33-13 on their own field and have never really seemed to recover since …

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Five Film Reviews from the Inspiring Win

A Big Comeback Win! (AP)

 It was ugly. It looked fairly hopeless for a minute. Many streaks had already ended (no turnovers, no penalties, Ryan’s INT streak), and it looked as if the Falcons 5 game win streak would end in Tampa Bay where they killed the curse last season. The Falcons looked sloppy, out-of-sync, and completely flat for most of the game and the Bucs were fired up and ready to get back in the NFC South mix. Then the Falcons do what they’ve done all season: never quit. An overall pretty bad day across the board, but this team refused to lose and found yet another way to win the ballgame. This team has a bunch of fighters that never quit and will do whatever it takes to win the game. The Falcons beat a tough Bucs team and overcame a poorly played game to get the W. The ugliest wins are so much better than the prettiest of losses, and the Falcons got it done once again. Five film reviews from the “refuse to lose” …

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Can Falcons Sweep Bucs?

Another week, another huge game for the NFC leading Atlanta Falcons. The Birds have the top record in the NFC and tied for the best in the NFL and they just keep getting bigger and tougher each and every week. After being cozy at the Home Sweet Georgia Dome for several tough games, including hosting the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers, the Falcons will begin a grueling 3 game road trip starting with the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sunday. Even though the Eagles, Bucs, and Packers lost last week, the margin for error is still razor thin if you’re talking about home field advantage and a first round bye. The New Orleans Saints and the Chicago Bears are still right on their heels, only one game back. The Falcons could put really put themselves in the drivers seat with a victory in Tampa Bay against a fired up Bucs team. Win this one, and the Birds move to 10-2 with two games against Carolina, a game in Seattle, and the big showdown with the Saints on …

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