Falcons’ line improvement needs to start with Sam Baker

biscuit……………right-on. I died years ago and I’m still trying to get my job back.

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But you have to play the games before you can know…………….

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Jeff…I play better than you write. I have a checkbook to prove my mouth so what do you have?

Game.Set,and Match to Mr. Baker.

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Shut-up Nancy……………..you make all libs sound like fools.

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Sooooooo many (ignorant) people blame Matt Ryan for the lack of deep passes……………………..come on people (WAKE UP); all quarterbacks need solid OL to consistently throw acurate deep passes!

Matt Ryan has been stellar AND he has done so with two significant problem positions on the OL (LT & RG)!!!!!!!!!! His deep pass stats will improve (along with all of his other stats) IF we give him five consistent/solid OL players.

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Light a fire under his azzzzz

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You people are either amusing or just plain football brain dead, I just haven’t figured out which. OMG, we have the WORST O-line in the NFL. They SUCK. Somebody plese explain to me how this miracle occurs year after year? We have winning seasons year after year with this horrific O-line. Are any of you aware that the Falcons are the only team in the NFC to have consecutive winning seasons over the past four years? LOOK IT UP! I will bet the Cleveland, Jacksonville, etc. fans wish they had the worst O-line in the league. Maybe they could enjoy some consecutive wiinning seasons. Do they need improvement? Yes. Are they as bad as some of you make them out to be? H— NO!

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Mr. Blank deserves part of the blame here. He spent money on good running backs, wide receivers and a quaterback and ignored the line. Yes the O-line isn’t glamorous but any team without a good O-line isn’t going far in the play-offs. Exhibit A: Atlanta Falcons qb doesn’t have time to get the ball to his speedy wide receivers. We know this was a problem, yet its still a big question mark. Mr. Blank only has himself to blame, nobody else. He didn’t get to be who he is by blaming others for his mistakes, no this is all on him…

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Sam Baker is simply a bust. Time to move him out of here and get somebody that wants to play football.

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Stinger2……………I agree. The know-nothings that post here are just that…………..know-nothings.

Baker was a 1st round pick, so assuredly very vetted. Had a very good rookie year. Is being held by a little team, gee, an NFL team.

Back problems are either over and he could have a great career, or he could be over and done.

The know-nothings……………know nothing.

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Baker was a 1st round pick, so assuredly very vetted. Had a very good rookie year. Is being held by a little team, gee, an NFL team.

Baker was projected as a mid-2nd round pick, and many analysts expressed astonishment that the Falcons paid to move up in the 1st round to get him. Analysts 1, Falcons 0

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Get on your back, Matt Ryan

June 23rd, 2012
9:18 pm

Baker was a 1st round pick, so assuredly very vetted. Had a very good rookie year. Is being held by a little team, gee, an NFL team.

Baker was projected as a mid-2nd round pick, and many analysts expressed astonishment that the Falcons paid to move up in the 1st round to get him. Analysts 1, Falcons 0

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They also used their number 3 pick on a 5 year senior qb that had 22 PICKS in his 5th season of college ball. Dimitroff has a history of failure.

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I give Smith a pass. He can only work with the players Dimitroff selectes for him. There’s no way Smith would have such inferior talent on the lines if he was choosing the talent.

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Fire Mike Smith!!

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Matt Ryan is a damn good quarterback.

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Whats the difference between a BUST and a 72 million dollar playoff winless qb?

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NFL head coaching jobs are hired on the five year plan. This is Smith’s fifth year. This season will spell the story…

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It has been a decade since Mike Ditka orchestrated the trade that rocked the 1999 NFL draft.
In a controversial draft-day swap, the Saints sent eight draft picks, including all of their 1999 selections, and 2000 first- and third-round choices, to Washington for the chance to select Ricky Williams with the No. 5 pick.
It was the biggest deal for one player since 1959, when the Los Angeles Rams sent nine players and draft picks to the Chicago Cardinals for fullback Ollie Matson.
And its spectacular failure ultimately would define Ditka’s legacy in New Orleans, an ignominious exclamation point to an embarrassing 15-33 three-year tenure.
“I never liked (the deal), ” said Terry O’Neil, the Saints’ former salary cap consultant. “I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it now. I only wish I could have been more persuasive at the time.”
Do you think it might actually be a part of the fallout from the bounties scandal and the ensuing confusion surrounding the team ???
I imagine, if all things had been closer to normal, the Saints organization would have embraced Brees more readily.
However, right now, there is little to celebrate.
Sometimes I get the feeling that this bounties mess had more of an impact than anyone would first imagine.
This was a huge miss on the part of the Saints’ front office. They chose the Heisman Trophy-winning running back from South Carolina over a linebacker who was being hailed as “better than Dick Butkus.” Before the Draft, all 28 General Managers in the NFL were polled. They were asked to make a choice between George Rogers and Lawrence Taylor if they had the first pick.
26 out of 28 GMs chose L.T. over Rogers in that poll. One of the two that chose Rogers was new Saints Head Coach/General Manager Bum Phillips.
So, naturally, when the Draft came around, the Saints chose Rogers with the first pick and bypassed on the future Hall of Fame linebacker who would go on to forever change the game. What makes it worse is who L.T. could have been teamed up with: fellow Hall of Fame linebacker Rickey Jackson. That’s 270 sacks between both of them. That would have made the Dome Patrol even more powerful.
Renaldo Turnbull over Emmitt Smith in 1990
Coming into the 1990 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints had fan-favorite and local product, Dalton Hilliard, coming off a Pro Bowl season at running back. Yes, he was a Pro Bowler, but his stats were misleading. Yes, he had 18 total TDs, but he also had seven fumbles and only averaged 3.7 yards per carry despite getting 344 carries.
There was no exact ‘need’ pick when the Saints were on the clock that they knew of. Little did they know that the ‘89 season would be Hilliard’s best season and would soon end his career abruptly due to injuries.
Renaldo Turnbull was a luxury pick, a player who was raw and could be groomed for a few years behind Rickey Jackson and Pat Swilling. He was a decent player with a couple of double-digit sack years, but, considering who they could have had, it was a big whiff.
Emmitt Smith just wound up being the leading rusher in the history of the NFL. No big deal, right Renaldo?
Alex Molden over Eddie George in 1996
This is the draft that starts a three to four-year span where the Saints could have turned their draft picks into an offensive juggernaut. Seeing how much New Orleans loves Heisman-winning running backs, this pick should have been a no-brainer. Alex Molden was a huge reach with the 11th pick in the draft, and George was sliding right into the laps of a team whose leading rushers were Mario Bates and Ray Zellars.
Eddie George to the Saints with that pick should’ve been made as soon as the clock started. He was the only RB in NFL history to gain 10,000 yards without missing a game. That durability would have meant not going “all-in” on Ricky Williams a few years from then.
George in 1996, followed by Tony Gonzalez and Jake Plummer instead of Chris Naeole and Rob Kelly in the 1997 Draft, and the Saints would’ve been heading for a dynasty.
Kyle Turley over Randy Moss in 1998
In his two years at Marshall, Randy Moss scored 54 receiving touchdowns and was a Biletnikoff Award winner. He rewrote record books and was a Heisman finalist behind Peyton Manning, Ryan Leaf and the eventual winner, Charles Woodson. Based on all of his on-field success and talent, Moss was considered a Top Five prospect.
But there was another side to that story. It involved violating probation and getting kicked off of Florida St.’s team prior to his enrollment at Marshall. And because of those and other incidents away from the field, Moss’s name dropped in the first round.
He was thought to go to the Dallas Cowboys with the eighth pick, but they had their own reservations because of Michael Irvin’s behavior. The Saints were in need of a playmaker and were thought to be one of the teams that could swipe the Marshall WR away from the Cowboys.
The pick came up and Kyle Turley’s name was turned in—a San Diego St. tackle who would become a fan favorite in his own right as well as a Pro Bowler. He wouldn’t be anywhere near Moss’s level, though. Adding him would have put New Orleans on the upward swing and would have left plenty of options to play out in the ‘99 draft. There would be no Ricky Era.
Sedrick Hodge over Steve Smith in 2001
After getting Deuce McAllister in the first round, the Saints looked at getting a WR that could replace Willie Jackson eventually. They were looking at Chris Chambers in the second round, but weren’t going to trade up for him. They hoped that Chambers would fall to them like McAllister fell in their laps in the first. Miami moved in front of New Orleans and swiped up the Wisconsin WR.
So the Saints traded out and picked up two third-round picks from Dallas. They only dropped 17 spots down, and no WRs were chosen. Next guy up on the board was Steve Smith, the speedster from Utah who could also return punts and kicks. The Saints would look like a genius adding a pick and a threat like Smith…
Whiff!
Saints wound up picking an extremely talented but extremely raw linebacker from North Carolina, Sedrick Hodge. All of the athleticism led to five lackluster seasons with one sack to his name. All of that “pass-rushing potential” and you get one sack?
The Utah wideout wound up in Carolina and continues to torture the Saints every time he lines up against them. He would have been a hell of a match to Joe Horn on the other side. Oh, what the touchdown celebrations could have been!
Trading 2 First-Round Picks to Trade Up for Jonathan Sullivan
This was a shock. Not that the Saints traded up, but for who they traded up for. A lot of experts had New Orleans trading into the Top 10 for a defensive standout. They needed help at every line of defense, and there were great prospects left on the board when they traded up. They didn’t need Johnathan Sullivan. The guy was a workout warrior at the combine, but showed none of that on game film.
Terrell Suggs, Marcus Trufant and Kevin Williams were still on the board. To me, either of them would have been better to pick with the No. 6 pick than Sullivan. They showed up constantly in game film, as well as at the Combine and on Pro Days.
Suggs was the player who could’ve been a game-changer for a defense that gave up way too many big plays. The Arizona St. defensive end racked up 24 sacks as a junior and was only 20 years old entering the Draft. He would have helped the sting of losing La’Roi Glover to the Cowboys.
The New Orleans Saints completed their latest minicamp without starting quarterback Drew Brees, who has not yet signed a contract for 2012. Backup Chase Daniel led the team through the sessions but was unfortunately injured, suffering a hairline fracture and sprain on the thumb of his throwing hand. As a Saints fan, I expect Brees to sign soon and Daniel to fully recover before training camp. However, the current state of the Saints’ quarterback position is not ideal.
But what if the Saints had to play without Brees or Daniel? The two other quarterbacks currently on the roster are Sean Canfield and Luke McCown. Canfield has not yet thrown a pass in the NFL.
On the other hand, McCown was only recently signed, but does have NFL experience. In four games with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011, McCown managed just 296 yards, zero touchdowns and four interceptions. Through six seasons, he has played in 20 games, passing for nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Saints DE Greg Romeus will once again miss the season due to a knee injury. You may remember that the 2011 draftee was placed on IR in his rookie year last season due to knee injury. That knee was surgically repaired and everything was looking up for him in Saints camp until he blew out the other knee today.

For most of their first 20 years, the Saints were barely competitive, only getting to .500 twice.

Number of Meetings 86
All-Time Series ATL 46-40
Regular Season Series ATL 45-40
Largest victory ATL: 62-7 (8/16/1973)
Current Streak NO 3
Longest ATL Win Streak 10 (September 15, 1995 – December 5, 1999)
Longest NO Win Streak 6 (December 14, 1986 – November 19, 1989)
Post Season Series ATL: 1-0
December 28, 1991 Wild Card, Atlanta 27-20

In the midst of New Orleans’ troubled 2005 season in the wake of Hurricane Katrina they suffered a bitter loss at San Antonio to the Falcons on October 16. The Saints raced to a 10-3 lead in the second quarter before a fumble was returned by DeAngelo Hall of the Falcons for a 66-yard touchdown and a tie game. On the final play of the second quarter the Falcons blocked a field goal try and Demorrio Williams ran back a 59-yard touchdown. An exchange of six touchdowns ensued and Devery Henderson caught a 15-yard game-tying score, leaving the game 31-31 in the final minute of regulation. A penalty on the Saints helped the Falcons set up Todd Peterson’s 36-yard field goal on the final play, ending a 34-31 Falcons win. Saints coach Jim Haslett was so angry over the late penalty that he repeatedly ripped the “chicken (blank)” calls by the referees.

In 1980, the Saints lost their first 14 games, prompting local sportscaster Bernard “Buddy D” Diliberto to advise Saints supporters to wear paper bags over their heads at the team’s home games; many bags rendered the club’s name as the “‘Aints” rather than the “Saints.”

New Orleans is now watching its football hero squabble over a long-term contract. After the Saints slapped Brees with the franchise tag in March, relations between the team and its star quarterback have fallen into the proverbial Bourbon Street gutter. Reports from the deliberations indicate that both sides are millions of dollars apart.

In what year did the Saints achieve their first winning season?
1987. It took an amazing 21 years for the Saints to finish with a winning record. The Saints went 12-3 (the season was shortened by one game because of a strike), but lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card game.
10. Uniforms! What are those black on black things you’ve been wearing? I swear, you guys look like some third-rate college team or, even worse, a high school team. We understand that it’s not something you wear all the time but please stop!
9. Who can love a team that is that bad? Really! In your history, you have a winning record against only one NFL franchise – another team on our hateration list, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Saints have no better than a .500 record against every other team in the league. Man, can you tuck anymore than that?
8. Thanks! Yeah, right! You gave us a man who we can forever leave off our Christmas card list – Archie Manning. Yup, it’s two guys who sprang from his loins who have been there staring at us, mocking us, killing us during every single commercial break. And not only during the NFL season but even during the offseason. We never get a break from seeing Eli and Peyton in like 80% of the ads on TV. It’s killing us! Please make it stop!!
7. You really thought you had something, didn’t you? Oh, yeah, ya’ thought those Texans screwed up and let Reggie Bush fall to you, huh? Not so fast! He’s become the poster child for overrated. Talk about a guy not living up to the hype. Try this on for size – he has a 40.9 yards/game average. Ouch! The overrated-ness doesn’t stop there. His paltry 3.7 yards/carry average also looks nothing like a guy who should be drafted number two overall. Forget that. He shouldn’t have been drafted in the first round.
6. And we thought Atlanta was bad! Check this out – the city of New Orleans ranks third in the US in murder. Man, I’m not so sure I’m coming to Mardi Gras next year. Thanks but no thanks! You should consider a new slogan. Something like, “New Orleans, come for the party. Leave in a body bag! Think of it as a party favor!”
5. Um, was that Mike Ditka, one of the most respected coaches of the last 30 years, that you drove to the point of wearing a wedding dress? Oh, wait! That was your prized running back in the dress (the other, uh, hem, franchise running back the team thought they had) and the coach in the tuxedo. And the headline on that magazine cover “For Better or Worse?” Yeah. Seems that it was mostly worse.
4. Speaking of Ditka, you guys have a habit of turning good coaches, even great coaches into a laughing stock. You made Ditka a loser (128-68 in Chicago; 15-33 in New Orleans). You turned Bum Phillips into a loser (59-38 in Houston; 27-42 in New Orleans). And you took a Hall of Fame coach in Hank Stram and turned his life upside down (124-76-10 in Kansas City; 7-21 in New Orleans). Could it be something in the water?
3. Katrina sympathy……….
2. More on coaches. Who can love a team with only one winning coach in its history? Sean Payton better be careful. His 17-15 record is awfully precarious. One false move and he’ll be in the same boat with every Saints’ coach who came before him.
1. Not everyone knows this. If they did, they would probably hate the Saints too – the team came into existence because of a deal with Congress! Yeah! Like Congress can provide us with great entertainment! I’m sure they know something about football too, right? Apparently not.
“taken over by you N.O. scum.”
So true.
Taints are THE Affirmative Action Team of the NFL…………….

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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What is the difference between the putz that posts as “Matt “Choke” Ryan” and Nancy Pelosi?
One is a cunning runt………………

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I don’t care what the Falcons say about Baker’s injury being the cause of his inability to protect Ryan, but from what I’ve seen he LACKS technique and wouldn’t be able to protect the QB if he was 100% healthy. If he has a back issue then WTH is he still on the team? Back injuries do NOT go away–especially if he has had back surgery. Stick a knife in him because he’s done. Let’s move on to someone who can protect our QB’s blindside.

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Saint Dismal History still posting someone else’s work and advertising he a Saint Fan. Unbelievable he keep posting the same novel.

NOBODY CARE!!!!

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………….have to see him play before we know if he can…………….(he he)………………I’m so smart.

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