Archive for November, 2012

Is Dirk Koetter peeking at Kentucky job? (Curtis Compton/AJC)

There’s a problem for a football team when one of its assistant coaches is viewed as being good at his job: He becomes a candidate for a better one. But the question Dirk Koetter may have to ask himself is whether being Kentucky’s head football coach is superior to being the Falcons’ offensive coordinator.

Koetter, whose work with the Falcons’ offense and quarterback Matt Ryan has contributed to the team’s 8-0 start, has been listed as a coaching candidate at Kentucky, which fired Joker Phillips on Sunday. Yahoo’s Pat Forde listed Koetter, Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes and “several college offensive coordinators” as job candidates, attributing the

Aaaagggh! My eyes! My eyes!

information to unnamed sources.

Coaching rumors often are baseless. But Forde is a solid reporter, generally doesn’t throw stuff against the wall and also is pretty tapped in to all things Kentucky.

Falcons coach Mike Smith said Monday that …

Continue reading Falcons’ Dirk Koetter may be candidate at Kentucky »

Falcons have followed franchise mandate through eight games (all wins). (Curtis Compton/AJC)

Here are my three short takes from the Falcons’ win over Dallas Sunday night:

1. Julio Jones is a difference maker: With every play he makes, the Falcons’ receiver buries concerns by some that the Falcons might have given up too much in trade for him before the draft two years ago. Jones finished with five catches covering 129 yards. That includes a 38-yard catch in the first quarter while he was being mugged by Morris Claiborne (who was called for pass interference) and a 48-yard gain in the fourth quarter when he lined up in the backfield, took a short pass and bolted past the likes of DeMarcus Ware. He also ran for eight yards on a reverse on third-and-1.

2. Matt Ryan shows toughness: Ryan was hit so hard on a blindside sack by Ware that it looked like he might have to come out for a few plays. He didn’t. He was sacked three times and leveled after several throws on a night when the …

Continue reading Short takes: On Julio Jones, Matt Ryan, no turnovers »

Linebacker Mike Peterson reacts after another defensive stop by the Falcons' defense against Dallas. (Curtis Compton/AJC)

OK. Now what?

They have played eight games and won eight games. They have won at home and on the road. In warm weather and cold. On Sundays and Monday, day and night. On national TV and probably when not too many were paying attention because, well, the Braves were still teasing us.

Are they great? I don’t know — what’s great? Halfway through the NFL season, the Falcons are the only team that hasn’t lost a game. So even if they’re just very good, isn’t every other team somewhere south of that?

One week after ending their history of horrors in Philadelphia, the Falcons knocked off Dallas 19-13 Sunday night. And the national analysis figures to focus on the decline of the Cowboys in 3 … 2 … 1 …

“I’m anxious to see what happens, to see if all the networks make it all about the Cowboys,” Tony Gonzalez said. “But that not our primary concern.”

No. Winning is. …

Continue reading Falcons just keep winning — has anybody has noticed? »

Dirk Koetter has been drawing up plays since he was 8 years old. (Curtis Compton/AJC)

Some parents keep finger paintings from when their children were young. Some keep report cards or little league trophies. The Koetters of Pocatello, Idaho, kept a scrap of paper with an offensive formation that little Dirk scribbled when he was 8 years old.

“He has all the players lined up right and everything,” Jim Koetter said by phone. “They’re all going in the right direction. It’s hanging on the wall in the basement.”

The Falcons are 7-0 in this season. Dirk Koetter is one reason why. The team’s new offensive coordinator is doing imaginative things with the same players that Mike Mularkey too often hit a wall with. As it turns out, it pays not to be predictable. Go figure.

In last week’s win at Philadelphia, a fake screen to Julio Jones suckered in the defense and left Drew Davis wide open for a touchdown pass (leaving only one unanswered question: Who’s Drew Davis?). …

Continue reading Dirk Koetter a big reason for Falcons’ early success »

According to legend, and also Wikipedia, my two favorite sources when I have other things to do, the expression, “Eureka!” dates to the Greek scholar Archimedes, who noticed that when he stepped into a bathtub the water level rose and he exclaimed, “Eureka!” because, I dunno, “Wow,” just didn’t sound scholarly. Archimedes then continued this research into volume by seeing what would happen if he sat in a hot tub with five co-eds from Palermo State, but that didn’t work out so good, he lost his grant and now can be found teaching sociology at junior college in Poughkeepsie.

So last week, Georgia punched Florida in the mouth, and I’m certain I heard Mark Richt exclaim, “Eureka! No more Mr. Nice Guy!” See, because I’m sure the Bulldogs played tough because they were angry at being called “soft” by teammate Shawn Williams.

So coddling days are over. This week Richt called in appropriate inspirational speakers to address his players:

"Bring me the broomstick of Nick Saban!"

Oz: …

Continue reading Predictions: Smelly, incompetent, soft Bullldogs win again »