Live from the Dome: It’s a Matty Ice anniversary!
Matt Ryan delivers against the Titans one year ago. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
It was a year ago that the course of the Falcons changed. It was the third exhibition of the 2008 preseason that told the new administration what it had suspected since the April draft: That it could go with a rookie quarterback as its starter and get away with it.
We forget now, in the light of a rookie of the year award and a 11-5 season of the highest giddiness and even a playoff turn, how bold that decision was. The Falcons had drafted Michael Vick No. 1 overall in 2001, and he hadn’t started as a rookie. But this was a different time, a different rookie.
We look back and we see it as a no-brainer: You have Matt Ryan and you have Chris Redman and D.J. Shockley — who else are you going to start? But we forget how perilous the state of the Good Ship Falcon was in August 2008. They were widely projected as the NFL’s worst team, and they were coming off the most depressing season in the history of North American team sports. (Quarterback in jail, coach in the Ozarks, et cetera.)
It took guts just to draft Ryan No. 3 overall — the consensus, local and otherwise, held that Glenn Dorsey was the better choice — but it took more to say, “He’s our starter in Week 1 of Year 1.” NFL teams had all but gotten away from that, preferring to nurture, preferring to cover their assets in case a big-name draftee flopped. (Tim Couch, Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, et alia.) But that’s why Matt Ryan wasn’t just a good pick: He was the perfect pick at the absolute proper moment.
We on the periphery looked on the Falcons’ unassuming offensive line — considered the NFL’s worst by some observers, lest we forget — and said knowingly, “Putting a rookie quarterback behind those blockers is just one more indication why the Falcons are bush league.” But the new Falcons had seen two things in mini-camp and then in summer drills that we outsiders couldn’t quite grasp.
1. That Matt Ryan was a different sort of rookie.
2. That this offensive line, under the tutelage of Paul Boudreau, could hold up its end.
We should never underrate the second part. Indeed, on the way into the Dome on the night of that third exhibition last year, Thomas Dimitroff told a reporter that the key to starting Ryan would be the Falcons first having convinced themselves internally they could protect him. The first two exhibitions had given them an indication, and the third — a 17-3 victory over Tennessee — was the clincher. Ryan threw 21 passes, completing 15. (Here’s my column from that night, if you’re so inclined.)
The Falcons named Ryan the starter the next day. He threw a touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins on his first delivery of the regular season. He took a frightful beating in the second week in Tampa Bay but played better in the second half than the first, and that was when the Falcons knew beyond all doubt they’d made the proper choice. The kid was a keeper. The kid was a kid by no measure other than age.
We forget now how major that decision was: Say the line had broken down and Ryan had thrown 32 interceptions — Peyton Manning did as a rookie — and the season after going 4-12 the Falcons had gone 3-13 and their No. 1 draft pick had been a first-year bust. Would we Atlantans have washed our hands of NFL football altogether?
We’ll never know. All we know is this: On Saturday night the Falcons were to play another third exhibition of another preseason, and there’s no reason to feel bad about them or their future or their brain trust. Or their quarterback.
(OK, folks. I’ll be here all night, chatting and cracking semi-wise. If you’d care to join me, I’d be obliged. It’d get mighty lonely in the big ol’ Dome without you.)
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511 comments Add your comment
Mark Bradley
August 29th, 2009
10:02 pm
Some people have departed. I’d guess the crowd was around 50,000 earlier. There are probably 40,000 still here. But it’s quiet.
eddiedawg
August 29th, 2009
10:02 pm
Sidbury clearly needs to be in and pressuring the qb-Jamaal is officially a BUST
PMC
August 29th, 2009
10:02 pm
My God this is a pathetically inept defense. These guys could not stop a powder puff team. I sure hope 9-7 is still possible, they will not be able to outscore teams with these girls.
TradeMark
August 29th, 2009
10:03 pm
bodean…couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s a shame, too. Anderson is good guy. A class act. But I think an NFL bust.
Mark Bradley
August 29th, 2009
10:03 pm
The first-team offense is in. I think Mr. Smith is attempting to set a tone.
ALTA man
August 29th, 2009
10:03 pm
So who is QB #2 tonite for Falcons? And what is #3 QB race looking like? Can Shockley play CB by any chance?
PMC
August 29th, 2009
10:03 pm
I hated the Jamal Anderson pick then… but now… man he’s like an anchor dragging the team down. He is beyond worthless.
Dawgs2009
August 29th, 2009
10:04 pm
and think…….they charge full price for this garbage! We will be lucky for a 7-9 season.
bodean
August 29th, 2009
10:04 pm
third ryan pick tonight…..
Mark Bradley
August 29th, 2009
10:05 pm
Tone not being set. Ryan almost delivers an interception, but the ball is dropped.
And William Moore has a hamstring injury.
La Jolla Dawg
August 29th, 2009
10:05 pm
Dawg fans, Paul Oliver is now on the field for the Chargers.
BugKiller
August 29th, 2009
10:05 pm
Turner… you gotta TURN YO HEAD AROUND!!!
TradeMark
August 29th, 2009
10:05 pm
That may well have been the worst pass I’ve ever seen Matt Ryan throw..someone missed an assignment there, either him or a receiver.
Bad News
August 29th, 2009
10:05 pm
What was NOODLE ARM doing on that pass?
I know his arm is weak, but that’s the 3rd pick 6 he has gotten away with and this is against the 3rd string defense
CLASSIC
eddiedawg
August 29th, 2009
10:06 pm
ITS PRESEASON DUDES RELAX!!
Mark Bradley
August 29th, 2009
10:06 pm
I know Smith wants to get something going. But would you really play Ryan any longer tonight? (I would not.)
Chargers just went to Charlie Whitehurst of Atlanta/Clemson, you should know.
Driver8
August 29th, 2009
10:06 pm
Mark Bradley you for one should not be shocked too much in this preseason game that the DEFENSE (Which is what this organization was drafting so much) was going to go through some bumps early on.
This is preseason and we can see some problems. If I recall your prediction for this team was pretty accurate and you even stated that the team would take their lumps early on before getting things together and finish with a 10-6 record.
eddiedawg
August 29th, 2009
10:07 pm
BTW BAD NEWS-you are a moron and a Vick butt boy……move to Philly and follow your criminal
FalconUGAFan
August 29th, 2009
10:08 pm
Bad News Not man enough to answer my question?
bodean
August 29th, 2009
10:08 pm
offense will be fine….turner is the man….he will set the tone in the regular season, passing game will be set up by him….not worried at all…. Coach has to find a way to create pressure any way he can….
Mark Bradley
August 29th, 2009
10:08 pm
Some defensive starters still in. Lofton just missed a tackle.
BugKiller
August 29th, 2009
10:09 pm
Bad News…
AGAIN… do you even UNDERSTAND what went wrong with that play?
Tell me what wrong with that play. Why it looked like Ryan threw it to the Charger’s defensive back.
Are you intelligent enough to understand what happened there?
I’m guessing no. You don’t know a damn thing about football.
Driver8
August 29th, 2009
10:09 pm
MB – NO Matt and the offense has done enough…take them all out outside of the Defense which needs to be in to see which players actually are motivated.
Mark Bradley
August 29th, 2009
10:10 pm
I’m shocked, Driver8, not that the D had some bad moments but that it has had only bad moments. It’s not as if they were alternating good plays with bad. This has been almost all bad.
Though they did just stop Charlie Whitehurst scrambling.
Mark Bradley
August 29th, 2009
10:11 pm
Redman now in. Thank goodness.
eddiedawg
August 29th, 2009
10:12 pm
I TRUST VAN GORTER AND SMITH WILL RIGHT THE DEFENSE-RELAX EVERYONE
bodean
August 29th, 2009
10:12 pm
sorry guys, but I’m not making any record predictions this year… been here too many times….remember no back to back winning seasons….been a falcon fan for 41 years…..man it’s been rough….
SRF
August 29th, 2009
10:12 pm
Hey – anybody know if Vance Walker is going to play any ?
Mark Bradley
August 29th, 2009
10:12 pm
Ryan was 14 of 20 with a passer rating of 106.2, but I wouldn’t say he had a great game.
TradeMark
August 29th, 2009
10:13 pm
No fighting with Bad News..he can’t help it..they are rabid. Look I get it. Vick is spectacular as a highlight film player. He won games as a starter, despite some less than stellar numbers. And seriously, everyone, EVERYONE deserves a second chance if they mess up, no matter how big or how small. Wouldn’t you want to have that chance yourself if you found yourself in that situation? Picture it in your mind, your whole life falls apart, you would want a second shot. Whether or not he deserves it now and what he does with it is up to him now. I hope he does well in Philly. But Bad News..seriously, he is a Philadelphia Eagle now, he doesn’t need to be on this board anymore. I think you know Matt Ryan is a very good quarterback and has the potential to be on of the best. Ignoring that would be the same as me ignoring the fact that Vick is a spectacular football player. It doesn’t make sense.
Wreckin & Thrashin
August 29th, 2009
10:13 pm
YES! We stopped there 3rd string offense!
bodean
August 29th, 2009
10:13 pm
several bad tackle techniques tonight too….surprised to see that with coach being a defensive guy…expect betteer
La Jolla Dawg
August 29th, 2009
10:13 pm
Any idea who is coming in after Redman? If I were the Falcons I’d have backup quarter back envy.
Mark Bradley
August 29th, 2009
10:14 pm
D-Led says Norwood has an immobilizer on his knee. No further information has been forthcoming.
TradeMark
August 29th, 2009
10:16 pm
Hey Mark, it sounds like you were really worried about a repeat of the 2003 preseason to our QB…ok…relax…you can breathe now
Driver8
August 29th, 2009
10:16 pm
Bad News is posting as Mike’s “good friends” Cue T and Smoke E so its obvious that he is biased. He is just pissed or too stoned to figure out that Atlanta don’t care about MV anymore….time to move on. Obviously he hasn’t…
It’s probable that the dude hasn’t figured out that MV is in Philly.
TradeMark
August 29th, 2009
10:18 pm
Say what you will about the caliber of players out there right now. Our 2nd string D looks much, much better than our 1st….something to think about Mike Smith.
bodean
August 29th, 2009
10:18 pm
very glad vick is not here….not because of all the off the field crap, I just couldn’t stand riding the edge of my seat to wait see if on each play we got amazing or awful….just didn’t like his play…. i look forward to seeing him play again, and yes, everyone another chance…
BugKiller
August 29th, 2009
10:18 pm
Driver… lmao!
Maybe Bad News has been hitting the Grey Goose and pineapple juice too hard like his hero.
eddiedawg
August 29th, 2009
10:19 pm
Fouts is an idiot. He has said we were 1-15 two yrs ago twice (we were 4-12), called Verron Haynes Vernon, and has talked endlessly about San Diego’s tough opening schedule (we play Miami, Car and NE-can’t get any tougher than that). He’s almost as dumb as BAD NEWS.
Peion Deion
August 29th, 2009
10:19 pm
Defense is gonna be a problem again this year against good offenses, gonna have to outscore the competition
SonicBoom
August 29th, 2009
10:19 pm
Finneran is a keeper. No doubt.
toccoadawg
August 29th, 2009
10:20 pm
4th quarter and its not looking any better
Driver8
August 29th, 2009
10:22 pm
TRADEMARK – Nicely said … just can’t stand the fact that some folks can’t pull for the Falcons because he is not here. It’s foolish talk by them i understand but for some reason it seems a racial divine that this city … thank GOD does not have to deal with anymore.
Best wishes to Michael in Philly although to this day I don’t understand the mix with McNabb. Yes, I have heard everything but still kinda strange.
I just want the FALCON fan base to back THIS team and not worry about the past… we all know we have not had back to back winning seasons ever.
bodean
August 29th, 2009
10:22 pm
SonicBoom, my point exactly about vick….remember how average finn was with vick here….now he’s a great 3rd down receiver…. vick forced his receivers to adjust too much… a lot of drops out of finn and jenkins…. both look like keepers now….
TradeMark
August 29th, 2009
10:23 pm
It is really, really wonderful to see a healthy Finneran out there. Good for you man!
Dominique Foxworth
August 29th, 2009
10:23 pm
Don’t you wish you had paid me now? It’s not like this is the first time Houston has gotten beat like a red headed stepchild! I watched his a55 struggle all last year too!
bodean
August 29th, 2009
10:24 pm
honest question here….how old was foxworth?
bodean
August 29th, 2009
10:25 pm
sorry… is foxworth?
TradeMark
August 29th, 2009
10:25 pm
Redman looks sharp as hell.