A big win only in the sense it wasn’t an even bigger loss
They won this one without Matt Ryan, but they'll need him soon. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
That wasn’t mere urgency at their backs on that final drive. It was utter desperation. The Falcons can read the schedule and the standings, and they know the difference between 6-5 and 5-6 is more than one game, especially when the opponent tipping the balance arrived at 1-9.
“Going under .500,” Roddy White would say later, after he’d caught the fourth-down touchdown pass that won it, “that’s desperation.”
The Falcons escaped Sunday’s game with a season’s worth of hopes still alive, but with every week those hopes are tempered by mounting reality. They started 4-1. Then they lost four of five. They were one play from making it five of six against an overmatched opponent coached by a man seemingly determined to keep both teams in the game. And even after they’d won, this was the verdict of Todd McClure, the center: “One of the ugliest wins I’ve ever been involved with.”
Said Mike Smith, the coach who works hard to say nothing: “We tried numerous ways not to win the game.”
Eventually the Falcons overcame it all — on this given Sunday. The next two might not be so kind. Philadelphia plays here next week, and then the Saints. And there’s no guarantee the Falcons will have their starting quarterback or starting tailback for either game.
Per infuriating team policy, Smith would say nothing about the injuries to Matt Ryan’s big toe or Michael Turner’s ankle. “We’ll know more Wednesday,” he said, perhaps referring to the Wednesday before Memorial Day. But the Falcons lost players at such a dizzying rate Sunday — two offensive linemen were also hurt — that erosion has to be factored into any calculation regarding playoff chances.
The locker room was full of happy talk afterward — beat the Bugtussle Bovines on fourth-and-goal and you’re excited — but there was reality interspersed. The Falcons were outgained and largely outplayed by a Tampa Bay team working behind a rookie quarterback. Their only touchdown in the first 59 minutes and 37 seconds came on a gimmick play. Their quarterbacks were sacked six times. They missed (another!) field goal. They had a punt blocked. They lost a fumble. They were lucky as heck to win.
“That was a good football team we played today,” said Smith, lying.
Said Tony Gonzalez, who caught four Chris Redman passes on the frantic final drive: “We had so many things going against us … Winning this game is really a credit to the way we work.”
Well, yes. It was that. But it was also further evidence that these Falcons lack a separation gear. They led 10-0 but trailed 17-10. They needed six passes inside the 10 — one incompletion was overridden by defensive holding — to score the winning points. White finally made the decisive catch but only after not making the decisive catch three snaps earlier.
The Eagles and Michael Vick are up next — “The winner of this game is going to make the playoffs,” said White, thinking a bit too far ahead — and that will be taxing for all involved even though Vick’s role has been reduced to a cameo. Beyond this arduous fortnight lie three seemingly winnable games, but it took so much to win this one at home that you wonder if the Falcons, to use a Mark Richt expression, have enough juice.
Asked how the mood would have been had that fourth-down pass fallen incomplete, McClure said: “It wouldn’t have been pretty. But that’s the nature of the NFL. One play can change the mindset of a team.”
At issue isn’t so much the minds of the Falcons as their bodies. They haven’t been quite as good as advertised, and now they’re losing men. They still have a realistic chance to make the playoffs, but they might not have enough players.
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412 comments Add your comment
Benjamin
November 29th, 2009
10:52 pm
I’m just glad the organization looked forward after purging themselves from all that Vick/Petrino drama. It sells newspapers because fans would rather talk about drama than anything else — and ESPN shoves it down our throats like cough syrup, which is another rant for another day — but Blank saw what was in the process of happening to his ship and went out to find the right guys to lead us going forward.
Seriously, y’all, think about where the franchise was two-three years ago and look at it now. It’s unbelievable that we can come onto a Bradley blog and complain about Matt Ryan this, playoffs that. It wasn’t that long ago that the Falcons were in as bad a shape as any NFL team has been in recent memory, and they turned it around that quick…
Kudos to Dmitroff, Coach Smith, Blank, and co. if they actually read these things.
eric
November 29th, 2009
10:52 pm
Oh wow, you “like” Manning and Brady! Uh, they are the two undisputed best QB’s in the league. If you didn’t like them you’d be a complete idiot and know nothing about the NFL. My problem with you is that you somehow lump Michael Vick in the same category as those guys even though he really never did anything in this league but win 2 playoff games in 6 years. Wow. I know alot of people like you who only care about somebody if they are the same color as you. You actively root against Matt Ryan for no other reason than that he took Vick’s job and now you have to watch a white QB every Sunday. It wasn’t MR’s fault Vick isn’t here and he had no say in who drafted him either so give him a break. He didn’t ruin Vick’s career, Michael Vick did that….
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
10:53 pm
This explains many things:
Why he would actively give STDs to female partners without remorse.
Why he would associate with the people he associated with.
Why he believed that because he was MICHAEL VICK, he could get on that AirTran airplane with that fake water bottle.
Why he believed that he could do the things he did with the dog fighting ring, and why he feels no remorse now for what he did, just sorry he got caught doing it.
It’s not about race. Not with me. Anyone who’s ever known me could attest to that. I once dressed down the my cousin’s mother-in-law because she said back in 2005 that she didn’t like Michael Vick because of, “the way he looks like a gangster with those braids!”
It’s about the fact that this man is NOT sorry for what he did.
I’m all for second chances. Let’s be honest, Mike Vick’s way part a second chance.
But guys like him, who did the things he did… society is less safe with ANY person like that, white, black, cuban, or asian, walking the street.
Atlanta Peach
November 29th, 2009
10:53 pm
Well, I guess Bird Lady you are not going to get an answer. I’ve been asking him the same question all season long. The truth is the truth and it’s painful to realize the truth.
Million $ Win
November 29th, 2009
10:54 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW2Zooq332I&feature=fvst
Mr Charlie
November 29th, 2009
10:55 pm
VS, he has an ouside shot a redemption, but it is a longshot, as oppose to a sure thing 5 years ago. If he even starts next year, it will be for a bad team. He has not show much in Philly.
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
10:55 pm
Benjamin,
Be honest though: if YOU were Dimitroff…
… wouldn’t you have signed Chris McCallister?
Atlanta Peach
November 29th, 2009
10:57 pm
Who did Tampa Bay beat ?!
JSS
November 29th, 2009
10:58 pm
It is sad. He posts a portion of the Surgeon General’s report; but he obviously did not understand what he was reading…
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
10:58 pm
Million & Win:
that was pretty hot, man.
I’ve had a crush on Whitney since I was a kid back int he 80’s. Good to see her away from Bobby Brown and the drugs and everything.
TMoney
November 29th, 2009
10:58 pm
Looking at other players in next weeks game, we already know Westbrook will be out with a concussion. Now it looks as if Desean Jackson might be out with one as well. The Eagles will still have McCoy, Maclin, and Celek to catch the ball, but Desean Jackson has been the big play guy for them. Next weeks game, a must win for the Falcons, is quickly turning into the injury bowl.
eric
November 29th, 2009
10:58 pm
Bugkiller, Dimitroff should have kept Foxworth…
Mr Charlie
November 29th, 2009
10:59 pm
Vick had an opportunity to change the way the QB position is played. However, 8 years later, Brady, Manning, and Big Ben are the class. Don’t look like Vick had the impact his supporters saw.
Benjamin
November 29th, 2009
10:59 pm
BK, there are literally hundreds of athletes/celebrities who’ve lived the lifestyle you just portrayed in that novella you just wrote, and further, sad as it is to say, there are millions of people who wish they could.
It doesn’t shine a brighter light on Mike Vick when you point those things out, in other words. Tim Lincecum got caught with pot in his car a couple weeks back and was actually looking to plead not guilty before he was offered a cush plea deal. And I like Tim Lincecum a lot…
When people do bad things, things that embarrass them, their natural instinct is to deny it, to run from it, to sweep it under the rug. I don’t know you personally, but I would wager that you’re no different. (I’m not saying you’re a “bad person,” for the record — just saying that it’s in human instinct among us all to hide our warts.)
And, as the old Sesame Street game goes, “one of these things is not like the other.” The dogfighting deal went far and well beyond any of the other instances. The water bottle thing was never even remotely made clear, even in the media that was trying to make it a story. The sex stuff was settled. The “people he associated with” were people he grew up with, which, while it doesn’t make things any different, isn’t exactly abnormal. Vick didn’t grow up in the suburbs, man, with soccer moms and executive dads…
It is what it is. I understand and appreciate where you’re coming from on this, but I think your vision is a little distorted. That’s all.
Mr Charlie
November 29th, 2009
11:00 pm
Other than the 8 yard drive on the blocked punt, wer’nt the Bucs shup out in the 2nd half? Why all the bellyaching about how bad our D is?
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
11:00 pm
JSS, if you have an email address, we can discuss the finer points of the article and how is EXACTLY applies to Michael Vick.
If you’d like.
Benjamin
November 29th, 2009
11:01 pm
Tampa beat, of all teams, the Packers, Peach. (I know this because my roommate is a diehard Packers fan from Milwaukee. He was miserable that day.)
…and I might have signed McCallister, BK. His health issues are a concern to me, but he would’ve been one of those low-risk, high-potential deals re: this season. I liked the Tye Hill and Brian Williams moves, though.
Vick Supporter
November 29th, 2009
11:02 pm
Mr Charlie
We shall see.
Benjamin
November 29th, 2009
11:02 pm
I’m with you, Charlie. Our defense played well today for the most part. I think people are just a little shocked that a one win team came into Atlanta and beat us for 59 minutes and 30 seconds.
Atlanta Peach
November 29th, 2009
11:03 pm
I agree with a whole lot of you all who have said Dimitroff should take some of the blame this year for the team short comings. What was he thing with this defense ?! A bad, bad, gamble ! No excuse on his part !
Ackshun
November 29th, 2009
11:03 pm
Don’t care how we won it, just damn glad we did. No Ryan, No Problem nice having a starter level QB backing up Mr Franchise. Pass rush looked mean again in the 4th. Everyone stop worrying we are going to be just fine.
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
11:03 pm
Mr. Charlie, Vince Young is currently working miracles in Tennnessee.
I don’t believe he will, but Peter King SWEARS Tim Tebow will do the same.
Watch, in a couple of years, some college coach (Urban Meyer) will try and change the stodgy old NFL.
And the difference between Meyer and Spurrier is the fact that Meyer has the attention to detail to perhaps makes it happen, instead of Spurrier’s attention to his golf game.
eric
November 29th, 2009
11:03 pm
Letting Foxworth go sunk our secondary…
Once "Recent" Reader
November 29th, 2009
11:03 pm
The D played a very nice second half . . ..and obviously not the worst first half either giving up on 10 points there.
Mr Charlie
November 29th, 2009
11:03 pm
Linecomb—What is a “cush” plead deal for posession of less than an ounce of pot? I mean, there is not much of a penalty tied to it.
Once "Recent" Reader
November 29th, 2009
11:04 pm
And Atlanta Peach – the Bucs beat the Packers in Tampa either last week or 2 weeks ago.
Vick Supporter
November 29th, 2009
11:04 pm
Great post Benjamin
Zach
November 29th, 2009
11:04 pm
Mark,
Why do we get idiots on here, i.e. BugKiller, who talk about things that they don’t know anything about? Why can we not limit this conversation to sports, and not someone personally judging someone they don’t know.
Btw… Jason Elam’s actions are of the sort that I think that he is psychotic, deranged, delusional, bi-polar, manic depressive. I know nothing about the man, other than he can’t make a field goal to save his job, but I can tell he is of bad character and he doesn’t regret missing those field goals. We should never forgive him, and he is way past a second chance.
Mr Charlie
November 29th, 2009
11:06 pm
I don’t know if Young is working “miracles”, althought he has shown promise….I am interested in seeing what Tebow will do, I guess not much. Urban Meyer will get eaten alive, he is like Petrino, used to being a dictator, won’t fly in the NFL>
Atlanta Peach
November 29th, 2009
11:07 pm
Thanks Benjamin ! Wow ! The Packers are not that bad. I don’t think ?!
Once "Recent" Reader
November 29th, 2009
11:07 pm
Benjamin . . . .. you can’t beat a team and get a Loss:) However, I hear you on the Falcs being down late in the game . . . .but can’t say they were “beat” the whole 59 + minutes before the final play. Weren’t the Falcs up 10 – 0????????? Just keeping it honest . . . .
eric
November 29th, 2009
11:09 pm
Sorry guys but “just giving up 17 points to a rookie QB on a team with barely a pulse is hardly a measure of out defensive prowess. The Bucs are in total disarray, they have a horrible head coach and almost no talent on offense yet we let them answer our 10-0 lead with a two-pass TD drive. Our secondary has made Freeman, Delhomme, and Campbell look like hall of famers. The fastest way for any pass offense to turn their play around is to face the Atlanta Falcons….
Vick Supporter
November 29th, 2009
11:09 pm
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
11:03 pm
Mr. Charlie, Vince Young is currently working miracles in Tennnessee.
——————————————————-
Vince Young has PROVED that a “running QB” can get it done. people were saying that Young was worse than Vick (Vick was better than Young…proven fact), yet Young bounces back. You think Young is making miracles with a bad team (Titans were 0-6)….wait till you see Vick do it (again)….and ye, it will be with a bad team. That’s why those teams are bad, because they don’t have a QB. It’s pretty simple…of course Vick will play with a bad team next season. He just needs to get his foot in the door…like Young…and he will make the most of it.
After all he’s been thru….you’ll have a person who’s grateful for the job…..and that means alot
Once "Recent" Reader
November 29th, 2009
11:09 pm
Peach . . . you are correct – the Pack isn’t that bad. I believe they are a 7-4 team right now . . .so the loss to the Bucs was quite an upset.
Benjamin
November 29th, 2009
11:10 pm
Green Bay is good, Peach. One of the best teams in the league, in my opinion, though they haven’t played like it at times (obviously, seeing that they lost to the Bucs). If they had an offensive line, they’d be right up there with the Vikes and Saints in the NFC Standings.
Good point on my comment, Recent Reader. I was just making to the reference that we were down until the final drive, but you’re right, we controlled much of the first half. Aside from the blocked punt that led to an eventual touchdown, I don’t even think we played that poorly today, especially considering the fact that our starting quarterback missed all but the first drive and our star running back went down again.
JSS
November 29th, 2009
11:10 pm
Like I’ve told you before BugKiller, I don’t have to stoop to post under the screen names or identities of other bloggers. You are more than welcome to email Mark Bradley and AJC IT Department anytime… They get a printout of hits and IP addresses. They know who you are… They also know who is the real “troll” around here. The man asked you a question. “What has he done since he has been out of prison that lends credence to your theory that he’s a sociopath?” And stay out of medical reports and psychological diagnosis unless you can show some that you’ve spent the 15 years to be a member of the AMA.
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
11:10 pm
Benjamin,
I don’t hate Mike Vick.
I find what he did abhorrent, that is true. But only slightly less abhorrent than the people willing to forgive him based upon what he once did on the football field.
All of the markers are there. As I said, there is ample anecdotal evidence proving his narcissistic sociopathy.
It makes my skin crawl to know that someone like that walks around unimpeded.
But don’t mistake my unrelenting disdain for his actions for myopia.
He can’t help what he is, anymore than someone can help having MS or a genetic dependency on alcohol.
The thing is, there are treatments for MS and alcohol dependency. Not cures, but treatments.
There isn’t even treatment that we know of to deal with a sociopath. Just to lock them away from a society to which they can never belong.
Atlanta Peach
November 29th, 2009
11:11 pm
What was he thinking. Sorry ! Trying to watch Joel Osteen and blog.
eric
November 29th, 2009
11:11 pm
We need secondary help more than anything else (besides a new kicker). Then the defensive and offensive lines need to be addressed…
Atlanta Peach
November 29th, 2009
11:12 pm
By the way, Choke, turn on Joel Osteen. Preaching a great message tonight !
Benjamin
November 29th, 2009
11:12 pm
I look forward to seeing where VY winds up in terms of his career path, VS. Young seemed to have lost his way a little, but that guy has been tougher than tough since he was a small kid. Ever read about his bicycle accident as a boy?
I like Vince. Aside from the fact the scored a seven or whatever it was on the Wonderlic, I’ve never had anything to laugh at about him.
Good football player, and by all accounts I’ve seen and read, a good guy to boot. He’ll be stronger in the future because of the stuff that has happened to him in the past 12 months, for sure.
Vick Supporter
November 29th, 2009
11:12 pm
BugKiller: “It makes my skin crawl to know that someone like that walks around unimpeded.”
Bruh, he spent 18 months in Leavenworth. Let’s see you go to Leavenworth
Mr Charlie
November 29th, 2009
11:13 pm
In 05 we lost to a 1-7 Green Bay team at home, in 06 we lost to a 1-6 Detroit, and a 2-6 Cleveland team, We win these 3 games, we have 3 winning seasons in a row.
Never discount beating a team with a bad record. FInally, the Bucs team started the season slow, but they are improving, I just wish they were scheduled earlier in our season.
Vick Supporter
November 29th, 2009
11:13 pm
Benjamin
November 29th, 2009
11:12 pm
I look forward to seeing where VY winds up in terms of his career path, VS. Young seemed to have lost his way a little, but that guy has been tougher than tough since he was a small kid. Ever read about his bicycle accident as a boy?
I like Vince. Aside from the fact the scored a seven or whatever it was on the Wonderlic, I’ve never had anything to laugh at about him. Good football player, and by all accounts I’ve seen and read, a good guy to boot. He’ll be stronger in the future because of the stuff that has happened to him in the past 12 months, for sure.
—————–
So will Vick
Once "Recent" Reader
November 29th, 2009
11:13 pm
I get a bit “literal” at times Benjamin:) Actually there’s just so much negativity towards the Falcons on this post that I might jump a bit too fast on the defensive . ..even with some of the more rational posters:)
Benjamin
November 29th, 2009
11:14 pm
I don’t think you “hate” Vick, man. I just think, like others are pointing out, that you’re a little off for trying to diagnose a man whom you’ve never met.
I’ve got no problem with you or anyone else on this board. I even like Matt “Choke” Ryan, aggravating as he is for pickin’ on my boy Matty Ice. He makes me laugh.
Headmofo
November 29th, 2009
11:15 pm
Tye Hill gave up 80 yards in two plays…. Wow…. Tye, you have got to play better than that. It was embarassing to see you doing the worm on the 5 yard line while the receiver simply got up regained his footing and scored. Tye, please ask the coaching staff to move you to Saftey. You would be better suited for that position and could possibly use your speed to cover deep, if not with ST Louis dumping you to us and a lot of badd tape on you now, it would be tough to salvage your career at corner and for us to get anything out of a trade for you. Dont believe me? Ask JA#98. A position change is in order for you as well. Good Luck Tye, you couldn’t cover a twin size bed with king size sheets.
The Boss
November 29th, 2009
11:15 pm
“Choke”-
That it pal your fired!
Now run along boy and see if some other fast food chain needs a burger flipper!
lmao.
The ONLY people that would cheer for MPrick are felons, racists and people that ONLY care and see skin color. You know, like most of the boneheads that voted for “O” based on this same premise!
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
11:16 pm
JSS,
I’ve more than answered the question.
I sociopath doesn’t change simply because they went to prison and are now no longer doing horrendous things. They can no easier change their stripes than a tiger could.
Their first and only rule is for self-preservation. It’s going to be years, if ever, if Vick ever does something so abhorrent again.
Again, we can discuss this at length by another medium if you prefer. You may find me to be unpleasant or any number of other colorful metaphors floating around your mind.
But it would be a mistake to think I were stupid. Here’s a new email account I just started for this occasion if you would actually like to discuss anything:
bugkiller1980@hotmail.com
Feel free to email me. If you spam my account out of spite, it doesn’t matter, as I’ll probably forget about it in a week.
eric
November 29th, 2009
11:17 pm
I believe we have a very solid core on offense. We really just need a big-time LT to protect Ryan and give him time to build confidence. I’m just afraid that if we keep letting him get knocked around he may become shell-shocked much like Harrington became on those awful Lions teams….