SI’s Peter King looks at the Falcons and sees mediocrity
Mike Smith reacts to news that his team is the 16th-best. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Perhaps you noted during minicamp that Matt Ryan said to the world’s worst journalist — that’d be me — that he believes the Falcons are “a lot closer to 12 or 13 wins than to eight.” Twelve or 13 wins would make this a really good team. The esteemed Peter King of SI.com, however, regards it differently.
In his newest power rankings, Mr. King ranks the Falcons 16th in a 32-team league, which would be the utter definition of mediocrity. He also sees the Falcons as the third-best team in the four-team NFC South, behind both New Orleans (No. 5) and Carolina (No. 8).
That’s correct. He has the Panthers, who historically are the NFL most’s overrated bunch, eight spots ahead of the Falcons. Mr. King believes dumping Jake Delhomme and will propel Carolina onward and upward, which it might. But still: A team with an unproven quarterback (Matt Moore) and a potential lame duck of a head coach (John Fox) is going to jump above the Falcons, who with all their injuries still finished a game ahead of the Panthers in 2009?
(Oh, yes. One thing more. Julius Peppers no longer plays for Carolina.)
Enough. The point here isn’t to argue with the esteemed PK but to note his reasons for not loving the Falcons. Quoth Mr. King:
The Falcons are healthier, and better. I just think there are two teams in the division better right now — unless Matt Ryan has a Drew Brees-type year. I don’t think he has one of those in him … yet. Not many quarterbacks do.
OK, a bit more quibbling (sorry, can’t resist): The whole point of the Falcons’ offseason — signing Dunta Robinson, drafting Sean Weatherspoon — was to upgrade the defense to the extent the Falcons don’t have to score 30 points a game to win. And I can’t understand how Carolina minus Peppers is a more enticing team than the Falcons plus Robinson.
But reasonable folks can, I submit, disagree reasonably. And I guess that’s what I’m doing here. Because I think the 2010 Falcons will be really, really good. Division-winning good.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
226 comments Add your comment
Shizzle Knizzle
May 18th, 2010
8:01 am
Peter King is a dufus and so is anyone who ever came in contact with him.
Sorry MB but dufiosity is communicable, ESPECIALLY in college, so get yourself checked.
heartofdarkness
May 18th, 2010
8:08 am
The latin speaking peoples of America thank you, Mark, for keeping the language alive. The full phrase “argumentum ad hominem” refers to a rhetorical strategy or logical fallacy whereby one proponent avoids the issues contained in the proposition under discussion by reference to the qualities and characteristics of his opponent in the argument. In public policy discourse, ad hominem raises the emotional level of the contest without advancing the audience’s knowledge about the subject. Seems to me, that’s what these blogs are for.
Please distinguish: Gratuitous verbal abuse or “name-calling” itself is not an argumentum ad hominem or a logical fallacy. The fallacy only occurs if personal attacks are employed instead of an argument to devalue an argument by attacking the speaker, not personal insults in the middle of an otherwise sound argument or insults that stand alone.
coo coo bird fan
May 18th, 2010
8:45 am
Another reason I don’t read SI anymore, Peter King must smoke his breakfast! Cummon! Injuries aside we will be three games better than Carolina next year. I do however see the Saints being ahead of us. If Sidbury shows up along w/ Bierman and Abraham can stay on the field the defense will hold its own. Ryan just needs to lead the team w/out turnovers, I’ll take 200 yds and 0 ints over 400 yds w/ 2 or more ints. We dont need Brees like year, we need Dilfer type year, remember the Ravens.
jborodawg
May 18th, 2010
8:50 am
Heck, he’s got Green Bay, San Diego, Baltimore, and Indy ranked 1, 2, 3, and 4. He’s got Pittsburgh and New England down low…with the Falcons.
The Falcons do have a lot of “ifs”. IF P.Jerry comes thru; IF J.Anderson shows marked improvement (to allow J.Abraham to do his thang; IF Burner has a great season; IF H.Douglas breaks out; IF M.Ryan shows marked improvement over last year…etc etc etc.
MJ
May 18th, 2010
9:20 am
Peter King always has bad picks because he gets to emotionally involved in teams. He always picks teams based on qualities other than talent. Carolina is “tough” etc…Carolina will have a worse defense that the Falcons, they have no pass rush.
Ken Strickland
May 18th, 2010
11:03 am
MARK BRADLEY-While I agree with your assessment of Peter King not being a moron, I have to take issue with your assessment of him KNOWING HIS STUFF. He apparently doesn’t know DE JPeppers, and his 10.5 sacks(which is 5.5 more than the next highest total), 5 passes defended, 5 forced fumbles and 2 blocks, is no longer with the team. Does he think 2yr veteran DE Everett Brown(2.5 sacks) or 8yr veteran DE Tyler Brayton(5 sacks) will be able to come close to replacing Peppers’ production, while commanding the same double and triple teams?
Does he know how Peppers’ replacement is going to improve their awful run DEF, which ranked 22nd last yr with him. Does he know how their solid pass DEF, which ranked 4th last yr, will remain that way without the versatility, athleticism and production he provided?
Their OFF has always been rather one dimensional and geared heavily toward the run, which accounted for them finishing 3rd in rushing last yr. However, their passing OFF is one dimensional and basically limited to WR SSmith, which explains why their passing OFF finished 27th last yr.
Does he know how MMoore, an inexperienced QB that had only 85 pass attempts last yr, and who couldn’t even beat out JDelhomme, is going to elevate their extremely weak one dimensional passing OFF? If MMoore goes down due to injury, does he know which one of the outstanding backup QB’s, HCantwell, JClausan or JMcCown, will take over and lead them to his projected prosperity?
Does he know our OFF features a Pro Bowl RB, QB, TE and WR, or that in 08, when we were healthy, we finished 2nd overall in rushing? Does he know that last yr our DEF was one of the NFL’s most dominant down the stretch? Does he know he made the same stupid prediction for the Falcons in 08 that he’s making now?
He may not be a moron, but if his football knowledge was a building, HE’D BE CONDEMNED.
ATL Observer
May 18th, 2010
11:22 am
mr wrote:
>Are you really comparing Matt Ryan to Drew Brees!!
>Conversation over!At this point shouldn’t he be
>compared to someone like Alex Smith!Or maybe you
>would rather compare him to say Peyton Manning or
>Tom Brady!All i’m saying is this guy is getting alot of
>praise and hasn’t really done much.
You’re right, mr, it’s insane to compare Matt Ryan to Drew Brees.
After all, whereas Matt Ryan has won almost two-thirds of his games in his first two years, Brees was only 10-17 in his first two years as a starter and hadn’t found a playoff game to lose yet.
And whereas Matt Ryan threw 25 INTs in his first two years as a starter, Brees threw 31 (in less games).
So yeah: totally insane comparison.
Dave Arillio
May 18th, 2010
7:30 pm
I have to say, King is right on the money. The Falcons were just a marginal team last year…This offseason there was no big push to am up the wr’s or no real attempt to address an unhealthy and overweight Mike Turner.
This is too bad because the tools were out there for the birds to succeed and they did not grab them.
Now, I do, believe Carolina got much better overall and if injuries stay away form their defense they may be unstoppable. You have to respect what Matt Moore did when the team was finally handed to him and the cuffs were removed (post New England game). Moore was one of the league’s best qb’s. With the post season dismantling in New Orleans Atlanta may still be in line for a wildcard but they are still a mid-tier team who will play a tougher schedule.
Come on Arthur Blank! Spend some money on this thing! The Atl is tired of not having a champ!
MAXX
May 18th, 2010
9:55 pm
Wow, Peter King is suddenly Skip Bayless. He might not be a moron, but it seems moronic to think that the Panthers are going to be better than the Falcons this year
houstondawg
May 18th, 2010
11:36 pm
“And whereas Matt Ryan threw 25 INTs in his first two years as a starter, Brees threw 31 (in less games).
So yeah: totally insane comparison.”
Awesome point!!1
These dumb saints fans are going to get a good hard taste of difficult road games. finally last year it was a little weird how all of this was last to have big nat tv games in the superdome from a 7-9 a year before. then out of the outhouse to the penthouse, just doesn’t happen that way. Who knows but I think the NFL had something to do with the Saints title, but absolutely not are they dynasty team, not with dummy payton at the helm(big risk taker).
I like the way the Falcons are building their team for long term.
Ken Strickland
May 19th, 2010
12:51 am
DAVE ARILLIO-you seem to suffer the same lack of insight as Peter King when it comes to the Falcons. You’re able to recognize the potential impact injuries could have on the Panthers this season, but you totally ignore the impact it had on us last yr. RB MTurner suffers an ankle injury, comes back too soon, suffers a reinjury, which puts him out for the season, and you blame it on him being over weight? He weighed the same in 08 when was healthy and ran for 1699yds on 376 carries and 17TD’s.
MMoore threw a grand total of 85 passes last yr, and you’re ready to make him an Allpro. Exactly what did the Panthers do, other than let JPeppers go, to make their DEF so dominant all of a sudden? And why would injuries derail their dominance, but have no impact on the Falcons, who’s DEF managed to dominate down the stretch last yr despite multiple injuries.
What makes you think their 22nd ranked run DEF is going to be lights out all of a sudden? And how is their pass DEF going to fair without their top pass rusher, and only double digit sack master, who managed to more than double the teams next highest total? Even with Peppers 10.5 sacks, they managed only 3 more sacks than the Falcons.
You made an issue of the Falcons not arming up the WR’s. Well, what did the Panthers do to arm up their WR’s, as well as their paltry 27th ranked passing OFF, especially their 37-38yr old #2 WR Mohammad? When healthy, we can run with the Panthers, as evidenced by our #2 ranking in 08, but they can’t pass with us, as evidenced by their 27th ranking.
We proved we can stop the run, with our dominant performance down the stretch and #10 ranking, while they proved unable to stop the run, as evidenced by the #22 ranking. Our QB is a Pro bowler, their QB couldn’t beat out JDelhomme, and was handed the job only after Delhomme self destructed.
At first, I wondered why Peter King, then you, made all these grand predictions and statements about the Panthers, yet didn’t provide a single explanation or example to support your delusional assumptions. Then, after giving my reasons and documentation in support of my claims, it came to me. You don’t have any logical explanations or documentation to support your claims.
shannyeight
May 19th, 2010
8:18 am
not to mention that Carolina may have williams and stewart, but they dont have mohammed anymore, steve smith’s ability is on the downside…do they have any other WR’s? nope. and no peppers…what was PK thinking?
ELVISINTHEHOUSE.
May 19th, 2010
1:03 pm
Peter king is a smart man and understands the falcons and there fans famous saying,WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR.You bird fans need to get that printed on the back of your shirts.Matt ryan got a lot of yall siked out thinking he is gonna come into this league(NFL)and just have his way.they(sorry birds)better look into getting a good backup QB because rednman will not work.It took p.manning 10yrs to get to a superbowl and he’s only the best QB in football and yall think sorry ryan can be better than that? I DON’T THINK SO.The falcons will be chasing N.O for the next 5+ years and will be in stiff battle with the cats.And IF(NOTICE IF IS BIG)this team make the playoffs there will be a host of teams in the nfc they will not beat.Philly,vikes,n.o,nyg,skins,gb,just to name a few.People who know the game and can look at other teams and compare talent don’t say there team is gonna win with a weak roster just because its there team.Thats what bird fans do.
Carolina Panthers Ranked Eighth, Out of 32 NFL Teams | panthers.football-news-update.com
May 19th, 2010
3:13 pm
[...] a differing perspective, I’ll also submit the point of view provided by Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal [...]
dilla
May 19th, 2010
5:38 pm
What happen to the MattChokeRyan hater guy, he was entertainting? Maybe he’s Peter King in disguise.
Ken Strickland
May 19th, 2010
7:29 pm
SHANNYEIGHT-You’re operating on the assumption he was actually thinking.
ELVISINTHEHOUSE-Your name says all that needs to be said about you and anything you have to say. You’re obviously too stupid to know ELVIS IS DEAD. The Saints will suffer the same fate as most other teams following a SB win. They had a whole lot of luck in winning a lot of close gms. They were lucky with injuries and most of their key players had a career yr. They’ve lost 2 of those key play makers, and don’t expect a lot of luck and career yrs like last yr.
Teams will be gunning for them this yr, and they don’t have the DEF or the element of surprise in their favor this yr as well. As disemated as we were by injuries to our key players, the Saints struggled to win both gms against us. We have more depth, experience, athleticism, and overall talent this yr, while the Saints will find it almost impossible to even come close to last yrs success.
Please don’t allow last yrs success fool you into thinking the Saints have anything but a sorry history of losing. REMEMBER THE AINTS, and the bags over the heads of AINTS fans? HOW QUICKLY FOOLS FORGET.
UP NORTH
May 19th, 2010
10:06 pm
hiramsaint–gotta hand to ya, at least your honest. You’re right, it’s not the 90’s anymore, but you’re wrong about having ‘the Lombardi’. You guys have a better coach than he was. Stirring it up once in awhile is good. Hope you don’t mind the fun in return. Am looking forward to Falcons vs Saints this year. That too, should be fun.
martin
May 19th, 2010
10:46 pm
I can’t believe you SORRY FALCANTS FANS are still talking smack about the saints won the super bowl because of this and that. Get a grip, the saints won the super bowl because they were the better team last year. Nobody gave them a chance to beat the mighty colts, and what happened. The saints will have something hanging from the rafters in the super dome that the falcants will never have, A SUPER BOWL BANNER, so eat your heart out. The saints have BEATEN the falcons the last 7 of 8 times, so PLEASE stop talking that bs about how you almost beat the saints both times last year. Trust me, the saints are more improved on defense this year, and with the NUMBER ONE RANKED OFFENSE, the last 3 out of 4 years, the falcants and the other teams are in trouble. REMEMBER we got to PARTY with the LOMBARDI. REMEMBER, the FALCANTS AND the PANTHERS ARE THE ONLY TWO TEAMS IN THE NFC SOUTH without a LOMBARDI TROPHY TO DISPLAY. So STOP HATING, the saints will continue to beat up on your no defense, no offense of a team. EXTRA EXTRA read all about it, the ATLANTA PRO TEAMS are rated number two in country for not winning CHAMPIONSHIPS of any sort. At least you guys are number two in something, something that no city wants to be a part of LOSERS.
hiramsaint
May 19th, 2010
11:03 pm
up north- i believe we could watch those games together and have much fun cuttin’ back and forth not to mention i always cook up some good food from back down in the homeland. whats up north? is that where your from but down here now?
hiramsaint
May 19th, 2010
11:22 pm
ken strickland-fugita was a key playmaker?????????? did you watch any games? and bell???????? dude didn’t even know what shoes to be wearin’. bell was a bigger loss but by no means a key player . lucky with injuries???? we were without 3/4 of our secondary for half the season. we may have a history of losing but we didn’t have to wait 40 something years to have two WINNING seasons in a row. WOW. next time spout off about what you know so you don’t look like such a dumda$$
Ken Strickland
May 20th, 2010
12:15 am
HIRAMSAINT-you might want to get your AINTS BAG out of your closet and put it on. You said, “WE WERE WITHOUT 3/4 OF OUR SECONDARY FOR HALF THE SEASON”. CB’s JGreer missed 7gms and TPorter missed only 4. FS DSharper missed 2gms and SS RHarper played in all 16gms. HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU GET 3/4 OF OUR SECONDARY MISSED HALF THE SEASON OUT OF THAT?
Allow me to identify a real dumba$$ for you. First, I want you to stand in front of a mirror, then ask yourself, or someone with an actual IQ, what is half of a 16gm NFL season, and then see if you come up with 9, 12, 14 or 16.
Bill King
May 20th, 2010
3:52 am
Who Cares !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This just in: ESPN's Mel Kiper likes the Falcons after all! | Mark Bradley
May 20th, 2010
12:14 pm
[...] an awful lot go right this fall. That belief is why Peter King’s assessment of the Falcons as the NFL’s 16th-best team in his SI.com power rankings seemed a case of gross [...]
Frankly
May 20th, 2010
1:25 pm
That’s funny that you have such lack of faith in an ‘unproven quarterback’… Even though your own Matt Ryan made the playoffs his rookie year. That’s double standard if there ever was one. Especially considering Moore played much better than Ryan in the games he started last year.
hiramsaint
May 20th, 2010
3:26 pm
kenny got mad and doesn’t like to play nicely. anyway, we beat your sorry a$$es twice much like we’ll do again this year. hell kenny boy, the ga. dome looked like a saints homegame last year. added it comes to 13 games missed by 3 of 4 d.b’s. you really ought to get a clue. if you do get one give it to your sorry a$$ team ’cause they’re lacking more than you
UP NORTH
May 20th, 2010
10:03 pm
hiramsaint—you’re cracking me up the way you’re raising some blood pressure w/Falcon fans. I was 16 when Tommy Nobis got me hooked on Atlanta, and I never gave up. Growing up in North Dakota around Packer and Vikes fans wasn’t easy. Loved it when I went over to Denver and got to see Vick kick the Broncos a$$. Yeah, I’d watch the games and eat your food, but am still stuck in Colo.. Good luck, man.