The Falcons can make the Super Bowl: Do they know that?
"Stand aside, striped stripling! I'm bound for glory!" (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
The bye week arrives at a propitious time. The Falcons are 5-2, owners of the NFC’s best record. (The Giants would likewise be 5-2 if they beat Dallas tonight.) They’ve done good work. They’re capable of better.
The bye week brings time to refocus and recalibrate. Everything the Falcons believed about themselves when they reported to training camp has been borne out: They are indeed a massively gifted team. We saw as much Sunday when the Bengals brought a bunch of brand-name players — Carson Palmer, Cedric Benson, Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens, Adam “Pacman” Jones — to the Dome. The Falcons built a three-touchdown lead, tossed it away and then surged backed ahead by two touchdowns.
And therein we bore witness to both the Falcons’ inherent potential and their one liability. They’re good enough to beat anybody, but sometimes they don’t seem to grasp how good they can be. Oh, they talk about it. They pay lip service. But I’m not yet sure that there pulses within this team the rock-solid belief — as opposed to the suspicion — that its manifest destiny is the Super Bowl.
New England bears that belief. Pittsburgh, too. But those teams have been there and won it all, and the Falcons have graced the game with the Roman numerals only once, and that was four coaches ago. The Falcons are 25-14 under Mike Smith but haven’t yet won a playoff game, losing at Phoenix in January 2009 as a road favorite. And for all the fine players imported by Thomas Dimitroff — Michael Turner, Tony Gonzalez, Mike Peterson, Dunta Robinson — not one of them wears a Super Bowl ring.
And that’s really the only flaw I see. This offense is capable of great things. This defense is getting better as it goes. (Yeah, Palmer threw for 412 yards Sunday, but that can happen when a team gets that far behind.) My issue with the Falcons isn’t what they can do but in how often they do it. They played wall-to-wall in the signature overtime victory in New Orleans. They got away with a half-effort against San Francisco. They didn’t get away with it in Philadelphia.
To me, the game that still resonates was the opener in Pittsburgh. The Steelers were without Ben Roethlisberger and still carried themselves as if they expected to invent some way to win, which they did in overtime. The Falcons messed around and managed not to score a touchdown. Yes, the Steelers can play some D, but still … no TDs for the offense of Turner and Gonzalez and Roddy White and Matt Ryan? Seriously?
What needs to happen over the bye week is that these Falcons look both without and within. Check around the NFC and they won’t find one team with more talent. Those touted most in preseason — Dallas, Minnesota, Green Bay and New Orleans — have all wobbled. The Falcons have climbed to 5-2 and have already played their most difficult road games. They’re not just playing to win the NFC South; they’re playing for the No. 1 seed.
And that’s the reason for the look within. The Falcons have to say, “We’re doing this.” Not: “We can do this.” They already know, or at least have reason to suspect, they can. The test now is simply to do. No more slack Sundays. No more sluggish starts with a blocked punt thrown in. Only big-time professional football from here on, the kind the Steelers and the Patriots play as a matter of course.
This doesn’t mean the Falcons can’t lose another game. They probably will. (Baltimore at the Dome on Thursday night — tough duty.) What it means is that the belief/expectation needs to grow within the complex at 4400 Falcon Parkway that this is now the home office of a fully expectant champion.
Mike Smith has a Super Bowl ring from his days as a Baltimore assistant. He should pass it around and let his men assess its size and importance. Because these Falcons could all be wearing such a ring very soon. Their sin would be in waiting too long to grasp what’s at stake. This team is good enough to be playing in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 6, 2011. It absolutely is.
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279 comments Add your comment
Fred in Columbus
October 25th, 2010
11:21 am
The Bengals ineptness reminded me very much of some Falcons teams of the not to distant past. We got it going on now…
Sid
October 25th, 2010
11:23 am
Wash in ATL
October 25th, 2010
11:20 am
******************************************
You’re bag? We ain’t talking golf here or do you have a hold of some of your private parts?
Wash in ATL
October 25th, 2010
11:23 am
The Saints may be Champs but they are not mine, I’m from DC so you know how many rings we have
james
October 25th, 2010
11:24 am
So I was watching Tony Dungy and the former Patriots DB (his name escapes me) commentating on NBC last night. Both were lamenting the lack of a premiere team in the NFC, how 5-2 records was the best any team in the NFC can muster and about who may rise to the top in the end. They talked about the Giants, Seattle and even Tampa Bay, but our Falcons did not even enter the conversation, not mentioned whatsoever! At first, as I always am, I was annoyed by this. But then I just accept the fact that the National Media just doesn’t respect the Falcons and may just not consider Atlanta as a bona fide NFL city. Ultimately, I’m OK with this: I am perfectly fine with the Falcons flying under the radar, unnoticed on a National level until we rack up an 8-2 record and they FINALLY realize that something great is happening here. I just wish these elite pundits could somehow find it within themselves to actually report the facts as they are every now and then.
Joe Tess Fish House
October 25th, 2010
11:24 am
How hard would it be 2 trayed 4 Matt Shaub? We could get him and another WR for Matt Ryan and Jenkins.
Joe Tess Fish House
October 25th, 2010
11:25 am
You have rings from sittin on the toilet seat Wash! LOL!
Wash in ATL
October 25th, 2010
11:25 am
Whatever Sid Falcons are Scrubs & always will be, talk to me when you get a ring !!!
Will
October 25th, 2010
11:25 am
Yeah the Skins’ are stout this season LOL
DawgDad
October 25th, 2010
11:27 am
Best chance they have of reaching the Super Bowl is nailing down homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. Playing on the road in the playoffs against a good team – sure they have a chance, but that’s a long shot at best.
Until they prove otherwise I still say on paper this is a 10-6 team. Right now they are where they want to be, leading the Division and sitting atop the NFC, but after watching the Philadelphia game I’m inclined to believe the Falcons are NOT the best team in the NFC. I’m a Falcon fan, and this season has been and promises to be a lot of fun to follow.
DeAngelo Hall is no longer a Falcon, and that’s a good thing.
JONESBORO SLIM
October 25th, 2010
11:29 am
We haven’t reach the half way point yet and you people are talking about a SB…the Birds are taking it a game at a time the way it should be done….another thing you don’t show your complete “Playbook” this early in the season…and yes you do need some Luck or breaks… what ever you want to call it….the Bills stayed step for step with perhaps the best team in the AFC yesterday…but Balt. pulled out the win…was it luck? against a winless team….tell me if I’m wrong….
Wash in ATL
October 25th, 2010
11:31 am
Why do you guys keep bringing up the sorry behind Saints, who cares about those scrubs as well.
Un- fair weather fan
October 25th, 2010
11:31 am
Well, whatever happens one thing’s almost a certainty now: the Falcons get their 3rd consecutive winning season, just after getting consecutive winning seasons for the 1st time. That’s good.
Zoomie
October 25th, 2010
11:32 am
When the Falcons show they can hold their own against teams like Philadelphia, I’ll entertain the notion. The Falcons coaching staff seems to game-plan fairly well. When the opposing team shows something new, they break down like a Yugo and can’t seem to adjust. The Falcons O-line is handled in way too many games. The predictable, soft backfield defense is too often leveraged to the opponents’ advantage. Fix these things, the birds may have a chance. As it stands, they may win their first playoff game this year, but won’t progress any further.
timthebrave
October 25th, 2010
11:34 am
If we get home field advantage then I think we can go to super bowl. I just don’t think we are good enough to go on the road and win in the playoffs. Go Falcons
Sid
October 25th, 2010
11:35 am
Wash in ATL
you got a ring?
Sid
October 25th, 2010
11:35 am
Wash in ATL
your a peeshwank, just like Seen
Wash in ATL
October 25th, 2010
11:35 am
You guys may hate DeAngelo, but he is better than anybody you have playing pass coverage. Hey is Erik Coleman still laying on the ground, after getting ran over by old man T. O. lol
Ed Haire
October 25th, 2010
11:38 am
I have been a Falcon fan all my life and remember all the lean years. Now we have a great GM in TD and a very good coach in MS. Our quarterback may not light it up every game but when it counts he always comes thru! Ryan will only get better and Turner is hitting his stride.
The defense needs to regroup and they will! I don’t care what all you naysayers say, 5-2 is great! I will continue to live and die every Sunday with my Birds. Enjoy where you are and remember Fame is fleeting, just ask New Orleans.
If you are not a Falcon fan then find somewhere else to post! This is a Falcon site and we love our Birds!
Wash in ATL
October 25th, 2010
11:40 am
You guys are making me laugh with all the Haterade you’ve been drinking down here. DeAngelo gets 4 pics in a game & you still say he is no good WTF. I guess that oompa loompa Brent Grimes is going to lead you scrubs to a championship lol
C
October 25th, 2010
11:43 am
Can’t we all just appreciate watching a good football team that hopefully will become a great one over the next couple of months? just enjoy it! Watching meaningful games in December is all any pro football fan can ask for and it looks like we are on the way to seeing that.
Go Falcons!
Tweets that mention The Falcons can reach the Super Bowl, but do they know that? | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
October 25th, 2010
11:44 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Fantasy Tackles, Martell Thornton. Martell Thornton said: The Falcons can make the Super Bowl: Do they know that?: (Baltimore at the Dome on Thursday night — tough duty.) W… http://bit.ly/bL1U7h [...]
5150 P.O.A.D
October 25th, 2010
11:44 am
Mark What are you trying to do? KILL our Chances? LOL
Falcons showed some Balls in that game? After coming out of the locker room flat, running like 8 plays in the 3rd qtr., and losing the lead. The Falcons didn’t become the Falcons of OLD. They PLAYED FOOTBALL.
ohmy
October 25th, 2010
11:45 am
send dhall down here so smitty can work him over again
Rudy
October 25th, 2010
11:46 am
Lets put it this way we have a better chance than the Redskins making to the Superbowl and even with MeAngelo Hall’s 4 interceptions they only one by 3 points thats not saying much. Hall is a good CB his issue has always been his big mouth…one good game does not make up for the rest of the crap he does….
Bradley Markson
October 25th, 2010
11:46 am
J’boro Slim… Saw what you saw. During the run, I said, “I thought Norwood was hurt!” After the run, I realized it wasn’t Norwood when he got up and wasn’t limping! Hope we see more of him after the bye, maybe “Malarky” will have time to plan him into the offense.
Rudy
October 25th, 2010
11:46 am
Won….sorry
Wash in ATL
October 25th, 2010
11:47 am
This is not a Falcon site this is the AJC newspaper Duhh wake up buddy. When someone says the scrub Falcons are going to the Superbowl I’m gonna say something, by the way you scrubs are only a game ahead of my Redskins, since we supposedly stink so bad.
ATL Observer
October 25th, 2010
11:50 am
Good column Mark, it speaks to an underdiscussed but ultimately intangible quality: that “it” factor that championship teams inexplicably seem to exude. I’ve never seen any Falcons team (even the 1998 squad, for all 16 of their wins) project that aura, but this team could be moving in that direction.
There’s something to be said for when the Pats walk out on the field…even after they take a hard loss (they took a few last year), they’re still the Patriots. They still seem daunting. I talked to a lot of Bengals and 49ers fans, for e.g. that just weren’t intimidated by their team’s prospects vs. the Falcons in the Dome at all. Even though recent history and the odds certainly didn’t favor their team, there was still this idea that “oh, it’s the Falcons…and they’re totally beatable.”
Right now, I’d take the Giants and Philly over Atlanta in the NFC. Agreed with the previous poster that the Redskins could be the sleeper team. The NFC East just always seems to be tough. I’m not sold on anyone in the NFC North or West though.
Worst I can see out of the Falcons down the rest of the line is 6-3. That would put them at 11-5 and if the aforementioned teams do a good job of beating each other up, as they say– anything can happen in the tournament.
Hammer This!
October 25th, 2010
11:51 am
Why is DHall’s mother on this site?
chipload
October 25th, 2010
11:52 am
Yeah! D-Hall and Jay Cutler’s joint offseason workouts paid off yesterday.
All I'm Saying Is...
October 25th, 2010
11:53 am
WHY NOT THE SUPER BOWL? WHY NOT THE FALCONS?
SEIZE THE DAY!
LET’S GO FALCONS!
JONESBORO SLIM
October 25th, 2010
11:53 am
Bradley Markson
Yeaa the Falcons just aquired Johnson about a month or so….the guy got speed…and it looks like the coaches are working him in slowly……Bradley I guess you and I are the only one who saw that
mountain_jim
October 25th, 2010
11:54 am
That bomb to Roddy was a play-change by Ryan in the huddle. Mularkey did not call it. Maybe Smith helped Mularkey to decide to give Ryan more leeway, and I agree Mularkey called a better game by far than Philly. But it’s time to let Ryan run the game like Peyton, Mularkey needs to come up with more play varieties from formations where the results are nearly always the same and expected.
If the play-calling, whether from Ryan or from Mularkey, continues like yesterday, Falcons have a shot at greatness. If Mularkey reverts to his Philly calls and lack of imagination, Falcons defense is not good enough to overcome an underperforming offense.
Here’s hoping they continue to let Ryan change the plays and give him more variety of plays to work with, That rollout pass play finally worked!
juice sourcer
October 25th, 2010
11:54 am
“There’s no really good team in the NFC” …a quote this morning from Peter King…he has the Falcons the top team in the NFC at # 7 with 6 AFC teams ahead of them.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/10/25/monday-morning-quarterback-week-7/2.html#ixzz13O0j3hUX
Wash in ATL
October 25th, 2010
11:54 am
@Hammer This I bet you play ” To Legit to Quit ” on your way to & from work everyday LOL !!!!
ShempHoward
October 25th, 2010
11:55 am
The Falcons FINALLY have enough talent to win the superbowl this season. Arthur Blank will finally get the George Hallas trophy and the Vince Lombardi trophy for winning first the NFC championship game and then going on to win the superbowl this season. I see noone out there who can stop the Falcons. The best three teams in the AFC, Jets, Patriots and Steelers cannot stop the Falcons either. Big Red will finally get it done.
BlahBlahBlah
October 25th, 2010
11:58 am
The Falcons’ three hardest games (Baltimore, Green Bay and NO) are all at home.
Vegas will probably have them favored in the other six games (home/away against TB and Carolina, at Seattle, at Rams.
Nothing in the NFL is a guarantee. But that is a very favorable schedule for a team looking for a division title and a first round bye.
JONESBORO SLIM
October 25th, 2010
11:59 am
Mark Bradley
Quit looking ahead writing about the Falcons going to the Super Bowls…the team is only 7 games in…. I’m sure you can find something else to write about hanging around the locker room
Terrell
October 25th, 2010
12:02 pm
hejustwenthome
You’re right we could be 0-3 against teams with winning records but we could be 2-1 as well.
AFC was the better conference last year and what happened in the Super Bowl? I could care less about who is “better” in the regular season. We’ve saw the Steelers and the Giants both win the Super Bowl as wildcard teams, so lets talk about who’s better when the playoffs start.
Falcon57
October 25th, 2010
12:03 pm
@ JONESBORO SLIM, Gartrell isn’t that fast. If you want to see speed they need to run the same play with Antone Smith. This dude can fly. I’d also like to see him on kickoff and punt returns. He’s a replica of Leon Washington in Seattle. They are both FSU alumni.
ohmy
October 25th, 2010
12:04 pm
as a challenger to the nfc’s best–beat the eagles in philadelphia and you have arrived, lose and you have not. philly is the nfc’s benchmark team. while it is possible to get to the superbowl and even win it, this does not put an team/organization in the same class as pittsburgh, new england (ex: who dat?) or even philadephia. there are no more benchmark games left–not even GB–there are however, several more to play and win. contender status is built on consistent winning over many seasons not just two. GO FALCONS!
JONESBORO SLIM
October 25th, 2010
12:06 pm
@Falcon57 you may be right….but really I don’t care ask long as both are on “Team Bird”…thanx
JONESBORO SLIM
October 25th, 2010
12:13 pm
@ohmy lets see Pitt lose to Balt and Balt just got pass the Bills….New England just got pass the 1-6 Chargers….quit drinking the ESPN and NFL channel Kool-Aid …those people there guess just like you and I….have a GOOD DAY
moorman
October 25th, 2010
12:14 pm
falcons, and superbowl?
NoleinDC
October 25th, 2010
12:16 pm
dang mark, how do explain the near meltdown by the defense yesterday? this is is good, but not great…the saints are better IMO so are the eggles
Mark Bradley Needs to Stop Making Predictions
October 25th, 2010
12:17 pm
I am just so sick and tired of Mark Bradley’s premature conclusions and predictions.
I think Mark does a disservice to the Karma (whatever little of it) that flows through Atlanta sports. You come up with these grand statements of how the Dawgs, Braves, Falcons, Jackets, Hawks have what it takes this time, that even though people dont believe, Mark Bradley believes and therefore they will win the title.
The Falcons at 5-2 are a solid team, but to say they are the best team in the NFC doesnt mean that much because the real super bowl contenders lie in the AFC this year. Everyone knows this.
I try not to get frustrated with the comments on this blog, but Mark, you are a writer, and I expect more from you. PLEASE STOP THE GRAND CONCLUSIONS. You are usually wrong.
Let the teams play it out!
Are you kidding?
October 25th, 2010
12:18 pm
Can everyone on here please stop talking about how the Falcons could easily be 3-4. They are not 3-4, they are 5-2; the Cowboys could be 5-0, but they are not. The Falcons lost a tough one to the Steelers, and had a terrible game against the Eagles, other than that they have held serve.
FrontRow
October 25th, 2010
12:21 pm
Philly game-planned very well against the Falcons – play the same plan and I doubt you get the same results; Philly got creamed trying to run the same gimmick 2 weeks in a row.
And – yesterday’s Falcon’s game was a double a$$whipping.
4-4 on the road, 8-0 at home gets you in and probably gets you a home game or two.
ReddJonn68
October 25th, 2010
12:21 pm
I for one will not get caught up in the hoopla early on, we have a lot of work to do if we want to be the team we are really capable of being. That effort we gave that first game in Pittsburgh, kinda set the tone for the rest of the year. I saw an earlier post that stated that N.O. had the 25th defense yet won the Superbowl. That may be true, but I don’t think we want to be that lucky, & go into the playoffs with that type of defense. We are almost halfway thru this season, we know there is room for improvement, all in all I have to give our team a B grade so far, because I don’t think we have yet to reach our full potential. I do like the direction Smitty has this team headed in, barring any major injuries we should be in the mix come post season. We need to set the tone because nobody is setting the pace in the NFC this year. Go Falcons !!!!!
Dontavius Supremo
October 25th, 2010
12:21 pm
That’s the great thing about the NFL – no artificial polls, no nonesense, just on-field action. If the Falcons make it to the Super Bowl, they make it on their own dime. if they don’t, it’s “see you next year”. No arguments, no opinions, just actions.