Live from the Dome: The risen Falcons eye their culmination
A proud patron on Dec. 10, 2007. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
It was a Monday night in December, and the Saints were in town. It was not a tough ticket. It was simply tough to watch.
It was Dec. 10, 2007. Earlier in the day Michael Vick had been sentenced to 23 months in jail by a judge in Richmond, Va. That night the team Vick used to lead lost to New Orleans 34-14 under the Georgia Dome to fall to 3-10. The next night would see Bobby Petrino, who had coached the Falcons those 13 games, being introduced as the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
For a franchise that had seen its share of valleys, that week — it closed with the Falcons losing 37-3 under interim coach Emmitt Thomas in Tampa — was the nadir. It was possible to view this city’s NFL entry as having nothing: No coach, no quarterback, no hope.
On a Monday night three years and 17 days later, the Falcons again played host to the Saints on a Monday night, and this time it wasn’t a occasion best avoided. It was, on the contrary, an event being billed as the biggest home regular-season in the Falcons’ 46 seasons of operation. Win and the Falcons would, in one fell swoop — and Falcons do swoop, last we checked — do all of the following:
• Beat their biggest rival, who happens to be the reigning Super Bowl titlist.
• Win their division for only the fourth time ever.
• Clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
That the Falcons could actually lose to the Saints and still accomplish Nos. 2 and 3 on the above list by beating woeful Carolina here six days later meant nothing to the man who’d made all this happen. In January 2008 Falcons owner Arthur Blank had interviewed New England’s chief scout from Boulder, Col., via Webcam, and such was the impression Thomas Dimitroff made that he was named general manager.
Within 12 months, Dimitroff had hired a coach (Mike Smith) and signed a feature back (Michael Turner) and drafted a quarterback (Matt Ryan) and lifted this woebegone franchise, miracle of miracles, to the playoffs. From there the men of Dimitty and Smitty have moved from strength to strength: A second consecutive winning season under arduous circumstances last season, and now 12 victories over the first 14 games of 2010. Funny how much easier things work with folks of surpassing smarts in charge.
But back to Dimitroff on Monday afternoon: He lives in Buckhead, but he’d abandoned the family home. He called the director of team travel and asked for a room at the team hotel downtown, Dimitroff said, “so I can get some work done and return phone calls.” But he wasn’t too harried to read AJC.com — presumably the Falcons get complimentary wireless — and he felt compelled to ring one writer (i.e., me) and remind him of an unusually sunny forecast offered in preseason.
“You going to be there tonight?” Dimitroff said. Then: “It should be something.”
It was convenient in December 2007 to say that Vick’s indictment/incarceration had set the Falcons back three years. As it turned out, they made the playoffs in their first season under Dimitroff, and nearly every move since has sped the plow. The trade for Tony Gonzalez last year and the signing of Dunta Robinson this spring were moves that had to be made if the Falcons were to be taken seriously, and we saw in big-time tests against Baltimore and Green Bay how serious this team is.
And now it was a Monday night in December in the final week of calendar 2010, and a culmination was there to be grasped, a culmination nobody could have foreseen three years and 17 days ago. In December 2007 the operative emotion regarding the Falcons was pity. We feel sorry for them no more. We feel only admiration.
And with that, the floor is again open for questions, comments and Christmas caroling. I’ll be here all game, and I’d appreciate the company. It gets mighty lonesome with only 70,000 of my best pals around.
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1,621 comments Add your comment
PowerDawg
December 27th, 2010
11:38 pm
Aaaaackkk!!! Can’t breathe……….heimlich, somebody, please! Choking! Choking! cho………..aaaackkkkkkkk!
Edward
December 27th, 2010
11:38 pm
Why did we punt the ball?!!!!!!!!
Growler
December 27th, 2010
11:38 pm
Yeah maybe should have gone for it on 4th down. Agree too, ND, on maybe a vanilla playbook tonight, but still very disappointing night for the offense,
Najeh Davenpoop
December 27th, 2010
11:39 pm
Ed Hochuli is having one of the worst games I’ve ever seen a ref have.
Kyle
December 27th, 2010
11:39 pm
These homo’s are showing their true colors tonight. So much for the 19-1 crap. Even teams like Cincinnati scored 30 at home on New Orleans. It is just the beginning of the end. I can’t wait to see after all that has happened this year when they go out in the first round at home.
SRF
December 27th, 2010
11:39 pm
because that is just the way it was going to be
vpi83
December 27th, 2010
11:39 pm
Falcons hopes are on the line . . . they need a stop on this series . .
Sid
December 27th, 2010
11:39 pm
well the Aints have won a championship….this bunch aint won crap
Jude Law
December 27th, 2010
11:39 pm
Is Matt Ryan our leading rusher?? What a complete joke this offense has been. Held under 200 yds before that Matt Ryan scramble. This team is a fraud and will make an early exit from the playoffs
Come-on-man
December 27th, 2010
11:40 pm
Need pressure!
KimZ'spackage
December 27th, 2010
11:40 pm
DAMN we needed that stop.
just obvious
December 27th, 2010
11:40 pm
Horrible play calling has cost the Falcons the game. The last two sequences were terrible.
G
December 27th, 2010
11:40 pm
Good night folks… Ball game… Very poor offensive performance tonight, not playoff offense.
vpi83
December 27th, 2010
11:40 pm
Oops!! First Down!! Not good for the Falcons. The Fat Lady is warming up . . . .
mark33
December 27th, 2010
11:41 pm
Ball game….
Bad, BAD offensive play tonight!
It’s too bad cause the defense deserved better and played great.
J.J.M.
December 27th, 2010
11:41 pm
better win next week
Vick Supporter
December 27th, 2010
11:41 pm
Matt “CHOKE” Ryan is really going to tear ya’ll asses up now after this CHOKEFEST……
Sid
December 27th, 2010
11:41 pm
the ultimate humiliation……when Vick, who I detest, and the Eagles come in and win the NFC.
80sFalcon
December 27th, 2010
11:41 pm
Put this loss squarely on the shoulders of the offense. Defense played lights out tonight. Two key fumbles killed us. Came out flat in the second half. I hope we pound Carolina into the ground.
david
December 27th, 2010
11:41 pm
should have never punted the ball, didn’t coach smith learn anything from the steelers game?
playmeortrademe
December 27th, 2010
11:41 pm
ballgame
Execution and mistakes
what a way to waste the effort by the D, great job BVG
Hit the road, Mularkey, you had one good series of playcalls all night, you insisted on running WHEN IT WASN’T THERE!
stizz
December 27th, 2010
11:41 pm
Huge letdown on national tv. And you think ESPN was tough on us before..
JB
December 27th, 2010
11:42 pm
Turner needs to go away. Anytime we need him to have a big game, he falls over at first contact. He stinks!!
SRF
December 27th, 2010
11:42 pm
The offense had a chance and choked – the defense could have stopped them but did not.
But what do I know – I am just an idiot
just obvious
December 27th, 2010
11:42 pm
The Falcons offensive play calling has been horrible.
Jude Law
December 27th, 2010
11:42 pm
Fat ass Turner cost us this one with that fumble at the goal line
Angie O'Plasty
December 27th, 2010
11:42 pm
Like I said, we only need to win the Carolina game and we sew up home field advantage.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 27th, 2010
11:42 pm
“Wait until my EAGLES come to town! LOL!”
If this is the best these two teams have to offer, the Eagles would beat either of them by 30.
I don’t think the Falcons approached this game with the same urgency as the Saints, though. Considering that next week’s game against the Panthers is a guaranteed win, this game is more or less meaningless to them. It is of course very meaningful to the Saints.
cazz
December 27th, 2010
11:42 pm
dont blink atl
Falcons
December 27th, 2010
11:42 pm
Last week the Saints moved up in the power rankings after losing. I bet they move ahead of us now.
Vick Supporter
December 27th, 2010
11:42 pm
Like I said earlier…
No Mike Turner = Falcons lose
Matt Ryan is the leading rusher,lol
shucks
December 27th, 2010
11:43 pm
I’m so……. I’m so startled……!
O"Brien
December 27th, 2010
11:43 pm
Najeh,
On that second down play, Ryan should have run for a couple yards, instead of trying to pass to Snelling.
And I’m not surprised Smith called for the punt. Our defense has played well, and Smith is very conservative at times.
Defense needs one more stop.
Sid
December 27th, 2010
11:43 pm
losersville!!!!
just obvious
December 27th, 2010
11:43 pm
Vick Supporter
December 27th, 2010
11:41 pm
Matt “CHOKE” Ryan is really going to tear ya’ll asses up now after this CHOKEFEST……
Ryan was not the problem. Horrible play calling was the problem.
Atl Native
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
@SRF
Can’t blame the defense for this one. The offense totally let us down tonight. Bad turnovers, no ability to sustain drives. Just bad
Mark ask these questions please
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
Did our OC not realize in the 1st half that perhaps more play action on 1st down would have caught the Saints over anxious?
I really think that this loss which will produce more love for everything non-Falcons is on the coaches. The falcons did not look on Offense to be reacting well to N.O. They did not adjust well.
Some poor execution, one questionable penalty (double interference) and a rare (understatement) fumble is the difference in the game.
Question #2 – where is the confidence of this team after this loss?
Bad showing Falcons. Bad showing.
Tough Nolla Guy
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
back to life back to reality
Jude Law
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
Wow. ESPN was right. This team is exactly like the 2003 chiefs. A complete fraud
just obvious
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
the booth needs to move the ball back 1.5 yards. Let see what is this BS.
Angie O'Plasty
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
Who cares about power rankings ?
Mark in mid-town
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
Beyond stupid to punt on 4th down. This is the aspect about Smith I don’t like. Even if they didn’t make it, the situation would have been same. They would have needed to stop New Orleans from getting 1st down in order to get ball back.
Vick Supporter
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
LOL…now you people call Mike Turner a fat ass,lol.
No loyalty from falcon fans. none
fsunoleInDC
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
I dont know how anyone can be pleased with our offense…do you really think they are superbowl caliber? no way man..215 total yds tonite..sorry boys we drank the koolaid….we need an upgrade at OC.
vpi83
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
The Fat Lady is making her way to the mike now . . . where was Matty Ice in this game when the Falcons needed a game winning/tying drive . . . Drew Brees really stepped it up even after making two crucial mistakes . . .
Jimmy
December 27th, 2010
11:45 pm
Why aren’t they reviewing this?
just obvious
December 27th, 2010
11:45 pm
Tough Nolla Guy
December 27th, 2010
11:44 pm
back to life back to reality
Yep, that division championship and home field advantage will be nice.
DK7
December 27th, 2010
11:45 pm
If the situation was reversed, our CONSERVATIVE coaches would’ve called a running play.
Falcons
December 27th, 2010
11:45 pm
What a stupid rule that it cant be challenged.
just obvious
December 27th, 2010
11:45 pm
This one is on Mularkey.