On a night with everything to gain, the Falcons somehow lose

MB:

Super Bowl contenders win this game. The offense was terrible in the biggest game in years. A bad omen, I’m afraid.

HT

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I AM SICK AND TIRED OF MIKE SMITH’S AND MIKE MULARKEY’S PLAY NOT TO LOSE OFFENSE!!!

Their refusal to stop being so stupidly conservative, their refusal to stop running Turner into 10 man fronts, and their refusal to let Ryan go no huddle all over the Saints’ butts cost the Falcons this game.

This ultra-conservative bulls–t is keeping the Falcons from being the dominating team they can be!

The Falcons have all the pieces on offense to be like the Patriots or the Packers, but when it comes to offensive playcalling, Mike Smith and Mike Mularkey don’t have a single aggressive bone in their body.

Their conservative bulls–t is NOT “real” football. It’s frakking p-ssy football. It’s LOSER’S football.

YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME, DAMMIT!!!

Mike’s Smith and Mularkey play not to lose. And THAT is why they LOST!!!

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Aw, man, HT, you got me by a minute…
Tough, tough loss. Not scoring on the second turn over in the 2nd half proved to be a critical mis-cue. You know John Fox is going to throw caution to the wind on Sunday. A short week to prep worries me.

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This was just a gross offesive showing. Looked like the O that played the Eagles earlier in the year. If this is how the Falcons are going to approach the playoffs, the season will end very soon. This was just pitiful and shameful.

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ATL sports franchises CHOKE on the big one again.

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Chauncey — GREAT PLAY. Defense was just on the field too long. What is it t hat the Eagles and Saints have done — kind of like a disruptor on Star Trek.

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AUTHUR BLANK! TONIGHT YOUR SORRY TEAM SHOWED IT TRUE COLORS! MATTY HOPELESS CRYIN RYAN YOU SHOWED YOU STILL NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME LITTLE BOY! THIS TEAM HAS BEEN LUCKY TO GET AS FAR AS IT HAS! THE EAGELS DESTROYED THIS TEAM EVEN WHEN MV7 THE MAN WAS NOT EVEN PLAYING! IF THIS FALCONS TEAM GET TO THE PLAY OFFS VICK WILL SLAP THE REALTY BACK INTO THIS TEAM AND SHOW THAT COWHERD BLANK WHATS UP! THIS TEAM EMBEARASS IT SELF ON NATION TV TONIGHT AND SHOWED THE WHOLE WORLD THIS CITY IS NOTHING WITHOUT MV7! MATTY HOPELESS DANCED AROUND LIKE A SISSY TONIGHT INSTEAD OF ACTING LIKE A MAN FOR HIS TEAM! BUT WHAT ELSE SHOULD ANY BODY EXPECT A LITTLE GIRL WHO IS ONLY QB BECAUSE HE BLANKS ILL LEGITIMATE KID TO DO! THE DEFENCE PLAYED SCARE AND LET THE SANTS RUN OVER THEM LIKE A TRAIN! THIS TEAM WILL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS IT COULD HAVE BEEN WITH VICK IF BLANK HAD NOT FRAMED FOR KILLING AND RAPPING THEM SORRY DOGS! YOU HATERS JUST TUNE IN TUESDAY NIGHT TO WATCH PHILY TO SEE HOW A REAL MAN AND A REAL QB GET THINGS DONE AND TAKE HIS TEAM TO THE PLAY OFFS! TIME TO GO TO SKOOL HATERS! SHOW THESE HATERS HOW TO WIN AND HOW TO GET IT DONE MIKE!

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Makes no difference who the Atlanta Falcons will play in the post season: they’ll lose. The NO Saints just beat the Falcons tonight 17-14. Some observations from tonight’s game:

1. the Falcons scored exactly one offensive TD against the SB champs
2. by losing the Falcons send the Saints this message: “You guys can own us in our building if you want.”
3. the NO Saints should remain, for years to come, the premier team in the NFC South division and legitimate Super Bowl contenders year in and year out
4. the Atlanta Falcons will contend for second or third place in the NFC South with the Tampa bay Buccaneers year in and year out and be a playoff contender and no better
5. after the Falcon’s loss tonight look for the NO Saints to beat the Tb Bucs at home and enter the playoffs having defeated two good teams
6. the Falcons will win their final game in nondescript fashion against the Carolina Panthers, the worst team in the league, entering the playoffs havving beaten a team they were expected to beat anyway

Wondering how the Falcons will do in the playoffs this year? Look no further than tonight’s loss as the template: the defense plays their butts off, Mike Mularkey’s offense doesn’t do anything. Michael Turner runs like he his cleats are encased in cement blocks and the Birds lose at home in a 17-14 or 17-10 type game.

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How many Falcons fans said the Saints would get blown out and would get run on for 200 yds… Suck it!!!!! Matty Ice is now 19-2!!!!!!!

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Even more painful, I lost dinner to my cousin-in-law in NOLA. I’m gonna need some beverages from Lafitte’s before paying up on that one! NEVER trust the Falcons to win a a game until five minutes after it is over. True in 1970 and true in 2010.

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Tough loss; fundamentals killed the Falcons tonight (what was going on with Brian Williams trying to arm tackle Brees and co. all night?!?). But hopefully the Falcons will be able to tighten things up between now and the playoffs. I’d wager Mike Smith will be drilling certain things home over the next week.

Hard-fought win by the Saints; they’re going to be tough as nails should we have to play them again. But winning twice in a row in the Georgia Dome (if Falcons beat Carolina next week) won’t be an easy feat for them, either.

GO FALCONS!!!!

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Once again the lack of courage by the coaching staff is costly.

Two really dumb decisions:

1.) 3rd and 12 at their own ten and for the first time we decide not to blitz and Brees completes this pass without any pressure and drives the team down the field for a winning TD

2.) 4th a 6 under three minutes near midfield and Mike Smith decides to not gamble with Matt Ryan and hope we can keep Drew Brees from getting a first down and he just drove the Saints down the 90 yards the previous series.

Stupid!

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beat down at the dome.

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‘cons displayed their chumpionship form tonight infront of the whole country. everyone is laughing.

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Breesus, the Falcons are going to win the division and have home field advantage. Kiss it fool and look up to the falcons. Don’t forget the Falcons beat these Saints this year too. 12-3!!!!!!!

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People it was a great game. Hard fought by both teams. We all wanted to win, but I still say it is hard to beat a team 3 times in a year. I like the season split of the games. The Defense was great just needed to get Brees on the ground more. Don’t get all stupid. The Falcons are fine and I think they ALL learned a lot about themselves tonight. Roddy I am sure learned a few things.

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put a chump on prime time and what do you expect? the whole nation was watching and what happened? darn ‘cons wet the bed. OMG. when will this city ever rise up. the moment I heard the mayor was having a pep rally I knew these clowns were going to lose.

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The Saints had the easiest schedule in the entire NFL and lost 4 games.

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At last. A little more breathing room on the bandwagon tonight. Fair weather fans, don’t even bother to try to get back on next week.

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Very tough loss. Two fumbles basically sank us. It happens. It’s time to have a short memory. Regardless of what the announcers for ESPN think the Saints are entitled to, all the Falcons have to do is go out and beat Carolina and they get the bye, and the championship, and the road to Dallas running through A-town. Props to the Saints, they beat Atlanta, but I’ll tell you all something, if there’s one team the Saints don’t want to look up and see in the playoffs, it’s Atlanta in Atlanta, or anywhere else.

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The entire nation watched Brees hand over 14 points in critical situations.

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The Falcons should take up origami. They’re great at folding under pressure.

Yes, I’m ticked. With so much on the line, only the defense showed up tonight. The offense and coaching staff might as well have been in New Orleans or New York or New Delhi. They sure didn’t do anything in Atlanta!

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Falcons pretenders. No championship ability. Had acchance to put the game away and blew it. AFter brees second interception they go 3 and out. Punt to Brees. Very predictable that he drives down field. Get the ball back and punt at midfield. Can’t get ball back. Pretenders. Will lose first game in playoffs.

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I hope every falcon takes this lost to heart. This is how it feels when you loose a playoff game after having a great year. Ryan is a good football player but he stunk up the GD tonight. I really believe this will make the offense better heading into the playoffs. learn from the game and move on. Lastly; fair weather fans please stay off the vent. Atlanta is a good team that lost to the world champs give the Saints their due.

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ok Mark,, what’s up,,, posted two comments and neither showed up,,, how come ??

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And boy didn’t that Saints running game look good tonight? And how about the “key” Reggie Bush? They keep him on the bench if the punt might be past the 50.

Saints: One and done.

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Its funny how people overreact to one game.Falcons still have the best record in the NFC have already beat the saints once and will likely have homefield throughout the playoffs and be division champs.Take a chill pill.

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who’s ever heard of Pass Interference on both players on the same play,,,,,,, and when have you EVER heard of a pass being allowed, when they say that it was clearly on the ground during the entire catch ???? kind of makes you say ,,, MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

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Good Game………Props to the Aints the team who hardly had any fans and win a Super Bowl and all of a sudden Bandwagon fans all over the place lol. Actually in a way the Falcons needed to lose a game before the playoffs……..eight in a row gets snapped but Mark please do not tell me that the NFL is rigged now . Not taking anything away from the Saints……but

Turner fumbles??
McClure fumbles a snap that looked rigged?
Falcons offense plays very vanilla??

If NFL is rigged here is my predictions:

Atlanta beats the Saints in a rematch at the Dome in the playoffs
Eagles play Atlanta in the NFC Championship game and win in a close game and play the Patriots for the Super Bowl

Put some $$$$ on it……..and if it happens this ole boy is through watching NFL Games

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BRADLEY MUST GO

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I read this blog hoping to read reasoned discussion around the disappointing loss. Instead I found proof that evolution is a bogus theory as mostly inane and hyperbolic commentary abounds in this blog. We are in the midst of the best time in Falcons history and the best all of you football “experts” can come up with is the silly comments about the offensive players understanding of the importance of the game. Seriously! And comments critical of the “conservative” offense that has only helped win 32 games the last 3 years and has the Falcons still in position to be the #1 seed in the NFC. The coaching staff does a great job maximizing the talent and putting them in positions to succeed. Are they perfect..of course not. If you can not appreciate the job this coaching staff does then I suggest you give up watching football and take up something less challenging to understand.

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Best D peformance I’ve seen in 5 years out of Falcons but the offense played tight and tried to run up the middle over and over then throw on 3rd and long.. Played scared really. Really disappointed in the Falcons offense play calling tonight. They need to open it up! What about running out of the Spread? My goodness!

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I have to say that the 1st time we played the saints we won on a fluke FG miss. 9 of 10 times and the saints make that FG and we lose. Tonight, the saints wanted it more in the end. We got outplayed on our own field and i think the saints are the best team in the NFC. Ryan has too many games where he has 17- 30 type games. He flirts with 50% completion ratio in several games and if not for turner and the ground game, we lose 3 or 4 more games easy. If the falcons run game gets stuffed as it was tonight, the falcons are very beatable and it doesn’t matter what field the game is played on.

All that happened tonight was that the saints now have the confidence that they can come in here and beat us in the playoffs!! Ryan stunk tonight, the offensive line stunk, turner looked slow and smith punting on that 4th an 6 was very stupid. Anyone should know sean peyton was gonna get that 1 1st down needed and would throw to get it and HE DID! I knew it was over when we gave brees the ball back. The falcons are good but not a super bowl team. There is not a team in the playoffs except the rams that can’t beat the falcons. White did all that smack talk and gotta it shoved back in his mouth. The birds should win next week and clinch the #1 seed, but the saints proved they can come in here now and beat us in our house. Thanks to a crappy showing by the offense. The saints can do it again as well!!

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Falcs had a chance to at least make a statement-they did -they punted

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Guys, calm down!!! The Falcons save all the aggressive plays for the Super Bowl Why should we show them or other teams what we can do in a regular season when all eyes on us ? What do you think other coaches doing while watching our game? That’s why Smith put the Falcons in the conservative mode to fool other coaches. Smith is a smart guy

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Very disappointed, would have loved a win and to see the saints in a must-win next week, oh well. Still believe in this team, one great thing about the FALCONS, make great adjustments and I believe SMITH has only lost 2 games in a row once. For all of you RYAN HATERS and NO lovers, why would any team be scared of the AINTS after tonight? If the FALCON DEFENSE can hold the SAINTS to 17 points, you think GB, PHI or CHI is scared of Drew Brees and Payton? Even with a bad game, 20 NFL teams would want RYAN over their current QB. So stop slobbering all over yourselves.

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Enter your comments here

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The Falcon defense bottled up the Saints except for one damn fool. The same idiot that failed to tackle Drew Brees on free blitzes time and time again was also guilty of choking on crucial Saint completions. Loss still squarely on Michael “Fumble” Turner and Matty Lice. Both hurt team more than they helped it. Especially Turner. First fumble my a$$! I have watched all season long. I KNOW BETTER! Ryan nowhere near a premier NFL QB. Middle of pack at best. Very distasteful defeat! Very much so. Just hope offense shows up against Panthers. If not…STENDEK

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Great post RGarr
Falcon fans dont forget the days of Petrino and dogfighting.

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I’ve cut Kroy off until the Super Bowl. He will get none win lose or draw until after the Super Bowl. Don’t blame tonight on me. I will make sure Kroy has his mind night for the rest of the season.

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Honestly, though; Google does not reveal a single Saints blog that has been updated in the last 24 hours…are they really THAT interested in the Hornets? Football not important? Wow. Maybe they have a new hockey team.

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Fire Mike Smith!
Fire Thomas D.!
Fire Roddy White!
Fire Matt Ryan!
Fire Mark Richt, Paul Johnson and Bobby Cox too.

The home team lost a game and it’s the end of the world again – until next week.

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Stendek, Turner had no chance on those goal-line plays. I don’t blame Turner…it was the unimaginative play-calling that did in the Falcons.

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Please, Mark…talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Our defense was MORE than up to the task, and our offensive play-calling was vanilla (by DESIGN, I’d say…)

…and we STILL should have won. Take away a FLUKE center snap and a fumble at the 1-yard line, and you know the outcome – in a game that’s LARGELY meaningless to Atlanta with Carolina coming to the dome next week.

Chill out.

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Wow, How many fairweather fans can there be? Is the loss disappointing yes? Still have a chance to clinch the number one seed and through basically 9 quarters of football, us and the defending superbowl champs are even. Can’t win every single game, Falcons proved again that they belong with the big boys. 12-3 with an overtime loss, a 3 point loss and only one game where they just got flat out beat. Quit whining and start looking forward to the playoffs!!

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Sid… Front Row and all you other a$$ clowns… get some!!!! Saints are still the champs b!it&c!!!!!

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Bell, I would agree with you if the Panthers would forfeit the game…but unfortunately, they will be well-rested having not played since last Thursday, and they will come out blazing hot against an emotionally exhausted Falcons team on short rest. This will not be an easy game and the Falcons will have go out and win it…they cannot play to not lose. The defense seems to get that, but the offense is a huge disappointment right now.

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We need to work on tackling; Or at the very least, Brian Williams needs to work on tackling if he’s going to be the one blitzing. Coaching had him there every single time. He needs to tackle better and get the QB on the ground . . .

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Where are all the Pigeon Fans that was talking smack, how does that CROW taste

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Why is no one talking about the fact that it should have been 3rd and 1 and not 3rd and inches right before we had to burn our last time out? Why wasn’t the play reviewed by the booth?…1 yard is huge.

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Because ball spots are not reviewable if the team did not gain a 1st down.

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Look all you haters and fuc_ing idiots like falcons sorry,the Falcons WILL WIN THE DIVISION and play at home with a buy in the first round.The defense played really well and the offense was alot vanilla.I really like our chances in the playoffs,the front seven on defense was awesome and the coaching staff will turn Matt Ryan loose in the playoffs.Roddy will prove he is the best reciever in the NFL.Falcons play in Dallas in the Supper Bowl as u call it u dog killing loving idiot who MV7 HAS NO IQ HE IS A DUMB ASS WHO WILL CHOKE UNDER PRESSURE GO MATTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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you don’t often win 12 straight in the nfl. That’s what it would have taken to win tonight and then win next week, added to the streak going into the game tonight, and then run the table in the playoffs. A close loss to the Saints may get everyone refocused on the game, maybe forget some of the hype that’s brewing. Start a new streak next week. I still like our chances.

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Some of You Falcons Fans are as BiPolar MPD as the UGA DAWG fans. Back your team and don’t let the SWINGS drive you crazy. Please go get some out of MV7’s water bottle twist is and just RELAX. I would love to play Texas Hold’m with some of you people. You flip faster than a French Rue Walker on Port call. The Falcons will be fine and the Defense showed a lot of heart tonight.

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I’m with Stendek. That spot on second down with the guy’s knee down a full yard and half from the spot was suspicious too. Muffed snap? Fumble at the one? It does get suspicious from time to time.

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WHO DAT your an idiot to come in here talking smack ….were fixing to be NFC South champs and have the number one seed ….I can talk smack to you all day baby!!!

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“Mike Vick is so important in this world that an Eagles win over the Falcons would be the end of everything in the state of Georgia.”

Well almost everything….

nothing destroys the ignorance of a RED NECK!

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And we beat the champs earlier this year… So what’s the big deal? I think it’s safe to say we’re on the same level with them. Who cares who is better right now? We get our #1 seed next week and we did our job. Saints will have to do work just to get back to the GA Dome to beat us 2 times in a row and against a Falcons team that won’t play nearly as conservative.

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UGAKev

December 28th, 2010
12:40 am
WHO DAT your an idiot to come in here talking smack ….were fixing to be NFC South champs and have the number one seed ….I can talk smack to you all day baby!!!

We just beat them Falcons loser, WHO DAT?? We Dat idiot. GO SAINTS!!!!

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Falcons choked. Bottom line. Fumble at the goal line. 3 and out at midfield after second interception. Allow 90 yard drive!! Chokers, pretenders, one and done. Can’t even come close to handling pressure of playoffs.

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Metallica0785, apparently the only way that play gets reviewed is if it was ruled a first down…they will not challenge spots that do not result in a first down. It was definitely a bad spot.

Billy, Matt Ryan is one of the most clutch QBs around. In this game, he can’t take the blame for not making a comeback when the coach calls for a punt to one of the greatest offenses in the league with less than 3 minutes left.

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I hate tonight’s loss as much as anyone – McClure botching a routine snap? But I’ll tell you what, the English used by many on this comment board is unbelievable, and it is perfectly understandable why you are not in real positions of authority. Go back to school, folks!

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TONIGHT’S GAME IS THE VERY REASON THE PRESS GIVES THE FALCONS NO RESPECT. THEY ARE LOSERS WHO GOT HERE ON M TURNERS LEGS PLAYING BALL CONTROL TO KEEP MATT RYAN FROM EMBARRASSING THE CITY. FALL CONS STUNK AGAIN TONIGHT.

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All you people who think this game didn’t mean much to the Falcons, pack your lunch and watch from the cheap seats from now on….this game wasn’t about just this game, it was about stepping up a level. Clearly the Falcons are not there yet. I like the direction, but we have 2 really big glaring problems, both on offense:

1. Matt Ryan
2. Mike Mularkey

Ryan got out-played by a seasoned veteran Quarterback in Brees, completely understandable. My biggest complaint with Matt is that he seems to not be doing so well in pressure situations. Hell, he was better in his first year than he has been this year. You keep looking for Matt to step up, like Brees does, when the game is on the line and right now he just looks either a. confused or b. scared.

Both Smith and Mularkey got out-coached tonight by Sean Payton. Payton didn’t blink and Smith didn’t bother trying to outsmart him. the offensive mindset to conitnually push the bull via the run on first down is not competitive at this level. You have to be creative and our play calling is just flat out not. Where were the quick screens tonight, the dumps to TG on quick slants inside? Did you see what Drew Brees did all night to us?

300+ yards of passing and none of it was more than 20 yards. He owned us in the short yardage.plays but he kept the chains moving.

Turner and Snelling were both ineffective tonight. Yes, some of that was the O-line but using Turner straight up the middle on the same play twice at the goal line was not smart. Why don’t we sweep outside once in a while – New Orleans knew exactly what we were going to try when we lined up for first and goal, hell the whole world new. No creativity whatsoever and that falls directly on the coaching staff.
Outcoached and outplayed.

Offense: D
Defense: B-

Coaching:

Smith: C
Mularkey: F
BVG: B

One and done in the playoffs kids, despite the home field advantage we’ll have. Gotta know the Eagles and the Saints are going to give us fits.

And Breesus, give it a rest loser, You’re giving the real New Orleans fans a bad name…..

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Meaningless game for the Falcons. Saints fighting to get in the playoffs.

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WHO CARES who dat….NFC SOUTH CHAMPS!!!! Guess what your football team was handed a fooball game tonight … i promise you will not beat us twice …congratulations who dat you beat us in a game that will mean nothing when it comes to holding up the lombardi trophy… Are you really that stupid of a fan? The who dat is the gayest things in sports history you embarress yourself everytime you say it.

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Falcons

December 28th, 2010
12:47 am
Remember when the Saints lost to the Browns and Cardinals, two teams with a combined record of like 10-20?

But we just beat the Pigeons is the Trash Dome

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Thanks, defense for one of the greatest efforts ever by a Falcon’s team. Offense, thanks for one of your worst games of the year. You are who we thought you were. I never thought I would see you play a second half like tonight.

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its the NFL and the falcons lost the game tonight therefore we will correct the issue and move on
Falcons 12-3 > Saints 11-4
NFC SOUTH CHAMPS

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its okay who dat enjoy your wild card birth

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I still want to know why Tough Nolla Guy spelled his name wrong. Probably an Eagles troll who doesn’t know how to spell.

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Who Dat a saints fan is talking about a trash dome??? Wow that is too easy of a comeback I will not even go there

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If the Falcons were fighting to get in the playoffs like NO was, Coach Smith doesn’t punt, but this game is meaningless to the Falcons playoff seeding – unless you think Carolina is going to come into the Dome next Sunday and win. Coach Smith says, “It’s a process.”

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amen iceman…falcons fans either stay us or find another team

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Ron Roberts

December 28th, 2010
12:51 am
Who dat nation….. in a game that meant more to you than us…

Every game counts loser

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horrible game with such a hope in the end. we had this game if it wasn’t for the mistakes with turner and dunta intercepting that ball. the edge was taken off by watching gt lose and having to change a flat tire off ga 400 near haynes bridge 45 mins ago…what a pain. thanks d-bag for dropping the wooden box on the road!!!!

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Exactly. If anyone honestly thinks Carolina is going to come into the GA Dome and beat us, then you’re just talking out of your rear. 3 days rest? Whoop de freaking doo! They are the worst team in the league. And don’t want to lose out on a #1 draft pick. Who are you fooling?!

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“Go to ESPN and look at the Strength of Schedule. Saints had the easiest schedule in the entire NFL.”

I’m not denying that this is possible. I’m just saying that division rivals always have the same schedules with the exception of two games. This is the case year in and year out. This year the entire NFC South played six intra-division games, and also played the NFC West and the AFC North. That’s 8 games against below-.500 teams (Panthers x2, Browns, Bengals, Rams, Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals) for both the Falcons and Saints. Each team then played each other twice as well as the Bucs twice (an above-.500 team), the Ravens, and the Steelers — that’s 6 above-.500 teams. The remaining two games the Falcons played were against the Packers and Eagles, while the Saints played the Cowboys and Vikings — these two games are the big difference between the two teams’ strength of schedule. Other than those, they had identical schedules this year.

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the only reason i did not want to put up with losing this meaningless game is because the media and espn spins things so bad…now we have to hear all week about how the saints won in atlanta and they are back… its a joke! The falcons are 12-3 and get no respect! Falcons fans just hang in there we get last laugh

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Basically the point is that when comparing divisional opponents, strength of schedule plays a relatively minor role because of the way the NFL schedule is made up every year.

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Who Dat Nation, if every game counts then I guess you ought to shut the %&&$ up, huh, since you’re still losing the division. Just because you have access to a computer doesn’t mean you’re not retarded.

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Contenders lose on the road, chumps choke right at home. Despite securing top seed in NFC playoff standing largely on the back of a fortunate weak schedule, the Falcons will not win a single playoff game and will lay down to current champ Saints, former champ Giants, or contender Eagles.

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Who Dat….it IS meaningless, given our TWO game lead with two to play going in, knowing the other is a HOME game against CAROLINA.

More Excuses losers

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Who Dat….I’ll GLADLY take my three losses against PLAYOFF caliber opponents to your two chokes against the BROWNS in YOUR dome, and the Cardinals in THEIRS.

Got some “excuses” for those losses? LOL

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[...] On a night with everything to gain, the Falcons somehow lose … – Mark Bradley [...]

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Only losers would think this was a meaningless game for the Falcons. Face it Falcons fans, when the lights were on the Falcons choked. No other way to explain it.

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….LAST season, Who Dat….LAST season.

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nanunanu. Go ahead and say that next week after we wrap up the #1 seed.

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Wow, offense, what the fcuk happened??!!

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Still wondering, Who Dat… how did a SUPER BOWL CHAMPION lose to the effing BROWNS at home? And the Cardinals, PERIOD? Who was their QB in that game?

You keep bringing up HISTORY. You got your trophy, and nothing that happens will take it away from ya…

…but we’re talking about T-H-I-S season, and you bringing it up only deflects the conversation from what we’re talking about N-O-W.

Look at the standings. Even after tonight. Look @ who’s in first (still)? Look who has Carolina at home next week with home-field advantage on the line.

Enjoy your “token” win.

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I guess those Saints choked it up for 3 straight weeks to end the regular season before winning the Super Bowl.

Say it with me. MEANINGLESS

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Come on, people!! We lost a heartbreaker to a very good football team that we beat earlier in the year. Stop blaming the coach, the players, etc. The winning streak was bound to end sometime. I’d rather it end now than in the playoffs. Get a grip!! The Falcons played a great game tonight, particularly on defense. They just came up a few plays too short. Look at it this way: it is rare that a team can beat a good opponent 3 times in one season. If we had to lose a game to the Saints, better now than in the playoffs. The Falcons will wrap up the division and home field advantage on Sunday. No way will we lose to the pathetic Panthers. The Falcons are going to the Super Bowl!!!!

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Who Dat has LAST season’s trophy; it didn’t hop out the trophy case and beat the Falcons, BROWNS (hahahaha!!!), the Cardinals (HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!) or the Ravens, did it?

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Saint punked out the ice!! you take the run game away and you see what you get punk ice! pure hype !! where is the so call thinking QB? Pure punk when heat is applied!!

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Ron Roberts

December 28th, 2010
1:06 am
Who Dat has LAST season’s trophy; it didn’t hop out the trophy case and beat the Falcons, BROWNS (hahahaha!!!), the Cardinals (HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!) or the Ravens, did it?

How many rings do the Pigeons have????

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Matty Ice Melt Down!!!!!!! Michael Turner Hit The Brick wall!!! Now this is what you get when you play a real football team!!!!!!! Falcons win Sunday 1st round in playoffs falcons =
1 and done!!!!!!!!!! Falcons go to Dallas as Cheerleaders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Kramer 318, Falcons will choke in playoffs just like tonight. One and done. Chokers, pretenders. Had a chance to put Saints away after Brees second interception. 3 and out. Choke. Fumble on goal line. Choke. Punt at midfield with 3 minutes left. Coach choked. Allowed 90 yard drive for go ahead TD. Choke. Can’t get Saints off field to give Crushed Ice a chance. Choke. How many more you want? Choke, choke, choke. Pretenders. One and done.

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They will lose the first game in the play off!

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I started to say “I guess you weren’t born yet or were still in prison when the Falcons won 27-24 in your cesspool of a building earlier this year;” but upon further reading it’s obvious “Who Dat Nation” is “SeenThisB4″ and “Matt”Choke”Ryan.” He’s a pathetic middle aged white guy who lives in Atlanta and hasn’t been laid since Winger was popular. Leave him alone; he suffers enough in his personal life. Don’t feed the trolls.

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This game showed the coaching staff what they need to work on. The Falcons will be a better team for it- better now than in the playoffs. LET”S GO FALCONS!! Black and Red!!!!!

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I am a true Falcon Fan and I cannot believe we gave this game away. Will somebody please tell me why, why, did Mike Mulaurkey and Smith allow Turner to continue to run in a crowd of Saints on the Goal line when u saw it was not working. We have so many weapons. A high toss to Finneran, or a sweep play with Snelling, or a pass to Gonzalez. Dam man, we should be up by 2 touchdowns. This game was the Falcons. Fans its not over yet, and just because we can beat the Panthers is not good enough. We have to be able to beat the good teams too. I hope we don’t screw up next week. This was a big TV game. Dam man! Rack up the score man, keep scoring, keep scoring, dont stop, choke the Bitches man please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im ok, just kidding. But we need to win dammit!!!!

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yall saints fan enjoy…..we’ll be at home waiting 4 yall in the playoff if yall make it…

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saints did’nt win the game …the falcons lost it…clearly

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good points M…. i agree. we had this game but gave it away. let’s face it, the saints did not blow us out of the dome…hard fought, good game.

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if yall watched the same game i watch, then ya know we gave the game away…saints did’nt look all that good…..brees 2 td, one in the 1st off a turnover and one in the 4th…high power, yell rite..

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Oh you poor Fal-cants!!! All that talk and then u lose on your home turf (AGAIN). Got to beat da man to be da man!!! Saints fans love reading these blogs, they are so delicious!!! We took all you had, and you just weren’t man enough. Suck it Roddy!! I see it now, Falcants lose first playoff game. It is so nice to read these pathetic Falcon Blogs, I just laugh and laugh and laugh. We have the better team, better QB, better coaches, and BEST CITY!! I sometime get sad for Atlanta, I really do. I pity Atlanta. All of New Orleans does. They try so hard, and yet……. If not for fluke wins, well, you know….. hahahahahahahahaha.

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Without a couple of fluke wins….. Atlanta would be barely breathing. Where is the pride? Gut check time, and the falcons showed their true colors. I would hate to be a Falcons fan (yeck).

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Why we were just there. Crushed you in your own house AGAIN.

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We needed this loss badly.

It wasn’t a complete wake-up call like the Bears losing to New England a couple weeks ago but just a gentle reminder that “you ain’t all that”.

While I love my Dirty Birds, I told more than a couple people that I hope we lose tonight to get some perspective back.

This week will be a great practice and that Carolina team might even perform better than our 3rd string so we’ll get a good workout while humiliating them further at the Georgia Dome.

Fact remains this is the finest 3 years of Falcons performance in all the years I’ve been watching them. We are now a force in the NFC and everyone around the league is taking notice – all eyes are now turning towards Atlanta.

I’m proud of that.

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better team, better city….i can’t tell, yall a storm away from being destoyed…thats y all these no people moving to the A, so don’t go there…..4ever i love atlanta and from the looks yall do to

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Hey “T” at 1:32am, now I have been waiting for a Saint Fan to get on here and say something stupid. Did u just say u pity Atlanta????????????? Wow. UH, did u guys have a water problem?? The game was given to u as a Christmas gift our coaches ok.

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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Bradley. Mark Bradley said: On a night with everything to gain, the #Falcons contrive to lose. http://bit.ly/gTJba0 [...]

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Sorry Falcons fans, but your team had this coming thanks to Roddy White and his arrogant, look-at-me tweeting. Call the reigning Super Bowl champs Aints and you’ll get a fight, not that the Black and Gold needed any extra motivation.
Last night the Saints drew the blue print for beating the birds in the Georgia Dome: stop the run and play-action, and watch Matty Ice melt.

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COACHING FAILURE!
Earth to Falcons coaching staff: Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Michael Jenkins, and Tony Gonzalez are the offensive engines of this team. Micheal Turner is only one man.

OUR DEFENSE PLAYED AT A LEVEL THAT WOULD LET ATLANTA BEAT ANY TEAM IN THE NFL. OUR OFFENSE PLAYED WITH ONE ARM TIED BEHIND ITS BACK BECAUSE OF THE PLAY CALLING!! TWO catches for Gonzalez and THREE CATCHES for Roddy White SAYS IT ALL

WE HAVE A CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER TEAM WITH A COACH CALLING HIGH SCHOOL TYPE PLAY SEQUENCES!

DO YOU READERS THINK WE CAN WIN A SINGLE PLAYOFF GAME IF WE OPERATE OUR OUR OFFENSE THIS WAY?

WE WILL BE PLAYING GOOD TEAMS PROBABLY NEW ORLEANS AND PHILADELPHIA. ONE LOSS AND WE ARE OUT! BOTH OF THESE TEAMS ALREADY HAVE OUR NUMBER (OFFENSIVE PLAY CALLING SEQUENCE)!!!

I have said this MANY times in posts during the year. Our play calling is too predictable!!! It is obvious that NEW ORLEANS knew our usual sequence of how Mike Malarkey calls the plays. We were beaten before the initial kick-off.

There are too many Turner runs on first and second down when he has 0, -1, -2, -3, ,,,, -5 yards to put the team in a no-win situation. Then Matt Ryan is under pressure to make a first on third down.

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU READERS SEEN THIS HAPPEN THIS YEAR? And last year?

I am not a football coach but if I see the tendency, the NEW Orleans coaches certainly see the tendency. After the Jenkins interference in the end zone, our objective should have been to score points NOT to prove that Turner can run the ball into the end zone. A play action pass would have been a great first down play call. We didn’t learn on the first attempt, so let’s run Turner again. COME ON MAN (Malarkey), points win a game not your stubbornness to continue to run Turner in this way.

After the Abraham interception, there are no excuses for not scoring points. This low level scoring urgency has been the norm all year. We are playing the big boys now, not the losers of the NFL.

Running Turner this way has happened so many times this year and mostly at a first down situation. I said it before, if Mike Smith continues to let Malarkey call plays like he does, then Mike Smith is part of the problem too.

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OK… the Falcons got beat. They lost 1 game. Everybody learned on this experience. We are still the likely Home field advantage which is huge for us. Smitty is good enough to adjust and give the Falcons every chance to win big in the weeks ahead.
When the season started… who thought we’d be this far along?
C’mon guys, let’s face it we’re still in the thick of thngs..BIG TIME……

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Y’all had poor Mark Bradley so wore out from reading foolishness that he couldn’t open the comments back up till almost Noon time!!! Ice pack, Execidrin Migraine Plus, and some Wayne Dwyer tapes, sorry I can’t offer more help!!!

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I think we all need to pump the brakes here a little bit. This wasn’t the crushing defeat that some would lead you to believe. Would it have been great to beat our rivals on Monday Night Football? Absolutely. But on a night when Atlanta’s offense was uncharacteristically poor, the team still managed to hang in the game and only lost by three to a high-powered offense.

Consider:
- The fumble by McClure, a rare mistake by a team that makes very few. Brees is one of maybe two QBs that will capitalize on a bad turnover like that, and he did.
- Turner’s fumble at the Saints’ two yard line, another rare mistake by a guy who had yet to turn the ball over this year. If the Falcons come away with even only a FG there (which is very likely), it’s a completely different game.
- The lack of production from three of the team’s four MVPs (Ryan, Turner, Gonzalez). The play calling was certainly suspect, but rare is the game when a defense shuts down all three of those guys. I think the announcers said it best by pointing out that the familiarity the Falcons and Saints have with one another probably contributed to the shutdown defense the Saints played.

Call me biased, but I’m still positive the Falcons are the better team. With any kind of offense the Falcons win that game hands down.

This was a humbling loss for Atlanta. They’re not unbeatable at home, nobody is, but there’s still a considerable advantage for them playing at the Dome, without question. They should be able to work on a few things this week and go out and take care of business Sunday. If they win, they’re number one. And they should.

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Perhaps a shot of whiskey…JSS

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lol @ Saints fans.

It took the only botched snap of McClure’s career and the first and only fumble for Turner this season to beat the Falcons by 3.

Falcons are still sitting higher. Division will be clinched next week. 1st seed will be clinched next week. And the Falcons had plenty of real game time for blitz schemes.

Ya’ll go enjoy that wild card spot okay

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we’ll see the Aint’s in 3 weeks in the dome, and stop with the Who Dat stuff it just gives us another reason to laugh at you.

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@Ivan

and it took a Hartley missed FG in overtime for the Falcons to finally beat the Saints in week 3….

so what’s your point? The point being made by Saints fans is that you guys are not as good as you think. The Falcan’ts had a chance to wrap up everything last night and show the nation how good they are…boy did they ever choke. In the biggest game of the season, your workhorse RB fumbles in the redzone, your (louisiana bred) Center fumbles, and your “elite” QB can’t make a comeback. Let that sit in a minute…. Now, what are they going to do when the game is not just a regular season game but the NFC championship? My guess is probably $h!t their pants….

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hey Falcan’ts fans what happens when this is the NFC Championship game?????

In the biggest game of the season your workhorse RB fumbles in the redzone, your solid (louisiana bred) Center fumbles a snap, and your “elite” QB can’t make a comeback… that’s called CHOKING!!!! on and you allowed a 13 play 90 yard drive in the 4th Quarter. OUCH!!! hahahahaha

You guys are in for a rough ride in the Playoffs.

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Just Curious. Anyone thought about this. We KNEW we were in the playoffs. We also KNEW NO would be there too. They pulled out a lot of stuff we hadn’t seen. They beat us, fair and square, or we beat ourselves. Do you think Coach is holding some things back? Do you think Roddy’s knee is healed, really? Defense played great against a top tier offense. We actally gave them the lead, twice, adn came back. Can’t discount Brees. He’s an MVP, and played like Matt Ryan on that last drive. I say Kudos. We learned something, or we had better learn something. One of the Better Monday Night Games ever. I won’t dog the Saints fans. They can’t help it. They deserve to boast. You have to beat the best to be the best.

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Personally speaking, this game didn’t concern me, too much. I’m hoping they “lay low” last evening against the Saints, not wanted to give away too much, in the event they play them again, or to have anyone injured prior to the playoffs. The winning streak and home “aura” of invincibility is all well-and-good, but getting through the game healthy was more important, and winning Sunday against Carolina will serve the same purpose as beating the Saints – all roads STILL come through Atlanta.

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Glenn dude are you high, who the hell in any pro sport would ” lay low” when they have chance to clinch?????? YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME & THE BIRDS LOST LOL. Thats why Peyton outcoaches Smith every time its called “making adjustments” ——not wanting to give away too much WTF!

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Yes the Saints won that battle, but the war will be decided in the Ga-Dome. In the long run, we will be ok. Not even the Saints referees and Voodoo curses will stop us now.

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It sucks, and I’ll give the defending champs their due, but I still like the Falcons chances to go far in the playoffs. Win our next three at home and we’re in the Super Bowl…not all gloom and doom in Loganville. Oh yeah…tee time at 10:45am on Weds; life is still good!

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The Falcons had last night coming courtesy of Roddy White and his arrogant, look-at-me tweets. Call the defending Super Bowl champs the Aints and expect a fight, not that the Black and Gold needed any extra motivation.
Blue print for beating the Falcons (at home or anywhere): stop the run and play action, and let Matty Ice melt.

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@deeznutz

Saints refs? really? Saints were getting screwed by the refs last night. whatever, make excuses. keep em coming!!

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The Falcons O put up only a TD – and people think they are going deep in the playoffs? Yeah, its only one game….it just so happened to be the one game on the national stage that could have clinched the division title. 148 yards passing? really?

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The Falcons will be lucky to make it out of the first round of the playoffs. The defense is playing over their heads (that is good) and our offense is just plain average. You shut down the run, you shut down Atlanta. We need another top tier receiver to replace Douglas, who I don’t know why they even throw the ball to. We played a gritty game, but when it came down to it, we showed we still are not an Elite team, just good.

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Well this “just good” team is pretty much guaranteed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs in total comfort considering will be on a bye that week.

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Falcons D played lights out. They showed some nice blitz packages we haven’t seen all year. I would have gone for it on fourth down, but understand CMS’s thinking. Ryan is much better out of the gun or no huddle and we desperately need a back to go along with Turner that has some speed and can get to the corner. With those changes this team is real tough to beat.

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Put down the crack pipe people! I learned this a long time ago, I use to worry about games my teams played and whether they would win or lose, then it dawned on me, win, lose or draw these players are still going to the bank in the morning. I then said to myself, self why sit hear and worry about these teams winning and losing while these guys are making millions and you are paying hundreds? What am I getting out of them winning and losing? So I decided to become a professional scalper and that has changed my life, now I get paid whether Atlanta win, lose or draw. Atlanta win I win, Atlanta lose, I win!!! Now that’s something worth talking about

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Dear ATL
a special thanks to Roddy White for really getting us going and really giving the CHAMPS (aka SAINTS) a real reason to come up there and whip some bird butt!!!
We loved every minute of it……now go run tell DAT!!!
WHODAT!!!!!!!!

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All of you clowns saying the Falcons won’t make it out of the first round need to read Alyosha’s comment. They are so d#$# good they do not have to even play in the first round. That’s why yu should think before you open your mouth, remain silent and leave doubt, open your mouth and remove all doubt.

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@Glenn who wrote: Personally speaking, this game didn’t concern me, too much. I’m hoping they “lay low” last evening against the Saints, not wanted to give away too much, in the event they play them again, or to have anyone injured prior to the playoffs. The winning streak and home “aura” of invincibility is all well-and-good, but getting through the game healthy was more important, and winning Sunday against Carolina will serve the same purpose as beating the Saints – all roads STILL come through Atlanta.

And I have read a variation of similar comments by other bloggers on Bradley’s or Schultz’s blog. And all I can ask is are you people serious? With the mentaility of some fans that is why championships are hard to come by in Atlanta. The Pats also did not “need” to win their game against the Bills on Sunday because they had already secured a playoff berth and were in total command of their division. However, because they think, act, and play like “Champions” they went out there and established their supremacy in the AFC and the league; forecasting to everyone that we will not take any prisoners and will win anywhere and everywhere. It’s rather disgusting to read some fans write that “oh this loss was no big deal” or “we needed this loss” or “this game meant nothing”. BULL!!!

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i would like to see the falcons win without having a running game. i don’t honestly believe they can, and a lot of that is the malarkey/smith not play to lose philosophy. without a running game they don’t seem to handle QB pressure well, as ryan really needs to have the run fake to set up his passing. the falcons have had a great season and are a good team. they are not a great team. maybe that doesn’t exist in the NFL anymore. they are all compromised in some way, shape of form. the falcons are compromised with a fomulaic offense that can’t adjust very well to the running game being taken away. i thought the falcons defense was highly compromised, but it has come around nicely, and played quite well last night.

it bothers me that it is a 0-1 decision for a defensive coordinator playing the falcons. stuff the box/ stop the run, take away the run fake to set up the pass, and put pressure on ryan. they have got to let ryan sink or swim with a balls to the wall passing game. he has to show he can pick apart a blitzing, stacked defense, or the season will end quickly.

the saints had to win last night and the falcons didn’t. that does matter in the NFL. at least no one got injured. but the heat is on now for carolina. they blow that game and anybody who’s been around this town for a long time will see the ghosts of atlanta chokers rising from the field turf.

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For all of you who are praising the felon Mike Vick, you hasve some serious character issues. You might even be a felon yourself, thinking it’s cool to murder dogs and go to prison. Mike Vick is a failure to society, and he was a failure to this team. He stayed in trouble, he didnt finish college, and he wound up in prison. I’m glad you admire someone you want to be. Are you serious? You must be a dog fighter yourself, that thinks the NFL is racist for treating him like he is. A FEDERAL FELON!

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Man MB:

Crazy how after one loss all the Falcons haters have something to say.

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OK Falcons, the sun came up this morning and you are still in first place in the NFC South. Take care of business Sunday… If the football gods are kind to us we will see Seattle, Chicago, and the NYG win on Sunday, sending the Saints a long way to Seattle and eliminating the Packers, who are starting to play like most predicted in the preseason. Hopefully the Saints will be forced to play in freezing rain for 3 plus hours. Bears have a good defense that could punish the Eagles and pull the upset or at the very least exhaust Philly in freezing temps. It would be nice to host Seattle or a road weary Saints in round 2 and then a road weary Bears or a beat up Eagles team in the NFCCG. Its about time the dice starting rolling our way after 40 plus years…

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The Falcons are the only team that can have a Pro Bowl RB, Pro Bowl TE and Pro Bowl WR on the field and still only get 7 points of offense for a whole game.

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playmeortrademe….the Giants are done – stick a fork in’em. They are still too demoralized from the Eagles.

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To Falcon’s fans from a Saints fan. You have a good team. Your defense played well but unfortunately ran into a highly motivate Saints defense and offense. This is what I wanted to talk to you Falcon fans about. Next time you get into a fight, don’t tell your opponent that after you kick his As you are going to have his wife then eat his children because that will motivate him in a big way, if he’s a man that is. That’s what you all did, talking like the Saints weren’t the SB Champs, like you had the game won. Saints fans love the Saints 20 INTs and all and Saints love their fans. One more thing, never underestimate the Champ, its folly to do so.

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@playmeortrademe – Agreed. Good post.

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The Falcons have to look at the Saints and want to be like them. The Falcons have the QB that will hopefully be a Hall of Famer like Brees in the future. What the Falcons don’t have is a bunch of no names that Brees has to throw to every weekend. The Falcons have three….White, Jenkins and Gonzales. The Saints have Piere Thomas, Chris Ivory, Lance Moore, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson, Marcus Colston, Reggie Bush, Jimmy Graham, Dave Thomas, Jeremy Shockey, etc….. the Saints sound like another SuperBowl Championship team….New England!! The Saints have the Coach like New England, the QB like New England and the weapons like New England1! The Falcons are not close!

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Falcon fans ought to cheer up. In fact, they need to realize they are lucky to be living in a golden age of Falcon football. Fact 1: Falcons just played the Champs to a draw. Fact 2. Falcons are among the top 2 teams in the NFC. Eagles have a mediocre defense. Bears have a mediocre offense. The Giants are inconsistant. The NFC West is an abomination. Fact 3. The Falcons have a true rival in the Saints. A rivalry that now matches the Eagles-Giants, Steelers-Falcons, Green Bay-Bears. Falcons fan can look forward to circling twice a season the Saints game knowing those games will make or break a season. These will be national games. These will be games to gather in bars and host viewing parties.

I envy what the Falcons and Saints now have. Pity me. I’m an old L.A. Rams fan. I have nothing. Nothing.

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I meant Steelers-Ravens. Got my birds mixed up. Messed up a good post.

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THE BIG HURT….. Couldn’t have said it any better!!

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Thanks….just trying to call it as i see it.

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Roddy, Next time just shut up and play the damn game. They punked you and our offense last night. I was there and saw it first hand. Pathetic game plan with no adjustments from Mularkey. Have to give the Saints credit they came into our house and did what they had to do.

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Roddy next time please just keep your mouth shut and play the game. You and our offense got punked last night. Mularkey’s game plan and in game adjustments were awful. Good job Saints.

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I knew we never should have dryed out that SH**THOLE of a city/slum. Too bad Katrina didn’t run up the score a few years back. What a cesspool filled wiht human waste.

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Hey NOLA rots, how about a name and address so I can pay you a visit? P**ssy!

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Roddy…hahahaha…how does it feel to be the biggest moron in the world. Win something first before you start to display your UAB education…. BTW, shut up, that will do more for you.
You talk and your check bounced big time….. SHUT UP dude!
this was a big game for falcons…. and they blew it when they could’ve made a statement. way to go.
and by the way, roddy shuutttttt uuuuuupppppppppppp!!!

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All Falcon Fans need to read….The Big Hurt’s first post….it is right and untill we do something we will continue to be in the Saints rear view mirror!!!

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`
Who dat wildcard road team
going to the windy city to play da Bears at frozen Soldier Field

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Considering we’re one 29 yard field goal from sweeping the dirty birds again, I hope we have to come back to the wanna-be dome in the playoffs. I’m alot more worried about Vick and snow than ATL.

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The 12-3 Falcons will be just fine.

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Boomer,
it looks like the Falcons will go 13-3 and wrap up the division.

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Not Impressed with Drew Brees,,,,He made some really bone headed plays,,,

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No big deal as we are 1 and 1 against the Aint’s. We will be the #1 team in the NFC and if we open up the offense we will be fine.

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We need to stop blaming Mularkey and start blaming Turner when we lose (which isn’t often).

Mularkey has built a very good strong running game/play action offense – and he’s getting the absolute max out of every player but one.

When the other team puts 8 in the box to stop the run, Mularkey is simply asking Turner to grind out 2 or 3 tough yards, regardless of whether or not the hole is there. Get us to a manageable 3rd and 4 Michael, that’s all you have to do.

But Turner only runs hard when there’s a hole. Then he gets a head of steam going and good things happen. But far too often, when there’s no hole, Turner folds up like a cheap card table – he refuses to fight for tough yards. He leads the league in carries of 2 yards or less.

Mularkey has got to be pulling his hair out over Turner. “You’re built like a dang tank, just run someone over!”……..

Turner looks way to concerned about wear and tear on his body.

If he doesn’t “get the memo” next week, the Falcons need to take the offensive game plan they had for the Ravens (which did not include much of Turner) throughout the playoffs.

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nhe….let me know what you think of The Big Hurt’s comment.

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Then Bobby you must not think much of Matt Ryan at all.

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all that depth? shut down turner and white and you shut down the falcons. even the refs gave you your only off. t.d. and stole 1 from us and it still wasn’t enuf. hope y’all enjoy watching us in the s.b. again as matty slushy will surely choke AGAIN in your first playoff game

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agree with nhe re: Turner. he doesn’t look very explosive when there is traffic in front of him. he’s hell on wheels when there is a seam and he can get through the line of scrimmage, but he does not run over people- ever- at the point of attack. seems to be more concerned as to how he protects himself vs. breaking free. i don’t understand why the don’t use snelling more as a banger. he seems to be much more willing to run into the wall then turner.

lets face it. any defensive coordinator in this unimaginative league of me-too offensive schemes (save for bellichik and andy reid) has a simple game plan he basically hast to follow when playing the falcons. stack the box, stop the run and therefore eliminate the play action passing game, and force ryan to evade the primary rush and get the ball out quickly. ryan is improving on that note, but its still the way to beat the birds. the falcons success in the postseason really rests with their defense, because their offense is not going to score a lot of points.

PS: the best thing that could happen to the falcons is for mike malarkey to get one of the head coaching jobs available. he has maxed out as offensive coordinator. can’t take them to a level of innovation that you need to have to win the whole thing.

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Here Saints fans give you cogent feedback, arguable indeed, but constructive. You, hate on the SB Champs, dogged the city, have you no honor? I know Atlanta is a great place, I’ve made good money there and someday, with hard work and a bit of luck, you’ll get one. But right now you sound like sore stinking losers. Here you are on a roll, get tripped up and you respond by insulting your wakeup call. kudos to Saints fans for staying on the morale high ground.

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Falcons lead the League with 7 ProBowl selections ! Who knew !!!

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You are correct, was not impressed with Ryan either,,, but I havent seen Ryan just flip the ball up in the air with no idea where its going

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How can you people be so bad at spelling

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MV7 is the JOKE wE ALL KNOW HE IS.

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Not Defending the Falcons because there is no excuse for losing but I love seeing this so called MV7 looking like the old man he is limping around and getting beaten like he was at 10050 Cielo Drive on August 9, ‘69.

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Mike Vick got noodle arms and legs,maybe he smoked too big a blount before the game tonite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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@Mike “Choke” Vick, He can’t come on here remember ?, He’s banned on Bradley’s Blogs !

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It seems awful funny to me, that when the Falcons get beat by the 10 win defending Super Bowl Champs, in a game they could have easily one but for a couple mistakes; in a game that ultimately meant nothing, every fair weather fan/ commentator/ analyst says the Falcons are finished,washed up and pretenders, but the Eagles get beat by a 5 win team with a 3rd string QB on two extra days rest, with home field advantage on the line and everything to win for and they say “They just had a bad night”. Whatever!! At least one good thing came out of this Falcons loss, we got rid of a lot of fair weather bandwagon fans! Win or loose I’m a Falcons fan for Life Baby!!!!!!!!!

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To all Saints fans, your team won by 3 points. Not exactly a beat down as you claim. To all bloggers on here saying crap about the Falcons and how badly they treated a scumbag like Mike Vick, GROW UP. To all Matt Ryan haters and all the talk about his “noodle arm”, please just GO AWAY and STFU. And finally to my fellow Falcon fans, either you are with the team or you are not. Stick with them thru the bad and celebrate thru the good. If you can not do that then maybe you need to hop off the bandwagon and get out of the way before your @ss gets run over.

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[...] On a night with everything to gain, the Falcons somehow lose – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)(Almost half a century!) And even if the Falcons entered Monday night’s game against New Orleans with a comfy Plan B — they could lose to the Saints and still win the NFC South and clinch a No. 1 seed by beating Carolina on Sunday — nobody wanted to [...]

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Where is Falcon sorry? Your boy Mike Vick laid an egg Tuesday night. He was what we thought he was. For the record, there was nothing wrong with his leg when he ran the ball, Now he couldn’t walk after the game. Give me a break. He was out played by an back up receiver.

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No worries folks. You will forget this game after this Sunday. Falcons didn’t need this game like the Saints did. The Saints played for their playoff lives and yet we STILL almost won! If the Saints come back in a couple weeks or so…they’ll have wished they hadn’t! There time is over!

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Dr. Z: Rationalize it any way you want, your team got taken the wood shed and given a good ole whipping. Your offense was manhandled by the Saints Defense, HANDLED! The Saints dominated every statistical category in the box score IN YOUR HOUSE! The Saints proved that the falcan’ts can be beaten at home, that the falcan’t offense is soft and fragile. The Saints GAVE your team 7 points and allowed your anemic offensive 7 points the entire night.

No, it was a meaningful game last night. The falcan’ts were flying high and whopping it up so much that even Roddy White thought it appropriate to trash talk on twitter. Should the Saints be traveling back to ATL (and that’s a big assumption since I doubt that the falcan’ts can elude the Packers again) it will be the Saints who will have the psychological advantage, not your team.

GEAUX SAINTS! IT IS, OUR TIME!!

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I said it before the game on one of these articles. The Falcons did the right thing in not showing the Saints anything on offense. They had nothing to gain by doing so. The high, high probability was that these two teams meet again in the playoffs in Atlanta and that is the game that matters. Better to have lost this game with a vanilla offensive than to lose in the playoffs. That being said, we better hope that is what the Falcons were actually doing. Otherwise, its 1980 all over again. I am scarred for life from that game.

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One more thing…Bradly..you are the lead stupid.

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Crickets Chirping,,,,,,,

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We win in Carolina, and home field advantage. I will take that.

However, this is the first time all year I will criticize this team.

Eric Weems ran away from the ball all night long. The offense seemed unable or unwilling to adjust when the run game was taken away.

Matt Ryan was indecisive on a couple of plays, including one where he should have run the ball, but flinged it towards Snelling at the last second.

The punt return game was embarrassing and it gave me the impression we went into the game planning on being conservative, except on defense which was a brilliant scheme, until the last drive.

That is not the Falcons of this year.

You want to be champions, you have to take risks.

Come on guys, what the hell was Weems doing out there?

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@ Jo/@ The Big Hurt…………(are you the same person?)…………..I agree with The Big Hurt to a point, but I think you’re being a little unfair. Saying the Falcons are “far away” from the coach/QB/scheme of NE and NO isn’t necessarily true.

You have to remember that the Falcons are 2 torn ACLs (Douglas and Norwood) away from looking very different in their ability to stretch the field and get playmakers into space.

I think Dimitroff is committed to the NE model – fast defense with a 9 man DL rotation, and a QB oriented, multi-faceted offense. We are forced unfortunately to have had to rely on Turner FAR MORE than we want to. Douglas doesn’t have the burst he had his rookie year, and not having Norwood on the field hurts far more than we even know. You put those 2 guys (fully healthy) in the mix, and you have a lot more plays made in space and a lot more 20+ yard plays.

What we have now is probably the slowest offense (at the skill positions) in the NFC. To be 12-3 without the ability to stretch the field and with a still young/still evolving defense is a huge credit to Dimitroff and the coaching staff.

I fully expect next year that we will have 2 new playmakers on our offense, and that we will look much more like what you’re referring to.

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The things said by Bradley and the reactions of fans and sports talk people are everything that is wrong with sports. While it is valid to pick apart plays and decsions made when evaluating a game the bottom line is that that two teams played a close game and as the case usually is, only one team can win. To act like the previous 15 weeks meant nothing for either team is a joke. New Orleans has lost to two horrible teams in Cleveland and Arizona but because they were able to win this game all memory is erased because people just want to talke about “now”. The same goes for the Falcons winning 8 straight games as demonstrated by Bradley acting as if they had just been eliminated from the playoffs. The Falcons won eight straight games to put them in a position not to have to win the Saints game in order to win the division and be the number one seed. That should be taken into account when evaluating a team just like the two bad losses by New Orleans that has put them in a position to still be a Wild Card. Had the situation been reversed and the Falcons had won this game, but because of losses to Cleveland and New Orleans, Mark Bradley would have indicated that while it was a win the Falcons missed there chance with the previous losses. He wrote this garbage to get a responses because the AJC sports department is pretty much a ghost these days. Bradley once wrote an article about how great the acquisition of Reggie Sanders was for the Braves. Just one of the many “whiffs” is his un-destinguised career.

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Mularky’s predictable play calling lost that game.. M Turner right. M Turner left. Pass to the flat. If we could play action somebody and go deep we might at least keep people honest.

I can take a loss from the Falcons.. Heck Im used to it but it was the way they lost on Monday that reminded me of the Falcons of old.

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Who/where/is/was Peoria(doughboy) Jerri ? May have misspelled his name because he has been AWOL all season..That muffed draft pic (Franchise player..ha ha..) has become the reason our team is still predictable on offense and why we focused so much on shoring up our defense.. Most any First, second, third, etc..pick would have made a greater contribution (on either side of the ball) than he has..We crapped out on him and we have paid the price..(One potentially major piece of the team puzzle not on board..)

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Why would anyone be lamenting the absence of Norwood? He hasn’t been relevant in the last 2-3 years, if ever in his career. That was a wasted draft pick, and i fault the Falcons for taking so long to realize they couldn’t depend on him to stay healthy. It’s also their fault they wouldn’t sign a big play off. threat, when they’ve been available. I don’t think any team will ever win if they depend on only “PG” rated players, and not be willing to take a risks on players who may be a “R” rating. Using vanilla players only, gets you a vanilla record only!!

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[...] On a night with everything to gain, the Falcons somehow lose – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)And even if the Falcons entered Monday night’s game against New Orleans with a comfy Plan B — they could lose to the Saints and still win the NFC South and clinch a No. 1 seed by beating Carolina on Sunday — nobody wanted to do it the easy way. [...]

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2 days later and I’m still ticked off we lost. This was a totally winnable game! Someone on the radio said maybe Mularkey held back because we might see the Saints again in the postseason. That is ridiculous! Nope, Mularkey is just that bad that he couldn’t make any offensive adjustments to them stuffing our run game. And Mike Smith lost his nerve big time. He may say he doesn’t regret not going for it but he’s lying. And the aftermath with them posing on our logo and supposed urination taking place is just vile. I hope we do end up playing them again: we won’t forget their disgusting disrespectful behavior and we will take our revenge accordingly. Also, Matt Ryan: ignore every play Mularkey calls and said your headset wasn’t working. Throw it to Finn!!!

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Predictable play calling is the first complaint fans have about their teams offense. You are only going to do 2 things on offense, either run or pass. That is a 50-50 proposition unless it is 3rd and long, then you need to pass. When the defense imposes its will on your offense you do look predictable.Coaches spend 80 hours a week looking at game film. Arm chair QB’s swig beer and complain.

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Nothing wrong with Mularkey,,, you have to execute….

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Matt Ryan will be fine. He seems like such a nice young man.

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If you read ajc.com blogs everyone on these blogs even the blog host keep saying that Atlanta is going to have the home field advantage like there is not another meaningful game to play.

I heard one commentator say last night that Philly was going into the game last night getting ready for playoff time and the Vikings were going in the game getting ready for a tee time. We all know how that turn out. All Atlanta was so cocky saying the Saints couldn’t come in and beat the Falcons in their house and that didn’t workout.

Atlanta Falcons Beware!!!!!

Do really think that the Panthers are just going to lie down?

5 Reason the Panthers could come in and beat the Falcons

1) Its going to be John Fox’s last game. Teams either play their hearts out for their coach or the give up on him. I don’t think many of the players for the Panthers would want to give up on Fox. They would want to their best to send him off with a win.

2) They have nothing to play for so this will be their playoffs or Super Bowl if you will. Everything goes trick plays, fake punts & field goals going for it on forth down etc.

3) John Fox and Sean Payton are good friends. Don’t think there is not a phone call that’s going to take place sometime this week between the two. Believe me Fox is going to do whatever he can to help Payton secure home field. Think about this If the Saints D/C Greg Williams gets another chance at being a head coach this year don’t be surprise to see Fox as the Saints D/C next year if Williams is gone and Fox does not get a head coach offer.

4) The Panthers ran for 212 yards last time and kept the close in the first half. Also the Falcons didn’t look like world beaters.but they pulled away at the end. This time if the Panther give them a game the Falcons nerves will start to come into play because they have something to play for and the Panther will be loose because everyone expected them to lose in the first place.

5) Most of all the Falcons are coming off a very emotional loss and a short week (6 days) Even if the Falcons had won I believe this was going to be a lot tougher than everyone thinks because of the emotions of the Saints game. Than look at the Panthers they played the Thursday night game (10 days of rest) Everyone was complaining because the schedule had the Falcons playing the Panthers twice in four games. But when you take in consideration how they have to play the Panthers the league did the Falcons no favors. Falcon play Saints emotoinal game than short ( lose on day of rest and prep) The Panther extra days to prep to go balls to the walls for Fox’s last hoorah.

I am not saying its going to happen but if it does remember what I am saying and why the Panther won.

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I hope these guys can make it I had season tickets from 98-2003 and I finally gave up. I loved MV and the 98 team but I am tired of being let down. I hope this year is different.

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Perhaps the Falcons took the Saints as lightly as Mark Bradley did. Maybe they read your article saying Philly and Michael Vick were the only team they had to worry about. Maybe they chose to disregard the defending Super Bowl champs, who are now healthy again essentially for the first time all season. Maybe they thought the Saints would miss a 29 yard field goal to win the game again. Somehow I think the Falcons are too smart for that, they were just outplayed in an extremely hard-fought, physical football game. Sadly, I think only Mark Bardley is stupid enough to disregard the defensing Super Bowl champs who are now playing their best football of the year.

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acorn3332, NO it does not count as a great win. BUT it was a win and I will take it. However, I have never said that we kicked the Saints @ss. But many Saints fans on here seem to think their team blew the Falcons out of the building with their high scoring offense. THEY DIDN’T. Every game between the Falcons and Saints over the last few years have been very close. Yes I know, the Saints have beaten Falcons more here lately, but none have been a beat down as Saints fan claim. That was my point.

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I wonder if the Falcons have a chance to get Cam Newton? Don’t think Ryan has what it takes in this league..Yeah he has played his ass off and therein lies the problem..He has NONE left!

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Mark Bradley should help Jeff Schultz with his jounalism….Jeff is nothing more than an Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader.

Great article Mark.

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If they continue to run Turner up the middle on first and second down when they are obviously keying on him, it will ONE AND DONE for the Falcons. The offensive coordinator does not ADAPT to the situation. He plods along with total disregard for what the defense is doing. This strategy will NOT work in the playoffs.

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