Live from Tampa: Former punter says Falcons weren’t fun
Michael Koenen as a Falcon, here kicking a Georgia peach. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Tampa — Michael Koenen used to punt for the Falcons. Now he works for Tampa Bay. Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune asked Koenen to compare and contrast cities. In shocking revelations, Koenen declared that he prefers Florida oranges to Georgia peaches and that Atlanta has worse traffic.
Asked about Mike Smith, who coaches the Falcons, and Raheem Morris, who coaches the Buccaneers, Koenen said: “The atmosphere is way different … Up there, it’s a lot tighter. There is a little more nervous energy, but here it’s light-hearted and just fun energy.”
Wow. Who knew the coach who bears a passing resemblance to the comic/actor/author/musician Steve Martin wouldn’t be a wild and crazy guy?
Then again, Koenen can afford to crow — a bit. By way of a different comparison, he seems the greatest punter in 21st Century Falcons annals. Koenen left as a free agent and was lavished with a $19.5 million contract by the Bucs. Through two games, Koenen is seventh among NFL booters in yards per punt and third in net punting.
The Falcons, meanwhile, have deployed Matt Bosher, who enlivened last week’s festivities by punting out of bounds on his own 20.20-yard-line. (The Eagles would score to take a 10-point lead.) Bosher’s numbers: Next-to-last in yards per punt, 26th in net punting.
And now you’re asking: Do I, keen analyst, believe this game will be decided by punting, net or otherwise? No. I like the Falcons to win for a rather basic reason: They’re the better team. That said …
It has been raining for the past hour and the field is so wet nobody has ventured out to warm up. (Not even the punters.) This could be one of those slick-ball turnover-rich extravaganzas, which means: Don’t even bother trying to handicap it.
So I won’t. I’ll turn it over to you instead. I’ll be here all game, and I welcome your input. (Oh, and here’s an actual bit of pregame news: Falcons linebacker Stephen Nicholas is inactive; Mike Peterson starts in his place.) Join me, won’t you? See which punter walks off with bragging rights!
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,825 comments Add your comment
EuroFalcon
September 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
Wow, we killed ourselves. And why exactly are some Falcons players laughing out there on the field after the loss??
dean
September 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
Can’t wait to kill the aints
Arthur
September 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
I love seeing them hung and kiss
Cybo
September 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
Roddy White lost this game. And I actually wanted to blame Matt Ryan
k-baby
September 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
Mularky must stop calling plays. Ryan need to call plays from no huddle the entire game.
Explosive!
September 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
“We left way too many points out there and lost to an inferior team”
Dear Tamp fan,
you won! you didn’t lose to an inferior team, you beat one
lowdownjj
September 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
They still MY team. Bandwagon fans exit stage right
LOB Braves
September 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
Falcons are as big a bunch of losers as the GD Braves.
Loserville USA
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
You can blame one play but in reality the O-LINE is the whole reason this team can’t get any steam going.
They in a nutshell are AWFUL.
Wolverinemark
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
This is an 8-8 team at best. We still have 2 vs. NO, 1 vs. TB, Detroit, GB, et.al. Lots of losses to better teams in there.
Jcard120
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
awesome..offense is asleep for 3 quarters. cant win like that
J.J.M.
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
Blame this on roddy for dropping that pass
BoBo The Football Guru
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
fIRE VANGORDER….FIRE VANGORDER….
stendek
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
Coaches said do not jump offside. Some stupid moron did anyway! Trade the ignorant SOB. Anywhere!
What the..
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
I’m a Dirty Bird til death do us part, but what we witnessed today was shameful. It was like “Space Jam” all over again, and our squad was playin’ like a bunch of pee-wee football toddlers. The penalties were excessive and down right ridiculous. Coach Smith and Co. should be ashamed of themselves for the performance today.
Smh…
hiramsaint
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
wow- the failcans have a really explosive O!!!!!!!!!!!! what a joke
Savannah Fan
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
Hey Bradley-the best team on the field just lost-let’s hang it on White-no wait he was just the best player on the field
D Falcons
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
You can’t get behind 2 TDs every week and expect to win. 3rd straight week that’s happened.
EuroFalcon
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
We are in for a long and difficult season…
Bradley Blows
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
Thanks Mark Bradley… Please move out of Atlanta. You suck. You are a jinx to everything that is righteous!
Give us another Braves post season prediction just to add insult to injury.
I will pay your moving costs to Oklahoma City. Please leave town.
PMC
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
Well, congrats to Tampa. Great game for them.
Atlanta is not a well coached football team, evident by Corey Peters falling for the oldest trick in the book.
BVG should be fired. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WATCH THE GD FOOTBALL. THAT”S IT
POORLY COACHED ATLANTA FALCONS
PERIOD. Took them 3.2 Quarters to even get started.
1-2 poor coaching, poor talent period. I want to hear them explain this horrible performance away in anything other than… well it’s just a tough NFC South game.
This one is on coaching mostly and on talent second.
dawgs01
September 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
roddy white should have caught that ball
Loserville USA
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Now Smitty go back and make your corrections. And plan on January at home.
just sayin'
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
help me, i’m mellllttttinngggg……coach ‘clean shot’ looses another one…
tu87
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Too many dumb players on Atlanta to be a winner. Everyone knew they weren’t running a play. Pittsburgh would have never given it away like that.
stendek
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Van Gorder was not the one that jumped offide! He told idiots to watch the ball. Some ignorant SOB did not!
George
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Guy who jumped offsides should be kicked off the team.
Once Recent Reader
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Loss Pats, Loss Sox – Game 1, Loss Falcons . ..and to add on to this terrible day . ..Sox down 3-0! Oh well, at least I have work to look forward to tomorrow . . …..???
CONservative Johnson
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Mike Smith’s team is poorly coached . . .
randy
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Oh Yeah baby ……………….Rise up!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s what them Falcons did to you idiots buying tickets. Watch the cost of em Rise UP and look what you got. You got rode up. From the backside.
FalconFan
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Well the defense played a heck of a game. This one is on the offense.
Chop It Up All-Star
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Well, this has been a fun weekend for the Atlanta professional sports teams. Loserville, USA.
hiramsaint
September 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
the failcans behind the saints…as usual!
Red Harrison
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
I absolutely guarantee this team will not go to the Super Bowl
Weak, no killer instinct, idiot defense,
TnDawg
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
Dont’t blame the D. The offense was atrocious. This highly paid offense can’t score more than 16 points? If anything it was a team loss.
PMC
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
This is an 8-8 team that will miss the playoffs.
poor talent, coordinators that can’t do it. 10 out of 12 quarters played in this segment of the season have been awful.
DawgNole
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
There’s a reason they call this city the graveyard of pro sports, folks. I believe the term used is “Losersville”–and for good reason. Almost a half-century of pro sports competion involving 5 teams (baseball, basketball, football, and two hockey), and only one world championship (’95 Braves) to show for it. No other city can “boast” that level of failure. Meanwhile, the obscenely overrated Falcons have just continued the Atlanta teams’ remarkable tradition of misery with a dismal/embarassing performance against lower tier TB Bucs.
Sid
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
hope they go 1-15….losers
Arthur
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
Rebuilding 2012!
D Falcons
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
Can’t just blame Roddy. The whole team lost this one by falling way behind in the first half. Defense hung in there but a lot of that was due to Tampa going conservative in the second half to protect the lead.
whodat70816
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
Say it isn’t so!!!!
The Super Bowl Bound, Explosive Play team with one of the NFLs Elite QBs did not just lose a game!
What a great Sunday this has turned out to be!
rward
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
ANOTHER MISTAKE….PETERS COST A SHOT AT THE GAME…..ANOTHER DIMITROFF DRAFT PICK!!!!!!!
PMC
September 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
Classic that stupidity would befall another Atlanta team.
LOB Braves
September 25th, 2011
7:34 pm
Braves = Falcons = Dawgs = SUCK
LLUGA
September 25th, 2011
7:34 pm
What an bunch of idiots…I’ve never seen that play work…until today…thanks a&&holes.
Explosive!
September 25th, 2011
7:34 pm
“Everyone knew they weren’t running a play”
that line was like a pack of untrained dogs, keep the ball in your hand but make a throwing motion to anywhere on the field and they’ll not only look that direction .. they’ll run there to!
Dumb Guys
September 25th, 2011
7:34 pm
Dumbest team in the NFL, led by the dumbest coaching staff in the NFL.
Once Recent Reader
September 25th, 2011
7:34 pm
The O-line was much better in the second half . .. .or was it the quick throws? Yes that sack hurt in the end and passes dropped did not help. Falcs still had opps in the end and couldn’t get it done.
jcatl
September 25th, 2011
7:34 pm
Bad passes, dropped passes, no OL, and finally a defensive lineman too stupid to not jump offsides when that’s exactly the other team’s plan. College teams get this right but not the Falcons? We are a joke.
lowdownjj
September 25th, 2011
7:34 pm
Falcons don’t suck, just half their ” fans”. I am gonna go cry in my beer now