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
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1,825 comments Add your comment
Thomas Dimitroff is a moron
September 25th, 2011
5:10 pm
Vance Walker’s a player
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2011
5:10 pm
Freeman threw it behind Parker.
Bonez
September 25th, 2011
5:10 pm
Mr Charlie ARE U ON DRUGS????????
Michael Turner was the one responsible for turning this team around
J.J.M.
September 25th, 2011
5:10 pm
wow
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2011
5:11 pm
Holding penalty makes it second-and-15.
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
5:11 pm
The entire game was played on our side of the field, and Buc got 3 out of it. Everyone in the NFL is struggling.
st richt
September 25th, 2011
5:11 pm
Boring
bigdave
September 25th, 2011
5:11 pm
what does Ryan looking better than Freeman have anything to do with the Falcons success? Ryan needs to look better than Matt Ryan year 1.
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2011
5:11 pm
Dump pass to Blount gains 13. Third and short
Thomas Dimitroff is a moron
September 25th, 2011
5:11 pm
Ahem, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Brady, FitzPatrick, any real QB would be killing us
Jimmy
September 25th, 2011
5:11 pm
Ya’ll wake me up if someone completes a pass.
ijonathan
September 25th, 2011
5:12 pm
Bonez, great job on the mindless talking points, keep it up.
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
5:12 pm
Bonez, Well, did anyone block for turner? How come we looked so bad when Redman played? How many teams have you seen with good running backs that suck? Ask Barry Sanders about that.
st richt
September 25th, 2011
5:13 pm
Turner sucks. He’s run through holes the size of texas since he got here. Not so far today…
Thomas Dimitroff is a moron
September 25th, 2011
5:13 pm
Larry Fitzgerald is a beast!
ijonathan
September 25th, 2011
5:14 pm
If you’d never seen a Falcons or Bucs game before, and just tuned into this one, and you were asked who was a better RB, Blount or Turner, who would you pick?
Blount every time.
And that would be the assessment in many, many games the Falcons play.
Period.
Jimmy
September 25th, 2011
5:14 pm
Watching paint dry is more exciting than this. This is like watching paint drip.
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
5:14 pm
Well, all I heard all week it how great Freeman is, and how he has “passed” Ryan.
Thomas Dimitroff is a moron
September 25th, 2011
5:14 pm
That’s our weakness: Pass Defense
FalconFan
September 25th, 2011
5:14 pm
Whoever the QB is that we face, his receivers always seem to be wide open.
Funky Fred
September 25th, 2011
5:14 pm
Dunta Robinson using the “trail technique”.
J.J.M.
September 25th, 2011
5:15 pm
agrees with jimmy
Jimmy
September 25th, 2011
5:15 pm
And our receivers never seem to be open
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
5:16 pm
ijon. Agreed. also, Ryan has led 14 4th quarter comebacks. The 4 quarter is where NFL QBs earn their money. Do I have to remind you of last week?
FalconFan
September 25th, 2011
5:16 pm
Never. Grimes is not being thrown at AT ALL. Good job Grimes. He’s the man.
Robinson, not so much.
Thomas Dimitroff is a moron
September 25th, 2011
5:16 pm
Mr Charles, the only pass that Ryan has thrown that went 20 yards beyond the line of scrimage was where Ryan missed a wide open Gonzales.
He’s not a Top 10 QB… And we need one
"Chef" Tim Dix
September 25th, 2011
5:16 pm
If the entire Falcon’s defense faked an injury AT THE SAME TIME would anyone notice?
bigdave
September 25th, 2011
5:16 pm
anyone calling Freeman “great” at this point in his career doesnt deserve being heard. good looking young qb though.. tends to play better as the game progresses.. kinda like Matt.
Once Recent Reader
September 25th, 2011
5:16 pm
You all are depressing me even further . . .
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
5:17 pm
Pass D is EVERYONES weakness. Anyone see the superstar cornerbacks on the Eagles blow two games in a row in the 4th quarter?
"Chef" Tim Dix
September 25th, 2011
5:17 pm
Mark, the MACHINE is eating my posts…
FalconFan
September 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
Damn our secondary is horrible. Goodness
J.J.M.
September 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
what team wants to be down every game and come back to win in the 4th?
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
If you can’t sack the quarterback, you can’t win in the NFL. That’s correct.
Senior falcon
September 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
I don’t care if they do win—they are boring!!!
Kissinger
September 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
Unlike most people on blogs, I am not omniscient. So, is scheme the reason our receivers always seem to be so well covered. I mean Ryan is throwing in some very small windows. Or, is it that Ryan does not throw to the open receiver? Education please.
bigdave
September 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
hold d..
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
TD is a moron, I don’t care if my QB loses the opinion polls if he is a “top ten”, I care that my team is a top ten.
Jimmy
September 25th, 2011
5:19 pm
This thing is not going well. Let’s go D
Thomas Dimitroff is a moron
September 25th, 2011
5:19 pm
That was against Grimes
Grimes is tough little guy, but too small.
Duante freezes while WR juggles ball?!?
FalconFan
September 25th, 2011
5:19 pm
Pass defense isn’t the Jets’ weakness. Revis and Cromartie. You kidding?
J.J.M.
September 25th, 2011
5:19 pm
whens the last time the offense been on the field?
AtlNative
September 25th, 2011
5:19 pm
@bigdave
Yeah that is my worry as well. I am not saying Ryan needs to be an elite qb for the falcons to be a solid team, but I am worried that he seems just as good today as he was when he stepped on the field day one. Which would be fine IF – we accepted that and quite drafting/signing guys for an “explosive” offense and started building for a dink and dunk (solid lines, good pass rush etc.)
Instead, we are told Ryan IS and elite, and he just needs the tools…. well, it looks to me that Ryan just simply is a dink and dunk QB with good game management skills.
Again, that is fine, and can in fact win you a lot of games. But we need a serious change in our philosophy and stop with the “stretch the field” idea.
JMO – just my opinion
Rozeman13
September 25th, 2011
5:19 pm
agree why cant our receviers get open like that
ijonathan
September 25th, 2011
5:19 pm
Wow…Dunta involved in a big hit again.
Mark Bradley
September 25th, 2011
5:19 pm
Bucs at the 8. Short passes.
FalconFan
September 25th, 2011
5:20 pm
Well, alright then. Falcons are just not a good road team. Let’s face it.
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
5:20 pm
JJM, so Ryan has led 14 4th quarter comebacks. He has also had 19 games where he did not need to come back. He has lost only 15 game.
J.J.M.
September 25th, 2011
5:20 pm
thats how you run screen plays
bigdave
September 25th, 2011
5:20 pm
nice drive.