Key question: Do the Falcons still know what they’re doing?
It has gotten this bad: Even the Bucs are mocking the Dirty Birds now. (AP photo)
Tampa – The Falcons are too good to be playing this way. They’ve trailed by double figures in all three games. They look great when they finally get serious, but by then their margin for error has been reduced to the nub, and any more wobbles — a dropped pass, a sack that shouldn’t have been taken, a lurch offside with the game literally on the line — can result in a good-looking team taking a big ugly L.
Asked Sunday night if he has been seeing the team he thought he’d see, coach Mike Smith said: “No, I’m not seeing that team … We’re making way too many mistakes.”
The same question was posed to center Todd McClure, who said: “No. We’ve got a great group of players, but we haven’t put it all together.”
Then this: “I feel like we’re holding ourselves back. We’re not making the plays that are there to be made.”
The obvious next questions: Why not? Why is a team fancied as a Super Bowl winner darn fortunate to be 1-2? Why do the Falcons start so slowly? Why has their devotion to details — a Smith staple — gone missing? Why must the long-promised “explosive” plays be saved for the desperate hours?
Nobody seems to know. The Falcons spent three quarters letting an OK Tampa Bay team get ahead and stay there, and it wasn’t as if the Bucs seized every moment. They netted three points from two sacks-and-recovered-fumbles inside the Falcons’ 20. They had a chance to pull ahead by three scores but threw an interception on the first play of the fourth quarter, whereupon a mystery guest appeared.
A team wearing the Falcons’ uniforms drove inside the Tampa Bay 5, then got the ball back and scored in two plays, then got the ball again and surged to the 5 again. At that moment you’d have sworn this team would seize the lead and win the game and talent would have finally been served, but at the same time you wondered: Where had this team been for 2 1/2 hours?
Let’s not fault the defense. It held the Bucs under 300 yards. Let’s turn instead to the high-priced offense, which has in two road games managed one touchdown. Asked if the Falcons aren’t a better team when three wide receivers are deployed and the no-huddle offense is implemented, Matt Ryan said: “I think we’re a good football team regardless of our personnel.”
For the first time in the four years of their partnership, it’s possible to wonder if Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff are as like-minded as we’d come to believe. Dimitroff traded 21 spots upward to land the hugely gifted Julio Jones, and through three quarters Sunday the receiver had one catch. He had five — for 97 yards — in the fourth. How hard is it to pull a Keyshawn Johnson and say: “Get that guy the darn ball”?
But it cuts deeper than tactics. There’s a weird air about this team. On the one hand, the Falcons seem careless. (Three turnovers and five penalties in this first half.) On the other hand, they seem scared to cut loose until circumstances render cutting loose a last resort. Former Falcons punter Michael Koenen, now a Buc, told the Tampa Tribune: “Up there, it’s a lot tighter. There’s a lot more nervous energy.”
There’s pressure on this team, yes. Dimitroff didn’t make big moves for Jones and Ray Edwards because he thought the Falcons might win a Super Bowl sometime in the next 30 years, and Arthur Blank — he of the not-exactly-relaxing late-game sideline appearances — has made it clear his only goal is to win a ring. But is a 53-man roster that includes only two Super Bowl winners capable of knowing what it takes without having ever come close?
The Falcons’ stated position is a reasonable one: They have enough talent to do whatever needs doing and enough time to correct the errors. Said John Abraham, the defensive end: “We’ve got to be back to playing Falcons football.”
For three seasons we thought we knew what that entailed — power football, focused football, precision football. Today we see a team that can’t handle the small stuff and seems, big-picture-wise, not to know what it’s trying to do. It’s as if the Falcons keep falling behind because falling behind is the only way they get to play the way they play best. It’s as if this grand design has lost all coordination.
By Mark Bradley
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598 comments Add your comment
DawgNole
September 25th, 2011
9:50 pm
Ignorant observation, Mr Charlie. ALL regular-season games count. The more you win now, the less pressure you encounter in November/December (”when it counts”). Same thing with the Braves when they were losing back in April, and fans like you were saying, “Relax, it’s a long season. It’s only April.” Bet they wish now that some of those April losses had been wins.
bama mike
September 25th, 2011
9:50 pm
Do you realize we are a dropped pass from being 0-3. Same song second verse defense cannot get of the field when it has too. Everyone in the stadium knew they were going to try and draw us offsides. Beginning to question Smith’s leadership
phil
September 25th, 2011
9:51 pm
Games now are meaningless in Mr Charlie’s world….lose all you want and eliminate yourself BEFORE the games matter….
Do you have manure for your brains, Charlie? In this league, they ALL matter….
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
9:52 pm
Yes, are are doomed, we need to fire Smith, Mularkey and Van Gorder…Then we need to cut Ice. Then I assure you, we will win a superbowl.
Koenen
September 25th, 2011
9:53 pm
How pathetic is this Bosher guy?
kaput
September 25th, 2011
9:53 pm
Because that’s exactly how it works – everyone has an allotment of drops and, if you get them out of the way early, you have no worries late. bwwaahahahah!
It must be in the water.
Bulldawg fan too, right? lol
phil
September 25th, 2011
9:53 pm
Roddy blew it this week….oh well…in mr charlie’s fantasy land, division games in september are meaningless….
We Want Dahl ... We Want Dahl
September 25th, 2011
9:54 pm
So here we are 3 weeks into the season. Ryan has been sacked 13 times and knocked down 2 dozen times. Today Turner barely put together 20 yards on 11 carries. Granted it is only the third week, but at this rate forget about the playoffs and forget about Ryan finishing the season. The guy can only pull himself off the ground so many times before he just doesn’t get up anymore. The line is AWFUL … I have been preaching since presason that not resigning Dahl was a mistake and now we are all seeing that first hand. Defense, ironically looked pretty solid today. The only TD that Tampa Bay put up came off Ryan’s fumble. Get the line figured out and we are in decent shape.
TruthSeeker
September 25th, 2011
9:54 pm
I wonder if the lockout has had a really negative affect on this team. We look like a team that wasn’t ready for the season to start. We’re making silly mental mistakes that we’ve never made since Smitty has been here, and in all three games we’ve been extremely sluggish out of the gate. Instead of playing smart and executing, it looks like we’re having to rely on “out-talenting” our opponents. That’s never been the way we’ve won games over the last three years.
I still think this team will be fine. The two fourth quarter comebacks the last two weeks shows that this is still a team that believes in itself and can pull it together at crunch time. But Smitty has to figure out how to get these guys ready to play for 60 minutes, which is something we used to take for granted.
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
9:54 pm
Phil, we are a game out of 1st place with 13 more to go….Either you are bi-polar, not good with math, or just a plain idiot to think anyone’s fate is set. I go with option 3, with a little of option 2.
phil
September 25th, 2011
9:54 pm
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
9:52 pm
Yes, are are doomed, we need to fire Smith, Mularkey and Van Gorder…Then we need to cut Ice. Then I assure you, we will win a superbowl.
<<<<<<<
That's more like it!
DawgNole
September 25th, 2011
9:55 pm
Ignorant observation, Mr Charlie. ALL regular-season games count. The more you win now, the less pressure you have to win in November/December. Same with the Braves losing in April, when other idiots said, “Relax, it’s a long season; it’s only April.” Bet they wish now that some of those April defeats had been wins instead.
TGT
September 25th, 2011
9:55 pm
The Falcons have several “serious” problems (little explosiveness, kicking game, etc.), however perhaps the most serious is the beating Ryan is taking. Four more sacks today to go along with 4 more hits. Contrast that with zero sacks of Freeman and only two hits.
Sec. 127
September 25th, 2011
9:56 pm
What are we doing? WTH !!! Why can’t we run THE BALL? Do we miss we Harvey that much. The lack of Fucus and Attention to detail shows up in turn overs and Dum A$$ Mistakes (ur killin me). Come on Man ur supposed to be PROFESSIONAL Football Players… Quite beleaving ur own HYPE….. Head Coach, Offensive Cordinator, Defensive Cordinator – This is EMBARASSING….
SeenThisB4
September 25th, 2011
9:56 pm
New Orleans 2 – 1
Tampa 2 – 1
Carolina 1 – 2
Atlanta 1 – 2
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
9:56 pm
Yes, the season is 20% over, we are a game out….We ARE DOOMED….FINISHED…WE HAVE NOOOO CHANCE….How do you guys get out of bed in the morning?
kaput
September 25th, 2011
9:56 pm
This is funny.
whodat70816
September 25th, 2011
9:57 pm
Matt Ryan said: “I think we’re a good football team regardless of our personnel.”
I come here and said this for the past 2 year….The reason why Matty Ice will never be elite is because he never ever talks about improvement.
Every Elite QB out there, even when they win, talk about the plays left on the field, the areas they can improve on, the things they did wrong and need to work on….
Matty Ice….”We’re good”!
Matty Ice will never ever be elite, because in his mind he is already good!
rise.up2
September 25th, 2011
9:57 pm
Don’t blame Ryan. He’s as accurate as they come. Comfortable in the pocket, throwing between the seams. Jones is overhyped, horrendously less talented than we expected and we gave up a king’s ransom for this non-entity; Roddy is, well, just Roddy – an idiot, butterfingers, big-mouth receiver who scores a touchdown once every eclipse and Tony is over-the-hill who left his best days in KC. We have no creative offensive coordinator. Our defense is lucky we didn’t give up 40 today to Tampa – Let me say that again. WE WERE NEVER IN THIS GAME – AGAINST THE BUCS!!!!! Wake up people. WE’RE the ones who SUKKK donkey dongs….now we’re the dregs of the division. At least Carolina has Cam. What do we have? Ole Noodle Arm behind center. And we’re going to compete against the Saints? They went scoreless in the first quarter and scored 40 in the next two-and-a-half quarters against a Texas defense that gave up a combined 13 points in the first two games. Gonna be a loooooong season with Mikey and Mularkey folks. Just those names themselves should tell us a lot about what we have. Wake up Art….time to start reaching for resume’s.
elephanthead
September 25th, 2011
9:57 pm
Now that I have calmned down a little, some objective analysis:
1- Defense actually played pretty well right up to freeze play, but Tampa is a second
rate offense. I shudder to think what Rodgers and Brees are going to do to them. To me,
their defensive problem is the scheme BVG runs. I would love to see them ditch the 4-3 and
go with a 3-4, which is an attacking defense rather than a read and react.
2- For as much as he frustrates me, Ryan is actually a pretty good QB. You say he looks scared?
Well, you would be too if you had to rely on that bunch of stiffs on the OL for protection. He
looks a lot like Bartkowski did (yeah, I’m old) in his first days when he was running for his
life every down – not to mention the 2 knee surgeries he had. He turned into an all star when
they started using prime draft picks on guys like Mike Kenn and Warren Bryant.
3- Which leads me to say the un-sayable. What has Dimitroff accomplished in his player
selection? Can you name more then 4 guys he drafted that are providing quality minutes,
much less impact? Eh? Thought not. It has been apparent that the OL is a disaster waiting
to happen (to the QB), but he mortgages the next 2 years to go up and get Julio. I love the
guy, but he cant catch the ball 40 yards downfield if Ryan is getting hogtied by DEs. If you
have a top notch OL, you can get by with average skill talent – see New England. I question
TDs talent assesment and judgement.
4- Sam Baker is a guard, period. I have never seen a guy more consistently off balance and
out of position. I bet he staggers from side to side and spontaneously falls down walking
up his driveway. He has to be replaced before we end up playing the rest of the season
w/ Redman as the starter. Reynolds, Johnson, or whoever – dont see how it could be much worse.
Ignore the Saints trolls – if you had to live in a craphole like NO where people pi$$ in the streets
like dogs, you would be bitter and psychotic too – pity them, dont hate them.
phil
September 25th, 2011
9:58 pm
Charles…..let’s chat again when we miss the playoffs by a game…they all matter. It doesn’t mean we’re out of anything. My point is that giving away ANY game is not a good thing….it could well come back to haunt….
Now go finish scrubbing those toilets.
dan
September 25th, 2011
9:59 pm
This offensive line has got to be fixed…NOW!
This is the 3rd week in a row that this line has stunk up the field. It’s a problem that had bled into the entire team. Atlanta has the weapons to be an explosive offense, Roddy and Julio both had over 100 yards today. But something has got to be done about this line. This team is too talented to and has too strong of a nucleus to have ONE aspect of the team sink them to 7-9 or 8-8.
With all that being said, its early: New England lost today, the Eagles are 1-2 as well. Jets lost today and are LUCKY to be 2-1. And the Bills, the BILLS are 3-0. It’s been a weird season so far, and it seems like every team other than Green Bay, has question marks like us.
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
9:59 pm
I think our biggest problem is the O line. That does concern me, I would like to see a good game from them next week. I do think Smitty will figure it out…..BUT NOOOO., WE SUCK…WE ARE FINISHED. Because we lost our 2nd game. WE NEED TO FIRE EVERYONE, we will SURELY win the SB then.
Mr. Swamp People
September 25th, 2011
9:59 pm
have been streaking on Bourbon street all night, good weekned! WHO DAT!?!?
Mr. Swamp People
September 25th, 2011
9:59 pm
Streaking on Bourbon street right now! WHO DAT!
BlockSumbody
September 25th, 2011
10:00 pm
Issues with OL need to be fixed. Poor run blocking and poor pass blocking. Once they got decent in the 4th, Ryan had time to throw the ball down field.
Just watched the game on DVR, amazing amount of holding by the Bucs secondary. Arms wrapped around receivers holding them while ball is in the air. Big holding call on Blalock in the 4th, yet on Bucs last third down run, the Bucs guard was tackling Lofton and he was try to make the play. Pretty sad.
Roddy dropped the touchdown in the flat that would have won the game.
phil
September 25th, 2011
10:00 pm
You’ll see a good game from Seattle…we won’t be winning next week’s meaningless game either.
Mike
September 25th, 2011
10:00 pm
Not believing in fairy tales Phil, I have been let down more than a few times as a lifelong Atlanta fan myself. If we lose next week I will panic with you.
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
10:00 pm
Phil, sure, we finish a game out, come talk to me…But there is a lot of football to play. We will have some crunch games to play, but today was not one of them. I suggest you go see a doctor for that depression.
Matt from MN
September 25th, 2011
10:01 pm
Sad to say, but this has been brewing since last season. When was the last time that this team actually impressed in a victory?
Ryan is getting killed and Turner can’t find any holes to run through. Pitiful effort by the O until the no huddle. I repeat my refrain from last year…Fire Mularkey.
Najeh Davenpoop
September 25th, 2011
10:01 pm
Fun facts:
Matt Ryan career QB rating indoors: 93.4
Matt Ryan career QB rating outdoors: 78.4
If you were surprised by today’s result, you haven’t been paying attention.
Sec. 127
September 25th, 2011
10:02 pm
?????
DawgNole
September 25th, 2011
10:02 pm
Ignorant comments, Mr Charlie. ALL regular-season games count. The more you win now, the less pressure you have to win in November/December. Same with the Braves losing in April, when other idiots said, “Relax, it’s a long season; it’s only April.” Bet they wish now that some of those April defeats had been wins instead.
Mr. Swamp People
September 25th, 2011
10:03 pm
any SAINTS fans want to join me streaking on Bourbon street right now?
DawgNole
September 25th, 2011
10:04 pm
I’ve submitted my comment three times over the past 20 mins. or so, Mark. For some reason, it’s not being posted–even though I get a message saying it’s already been submitted. Can you take a look?
Turner ???? Run Game ???
September 25th, 2011
10:05 pm
Turner has no burst thru the line and seems unable to hit any hole aggressively. Unless the line opens up a huge gap it is rare that Turner ever creates anything positive on his own. Turner was none as the BURNER but those days seem long ago. Where is his burst? He was supposed to be more of a receiving threat this year. We have problems until we return to an effective ground game the allows Matt to play-action. Right now we have no identity and I trace it back to Turner and the impression that I have that he has lost a step (or two).
Brian
September 25th, 2011
10:05 pm
one word explains all….Discipline or lack there of.
DawgNole
September 25th, 2011
10:06 pm
Finally! Thanks.
phil
September 25th, 2011
10:06 pm
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
10:00 pm
Phil, sure, we finish a game out, come talk to me…But there is a lot of football to play. We will have some crunch games to play, but today was not one of them. I suggest you go see a doctor for that depression.
<<<<<<<<<
I did. Made it worse. Pick on something else about people.
Sec. 127
September 25th, 2011
10:06 pm
Who still jumps off sides in the 4th Qt on 4th down. Who?????
DJ Sniper
September 25th, 2011
10:06 pm
Can somebody tell me why, in the past 2 games, we’ve waited until the 4th quarter to run the no huddle? How long is it going to be before the Falcons brass comes to the realization that MIke Mularkey is holding this offense back?
Did you see Brian Van Gorder’s reaction to Corey Peters jumping offsides? I know he wanted to blow several gaskets after that one.
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
10:08 pm
Turner…Goes back to our O like, but Turner does not fall forward, does not carry people on his back….but our O-line is my biggest concern. We get that fixed, we are in the playoffs, if not, we don’t go anywhere.
phil
September 25th, 2011
10:08 pm
Correct on the braves, dawgnole….i was one of em trying to point that out back then….i was the idiot, of course….
Sure i was….
chris
September 25th, 2011
10:08 pm
We definitely need to relax…i think they are overcoaching Ryan..they need to let him loose and throw deep to thse weaponnns – white and jones..get a new punter,a veteran and LOOSEN UP or we wont see .500 this year
Brian
September 25th, 2011
10:09 pm
last year this team played smart, to coin a phrase and pardon me if you don’t like the phrase but I will say they played Patriot like last year. They were smart, did not beat themselves and did their job when called upon.
phil
September 25th, 2011
10:09 pm
Our defense stinks too….
Should have NEVER let Dahl go….horrible move.
MB
September 25th, 2011
10:09 pm
“I’ve submitted my comment three times over the past 20 mins. or so, Mark. For some reason, it’s not being posted–even though I get a message saying it’s already been submitted. Can you take a look?”
Yeah, I’m all over that. I’m sure that your comment was so relevent.
Again?
September 25th, 2011
10:09 pm
Lucy snatches the football from Charlie Brown yet again. How many times will Atlanta fans be fooled by high hopes? This is undoubtably the worst or second worst sports town in the world and the fans have nothing to do with it. Our teams continue to invent new ways of losing even after 46 strong years of perfecting it. I’m extremely disappointed in today’s outcomes (Braves included) but not surprised. Reality says our big stage may come again in 50 years and we’ll likely blow it somehow.
phil
September 25th, 2011
10:10 pm
I’m not too concerned with what a punter says….
Mr Charlie
September 25th, 2011
10:11 pm
Not picking on you……until we are mathematically eliminated, I think we have a chance….Look at the Pack last year. Dare to been optimistic.