Live from Falcons-Vikings: Anybody excited about this one?
"Hey, I'm pumped. Who's with me?" (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
I wish I could say I’m looking forward to a great day of pro football here at the Dome, but I’d be a big fat liar. The Atlanta Falcons tend to play to the level of the opposition, and if that happens today …
(Pause to shudder.)
The Minnesota Vikings are awful, and they’re without their best player. (Adrian Peterson, RB.) They’re also without Brett Favre, Randy Moss, Alan Page, Joe Kapp, Carl Eller, Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman, Cris Carter, Mick Tinglehoff and anyone else who ever put the pop in the Purple. The Vikings are 2-8, having beaten two other terrible teams (Arizona and Carolina).
This is one of those games the Falcons should win by three touchdowns, and I’m thinking it’s a game they need to win by three touchdowns. Even at 6-4, there’s scarcely a buzz about this team nationally or locally. I got out of Mass later than usual this morning, and I was thinking I might hit traffic around the Dome, but I drove right in at 11:30.
It’s 12:03 as I write, and there’s almost nobody in the house. I know it’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the day after Tech-Georgia, but still … this is, on the record, a pretty good NFL team. I wondered in preseason why more people weren’t talking about the Falcons, and on the final Sunday of November I’m wondering still.
So I ask again: Are you pumped about the Birds? Are you too stuffed with Thanksgiving turkey to care? Has watching Florida fall to 6-6 and Clemson to 9-3 last night dulled the senses? Is there anybody out there? Is this microphone on?
With that, I’ll hang up and await your responses. Assuming there are any.
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
1,179 comments Add your comment
WTF?
November 27th, 2011
3:39 pm
Matt Ryan is like Dorn from the move Major League: he isn’t about to get hurt because he thinks he has a life after football
JSS
November 27th, 2011
3:39 pm
Those clown DBs ran into each other
phil
November 27th, 2011
3:39 pm
Turner slow as a pine tree…
Dawgs Man
November 27th, 2011
3:40 pm
Another Turner 1st down run for ZERO
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
3:40 pm
Ryan on the run. Hits Gonzalez.
ijonathan
November 27th, 2011
3:40 pm
Big 3rd down
72 Million Dollar Bust
November 27th, 2011
3:40 pm
The elite qb has some 30 yards of passing this half…..ha ha.
phil
November 27th, 2011
3:40 pm
Keep running out of bounds….so stupid.
jack bull
November 27th, 2011
3:40 pm
soft, i tell ya, he’s soft!
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
3:41 pm
White with a great play.
DSGB
November 27th, 2011
3:41 pm
AND WHY IN THE HELL DID WE DRAFT JULIO JONES AGAIN
Dirty Bird Nation
November 27th, 2011
3:41 pm
Michael Turner is “TIPPING TOED THRU THE TULIPS WHEN HE IS CARRYING THE BALL”!
Bonez
November 27th, 2011
3:41 pm
FALCONS HAVE THE WORST O & D COORDINATORS IN THE LEAGUE
Loserville USA
November 27th, 2011
3:41 pm
He’s OK enough to tweet I assume.
Dwayne
November 27th, 2011
3:41 pm
But I tell yea…Ryan is just having a bad year…
phil
November 27th, 2011
3:41 pm
Nice play, Roddy! Of course, he went ob again….sigh.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
3:41 pm
Like I said, Sapp is having one of those days!!!
J.J.M.
November 27th, 2011
3:42 pm
56 is mic….we know that by now
jack bull
November 27th, 2011
3:42 pm
roddy can’t be in the game, he got a concussion earlier when he hurt his elbow, didn’t he?
Jimmy
November 27th, 2011
3:42 pm
Minnesota can taste that win.
AtlNative
November 27th, 2011
3:42 pm
Good drive here. If we can score I think it will put it away.
Though the fact that it comes down to this, and not a blowout to an awful team is upsetting.
phil
November 27th, 2011
3:42 pm
Terrible play call….arrrrrggghhhhh!
Dawgs Man
November 27th, 2011
3:42 pm
Great. Kick the FG and we lose by one.
Loserville USA
November 27th, 2011
3:42 pm
Low percentage MORON play.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
3:42 pm
The squirrel just found a nut!!!
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
3:43 pm
Touchdown. Ryan to Palmer.
fred
November 27th, 2011
3:43 pm
Need a TD..
dean
November 27th, 2011
3:43 pm
TD!
Dawgs01
November 27th, 2011
3:43 pm
I am waiting on roddy to drop an important pass like he has done all yr. I thought he was a top wide out after the past two seasons but this yr he has definitely gone back to year one and two of his career where he dropped everything. Very frustrating
welikebaseball2
November 27th, 2011
3:43 pm
Sickening pattern against lesser teams…we open the game mixing it up on offense & it looks like a blowout going into the half, conservative playcalling lets the lesser team back in the game in the 3rd quarter as we play soft/zone defense & go ultra conservative on offense, in the 4th quarter we finally (via no huddle) show some urgency & squeak out a win against a team we should’ve blown out.
jack bull
November 27th, 2011
3:43 pm
clearly, we can move the ball at will when we want to..
AtlNative
November 27th, 2011
3:43 pm
Good job. I think that will be enough to win the game.
Huge drive.
Now the D just has to not allow a “quick” score.
Reggie
November 27th, 2011
3:43 pm
Matt Ryan is LETHAL in no huddle. Let him do it ALL GAME LONG.
Loserville USA
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
Sometimes I think this coaching staff purposely makes games close so they can justify their jobs by making the classic Smittty CORRECTIONS.
Jeez.
Dwayne
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
Luck…
phil
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
Thank goodness!
Note how he held the ball all the way through the play….simple concept.
ijonathan
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
JSS…are you implying Ryan or Palmer is the “blind” squirrel?
72 Million Dollar Bust
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
Do you guys think Green Bay fears the Falcons anymore after this blowout of the 2-8 rookie?…haha.
bigdave
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
ICEEEEEEEEEE
fred
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
Why not play like that all the time?
Falcons: Play 60!
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
time for the defense to step up one more time and get the ball back to the offense for a game ending drive (either time consuming or pt scoring)
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
Elite teams don’t allow 17 point leads to bad teams evaporate, but good teams steady the ship, and get back up 2 scores.
SRF
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
Green Bay has not feared anybody for a while now…
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
That might have been the biggest drive of the year. Seriously.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
Hey, you choose!!!
tmc
November 27th, 2011
3:44 pm
Nice drive and answer to a pitiful 2nd half.
Give Matt Ryan credit there all you haters of MR.
Dawgs Man
November 27th, 2011
3:45 pm
Falcons = Braves. They don’t take advantage of scoring opportunities and then the other team makes a comeback. So frustrating.
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
3:45 pm
Hey 72 Mill Choke . . . well as of now (yes I waited until the end of this drive to reply
) Ponder has 103 QB rating and 186 yds, 17/25 – and 1 TD. Ryan, 131 QB rating, 243 yrds, 24/31 and 3 TDs. i definitely say “Ponder is Winning” . . . . if he came in with a huge Spread!
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
3:45 pm
72 @ 3:40. And a TD pass.
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
3:46 pm
Goodness gracious sakes alive.