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
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1,179 comments Add your comment
Andy
November 27th, 2011
4:04 pm
@Sam
You are a loser. That is all.
DAMON
November 27th, 2011
4:04 pm
Did I just watch an opera ??? Who is the team leader, motivator, azz kicker……somebody PLEASE!!!!
Matt from MN
November 27th, 2011
4:04 pm
@Sam-give the world a break. NO ONE cares!!! Mark, please ban this tool.
trademark
November 27th, 2011
4:05 pm
Falcons covered the point spread. Can’t ask more than that I guess. And despite the fan base SCREAMING at the coaching staff to quit this conservative play calling Sheiß with a lead, they seem determined to be moronic about it. Gonna bite them in the Arshe one day…oh wait, already has….remember Green Bay…wanna guess EXACTLY WHAT LOST THAT GAME TO THEM??!!! Geez coaches, OPEN YOUR FRIKKIN’ EARS!! You’re so good at giving instruction, why can’t you take a little??!!
Eric C.
November 27th, 2011
4:05 pm
There is no reason the Falcons should not win at least 4 of the last 5
bigdave
November 27th, 2011
4:05 pm
Julio was targeted.. what, 2 times.. maybe? as long as Roddy is eating to the tune of 10 catches 120 yds. Julio is doing his part.
what.. you guys want Matt to go back to forcing the ball to the rook? i’ll pass.. more of what we’ve been doing. keep spreading the rock around Matt..
phil
November 27th, 2011
4:06 pm
Our halftime adjustments are identical to crew chief adjustments made to Earnhardt, Jr’s stock car each week…..make things worse, not better.
GregKennesaw
November 27th, 2011
4:07 pm
good win falcons – let Ryan run the no huddle all 4 quarters please
jack bull
November 27th, 2011
4:07 pm
well on our way to the playoffs..
Eric C.
November 27th, 2011
4:08 pm
The offense closed shop way too early…can’t do that against any NFL team
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:09 pm
Ryan took a shot at JJ, he dropped it. But maybe he catches the winning pass in the playoff game….and justifies his status.
phil
November 27th, 2011
4:09 pm
Jack ass loves his mediocrity!
And josh freeman of the bucs is a moron!
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:09 pm
Are the Bengals for real?
Eric C.
November 27th, 2011
4:09 pm
Ha, the Bucs spiked the ball on 1st down with 1:15 and then failed on the 4th and 1…that stinks for them.
dean
November 27th, 2011
4:10 pm
TN just beat TB
bigdave
November 27th, 2011
4:10 pm
in my opinion, Matt’s best game..
again, if you’re throwing the ball 30+ times, or for 300+, you have to come up with at least 2 touchdowns through the air.. Matt was an impact player today.. 27/34 262 3tds. thats a great ballgame..
jack bull
November 27th, 2011
4:10 pm
name calling,, how mature..at least i don’t throw like a girl..lol
Matt from MN
November 27th, 2011
4:10 pm
And TB loses to TN, Excellent.
GregKennesaw
November 27th, 2011
4:10 pm
HaHa HaHa Josh Freeman just blew a chance to win. Shouldn’t have done that dirty bird dance Josh, that was some bad Karma dude, LMAO, Your season has sucked ever since.
phil
November 27th, 2011
4:10 pm
Fire Jack Del Rio!
And Jack Ass!
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
4:11 pm
All, we just beat the Vikings by 4 more points than the undefeated Packers did. Give it a break, this is not college football. You pan the team about their issues most of the game . . . . then you pan them because they did not win by more. Well I guess here we go again with those posts and I’ll just have to read them and bear it.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
4:11 pm
The Bengals are very for real…
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:11 pm
Big Dave, Roddy and JJ dropped long ones. he should have been 30/34 for 330.
the truth...
November 27th, 2011
4:13 pm
Bill Belichick told Dimitroff NOT to do the trade for Julio…..
So far this year his advice looks to be right….several injuries have ensured it….We’d better hope Julio can turn it around next year….time is running out in 2011
phil
November 27th, 2011
4:13 pm
Overt sexism….
How mature, Jack ass…
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:13 pm
They fought back from 10 down….
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:13 pm
They fought back from 10 down….
mountain_jim
November 27th, 2011
4:14 pm
GO GIANTS! (tomorrow)
JSS
November 27th, 2011
4:14 pm
(On the Bengals) But don’t worry, cheap Mike Brown will screw it up eventually!!!
Braves #17 Fan
November 27th, 2011
4:14 pm
Good job, Falcons!! While many of the fans here were freaking out and panicking, I knew we had this one all along, and am looking forward to a 4-1 finish (11-5 overall).
phil
November 27th, 2011
4:14 pm
Fire Joe Pa!
jack bull
November 27th, 2011
4:14 pm
i hereby challenge fill to see if he can throw a football 50 yds…something tells me he can’t..
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:15 pm
I am amazed that the Bengals are that good. I did not think Dalton had it in him to be honest. but you are right, don’t call them to bungles for nothing.
Sam/Andrew/Mama
November 27th, 2011
4:15 pm
Watch this kid! He is a world record “kicker”. He wants to go to Georgia Tech too! Unfortunately he has just now mastered the alphabet and GT needs linemen that are bigger than the cheerleaders, but what the hey?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6yp7orGFGw
jack bull
November 27th, 2011
4:15 pm
where we going fill? i’ll meet ya in a few..
Jimmy
November 27th, 2011
4:16 pm
We let down in the second half. Plain and simple. Their O line was blowing our guys off the ball. Our D backs looked like they lost focus. Our offense went into hibernation mode. You can’t let down in the NFL against ANY team. All of them are good enough to beat you on any given day.
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:16 pm
Braves, I don’t think 12-4 is out of the question.
old devil
November 27th, 2011
4:16 pm
As usual, the Falcons play down or up to the competition, but doesn’t every team seem to do that? I can’t wait to see if they make the playoffs, so hopefully this year they will make it as a wild card team and have to claw and scrape every week and not have that deadly bye week to deal with. It is definitely a momentum killer….and Go Dawgs!
jack bull
November 27th, 2011
4:16 pm
i’ll bring the football.
Jofo
November 27th, 2011
4:16 pm
What happened to Julio today???????????
Just saying
November 27th, 2011
4:16 pm
Great win for the Falcons! A win for some fans will never be “pretty enough.” There are always haters, never satisfied with efforts made by the Falcons and never any credit given to the opposing team for their outstanding efforts. Good grief! Go Falcons!
welikebaseball2
November 27th, 2011
4:17 pm
That’s 2 big games in a row for Roddy. I said it once & I’ll say it again…Roddy will be fine & should be the least of any worries about this team.
Braves #17 Fan
November 27th, 2011
4:18 pm
Mr. Charlie – Houston and New Orleans will be tough, but I would have to agree that we are capable of winning out.
Dumbo
November 27th, 2011
4:18 pm
Dang…..”Just Win Baby”…………enough said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JSS
November 27th, 2011
4:18 pm
All Andy Dalton has done in his entire life is win… And even against stiffer competition when he saw it (except Boise), he has never been overmatched…
bigdave
November 27th, 2011
4:18 pm
Mr Charlie..
im only assessing what he did do.. one could argue that pass to Roddy was an overthrow.. even if the Julio attempt was completed, he was flagged for OPI…
Matts decision making was sharp, minus a force throw to Roddy, where he became a defender just to bat the ball away. most importantly he got 6 in scoring situations..
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:18 pm
JJ dropped a long pass, and was called for Pass Interference to boot. I don’t think they threw his way after that.
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:20 pm
Dave, true. Regardless, a good solid day for Ryan.
njfalcon
November 27th, 2011
4:21 pm
Can the haters stop with Matt Ryan? He has played very, very well the past few weeks. And I have a hard time calling a rookie WR (JJ) a “bust” until he’s had a year or tow. Remember, it took Roddy White 3 seasons to show that he as a #1 receiver. The good news is that ‘Spoon has turned into an impact player on defense and we had a decent rush today. But our secondary will be the key to going anywhere in the playoffs. They were fairly awful today.
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
4:22 pm
Houston has no QB….NO always tough, but like always it will come down to one or two plays….Flip a coin…..Did not know much about Dalton, but the proof is in the pudding…..I like Mike Zimmer, glad to see him doing well.