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
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
7:53 pm
I love how Vick apologists bring up coaching, secondaries, schemes, QB coaches, Owners,and just about anything to deflect losses away from Vick QB play.
But Ryan has 2 playoff losses in his first 3 season, and that just means HE SUCKS AND WILL NEVER WIN A PLAYOFF GAME, no ands, ifs, or buts.
Your hypocritical agenda is obviou
JSS
November 27th, 2011
7:55 pm
Favre was 1-1 in SBs… The multi champ list is pretty short… Griese was 2-1 in Super Bowls Staubach was 2-2…
JSS
November 27th, 2011
7:57 pm
Morrall was 0-1 as a starter in Baltimore in 1969, he came in relief for the victory in 1971 of Unitas in SBV.
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
7:58 pm
JSS . . . .I”ve had personal discussions with Wayne Fontes . . . … he would say often that Barry Sanders was by far and away the best running back in the league for the years he played and would never mention that his stature should be decreased because of the overall success of the team. Wayne Fontes was and still is extremely close friends with my father who would visit our home a couple of times every summer. Father still sees him every year or so now down in Tampa area.
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
7:58 pm
Hey I forgot Staubach.
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
7:59 pm
Did Montana win 4 or 5?? Or 3?
YellowJacket
November 27th, 2011
8:00 pm
Really Mark.
Is that all there is?
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
8:01 pm
Posted response in wrong article. I stopped being lazy and looked – Montana 4 wins as starting QB in SB.
Vick the Coach Killer
November 27th, 2011
8:01 pm
Per personal request of JSS I have changed my user name. I hate to use it but JSS insisted I use “Vick the Coach Killer”. Vick will officially have killed his fourth head coach by the end of this season. We’re not counting dogs here, just coaches. Count’em: Reeves, Mora, Petrino, Reid. Vick has killed all of their NFL careers. Two of these guys were Super Bowl caliber coaches and Vick has killed/is killing them off. I would rather have Tebow running my team.
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
8:02 pm
JSS . . . .I was thinking that Morral may have started one of those Dolphin SBs. Wasn’t he a backup there? Maybe he helped during SB regular season when Griese was hurt.
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:03 pm
IDK, I like Vick the Quitter. Never seen a guy quit on his teammates more that Vick.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:04 pm
@ Charlie (because you’re no mister)…
Oh, so what’s my agenda? I want you to bring your usual weak stuff up again… The only agenda on here is that stroke that you have every day since May 2007 on these blogs trying to make everyone a villan and a creep like you regarding Michael Vick… Your boy (because you have tied your wagon to a player instead of appreciating the NFL game) hasn’t won a playoff game, he’s not the first, and he won’t be the last… He can join Ken O’Brien and feel right at home!
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:09 pm
@ O.R.R. you are thinking the perfect season, Morrall started the majority of games that season (9-0) when Griese was hurt. He was back in time for the playoffs, they barely survived the Browns in the opening round before running the table…
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:09 pm
Maybe Ryan will never win a playoff game, but I don’t remember Ken Obrien starting as a rookie and leading his team to 2 playoff appearances in his 1st 3 seasons. But why the rush to judge Ryan? especially when you use every excuse in the book for Vick. Again, you are not neutral, and I am.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
Joe Montana won in 1982, 1985, 1988, and 1989 (4)
Sargent Carter
November 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
Let’s see, Turner up the middle. The head coach looks like he is so happy when Turner breaks the tackle. “See, we are right. Turner just broke a tackle!” Problem is, Mikey cannot break every tackle and, when it comes to New Orleans and Green Bay…well, we all know the answer. So, every once in a while we go no huddle and that works. When the opposing defensive coordinator sees the Falcons come up on the radar, he smiles to himself because he knows the game plan better than the Falcons players. Especially in the playoffs….for added excitement we have the Hawks and Jsmoove…
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:14 pm
JSS, it is better for a QB to win a wild card game and lost in round 2. or get a bye and lose in round 2? Logically, it is the exact same result. So as far as I am concerned, Ryan has already “won” a wild card game by leading his team to a 13-3 season and exempting the WC round.
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
8:14 pm
Well no doubt 0-2 in playoffs. Who knows if they get in this year, or if the will get a win if in playoffs. That Packer loss just was a total breakdown all around Ryan, D, Offense. However, boy that Arizona game still drives me nuts. That one I think “slipped” away. I think they could have done some damage in the next round or two . . . . ..maybe, just maybe the SB. Now no need to ridicule me for conjecturing . . . .but again – that Arizona game was there for the taking.
Pete
November 27th, 2011
8:16 pm
How bout the 4th & 13 with 13:13 remaining in the 4th Q ?? We made a rookie QB look like Elway.
39 yd. TD.
Only in Atlanta !!
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:17 pm
Once, in the Arizona game, we had a rookie QB and head coach. Go back and review the history of success of rookie head coaches/QBs, then see what an amazing think Ryan did just GETTING to the playoffs.
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:18 pm
Also, Green Bay lost in the 1st round of the playoffs in 2009. Ironic, huh?
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:21 pm
Because you try to rewrite history… Vick, for all of his shortcomings in Atlanta, he did actually put this team on his back and led them… Now was he perfect, no… But was he the bogeyman, heck no… He was quarterback on a flawed team led by two very stubborn men…
I’ve said it before, I’ve seen Ryan since he stepped on the campus in Cherry Hill… He’s only improved in two things, he recognizes now that he needs a running game on this level or he’ll never go any where… And the second is, he knows where his bread is buttered and stays low profile… I don’t hold either of those points against him… The rest (produced by fans) is straight bull…
Vick the Coach Killer
November 27th, 2011
8:21 pm
I rooted and for Vick when he was a Falcon and I’m glad he was able to continue his career. I don’t root against him now. But I am so sick of the idiots here in Atlanta who continue to hold on to his legacy like he was great. He wasn’t. He was the most exciting player in the NFL for a few years there and was fun to watch. What kills me is all of the Ryan Haters/Vick Lovers like you who hold up a few Vick playoff win’s like he won 5 Super Bowls. I wish Vick the best of luck but the truth is he is a coach killer just like Jim Mora Sr said while his son was head coach of the Falcons. He was right. Vick is now killing off the career of one of top NFL coaches in the last 15 years.
YellowJacket
November 27th, 2011
8:22 pm
Anybody excited about this one? Yes, we’ll start with Mike Smith and the Falcons. We’ll end with their fans.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:22 pm
And guess what Green Bay did when they lost in the 1st Round against the Cardinals? Go look at those draft picks and see the difference!!!
Pizza the Hut
November 27th, 2011
8:24 pm
Sometimes I get Mark Bradley and Dave O’Brien confused.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:24 pm
Chuck Knox took a rookie QB and made the playoffs, won too!
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:30 pm
Charlie, it sucks to lose playoff games no matter where you lose them… Still at least have Ws in your ledger… He ledger is as empty at the offices of Bear Sterns!
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:31 pm
“His”
Vick the Coach Killer
November 27th, 2011
8:31 pm
My predictions:
Ryan will win (at least) his first playoff game this year.
Reid will be fired.
The Eagles will hire the fifth head coach to be killed by Vick.
Vick will be out of football in 3 years max.
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:32 pm
But Chuck knox was not a rookie coach….But even if he was, just you comparing him to Ryan/Smitty just shows who amazing they are.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:35 pm
@ O.R.R….
And I think you recognize that I’m pointing out when the Super Bowl was played (on the Montana list), not the NFL season…
Vick the Coach Killer
November 27th, 2011
8:37 pm
JSS,
Vick did not lead the Falcons. He is not a leader. He is a player, not a leader. He came into the office last and was the first one to leave. Nevermind what he did once he left but he was never and will never be a team leader like a championship quarterback should be. Matt Ryan is putting in 110% to help his team win. Vick never gave more than 80%. Now STFU about Matt Ryan.
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:37 pm
Fact is, Vick did nothing that “Greats” Steve Bartkowski, Chris Miller, or Chris Chandler did.
However, in his first 2 years in the league, Ryan has.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:39 pm
Not amazing, because they acted every bit of a rookie tandem when it counted… Empty backfield with a suspect line and we all know what happened next….
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:40 pm
I agree that Vick could put the team on his back like Ryan never could, but on the same token, a great QB does not have to do that. A great QB uses his teammates. If Vick thought he had to make an amazing play to win a game, it just showed that he did not have confidence in his teammates, and that is poor leadership. Vick was shelfish, and it showed.
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
8:43 pm
Mr. Charlie . . . I totally agree. I remember coming into the blogs for the first time that year under the moniker “Recent Reader” . . .hence after a season I changed it to “Once” Recent Reader. Witty guy I am . . . in my own mind
I had always liked Falcs since Gritz Blitz after Pats, and am a BC alum from the Flutie days (there’s the age area!) so I was excited that Ryan went to a team I had liked and followed after the Pats for years. I was absolutely shocked at what I got when I started on AJC posts to follow Ryan’s progress. The vitriole between Vick supporters/detractors was very ugly …..but more upsetting to a BC guy was seeing that many Falcon fans had an extremely negative opinion of Ryan right off the bat. Some for football concerns, others I learned were just not going to truly be fair in assessing his play. Oh well!! Yes, I was excited and impressed by the Team and Ryan’s play that first season as well as the coaching. I just mention the Arizona game as I truly thought the better team did not win that game . . ..not by way of the season results but by what I saw during the game. Goes to show how one or two mistakes can have incredible impacts. One flag can change the flow and results. I still was happy for the team’s success. (But still think that team could have done a lot, particularly in comparison to the competition that year.)
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:43 pm
If his 110% leadership = 0-2 in the playoffs, thus that is a very inefficient engine… Stand behind him (Ryan) and shout Tramon Williams!!! Boo!!!
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:47 pm
Again, a rookie HC and QB, taking a 4-12 laughing stock of the league team to the playoffs in their 1st year? That alone is quite impressive. I do not expect you to agree. But like 72 calling Ryan a Bust while he went 27/34 with 3 TD, your logic is being exposed as being very very weak.
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
8:48 pm
Hey there JSS . . ..I just don’t think in assessing a QB that the regular season should have less grading level than the playoffs. Don’t get me wrong, winning the playoffs will be something that this team will need to do if they continue to get there. And Ryan will have to be starting QB in a win to show he can master that “win or go home atmosphere”. I’m just saying SB or Bust for assessing an individuals talent would eliminate a lot of great players from the Hall of Fame simply because their team was not as good as the opponent’s in the SB.
Once Recent Reader
November 27th, 2011
8:49 pm
And one other question . . . is 72 Million Dollar Bust not our posting friend Mr. Choke?
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:51 pm
Once, well the Cards did get to the SB, it coulda been us! Again, Vick took us as far at Chris Miller, Bart, and Chris Chandler, so he did nothing that we had not seen before. But Ryan has made us a consistent winner, something none of the aforementioned QBs could do.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:51 pm
Sorry, great QBs do when they have to do it sometime… I remember Montana doing it three times, but here is the difference, when he needed Dwight Clark to be a man and make a play, he did… When he needed Earl Cooper to be a man and make a play, he did… When he needed Fred Dean or Charles Haley to be men, and make a play, they did… Now I’ll bring it back to a team game…. Vick and Ryan play(ed) on teams that are very flawed… Here is the difference between you and I… I don’t lie to myself in hope that they are going to morph into something else…
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:52 pm
No, I don’t think 72 is our friend Choke. Different writing style.
Vick the Coach Killer
November 27th, 2011
8:54 pm
Once Recent Reader,
You are trying to talk sense to JSS about Matt Ryan. You can’t because Matt Ryan is the wrong color.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:54 pm
Put you money back in your pocket, or give it to a charity and stop trying to be a braggart… I’m already writing a check to the American Cancer Society and YeleHaiti… Little boys stand behind silly things like that…
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
8:55 pm
I don’t think the Falcons are flawless, (nor have I met a man who was not flawless). But that does not mean they cannot get hot and win a few football games in a row when it counts. You just try do freaking hard to find negativity. “Can’t” is your favorite word.
JayBee
November 27th, 2011
8:58 pm
@JSS: MattRyan in Cherry Hill? I thought he went to Boston College, not Rutgers!
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:58 pm
Charlie, Chris Miller only one playoff game… It was beautiful in how they they put it away (Miller-to-Haynes on the dead run down the middle of field… Oh my goodness, why was I complimenting very pasty mullet wearing Chris Miller? Isn’t he the “wrong color?” You clowns kill me!!!
JSS
November 27th, 2011
8:59 pm
only “won” one… by the way…