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
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
1:44 pm
I’m sorry. I thought that was an overthrow. Maybe it wouldn’t have been an overthrow of Bob Hayes.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
1:44 pm
No PECK, but keep running your keyboard mouth instead of just sticking to commenting on the game… And then make sure you pick a grown man’s user name when you get ready for what comes your way…
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
1:44 pm
Rogers receivers catch the ball, or run the correct route.
J.J.M.
November 27th, 2011
1:45 pm
wow ryan why would you throw that pass
phil
November 27th, 2011
1:45 pm
Why did we stop running the ball? Sorry i asked.
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
1:45 pm
Sack. Nobody open. So much for that series.
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
1:45 pm
When they replayed it, Roddy stumbled slightly and cost him a 1/2 step. Pass on the money.
J.J.M.
November 27th, 2011
1:45 pm
snelling was open…
Coastaldawg
November 27th, 2011
1:45 pm
I have been a Falcons fan since Tommy Nobis. Wish Blank would sell team to someone else. Can’t stand him!
phil
November 27th, 2011
1:46 pm
Mark, it basically was an overthrow but White could’ve caught it with a bit more effort.
welikebaseball2
November 27th, 2011
1:46 pm
“A big time receiver makes that catch.” Really? Only a 7-foot tall receiver makes that catch. I wish some of you would be objective enough to look at a replay & admit that a ball was simply poorly thrown & uncatchable. Funny how the receivers are blamed for Ryan’s underthrows & overthrows.
ijonathan
November 27th, 2011
1:47 pm
This is starting to feel like another one of those ho-hum 24-10 victories that fails to keep MB emotionally engaged.
Wozzeck
November 27th, 2011
1:47 pm
You’ve been a Falcon fan since Nobis and you don’t like Blank? Would you like the Smiths back? They sure could run a team – into the ground.
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
1:47 pm
OK, we’ll call it a slight overthrow, a slight stumble — and a long incompletion.
72 Million Dollar Bust
November 27th, 2011
1:47 pm
As long as there are playoffs, Ryan will make my name live on.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
1:48 pm
Sapp is having one of those games
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
1:48 pm
announces agreed with me, Roddy stumbled/slowed down with the ball in the air.
If he was not running 100% speed when the ball was in the air, it would have hit him in stride. I stand by my contention that the pass was perfect.
drmaryb (*_-)
November 27th, 2011
1:49 pm
Dunta’s Peak!
Dunta is back!!! Yeah! No more injuries please!
phil
November 27th, 2011
1:49 pm
Fire Mike Smith!
ijonathan
November 27th, 2011
1:49 pm
welikebaseball2…it was clear on the replay that Ryan let the ball go as Roddy was making his move. If Roddy doesn’t slip, he makes that catch easy. So it is NOT an overthrow. Sure, it would have been a great catch had he made it. But if a receiver gets his fingertips on the ball without diving he had at least some chance of catching it. And, if he makes a clean break on the DB, it’s an easy TD.
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
1:49 pm
Dunta is back. Grimes is not.
phil
November 27th, 2011
1:50 pm
Cut JJ!
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
1:50 pm
Big blitz. Spoon sack.
Loserville USA
November 27th, 2011
1:50 pm
‘Spoon was a great pick. Plain and simple.
Draggin Fly
November 27th, 2011
1:50 pm
Down goes Ponder.
72 Million Dollar Bust
November 27th, 2011
1:50 pm
You guys do realize this game is between a 26 year old vs a rookie – right?
ijonathan
November 27th, 2011
1:50 pm
Now that was a pass rush.
All you Dimitroff haters (jury is still out for me) just remember that TD kept saying that the athleticism of Witherspoon really impressed him.
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
1:51 pm
Vikings punting. They do that often
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
1:52 pm
Ijon, exactly, Ryan lofted it, and Roddy was suppose to run underneath his. But he lost 1/2 a step, and that was the difference.
WitStream
November 27th, 2011
1:52 pm
This game is so electric that I’m wondering why Fox has yet to show a bored McNabb, (a/k/a a Thief), on the sidelines holding a clipboard.
72 Million Dollar Bust
November 27th, 2011
1:52 pm
Roddy White is not the first receiver to slip. Stop making excuses.
J.J.M.
November 27th, 2011
1:52 pm
tell the falcon players to stop beefin it up
phil
November 27th, 2011
1:52 pm
Excuses, excuses, excuses….
We make them…we lose when it matters.
Others just play and it’s always one of them with the trophy….
ijonathan
November 27th, 2011
1:52 pm
I just don’t get all you blind Ryan haters. Is he supposed to somewhow anticipate that Roddy is going to slip/slow down while making his move on the DB? If he does that and throws it shorter, and Roddy doesn’t slip, everyone on here would be mocking him for underthrowing White. Can’t have it both ways.
Mr. Panic Button
November 27th, 2011
1:53 pm
This team always has moments of playing like amateurs during every game. When are they going to play a full 4 quarters keeping the pedal to the metal?
Buzz Aldrin
November 27th, 2011
1:53 pm
72 Million…so a QB should anticipate his receiver slipping on every pass? I’m sure that’s lesson 1 that Brady teaches opposing QB’s in his off season camps.
JSS
November 27th, 2011
1:54 pm
Witherspoon can’t stay on the field… There is no question that he is athletic…
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
1:54 pm
IJon, exaclty. Just best to ignore them, Ryan is making them look foolish anyway.
Buzz Aldrin
November 27th, 2011
1:54 pm
The beauty about all the haters is that no one is making them watch the game and support the Falcons. They must have nothing better to do than be miserable.
Go Falcons!
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
1:54 pm
JIZZZZ
phil
November 27th, 2011
1:54 pm
It’s not hate to be growing weary of offensive sputters….
mountain_jim
November 27th, 2011
1:55 pm
I like that draw to Rodgers play
welikebaseball2
November 27th, 2011
1:55 pm
Mr. Charlie & ijonathan: No, Ryan’s throw wasn’t horrible. I wouldn’t say it was “perfect” either. Excuse me if I’m a bit skeptical of a guy officially ranked as one of the worse deep-ball throwers in the league. Of course there have been times when his receivers failed to make adjustments to get under the ball…but way more often than not, Ryan underthrows them or overthrows them…mostly underthrows.
Loserville USA
November 27th, 2011
1:55 pm
Lots of runs today. Good.
Draggin Fly
November 27th, 2011
1:55 pm
This game needs Sirigusa here to raise the intellectual commentary level.
ijonathan
November 27th, 2011
1:56 pm
Buzz…no, here’s the deal…certain left-handed supermen athtlete QBs in this league sit back in the pocket, wait for Roddy to fully make his move, see that he slips, then adjust their laser like dart to exactly where he’s going to be. None of this throw-before-the-break-loft-it-up-shyt. Aight?
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
1:56 pm
Meanwhile, back at the ballgame …
Falcons are driving.
Mr Charlie
November 27th, 2011
1:57 pm
We, we had one prized receiver drop a deep ball in his bread basket, and another, who leads the league in drops, slip….No wonder Ryans deep stats are poor.
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2011
1:57 pm
Until Clabo lurches offside
phil
November 27th, 2011
1:57 pm
Same announcers each week…ugh.
Another stupid penalty…