In hiring Koetter, Mike Smith deserves the benefit of the doubt
Slogan suggestion: His name is Dirk, and his responsiblity he won't shirk. (AP photo)
Flowery Branch – No, it doesn’t look so good: An offense that couldn’t manage a point in losing its playoff game has been handed to a man whose most recent unit finished last in the NFL. Why not hire Darrell Royal and have him install the Wishbone?
But here’s where we take a deep breath and say: Dirk Koetter isn’t as bad as all that. For what the Atlanta Falcons need in the year 2012, he’ll be better than Mike Mularkey. (Though you know that Jacksonville fans are thinking what we around here were wondering when the Jaguars made Mularkey their head coach: Is that team nuts?) And here’s where we must take a bunny-hop of faith.
At Falcons HQ Monday, Mike Smith stuck his head in the hallway where the media relations staff has its offices and was spotted by this correspondent, who posed three questions.
Is Koetter the guy he wanted? “Yes,” Smith said.
Is the head coach comfortable that Koetter is indeed the right guy? “Yes,” Smith said.
Is the head coach confident this offensive coordinator can lead the Falcons upward? “Absolutely,” Smith said.
And there you have it — yes, yes, absolutely. Skeptics among us will sneer: “So what did you expect him to say? ‘I hired a moron’?’ ” But ultimately every hire in every profession comes down to one thing: Do you trust the guy doing the hiring?
Me, I trust Mike Smith.
He knows Dirk Koetter (pronounced “Cutter”) better than you or I, having worked with him in Jacksonville in 2007. Smitty also knows his personnel better than you or I, having watched every move made in a practice or a game both live and on tape. The latest numbers don’t flatter Koetter, but let’s ask this: After seeing the Jaguars lose 41-14 here in December, where should that offense — with a rookie quarterback and receivers Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson was overheard to call “jokes” — have ranked?
Another stat to consider: The 2010 Jaguars, as coordinated by Koetter and with a quarterback (David Garrard) who would subsequently be cut in training camp, finished 8-8 but outgained — by two yards over 16 games — a Falcons team that finished 13-3 and had Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez.
With the Falcons, Koetter will have access to better players than he ever did in Jacksonville, and if he hadn’t managed to articulate a coherent vision regarding those players he wouldn’t have gotten the job. This is the biggest hire Smith has made since he first arrived, much bigger than having to replace Brian VanGorder as defensive coordinator. (The defense wasn’t the unit that grossly underperformed in the Meadowlands.) He didn’t hire Koetter because the guy once bought him lunch at Wendy’s. He hired Koetter because he believes this is the man he needs.
Speaking with the Atlanta media via a conference call Monday, Koetter said some of things you hoped he’d say: That he “believe(s) in the vertical [passing] game”; that he was prodded by Smith to make the Falcons “a better screen team” and that he’s “a big believer in the screen game.” He also extolled the virtues of offensive “balance,” which is as sexy as suggesting that veggies are good for you, but he also made a salient point.
Loading ...“It’s easy to say it’s a passing league and that defense doesn’t matter and running doesn’t matter,” Koetter said, “but look what happened this weekend.”
The Packers and Saints, the NFC teams who sling it best, were undone in the playoffs by more prosaic opponents. Koetter again: “Ask any defensive coordinator, and he’ll say the hardest thing to defend is balance.”
Little about Koetter’s background suggests he’s a stick-in-the-mud. He worked on a three-man staff with Andy Reid, who’s one of the NFL’s better schemers, at San Francisco State. As head coach, Koetter had consecutive 10-win seasons at Boise State before anybody cared about Boise State. He spent six seasons as Arizona State’s head coach, and the Pac-10 was always ahead of the national curve offensively. Also this: He has spent 25 years calling plays.
No, Smitty didn’t hire the mad scientist we around here were hoping he would, and yes, it looks a little funny for a team desperate to win a Super Bowl to turn to a guy whose staff got fired in Jacksonville, but let’s recall: In 2008 Mike Smith hired four assistants — Mularkey, Keith Armstrong, Terry Robiskie and Glenn Pires — who had just overseen a 1-15 season with Miami. That foursome helped the Falcons go 43-21 over the best four-year run in franchise history.
Lest we forget, Smith himself wasn’t the hottest name on the market four Januarys ago, but he has spent four seasons earning the benefit of the doubt. Here’s where we need to extend it.
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
254 comments Add your comment
Mark Bradley
January 16th, 2012
9:10 pm
Good idea, South Georgia. They should trade Ryan for Brady. Think Belichick would go for that?
Chipper
January 16th, 2012
9:13 pm
All good downfield passers are good because their OL gives them 4 to 6 seconds to view their options while Matt Ryan has no more than 2 seconds to do the same. On equal terms he would be among the best.
Dumb & Dumber
January 16th, 2012
9:34 pm
Only Idiots would hire the worst OC in the nfl.
GoldenFields
January 16th, 2012
9:49 pm
A bold move for the defensive coordinator would be to move to the 3-4 and hire Dean Pees to run it. Pees ran the Patriots Defense for 6 years, and is currently coaching linebackers for the Ravens. He also coached under Saban at Michigan State, back in the day. Atlanta has the personel to run the 3-4, and if Smith is given a year to transition, could be a bold move.
Darock
January 16th, 2012
9:55 pm
Opie Taylor, you hit the nail directly on the head. We have some soft players on the team and it was very evident in the Tampa Bay game towards the end when Dunta got in a scuffle and no one came to his defense on the defense. If Lofton and Abe were the leaders on the defense then when a teammate get into a fight everyone should until the refs break it up. I totally agree about coaching which we do not have any going on. The heart and soul of the team starts at the top with the coaches and then QB. I’m a big Ryan fan but he has to develop into an elite Qb and stop making dumb decision and have a killer instinct in him like Brees, Brady, or Rodgers. We need to go out and get a Defensive coordinator such as a Singletary because he is hard and probably could help make our team hard and not soft.
$5 tickets
January 16th, 2012
10:02 pm
Like last season, I’ll only go to the games if I can find $5 tickets outside—if not, I’ll head to cnn center and drink better and watch the game on TV—very simple. I’m not paying good money to watch these overpaid players and coaches.
Greg Mendel
January 16th, 2012
10:20 pm
This blog has been overwhelmed by negative reaction to Koetter’s hiring. I’m in the minority, obviously, but the Mike Smith Era is one hell of a lot better than the three decades of the other Smiths. If you suffered through those since 1966, like many have, and are still a fan, you’d thank the Lord for Mike Smith, Arthur Blank, Tom Dimitroff — and even Mike Mularkey. Yeah, we’ve lost three times post-season. Yeah, all of the post season losses disappointed me. You can complain, but, to me, your bitching is a lot like pi$$ing on my leg and calling it rain. Four winning seasons and three playoffs ain’t bad. You want worse? Then, turn the team over to a flock of bloggers.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
January 16th, 2012
10:24 pm
Eric C.
January 16th, 2012
8:25 pm
Peyton Manning, 0-3 in first three playoff games and lost 0-41 in last game
___________________________________________________
And Tom Brady started 10-0, so what’s your point?
HA HA HA
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
January 16th, 2012
10:25 pm
hipper
January 16th, 2012
9:13 pm
All good downfield passers are good because their OL gives them 4 to 6 seconds to view their options while Matt Ryan has no more than 2 seconds to do the same. On equal terms he would be among the best.
______________________________________________
Ole NOODLE ARM could have 30 seconds to pass and it will still float 30 yards…………
HA HA HA
BernieMarcusWasTheBrains
January 16th, 2012
10:52 pm
Options: Blank could have pulled out his checkbook and BOUGHT a great OC.
What did he do? He let Smith hire a guy with the worse offense in football because Smith knew him.
Smith is a very good but not great coach. If Smith was a great coach he would have won a playoff game after four years.
Hope everyone enjoyed the past four years because all that Falcon talent is about to be wasted (again).
Its cold in Boston and Green Bay and I don’t like N.O. So no chance of moving where they have winners. Wait… San Francisco.
BernieMarcusWasTheBrains
January 16th, 2012
10:54 pm
Mark. Why do you trust a coach who in four years could not win a playoff game and whose offense did not even score a point in the last playoff game?
Smith is a very nice man who produced a good but not very good football team.
WHY do you trust him?
Mack
January 16th, 2012
11:09 pm
Dirk Cutter … sounds like a Pulp Fiction character.
Welcome to Atlanta Coach Koetter!
Well, one thing is for-sure. Coach Koetter’s offensive’s ranking will improve next year. No where to go but up!
Tree rollins
January 16th, 2012
11:26 pm
Something stinks in Denmark – it’s either a turd in the punch bowl or Welcome Back Koetter! I’ll let you guess. Now let’s get out there and get the 32nd ranked defensive coordinator and get the season underway! Arthur, you can keep those seats to yourself – give ‘em to your Home Depot buddies…
Tree rollins
January 16th, 2012
11:33 pm
Me, I’m going to make my season ticket money selling stickum to Roddy and Julio this year – the 2 dropsy-est receivers in the NFL. Dirk will teach them to hold onto the ball this year like a confused bleached blonde at a topless bar!
Tree rollins
January 17th, 2012
12:02 am
I just realized something – we just traded Mike Mularkey for Dirk Koetter. Doesn’t that mean we need to hire on the DC that Auburn just dumped so they could add Brian Van Gorder? Or does the fact he hasn’t worked for the Jags disqualify him from getting the job – this is all so confusing to me!
Schultz is right
January 17th, 2012
12:08 am
We have talented players now, with Gonzalez possibly in his last year. A td threat in Julio everytime he touches the ball. We had an owner that was “angry” and said he wanted the Lombardi trophy. That being said, this is an awful hire to say the least. A proven OC should have been the hire. Of course he can only get better after coaching the worst offense in the NFL last season. Atlanta sports are not the only pros who have accepted mediocrity, the sports writers are following them as well. “If you continue to do what you have always done, you will continue to get what you always have got” I cannot see a playoff win anytime in the near future (years)
Najeh Davenpoop
January 17th, 2012
1:23 am
This article is about the weakest defense possible of the Koetter hire. So Falcons fans should trust Mike Smith and therefore trust Koetter? Didn’t the exact same Mike Smith hire the supposedly inept Mike Mularkey? Where was his unquestionable judgment when that happened?
It’s unfair to blame Koetter entirely for the Jags finishing 32nd, since he had the worst starting QB in the league, but his resume isn’t exactly inspiring.
Waffle House or Bust
January 17th, 2012
1:36 am
Why Falcons will not win with this bunch.
1. Coach Smith is soft and shows signs of being a coward on the sidelines. Has peaked in Atlanta and now begins the spiral downhill.
2. Ryan is soft. Shows no signs of being a Favre type leader who would sacrifice his body to help his team win. Ryan is so soft the Falcons cheerleaders make fun of him (true store – know a few of them).
3. No swagger. Don’t think swagger matters in the NFL? Ask the Giants if that is true. Major swagger against us and Packers. Leads to confidence which leads to success.
4. No secondary. This has been a problem for years and not sure why never addressed in offseason.
5. Now add this Koetter clown to the mix and prepare for BORING football in Atlanta.
6. Lose the Rise Up slogan. It is about as good as the Hawks “now you know” campaign used back when everyone thought they were going to be the next big thing.
I love living in Atlanta but it sucks being a sports fan here after living in NYC for two years and witnessing what real fans are like. 2012 Falcon prediction: 8-8 (and Blank keeps Smith).
SawThat1nce
January 17th, 2012
3:19 am
People still crying over this hire?
ATl Sports
January 17th, 2012
7:08 am
THE CONCERN IS THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO DO A THOROUGH SEARCH AND WITHIN A COUPLE OF DAYS THEY HIRE IS BUDDY! I HOPE THE GUY DOES A GREAT JOB BUT DO NOT MAKE US THINK YOU ARE GOING TO DO THIS MAJOR SEARCH.
Ted M
January 17th, 2012
7:34 am
That he “believe(s) in the vertical [passing] game”; that he was prodded by Smith to make the Falcons “a better screen team” and that he’s “a big believer in the screen game.”
Really….why didn’t Smith prod Mike Mularkey to make the Falcons a better screen team? According to Blank the Falcons weren’t going to fire Mike Mularkey so Smith must’ve liked him.
So you trust Smith even though his first choice was to keep Mike Mularkey and let him do the same ole same ole.
birddroppings
January 17th, 2012
7:36 am
What happened over the weekend is the Giants defense stopped the Pack as they did the Falcons while in all the other games the defenses disappeared. DEFENSE wins games.
Email Profiling Is Wrong
January 17th, 2012
7:54 am
What’s David Garard up to these days? How’s his arm? Is he any good at quarterback sneaks?
Perhaps Koetter can put in a good word for him. Maybe the Birds will sign him up.
DG’s a pretty decent QB. Tough guy too. You hear toughness as a attribute missing from these Falcons. Certainly our timid, string bean, franchise QB could use a mettle transplant. Maybe Garard can share some of his. Seems he’s got plenty to spare.
And it’s time to send the message to Ryan that there’s finally another guy on the roster who can play a little quarterback at the NFL level. No offense to Chris Redmond.
Mark
January 17th, 2012
7:58 am
Mike Smith knows he is in the hot seat. I really don’t think he would hire a lame duck knowing this. Screen passes, well we have JR and Snelling who can catch outta the backfield. I am just fine with this hire. Now my big question is who are we gonna hire as our DC? I really hope it’s Sagnuolo because of his proven track record to come up with schemes to get pressure on the opposing QB. I fear though since we haven’t already hired him that he is holding out for New Orleans. Guess we will see in the next few days.
david
January 17th, 2012
8:08 am
dumb dumb dumb
Email Profiling Is Wrong
January 17th, 2012
8:27 am
One guy’s opinion. You can’t talk about the prospects for success with our new OC unless you include his centerpiece, Matt Ryan. Extol Matt’s winning record (at home) and his ability to accumulate passing yardage (between the 20’s in seven yard increments – in a pass-happy league) all you want, he’s not a complete package. It doesn’t appear he ever will be. Everybody knows the elite QB traits he’s lacking; they include both the physical and the intangible.
How good do Ryan’s supporters believe him to be? Who’s got a better set of skill position players at his disposal? How effectively has Ryan exploited their talents?
And just for grins, think about this. If the Falcons were to offer Ryan straight up to the other 31 teams in the league, how many do you think would take them up on the offer? A silly question maybe, but this guy is constantly hyped by Dimitroff and Blank and Smitty as a top ten talent, so given that appraisal, shouldn’t at least twenty one teams be beating on the door at Flowery Branch itching to bring the Matty Ice magic to their home team.
I won’t bore you (further) with a team-by-team analysis. Suffice it to say though, that an objective assessment puts Ryan somewhere in the middle of the QB pack (15, 16, 17, 18). Stated another way, not even in spitting distance of the top ten.
This franchise made a bold – some say audacious – move last year trading multiple draft pics for the rights to Julio Jones. Jones appears to be as advertised. You don’t believe me? I’ll make the same offer as with Ryan – toss his name out on the open market as available for a one-for-one deal and see how many potential takers respond.
I think a reasonable claim can be made that the Falcons will never tap the full potential of our current skill position players (particularly a deep passing game) with Ryan as the QB.
SirReal
January 17th, 2012
8:43 am
Its not that bad guys.LOL Yeah I wanted Billick but who knows how that would have really gone over? The chemistry may have sucked. What about Tom Clements. Guys, he is Rodgers QB coach and last time I checked the only two things Ryan and Rodgers had in common is the R in their last names.lol He is unproven too but will you guys have felt better just because he coached Rodgers? Or what about Martz? PLEASE. Resume says “Doesnt play well with others.” I know it isnt a big splash at all but the guy is well respected around the league. All I’m saying is lets give him a chance first…and if he flops, then we can break the dam and release the river.
GT
January 17th, 2012
8:49 am
One other thing to keep in mind. GB’s offense didn’t look very good against the NY Giants either. Wouldn’t it be ironic if NY wins the super bowl? We would draw the hottest team in football two years in a row? I think the chances are good NY goes all the way. Did we think that when they were playing for their lives in Dallas? We make judgements with misinformation all the time. I retrospect we were having to play a hot team in their own stadium. Not unlike St. Louis in baseball, barely making it to the playoffs, knocking the Braves out of the show and then as we set depressed on the misconception that a lousy team has knock us out of contention they go and win the whole thing. If we are expecting to win the whole thing this is no consolation, but we weren’t, we were expecting to win in NY and lose bad in GB. We just did it a week earlier to a better team. We really are no worse than we thought we were, and actually may be a bit better.
cocheese
January 17th, 2012
8:53 am
Sam Baker-Traded up for him. Lingering back injury from college.
Peria Jerry-1st round pick. Lingering knee injury from college.
Edwards and Robinson-Both pretty average and not perfomring up to the size of their contracts.
Bottom line is that our team has to hit on our high draft picks better and sign the right guys in free agency, not whoever is out there at our position of need. Two things that could give us a needed jolt. Signing Laron Landry to replace DeCoud and drafting RB Wilson from Va. Tech. in the second round. Let’s give Koetter a chance but definitely make some changes with the team too, not just the coordinators.
St Simons - we're on Island time
January 17th, 2012
8:55 am
keep hope alive! by continuing a half century of futility….
loserville – its a tradition now.
Even if we luck up & win one someday – we’re still loserville at this point
Congratulations
GT
January 17th, 2012
8:58 am
cocheese wish it was that easy. The obvious stuff never works, the geniuses do things we all think is nuts till it works. All I know is this is the best Falcons team we ever had for this long a time. I find myself in bed with Bradley which ain’t the path to heaven, but the truth is a powerful thing.
Koetter wants balance in Atlanta offense – ESPN (blog) | Conference Call
January 17th, 2012
9:01 am
[...] call with the Atlanta media …Falcons seek more dynamic offense under KoetterFS SouthIn hiring Koetter, Mike Smith deserves the benefit of the doubtAtlanta Journal Constitution [...]
PDawg
January 17th, 2012
9:06 am
After 45 years of this crappy team I don’t have a bunny hop of faith left. This was just dumb. Should have gone for Paul Johnson, then added Cannonball Butler and Ernie Wheelwright to Turner for the triple option!
SirReal
January 17th, 2012
9:17 am
BREAKING NEWS: ATLANTA FALCONS HIRE BUTCH REED AS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR!!!!! LOL LOL (just kidding….sorry to play with everyone’s emotions.)
SirReal
January 17th, 2012
9:18 am
I just wanted to hear people go crazy and say ‘Who is THAT?’ Its just a guy I made up.lol lol
Zoomie
January 17th, 2012
9:20 am
“The . . . Saints . . . were undone in the playoffs . . .”
I just never get tired of reading it!
SirReal
January 17th, 2012
9:25 am
@Zoomie Yeah its felt great to not have SeenthisB4 and his ilk on here.
MIKI
January 17th, 2012
9:26 am
Ater one decent draft TD has basically whiffed ,free agency hasnt produced, and we have numerous holes to fill all around. We better get more results from our personell dept. or an OC or Dc wont matter.
Ed
January 17th, 2012
9:33 am
So, Arthur Blank said he’s angry with the falcons playoff performance, and their inability to play better this year over last years embarrassment. So hiring an offensive coordinator who’s team offense ranked last in the NFL last year makes sense to whom, something’s rotten in Atlanta……..
Regression Test
January 17th, 2012
9:45 am
This one tree is not going to fix a forest full of problems in this organization, so who are we kidding? Things are no longer a question marks, they are facts. No matter how much someone wants to focus on Mularkey being the problem (and he no doubt was one of the trees that needed to be chopped down – but Falcons were nice and decided not to fire him the day after the season b/c he was going to Jags). A change in schemes will not fix the Matt Ryan problem – whether you are talking about O-line protection (easy to blame) or his well-earned choker make-up (as he is anything but Ice), will not fix the problem that Dimitroff has created with poor drafts, trading away draft choices (which he would probably screw up if he had them) and blundered FA signings – which makes this team thin at the core. That will not be changed in an off-season. This team has been mismanaged by this man and I guarantee you Blank has to now be focusing on that, again proven, problem. He has to hope aned wish that it is not true and that by some miracle Koetter will come in here and prime the pump ,, but that will not happen to the degree needed to mask all of the other glaring issues. ) O-Line, Overrated Roddy, Aged Turner, No other promising back (see draft), D-Line, DE’s, Secondary, did I mention RYAN. All the duct tape, caulk and roof tiles in Home Depot could not fix what will take years to rebuild,, and the worst part is that in addition to the time already lost, the same GM will continue to set this organization back ,, so this regression will continue. I appreciate all of the effort, loyalty and desire ,, but the results are what matter and no one will be able to hide that in a few years.
Joey
January 17th, 2012
9:58 am
Living a couple miles from the FL border, I get served all of the Jags games, and there’s not a nickel’s worth of difference in the two offenses, other than our 4th year QB, and the Jags 1st year QB. Run, run, and pass when you must, never, ever throw long.
By the 2nd quarter, I usually found something more interesting to do, like vacuming the rug . . .
Broken Wing
January 17th, 2012
10:02 am
Are you kidding me? We just traded the farm in the form of future draft picks to draft Julio and then hire an OC who wants to throw more screen passes. Glad to know everyone is on the same page.
Joey
January 17th, 2012
10:13 am
Matt Ryan ain’t no Rogers or Brady, but he is good enough, provided our HC one day decides to abandon his offensive (and it’s truely offensive) philosophy, circa the 60’s.
BillyBob
January 17th, 2012
10:14 am
What we really need is an elite QB like Brees or “Discount Double Check” Rogers. Oh wait, aren’t they home this weekend watching the game same as Ryan?
SirReal
January 17th, 2012
11:07 am
As we see, you can have all the offensive fire power you want but DEFENSE and a ground game STILL reign in a so-called “passing league”. ALL the 5000 yard club members except for Brady are done. Yeah our QB isnt top 5 by any means but having a good defense is extremely important. Just look at Trent Dilfer in BAL years ago.LOL He has a ring and he is nowhere near Ryan.lol
Stop the Madness
January 17th, 2012
11:17 am
It’s difficult to say whether this hire is a good or bad one since the team hasn’t played a down with him. I guess we all have to wait and see whether this was a good Smith hire or not.
chris
January 17th, 2012
12:01 pm
Mark I appreciate your column, I think at the end of the day most of the angst most fans feel is the hangover from the drubbing we took in NY last week…that is fresh on the minds of most and when they dont bring in the mad scientist to fix things most fans react negatively. After taking a deep breath, Mike Smith has done a great job here..most dont remember the awful years of the 70s, 80s and 90s here save one or two seasons….Smitty has had this team in the hunt every year….and Id rather feel sick getting beat IN the playoffs than feeling like we did this fall when another Atlanta team, the Braves choked WITHOUT making the playoffs. If we can get a good draft, shore up this defense and get an offensive line that can block better than my dead grandmother…(apologies to my grandmother)…we’re going to be in the hunt again next year..the main thing with Koetter is how he will handle and relate to Matt Ryan and allow him to fully use his skills and not over coach him..Ryan looked lost at times this year to me trying to”fit” his game into the Falcons schemes..got to let this kid play..I hopt Koetter sees that and wraps his arm around Matty and say “take this show to the house.” THats what Sean Peyton has done in N.O. and its’ time for us to do it in Atlanta.
SirReal
January 17th, 2012
12:23 pm
And Flacco gets all these accolades but he’s not that great himself. You flip flop him and Ryan and we’d be saying how good Ryan was. How did Sanchez get a few postseason wins? On his arm? Yeah right. DEFENSE!! The Beloved Tim Tebox? On his arm? Yeah right. DEFENSE!! T.J. Yates? On his arm? Yeah right. DEFENSE!!! Anyone see the pattern….?
Screen Man
January 17th, 2012
1:33 pm
can’t wait to see that screen pass baby–that will pack fans in the Dome!! let it loose.
Opie Taylor
January 17th, 2012
1:55 pm
SirReal, you make some very correct and valid points, but at the end of the day it does not matter how these quarterbacks won, the facts remain they WON!! Ryan has not, 0-3. We give him all of the accolades for his regular season 42-20 record, he missed two games in 2009 because of turf toe, he will get criticized for his poor post season record.
That is part of being the FACE of the Franchise, If Mike Smith want to crown him CAPTAIN he needs to LEAD like one in the POST SEASON!! One of the bloggers mentioned Peyton Manning 0-4 playoff record to begin his career, who in the hell cares!! One fact Matt Ryan will never be Peyton Manning, stop dreaming and adding pressure to this kid. Two this discussion is about the Atlanta Falcons and their suspect decision making from Tom Dimitroff and Mike Smith, stay on point and stop talking about other quarterback’s performance in the playoffs, I am only concern with the Falcons playoff performances which are due to poor coaching, scheming and conservatism. I blame the staff for not letting Ryan be aggressive in the playoffs!!