The only thing that could have ruined the incredible season that was 2010 for the Atlanta Falcons would be for the team to get blown out at the Georgia Dome on national television. Sadly as Murphy’s Law would have it, that’s exactly what happened. Aaron Rodgers looked like a future Hall of Famer (which he very well may be) last week as he led the Packers on scoring drive after scoring drive in a 48-21 victory over Atlanta in the NFC Divisional playoff round. The worst part about the loss was not that Atlanta would be denied a shot at the NFC crown and a Super Bowl bid. The worst part of the loss was the fact it occurred on a nationally-televised FOX broadcast and the national media was ruthless in tearing down the Falcons. The CBS studio team acted like it was zero surprise that the Falcons would lose in this manner and several ESPN talking heads were telling us “(they) told us so.” It seems that all of the good will that Matt Ryan and Roddy White and Mike Smith built up this year came crashing down in a hurry with two Matty Ice interceptions in the final three minutes of the first half, giving Green Bay a lead it would never relinquish.
That night Falcons fans were, of course, upset and took to the airwaves to voice displeasure. 790 The Zone was jammed full of callers for its postgame show and the calls continued the next day on the Ford Football Show and Score Atlanta’s Sports Sunday. For three hours Score Atlanta’s Brian Jones, who covers the Falcons for this paper, Josh Hagadone and I took calls that blamed the loss on everyone from Matt Ryan to Mike Smith to Mike Mularky to the defense to Brian VanGorder. Then finally a few callers had had enough of the doom and gloom and finger-pointing and for about six callers in a row towards the end of the show, fans started to pick up their battered franchise and applaud their season-long effort. The fans realized that this was one defeat, a bad one, but one the team could recover from, learn from, and rebound from in 2011. After hearing so much negativity, it was nice on a personal level to hear the silver lining finally coming through the dark clouds.
With the loss, coupled with the strong regular season, the Atlanta Falcons draft slot has been decided, and the Dirty Birds will be picking at No. 27 in the first round in the upcoming April NFL Draft. During the barrage of calls, numerous suggestions were tossed out as to whom the Falcons should select with that pick, but some local pundits have revealed picks. 680 The Fan’s Buck Belue would like to see the Falcons go after a running back to complement Michael Turner, especially after his partner John Kincade noted that Turner’s “arrow is pointing down.” Belue tossed out the name of Oklahoma Sooners tailback DeMarco Murray as a name of a fast back that can catch out of the backfield for the Falcons to target in the draft. 790 The Zone’s Hans Heiserer found a mock draft that predicted the Falcons would select Alabama tailback and former Heisman winner Mark Ingram. D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC rattled off a pair of cornerbacks as well as an offensive lineman as potential selections (shockingly NOT a center as he was calling for last year), but Ledbetter’s other option was the one that most intrigued me: Ohio State standout defensive end Cameron Heyward. The former Peachtree Ridge Lion was unstoppable in the Sugar Bowl and would bookend John Abraham nicely, eventually taking over from the Predator. I hope Ledbetter is right on this one.
Speaking of John Abraham, Yahoo! Sports was not too kind towards the Falcons Defensive End after Abraham finally broke through in the third quarter for a sack on Green Bay’s Rodgers when the Falcons were down two scores. Here is Chris Chase from Yahoo! Sports’ Shutdown Corner Blog:
An unsolicited tip to all NFL defenders: If you're down 14 points in a playoff game, don't mock the quarterback that's beating you after making a relatively inconsequential sack at the start of the second half. Sadly, this advice comes too late for John Abraham The Atlanta Falcons defensive end sacked Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers at the start of the second half and celebrated by mocking Rodgers' championship-belt move. Not a terrible move, but better done when your team isn't down two touchdowns at home.
I was appalled to read in a recent forum on the AJC’s Georgia blog that some one thinks this Georgia basketball team is the best team the program has produced in twenty-five years. Really? I have a hard time believing that some one would say that this team is the best Georgia has fielded in the last quarter century. No disrespect to this team but I have a hard time believing that this team would beat the 2003 unit that was ranked as high as No. 6 at one point before the team was pulled due to the Harrick scandal in a best-of-seven series. Tubby’s teams were quality and I would rank them higher than this team AT THIS MOMENT. This team certainly has the chance to surpass those squads, but it is early in the season. Let this year play out before the current squad of Bulldogs is crowned as the best of the best.
Finally, I would like to tip my cap to two “update” personalities that are worthy of more airtime. 680 The Fan’s Chadd Scott and 790 The Zone’s Justin Hanover are both outstanding at providing updates, but both also bring interesting opinions on a variety of topics that keep me locked to my radio. Scott, who also writes College Football’s Most Dangerous Blog for chuckoliver.net, is sometimes given airtime with Kincade where he presents his takes logically, to the point that even if you disagree with him you still nod your head to concede his point of view. Meanwhile Hanover has been a Sunday fixture over the past few years on the Zone’s Falcons postgame coverage. This past college football season though Hanover was on the airwaves most Saturdays as well and he proved that his football expertise is not simply NFL-exclusive. Both of these gentlemen should receive a push from their respective stations as both have earned more time.
Can You Believe He Said That
Amid another Georgia Tech losing streak, continuing grumbling over Paul Hewitt’s rollover contract and a “home crowd” punctuated by empty seats… the Jackets went and threw everybody for a loop Sunday night. They won a game.
Jeff Schultz of the AJC isn’t a bad as Mark Bradley when it comes to taking the Yellow Jackets head basketball coach to the woodshed, but in his column following Tech’s big win over North Carolina, Schultz laid on the backhanded compliments pretty thick. I would say poor Paul Hewitt, but he could have walked away from a fan base that seems to have cooled on him and a newspaper that is seemingly out for his head, but he chose to stick around for the rollover contract. He deserves what he gets until he turns it around.
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