Vick for MVP

2007-01-03T09:37:00.000-05:00

Good Riddance

Two years ago, I liked Mora. I thought he brought personality to the team... He was fiery, and it appeared to pump up the team. I figured it was a good fit. He took us to the NFL Championship game and it looked like a sign of good things to come, especially after a 6-2 start last season. However, since then Mora has been anything but impressive. Once the Falcons started losing, it was easy to see that Mora couldn't keep his cool. Players look to their coach as an authoratative figure, and when they see the coach running up and down the sideline screaming... How can you supposed to expect his players to keep their cool? Mora had no control over the team, he liked to think he was one of the players instead of a coach.

I hope the entire coaching staff gets let go. And I hope the new coach coming in can control the team and establish discipline. I want a coach who can keep his composure in tough situations. Mark Richt for example, never loses his cool or makes a fool of himself. UGA was down 3-21 to Va Tech at halftime... You didn't see Richt out of control and giving up on the team. As a result, the Bulldogs came back and won 31-24. When have you ever seen the Falcons come back from a 4th quarter defecit? It hasn't happened.

As for Vick... Can we please get rid of him. I've lost respect for him. He's not a leader. He is the Allen Iverson of football. He doesn't care about the team or winning. He cares about the 1,000 rushing yards he put up this year. He cares about his career high 20 TD passes this year. He throws everyone under the bus except for himself. He sees himself as higher than the team (which you can partly blame on Arthur Blank, who else have you seen Blank pushing around the sideline on a wheelchair while injured... No one).

Vick's excuse for never emerging as the consistant superstar that everyone expected out of him is that they've gone through 3 different coaching systems in the 6 years he's been a pro. Well it appears the Falcons are about to go through their 4th different system. Does that mean we get 2 more years of mediocre play out of him?

My suggestion... Trade him. Get whatever picks we can get for him and move on. We have an extremely talented QB in Matt Schaub. For some reason Matt Schaub doesn't have trouble with our WR. Last year against the then defending world champ Patriots, Schaub passed for 300+ yards and 3 TD's. Last week against the Eagles in just over a quarter Schaub passed for 175 yards (and passed for the Falcons 1st 4th qtr TD in about 14 games) while Vick had only passed for 86 yards in 2 1/2 quarters.

I know the Falcons don't have the balls to trade Vick and hand the team over the Schaub, even though that's probably the right move. So I'm praying that Vick will demand a trade out of Atlanta.

2006-09-17T21:18:00.000-04:00

Making It Look Easy

How the Falcons are playing is summed up pretty well below...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2591874

The Falcons ran all over yet another team that is considered to have a top defense in the league. 252 rushing yards last week against Carolina, 306 this afternoon against Tampa Bay... A team that has dominated Vick and the Falcons in the past. The kicking game is a mess, but I have a pretty good feeling that it'll be addressed before next weeks Monday Night Game against the Saints.

The greatest thing about todays 14-3 win over Tampa was probably just watching the frustration building on the Tampa sideline. Simms had so many passes knocked down at the line and I feel like he's lucky that he only threw 3 interceptions, things could have been MUCH, MUCH worse. But I'm content with yet another humbling of a 2005 playoff team... Falcons have quickly become the team to beat in the NFC South. A win next week will put us at 3-0 overall and 3-0 against the NFC South. The great thing is that if there's going to be another 2-0 team in the division, it's the Saints. That's perfect. I never would've imagined Tampa and Carolina both getting off to 0-2 starts, but I'm definitely not complaining.

2006-09-01T00:03:00.000-04:00

Please Don't Stress Me Out This Year...

Well I guess I'll start this up again. I'm excited about the Falcons as a team this year, I think they've greatly improved overall compared to lasts years team, especially on defense. We traded T.J. Duckett to Washington and got Ashley Lelie from Denver, and at first I didn't really approve of the trade but I'm becoming impressed with Jerious Norwood and I think he can fill in for Duckett just fine. I just hope Lelie comes here and busts his ass but I'm a little worried he's gonna be another drama queen Wide Receiver.

I hate the schedule... It's not gonna be pretty. Tampa and Carolina have tough defenses and New Orleans has improved their offense a good bit. We play the AFC North this year which isn't exactly an easy division. My honest prediction is a 7-9 season... With or without a healthy Vick. It's gonna take a huge breakout season from a lot of players in order for us to win 10 or 11 games this year. But we'll see, Vick has the talent to take over any game so hopefully he can take a step forward this year and become a legit star QB.

2006-05-01T21:06:00.000-04:00

Draft:

Texans - I've decided are one of the worst franchises in football. The reasoning behind taking Mario Williams over Reggie Bush according to the Texans GM.. "You know, look at it this way, if we had Bush, would we outscore Indianapolis? Our decision was no. What's our best chance of beating Indianapolis? That's with a pass rush and that's Mario Williams."

That's a GREAT thought process. Compare your 2-14 team to a 14-2 team. ESPN has polls where fans can vote on their teams draft grade... 61% of the fans gave Houston an 'F'.

Arizona is going to have a great offense for years to come, one of the best in football I've decided. I've watched Pope while he was here in Athens and he's a beast. Critics say he's raw and needs to work on blocking but in a few years he'll be an amazing TE. A lot of mock drafts had him going in the late 1st round, so getting him in the 3rd round was a steal. Need I even say anything about Leinart? Congrats to Arizona, God obviously wants you to have a good team. It amazes me that teams like Detroit and Oakland passed on Leinart... GM's are geniuses these days...

As for the Falcons, I expected nothing out of them in the draft. I was hoping for a Michael Huff or Jimmy Williams a couple months ago, but then we traded our 15th pick for Abraham. So when I saw we drafted Williams, I was at first confused... Wasn't sure if it was the same guy, thought there was no way he dropped to the 2nd round (most mock drafts had him going in the top 12). But it was the cocky, physical Va Tech cornerback who I had hoped for. I really respect the Falcons for trading up to get him, that was a great move. And I'm more than impressed with what we've done to upgrade our defense this offseason. I understand teams passed on Jimmy Williams because of his cockiness, but guess what... There's a guy named Deangelo Hall who was labeled as the same type of player and I honestly don't care if your cocky as long as you have the game to back it up. Williams may have caused problems on other teams, but I'm sure that with D-Hall and Vick as mentors, he won't lose focus.

DJ Shockley... I'm glad they took him out of UGA. He's a great guy and the Falcons have been getting a lot of shit for not drafting UGA players. I think the last UGA player they drafted was in 1994. Shockley will compete for the #3 spot on the depth chart. I hope he makes it, I would love to see him in a Falcons uniform.

2006-02-06T00:05:00.000-05:00

A Forgetable Super Bowl

To top off a very forgetable 2006 playoffs. There was a nice play involving Hines Ward but that about sums it up. Not much action, a few bad calls, Hasselbeck being a moron, and poor clock management. But I expected that.

I know I'm not an NFL coach or QB, but I'm amazing at Madden and I know how to manage the clock... Watching the Seahawks at the end of both halfs was just mind boggling.

I mean seriously, Hasselbeck, if there's 30 seconds left and no ones open DON'T toss it to you're running back for a gain of 1 yard only to have him get tackled before getting out of bounds.

Can we press the 'reset' button and just redo the entire playoffs? Maybe get it right this time?

But then again when you think about it, there couldn't possibly be an entertaining Super Bowl. With no Eagles (with a healthy McNabb and cooperative T.O.) and no Falcons, there weren't really any appealing teams in the NFC. When the NFC's top team, Seattle, only puts up 10 pts... That's pretty sad.

Oh well there's always next year. This year's biggest loser - Colts

Bye bye James... Teams have small windows to make Championship teams, this was the Colts year and they blew. James is on his way out and I really doubt the defense will play like it did this season...

2006-01-23T10:11:00.000-05:00

Worst Playoffs Ever

2 more lame games wrapped up yesterday. Has there been a single interesting game this year in the playoffs? Hardly any have even been somewhat close.

Now we have one of the most un-interesting Super Bowls that I can remember. Seattle?! I just can't believe one of these two football teams will be called Champions.

Atleast it's pretty funny that the #6 seed will be the favorite over the #1 seed...

I don't even want to think about how high Matt Hasselbeck is on himself now after finally winning a couple playoff games.

2006-01-14T14:33:00.000-05:00

Predictions

Redskins @ Seahawks - Seahawks 28-10

The Redskins have been in playoff mode for the last 5 weeks and it's taking a toll on them. But then again... The Seahawks haven't won a playoff game in 20 years. Anything can happen in the NFL, but I'm going with the 'Hawks. Also, Seattle is 8-0 at home, Redskins are 4-4 on the road.

Recap: Seahawks win 20-10

Well the Seahawks did everything they could to lose this game. Alexander got knocked out of the game with a concussion, leaving the game up to the last QB I'd ever want leading my team in the playoffs... Hasselbeck. Fumbles almost costed them the game like it did for the Patriots, but luckily the Redskins offense was still in last week's form. Mark Brunell made some terrible passes/decisions.

Patriots @ Broncos - Broncos 24-17

Mile High is one of the greater homefield advantages in the NFL, and the Broncos are 8-0 at home. If Plummer plays smart (which is the key to every Broncos game) then they should beat the Pats at home once again.

Recap: Broncos Win 27-13

Wa wa waa... Poor Tom Brady and his disrespected Pats. Good job on the 99 yd int Brady. The Pats had costly fumbles, couldn't run the ball and basically didn't stand a chance. Atleast they beat a Florida team at home last week...

Panthers @ Bears - Panthers 20-10

Yes we all know the Bears have a great defense, but so do the Panthers. And guess what, the Panthers actually have an offense to compliment that defense of theirs... Unlike the Bears. The weather won't be harshly cold, and that hurts the Bears chances. Panthers will definitely put up more than 3 points this time.

Steelers @ Colts - Colts 31-21

I expect the Colts to be in midseason form. The RCA Dome is also another huge homefield advantage with the crowd and the turf. The loss of Dungy's son will be a big motivation for the Colts. I don't expect the Steelers offense to catch up, especially if they fall behind early and have to abandon the run.

Please let the games be interesting this week!!

2006-01-08T21:41:00.000-05:00

Homefield Disadvantage...

As the 1st round of the 2006 NFL Playoffs came to an end tonight. The home teams finished 1-3. The one win being New England beating Jacksonville, but that should be a given seeing as how teams from the south never have much success in extreme cold.

But when you look at the matchups, many people could've predicted the outcome of the games. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Eli would get lit up by the Panther defense and what do you know... The Giants layed an egg at home by losing 23-0. It amazed me how the Giants somehow won despite Eli all season, but I knew come playoff time they'd get their asses handed to them like they deserved.

In Tampa, the Bucs inexperienced offense gave them an early exit. The Redskins came in winning 5 straight and had revenge on their minds after that controversial loss to the Bucs earlier in the season.

What happened tonight to Carson Palmer was terrible and unfortunate. Someone on the Steelers was "blocked into" his knee and he tore an ACL on the second play of the game. Kitna played alright, but the Bengals may have finished on top with Palmer behind center.

I'm really disappointed in the games so far. None of them have been good/interesting at all. Next week's game should be much better matchups. Let's hope so atleast...

And most importantly... Another week of Portis and his characters.

2006-01-04T22:54:00.000-05:00

Somebody Get This Baby A Pacifier

Well Tom Brady is upset again. This time it's because he feels his Patriots have been disrespected this year...

''I think we've been probably disrespected more than any team in the league this year," Brady said yesterday at his weekly news conference. ''I think we've been given up on by a lot of media people, a lot of fans, our own fans, and other people around the league."

''I think if there's one team that feels like they're disrespected, it's us."

What a loser. He even called out his own fans. Wasn't this guy named Athlete of the Year or something along the lines of that by Sports Illustrated? What else does he want, a personal fan club of about 10 people who follow him around everywhere constantly complimenting him and the Patriots?

This isn't college football Brady. It doesn't matter what other people think of your team, they don't determine where your team winds up in postseason play. It's the NFL, the media can't stop you guys from winning playoff games.

Sorry your team isn't being praised constantly... A team that started 4-4 and ended up 10-6. A team that lost to 3 of the 4 playoff teams that they faced this year. Sorry Brady, that your AMAZING team got lost in the hype of a 13-0 start by the Colts, Chad Johnson (and his Bengals, who had their best season in over a decade), and a Bears team that came out of nowhere led by a rookie QB and it's defense.

When you're done crying maybe you'll realize no one cares and that you made yourself look like a moron. I mean what good did you expect to come out of all this?

Maybe he wants to be in some more lame commercials, seeing as how his team is in a Coors Light, Pepsi and whatever credit card commercial... I guess that's not enough.

Guess what Tom..? The Broncos are 13-3, which is 3 games better than your team, and I don't hear too many people talking about them. Maybe Plummer should start bitching too.

2005-12-29T15:55:00.000-05:00

And the Winners are...

Fiesta - Ohio State (W 34-20)

Sugar - UGA (L 35-38)

Orange - Penn State (W 26-23)

Rose - USC (Result - ??)

2/4

I'm Done...

Just like the Falcons, I'm done. The Falcons, among many teams, were a huge disappointment this year. After starting off 6-2, who would've imagined the Falcons would be 8-7 and most likely 8-8 when the season ends. It's easy to find people to point your finger at... Injuries on defense resulting in a young and inexperienced defense, poor playcalling/coaching at times, an inconsistant offense (#1 run, #28 pass), and the inability to win close games or big games.

Fortunately we're a young team, we have great fans, and we have an owner who's willing to do everything he possibly can to put a competetive team on the field. So I'm sure we'll be serious contenders again next year. Let's just hope that all the talent the Falcons have doesn't go down the drain due to bad coaching and poor composure.

Atleast I can watch the playoffs this year and not have to worry about having a stroke due to the Falcons. I hope the games are fun and exciting...

The Colts are dying and its a shame. It'll be interesting to see how they respond in the playoffs. Peyton deserves a Super Bowl and the Colts have been through a lot this year, it'd be depressing to start off the season 13-0 and finish with neither an undefeated season nor a Super Bowl.

In the NFC... The games should be entertaining but no team other than the Seahawks have a serious chance of beating an AFC team. There's no telling how the Giants, Bucs, and Panthers will do seeing as how every team in the NFC other than the Bears and Seahawks have been inconsistant all year.

The AFC should be just as entertaining. Any of the tops teams could beat each other and it wouldn't be surprising. The Broncos, Colts, Patriots, Bengals, and Steelers are all capable of making it to the Super Bowl. I'll probably be pulling for the Bengals.

As for the Patriots... I've never really liked them, but there's this natural "underdog" feeling that has me pulling for them. Everyone forgot about them all year due to their injuries, but now that key players on their defense are coming back they're becoming a dangerous team again. I don't want to see them in another Super Bowl, it's time for a new team.

Disappointments:

Randy Moss

San Diego Chargers

Green Bay Packers/Brett Favre

Houston Texans

Atlanta Falcons

Surprises:

Chicago Bears

Larry Johnson

Cincinnati Bengals/Carson Palmer

Miami hasn't lost since Saban said he didn't care about winning

Jaguars getting the easiest schedule in NFL history

I suppose I'll update occasionally, not for the playoffs though. I'm sure everyone will already have everything covered. I'll be back next year when the season begins again. Feel free to leave comments. I'll sign off with what I feel like is the best picture I found this year...

Portis is quite possibly the biggest pimp in the NFL. He even has his own "firefighter" pole in his basement...

2005-12-23T14:01:00.000-05:00

Can They Stay Consistant?

The Chiefs are struggling and the Chargers just beat the top team in the NFL, but we're dealing with the Chargers so you never know what you're gonna get out of them. But then again, the same goes for the Chiefs, especially at home. I hope they can pull out that last Wild Card spot, I really don't want to see the Steelers in the playoffs.

Last Week (11-5) Overall (73-21)

Philadelphia @ Arizona - Philadelphia

Dallas @ Carolina - Carolina

Buffalo @ Cincinnati - Cincinnati

Oakland @ Denver - Denver

Jacksonville @ Houston - Jacksonville

San Diego @ Kansas City - San Diego

Tennessee @ Miami - Miami

Detroit @ New Orleans - Detroit

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland - Pittsburgh

Indianapolis @ Seattle - Seattle

San Francisco @ St. Louis - St. Louis

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay - Tampa Bay

N.Y. Giants @ Washington - Washington

Minnesota @ Baltimore - Baltimore

Chicago @ Green Bay - Chicago

New England @ N.Y. Jets - New England

And now I will do the spread since Ski from BestBucsBlog has been bitching at me to do it. He said picking straight up was girly (since I guess girls pick straight up). So I hope you're happy now...

@ Arizona (-1) Philadelphia - Philadelphia

@ Carolina (-5) Dallas - Carolina

@ Cincinnati (-13.5) Buffalo - Buffalo

@ Denver (-13) Oakland - Denver

Jacksonville (-6) Houston - Jacksonville

@ Kansas City (0) San Diego - San Diego

@ Miami (-5.5) Tennessee - Miami

@ New Orleans (-3) Detroit - Detroit

Pittsburgh (-7) Cleveland - Pittsburgh

@ Seattle (-9.5) Indianapolis - Indianapolis

@ St. Louis (-9) San Francisco - St. Louis

@ Tampa Bay (-3) Atlanta - Tampa Bay

@ Washington (-3) N.Y. Giants - Washington

@ Baltimore (-3) Minnesota - Minnesota

Chicago (-7) @ Green Bay - Chicago

New England (-5.5) @ N.Y. Jets - New England

2005-12-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

What Happened to Loyalty?

Apparently there's no such thing as loyalty anymore... I guess millions of dollars can persuade anyone to join their previous teams' most hated rival. I'm not going to talk much about Damon joining the Yankees in this post, simply because everyone already knows what happened and has already talked about it. I'm going to talk about loyalty in general, or the lack there of.

Damon leaving the Red Sox for the Yankees hurts the Red Sox more than the 120+ runs/year they lose, it means they aren't on the level with the Yankees like they thought they were. The Yankees are still the only juggernaut in baseball, they can still get ANY player they want. You will never see the Red Sox steal anyone of Damons talent from the Yankees. Could you ever imagine Sheffield or Jeter coming to the Red Sox? A-Rod came close, but guess what... The Yankees snatched him away.

I don't see the Red Sox maintaining their recent success. Each offseason they lose key players from their World Series team. Then they go out and get whoever they can get, throw them in the clubhouse, and hope they fit in. And in that sense, they are just like the Yankees.

Loyalty - A feeling or attitude of devoted attachment and affection.

Where do you see that? Off the top of my head, I can only think of one player... Chipper Jones, who restructured his contract to give the Braves more cap space (which was supposed to help us resign Furcal). Obviously John Smoltz is another guy, who's spent his whole career with the Braves. But he's old school. You won't see players doing that anymore. Tom Glavine , JD Drew, and Jaret Wright left for more money. We all know how that's turned out for them. Furcal... Just leave, don't look back. We haven't won a playoff series with you, we don't need you.

Ron Artest, the problem child of the NBA plays for the Indiana Pacers. Everyone knows what he did last year... The Pacers and their fans defended him, stayed loyal to him. How does he reward them? By randomly asking for a trade a couple weeks ago. The Pacers are one of the top teams in the NBA and have great fans. So why leave? Because he's your stereotypical selfish athlete, he wants to be the #1 player on his team. He's willing to trade success for more money and more points per game. Ask Al Harrington and Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks how that's turning out...

Terrell Owens, ex-Eagle. What the hell is wrong with you? He had a Super Bowl quality team in the Eagles before he destroyed it all. Just over an extra few million dollars a year. I guess fans should just get used to players like him.

Players like Brett Favre, John Smoltz, and Chipper Jones are a dying breed. Get used to the new breed of players who believe in extra money over loyalty. My final thoughts on the Damon/Red Sox nation situation, hopefully he numbed your hearts because he won't be the only big named player to be leaving in the next couple years...

I don't like the Red Sox, I like the Yankees more. Simply because the Red Sox think they're the good guys and the Yankees are the bad guys. Well let's face it, the Red Sox are the Yankees little brother. They have the same concept as the Yankees, buy the best players available... Buy your talent. The A's and the Braves actually develop their talent. If the Yankees weren't around, the Red Sox would be the bad guys. I mean $160 million payroll, we all feel your pain Red Sox nation... Stop calling yourselves the "good guys", you guys just aren't as bad as the Yankees.

2005-12-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

Long Time, No See...

Remember the Patriots? Well they're back in the top 10 for the first time in a couple months. Injuries have hurt them for most of the season, but with key players returning they're beginning to look like a dangerous team again. Tom Brady should be seriously considered as an MVP candidate. The Patriots dominated the Bucs last Saturday 28-0. However it was in New England and everyone who follows football understands that teams from the south can't compete in cold weather. I'm sure most people saw as the Falcons laid an egg as well last night in sub-zero windchill.

1) Colts (13-1; unchanged) - Well I'm disappointed that they lost, but I'm glad they lost to the Chargers and now some other team. I was impressed to see Peyton and the rest of the starters in for the very last play, that says a lot about them. But they also got beat fair and square (at home) so obviously it's possible. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost next week too. Colts fans better hope a rough ending to the regular season doesn't carry into the playoffs...

2) Seahawks (12-2; unchanged) - Skip Bayless of ESPN had the Seahawks ranked #4... In the NFC, but that guy is possibly the biggest moron I've ever seen. I think they have a pretty good shot of beating the Colts this weekend, but they definately aren't a better team. Darrell Jackon returning to the lineup is a big boost to the offense.

3) Bengals (11-3; unchanged) - Carson Palmer bounced back from last week's disaster with a strong game, Rudi Johnson had another strong game, and they clinched the AFC North. But the top headline... Chad Johnson caught a touchdown, looked baffled, and simply tossed the ball to the ref. No one saw that coming.

4) Broncos (11-3; unchanged) - The Bills put up a fight, but the Broncos went on to win again. A win against Oakland this week will wrap up the AFC West.

5) Chargers (9-5; 9) - Well they lose to the Dolphins at home, then beat the Colts in Indy... Interesting. They're going to have to finish 11-5 to make the playoffs, but it actually doesn't seem that tough anymore. Kansas City has been playing awful the past few weeks and if Denver wins next week to clinch the AFC West they may not play many starters against the Chargers in week 17. I'll be rooting for them, that's for sure.

6) N.Y. Giants (10-4; unchanged) - Another poor outing for Eli, but that's becoming the norm. Should they make him a punter or somethin? Tiki carried the team once again. Now that Dallas has faded away the division is easily in the Giants' hands. It'll be fun watching them in the playoffs.

7) Bears (10-4, unchanged) - Rex Grossman should provide the offense with a boost, so it'll be interesting to see how that turns out. The defense is amazing, but like I've said... Atleast the Ravens and the Bucs had a decent offense. So once again we'll just have to see what Grossman can do.

8) Patriots (9-5; unranked) - They'll probably go into the playoffs at 11-5 and a ton of momentum. I wouldn't want to face them that's for sure. I don't know who the team to beat will be... Colts or Pats? Wouldn't shock me to see Brady leading them all the way again.

9) Panthers (10-4; 10) - I was shocked the game against the Saints was actually on FOX this weekend, it looked like their were about 20 people at the game. That has to feel pretty depressing for the players. Steve Smith was impressive once again. Which Carolina team will show up in the playoffs..?

10) Jaguars (10-4; 8) - They better be lucky that they have such an easy schedule. 10-9 over San Francisco at home, are you serious? It seems like whoever they play, it's a close game. Maybe they can do a little better this week against... THE HOUSTON TEXANS!! Ugh that schedule makes me sick, USC could go 12-4 if they played Jacksonville's schedule.

2005-12-19T12:12:00.000-05:00

Speechless...

Last night was ugly. I feel like I got beat up by a crippled kid. It baffled me how that offense put up 16 points on us, and how we couldn't take advantage of amazing field position the entire 1st quarter. This is the story of two teams... One that is overacheiving and one that is underacheiving. The Bears have absolute no right to be 10-4 with their offense (even though Grossman will be a big improvement) and the Falcons have no right being 8-6, especially after starting off 6-2.

It was typical Falcons football... No pass rush, multiple on-field scuffles, Mora making a fool of himself on the sideline, predictable play-calling, and stupid decisions.

* Before halftime Mora challenged an incomplete catch by Jenkins without even looking at the replay. It was clearly an incomplete catch so we lost the challenge... No wonder he's something like 1 for 13 on challenges.

* Carpenter actually made a good play when it was 6-3 by intercepting the ball on the one yard like, but then of course he tries to be Ed Reed so he gets up, gets hit, and fumbles the ball... Bears get the ball back and score a touchdown on the next play. Only the Falcons could manage to do that.

* First play of the second half... Vick has his pass deflected backwards in the air (which happens often). Instead of knocking it down or just letting it fall, Vick runs back to catch it and gets tackled immedietely for a 14 yard loss. Way to start off the half...

I don't remember getting so pissed over a game in my life. This game pretty much summed up the season for us. The Falcons can't win big games. What a wasted season, going 9-7 or 8-8 is the worst thing you can do. Mediocre draft picks and no playoffs. Good job everyone, Merry Christmas.

As for the Chargers/Colts game...

It was a great game. I love being home for the holidays because I get to watch the games on HD now and that makes them so much better. I really wanted to Colts to go undefeated, but at the same time I really like the Chargers. I'm still pretty upset with San Diego though for losing to Miami. They're still on the outside looking in and Pittsburgh will easily win out so San Diego is going to have to do the same against a much tougher schedule.

2005-12-15T19:04:00.000-05:00

NFL on Saturday... Life is Good

Well I was happy to hear that four Vikings were charged today for the sex boat incident. Culpepper being one of them. Unfortunately the max punishment is along the lines of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. No one will be going to jail, and NFL players get fined much more for stupider things, so I have a feeling the offenders could care less about that fine. As for the Vikings, their streak comes to an end this week. I think they only have 1 win vs. a team with a .500+ record, and the Steelers won't be win #2 for them.

Last Week (11-5) Overall (62-16)

Tampa Bay @ New England - New England

Kansas City @ N.Y. Giants - Kansas City

Denver @ Buffalo - Denver

Arizona @ Houston - Arizona

Pittsburgh @ Minnesota - Pittsburgh

Seattle @ Tennessee - Seattle

Carolina @ New Orleans - Carolina

N.Y. Jets @ Miami - Miami

San Diego @ Indianapolis - Indianapolis

San Francisco @ Jacksonville - Jacksonville

Philadelphia @ St. Louis - Philadelphia

Cincinnati @ Detroit - Cincinnati

Cleveland @ Oakland - Oakland

Dallas @ Washington - Dallas

Atlanta @ Chicago - Chicago

Green Bay @ Baltimore (MNF has selected another quality matchup) - Baltimore

2005-12-13T13:48:00.000-05:00

What a Waste of Talent...

If San Diego misses the playoffs (which looks likely if you check out their remaining schedule), I think you can easily say they'll be the best team to not make the playoffs. I mean 5 losses by a combined 14 points, how do you explain that? Obviously they have problems finishing off games. I don't know if they get bored or what, but I don't understand how they can blow out 3 teams in a row, then lose a game that they should've easily won. Of all the teams that may have hurt their playoff hopes last week... The Chargers take the cake. And it's a shame because I really wanted to see them make it, hopefully they still can.

1) Colts (13-0; unchanged) - It actually bothered me a lot that people were trying to make bold predictions that the Jaguars would beat them last week. I knew there was no way in hell that would happen, even if Leftwich was healthy. The final score looks close, but at one point it was 26-3 in favor of the Colts... It's going to be interesting to see how the Colts approach their final 3 games.

2) Seahawks (11-2; unchanged) - Well I've decided these guys are the NFC's version of the Jaguars. I look at their schedule and it makes me sick. But atleast they blow out the bad teams they play. Indy is their only remaining tough opponent so they should go 13-3 at worst and will have home field advantage. I really hope they choke in the playoffs. I don't think many people want to see them in the Super Bowl...

3) Bengals (10-3; unchanged) - I guess it's a good sign that Cincy can still win even when Palmer has a rare off-week. Rudi Johnson is beginning to step up and that's important if they hope to have a well rounded attack in the playoffs. The defense is still iffy but atleast they force a few big turnovers every game.

4) Broncos (10-3; 6) - An ugly win last week against Baltimore, but life couldn't be much better if you're a Broncos fan. K.C. and San Diego both lost, which now gives the Broncos a 2 game cushion with 3 left to play. They put together a good season, but too bad the Colts are in their conference so I don't see the Broncos making it to the Super Bowl.

5) Bucs (9-4; unranked) - Sure why not... I hate the Bucs and their fans, but after the top 4 it gets tough. I figure with the defense playing as well as they are, with Simms gaining experience, and a healthy Williams at RB they're actually a pretty decent team. Go Patriots!

6) N.Y. Giants (9-4; 10) - Eli looks pretty awful, but luckily there's Tiki to save him. I'm happy they won last week... For Feely's sake. Had he missed another FG in OT I doubt he'd still be alive today. This team won't do much, and I'm not a believer in them. But if they beat K.C. this week I might begin to see playoff potential.

7) Bears (9-4; 5) - I thought I was on their bandwagon, but once people started saying they were Super Bowl bound, it began to irritate me... So that made me realize I wasn't truely on their bandwagon but instead just thought it was funny that a team as bad as them was leading their division. Note to everyone: These are the Chicago Bears! No one thought twice about them before the season started, their offense is absolutely pathetic. They aren't a serious threat. Hopefully the Bears began to realize this during last weeks severe beating.

8) Jags (9-4; unchanged) - Well no one should really be down this week, unless they actually thought the Jags stood a chance. Just look at the remaining schedule and cheer up. Since week 7 I've been predicting a 12-4 schedule and it's looking likely. But like half the teams that'll be in the playoffs, these guys won't pose a serious threat. And I think the Colts proved that last week.

9) Chargers (8-5; 4) - Well I pretty much summed everything up at the top of the page. When I came home from work and found out they lost, I was genuinely hurt. They must have motivational issues.

10) Panthers (9-4; 7) - I don't know what their deal is. They've had plenty of chances to put the division away but they just won't do it. Delhomme has been awful lately, Foster is hurt again, and Davis just flat out sucks. Atleast they have a pretty good defense.

2005-12-10T23:46:00.000-05:00

Colts Shouldn't Be Afraid...

Patriots couldn't stop them, Steelers couldn't stop them, Bengals couldn't stop them, and now I have no reason to believe the Jaguars, a team that struggled to beat the Browns, will be the team to ruin Indy's perfect season. I think they Jaguars are a tough, stingy team and I respect that. But I don't understand how a team that struggled to beat Cleveland is suddenly picked by a lot of people to defeat the 12-0 Colts. I know the Colts struggle outdoors or in poor weather, but I highly doubt the weather in Jacksonville will be too extreme so Peyton and Co. should be fine. The team most likely to beat the Colts will either be the Chargers or Seahawks... Not Jaguars.

Last Week (15-1) Overall (51-11)

Indianapolis @ Jacksonville - Indianapolis

Chicago @ Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh

Cleveland @ Cincinnati - Cincinnati

Houston @ Tennessee - Tennessee

New England @ Buffalo - New England

Oakland @ N.Y. Jets - Oakland

St. Louis @ Minnesota - Minnesota

Tampa Bay @ Carolina - Carolina

N.Y. Giants @ Philadelphia - N.Y. Giants

San Francisco @ Seattle - Seattle

Washington @ Arizona - Arizona

Baltimore @ Denver - Denver

Kansas City @ Dallas - Kansas City

Miami @ San Diego - San Diego

Detroit @ Green Bay - Green Bay

New Orleans @ Atlanta - Atlanta

11-5

2005-12-06T19:06:00.000-05:00

Earning Their Stripes...

Last week's win in Pittsburgh should convince a lot of people that the Bengals are serious contenders... This year. After home losses to the Steelers and Colts, I wasn't a believer in them. But after dishing the punishment back to the Steelers in Pittsburgh, I feel like they're for real now. Chad Johnson obviously feels the same way, as he guaranteed a trip to the Super Bowl today.

As for the rankings... . Pittsburgh drops out. And that made me realize how quickly power can shift in the NFL. At the beginning of the season, who would've thought that teams such as the Eagles, Steelers, Falcons, Jets, Packers, Rams, and even the Lions would be struggling the way they are? And that the Bears, Bucs, Bengals, and Giants would be playing as well as they are..? Anything can happen in the NFL... That's why it's so stressful.

1) Colts (12-0; unchanged) - Another laugher last week against the Titans. I would really like to see them go undefeated. That would be much more memorable than winning a Super Bowl... Why not just do both in 1 year? Their remaining schedule is too tough for their back ups to win, but I don't see Peyton letting himself sit any games out.

2) Seahawks (10-2; 3) - No one will really know how good they are until the playoffs begin. Most decent teams could have a similar record playing in the NFC West. Shaun Alexander is a beast and the defense was amazing last night, but I just don't see them making it too far in the playoffs...

3) Bengals (9-3; 6) - An extremely scary offense that no one wants to face, and they're only gonna get better. I'm glad the Bengals dethroned the Steelers, they're a much more fun to watch. I really hope it comes down to the Bengals and Colts in the AFC Championship game. What a defensive battle that'll be... haha.

4) Chargers (8-4; unchanged) - I think people are finally starting to realize again how dangerous of a team the Chargers are. Currently on a 5 game winning streak, they're now only 1 game behind the Broncos. Damn the AFC is loaded...

5) Bears (9-3; unchanged) - I remember putting them at #10 a few weeks ago when they were either 5-3 or 6-3 as a joke. I don't get how they do it, how can a team with an offense THAT PATHETIC win 8 straight games? They may have a great defense, but they'll go down in the playoffs. Atleast the Ravens and Bucs had a somewhat decent offense when they won it all.

6) Broncos (9-3; 2) - "No Mistake" Jake is beginning to get a little bit more careless again, and it's hurting the Broncos. Baltimore has a chance to rattle him up a little more this week, but they should be an easy win at home for the Broncos. The AFC West is turning out to be a great race.

7) Panthers (9-3; 9) - They have to feel good about dominating a team that has dominated them in the past. Panthers have a great defense and an offense that has the potential to put up big numbers. I like their chances to return to the Super Bowl this year as long as they avoid costly injuries.

8) Jaguars (9-3; 7) - Garrard got the job done. He kept the Jaguars rolling... 5 straight wins now, but that'll likely come to an end this week against Indy. But fortunately for the Jaguars they should win their last 3 games to finish 12-4...

9) Chiefs (8-4; unranked) - Chiefs are rolling again. Great win last week against the Broncos. Priest who? Larry Johnson has been amazing so far filling in and there's no doubt in my mind that he'll keep it up. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they have a really rough remaining schedule... @ Dallas, @ N.Y. Giants, Chargers, Cincinnati.

10) N.Y. Giants (8-4; unranked) - Eli hasn't been anything special and the Giants struggle on the road, which gives me serious reasons to believe they won't be dangerous in the playoffs (assuming they make it). But on the other hand, atleast they're moving in the right direction. Oh, and let's not forget the whole Feely situation... That's gonna be fun to watch.

2005-12-05T13:41:00.000-05:00

I'm Disgusted (To Say the Least)

Yeah so Vick's streak against the Panthers had to come to an end sometime, but to lose the way they did yesterday is just sad. With so much on the line regarding the playoffs, how can the Falcons go out and perform that poorly. It was simply pathetic. I couldn't watch more than 5 minutes at a time, that's how bad it was. The play-calling was terrible, the tackling was awful, and they had absolutely no composure on the field.

There was a much better game on CBS, the Bengals vs. Steelers, so I watched most of that game instead.

I remember when I thought Mora was a great guy, but what a distant memory that is. Living in Athens I get to see Mark Richt, head coach of the UGA Bulldogs. When you compare the two, you don't find much in common. Richt is a classy guy, has control of his team, you never see him going ballistic on the sideline, and he has a gameplan. What do you get out of Mora? Cocky statements, no control of his team (he had to run out to the 50 yd line yesterday to try to break up one of many fights), and when someone asks what his gameplan is... His response, "We're just gonna let Vick be himself." I mean Mora is a players coach, and he's entertaining because he can get pretty crazy, but I want him to start having control of the team and himself.

As for the play-calling... So predictable. 1st and 10 usually a pass attempt, 50% of the time an incomplete pass. 2nd and 10 a hand off to Dunn, picks up 4 yds on average. Leaving us with 3rd and long usually... And that would result in the many 3 and outs, and the few long drives we had. Part 2 of the play-calling problems were 4th downs. We had 4th and 1 and to my dismay, T.J. Duckett was still on the sideline. As a result Vick got flattened. I don't get it, why be so complicated all the time? Get the ball in a 250 lb guy's hands and let him pick up 1 yard. Another time was when it was something like 4th and 3, instead of going for it Peterson attempted a 49 yd FG, and sadly it came up way short. Mora, don't you understand he has no leg strength? He is good from about 43 yds at the longest, we had a much better chance by just going for it.

It just gets old... Watching Vick get knocked down 9 out of 10 plays. Either because he holds onto the ball way too long or because the offensive line can only block a defender for about 2 seconds. Watching the defense give up completion after completion, big run after big run, and constantly missing tackles. The Falcons just aren't that fun to watch anymore, they're simply frustrating now.

That's all I have to say about the game. But to whoever thinks Vick is overrated... Get a life, I'm sick of hearing that. Do defensive coordinators think he's overrated?!? Umm I don't think so, they probably prepare for him more than any other QB. He took us to the NFC Championship game last year, he's won twice as many games as he's lost. Just because he's extremely marketable, don't call him overrated. He wins games and the three previous games he put up great passing numbers, he still put up 200+ yards yesterday. Don't blame Vick for a terrible defense, because that's the main reason the Falcons are losing. He has bad games, but so do 100% of the QB's in the league.

Kyle Boller is overrated, Eli Manning is overrated, Drew Bledsoe is overrated, Brett Favre is overrated, Mark Bulger is overrated... None of them put up amazing numbers week after week. Peyton Manning is pretty much the only QB who does, but he hasn't even won a Super Bowl (even though that will likely change this year). I mean seriously, if Vick is overrated, then so is the rest of the league. Vick has an amazing arm, throws beautiful spirals, great speed, and great agility. Give him a break, people call him Superman, but he can't actually do it all. When we build a stronger defense, we'll be serious contenders. Don't blame Vick, he gives his all every game. The NFL wouldn't be the same without him.

2005-12-04T11:31:00.000-05:00

Can Vick and the Falcons Continue Their Domination Over the Panthers?

Vick is 5-0 as a starter and the Falcons have won 12 of 14 against Carolina, but for some reason I'm scared today. I'm not going to pick the Falcons because I'm very superstitious and I feel like by picking them in an important game, I'll jinx them. There are a lot of great matchups around the league this week and I just called in sick to work so I'm going to enjoy them that much more...

Last Week: 14-2 Overall: 36-10

Atlanta @ Carolina - Carolina

Buffalo @ Miami - Buffalo

Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh - Cincinnati

Dallas @ N.Y. Giants - N.Y. Giants

Green Bay @ Chicago - Chicago

Houston @ Baltimore - Baltimore

Jacksonville @ Cleveland - Jacksonville

Minnesota @ Detroit - Minnesota

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans - Tampa Bay

Tennessee @ Indianapolis - Indianapolis

Arizona @ San Francisco - Arizona

Washington @ St. Louis - Washington

Denver @ Kansas City - Kansas City

N.Y. Jets @ New England - New England

Oakland @ San Diego - San Diego

Seattle @ Philadelphia - Seattle

Only about 2 of these picks were easy... So it could go either way, 2-14 or 14-2...

2005-12-03T23:32:00.000-05:00

Can't Spell Sugar Without 'UGA'

Coming into the game no one really gave UGA much of a chance. All bowl projections had LSU playing West Virginia in the Sugar Bowl, which will be in Atlanta this year. I'm happy for Shockley, who has spent the past 4 years playing backup to David Greene. And I'm happy for Mark Richt, his 2nd SEC Championship in 4 years... Winning 2 out of 3 appearances. Richt takes a lot of heat for various reasons, but what he's done since coming here has been amazing. He has turned Georgia into an elite football program. His players love him, he wins, and he does great things off the field various charities. 44 wins so far for this years crop of seniors, the most ever.

D.J. Shockley played great; 2 passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, and 0 turnovers. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 21-7 lead at halftime and went on to win 34-14 thanks to Shockley in the first half, and a Jennings INT for TD and a blocked punt for TD in the second half. The defense was amazing... Holding LSU to only 74 rushing yards, compared to the almost 300 LSU put up on us 2 years ago in Atlanta. The game stats are almost dead even except for 2 important things...

Penalties : UGA - 2 for 15 yards LSU - 9 for 78 yards

Turnovers : UGA - 0 LSU - 2

Up next for UGA... Most likely West Virginia in the Sugar Bowl. I'm disappointed that we'll get stuck with West Virginia, unless of course South Florida somehow gets in (which would be a joke). I feel like the Big East doesn't deserve an automatic BCS bid, but what can you do. I don't know much about them, but it should be an easy win in Atlanta to wrap up an 11-2 season.

There will be some serious studs in the NFL next year coming out of UGA and I can't wait to watch them. UGA and Miami have produced the most players over the past 5 years. I'd really like it if the Falcons started drafting them, that would definately boost their popularity.

Race for the #1 Pick Update: Last night in Atlanta there was a battle of losers. And the Hawks proved to the world that we are the worst. The Hawks were 2-12 coming into the game and the Raptors were 1-15, equalling 3-27... The worst combined record ever. The Hawks managed to lose 101-102. I feel like even if we finish with the worst record in the league, the lottery would end up screwing us over with a #6 pick while a team like the Lakers would somehow get a #2 pick. I don't understand why the NBA uses a lottery system, if anyone knows... Please explain.

The Rose Bowl matchup between USC and Texas will be pretty amazing. I honestly have no idea who's going to win, it could go either way. Texas is the place to be though, #2 in both football and basketball. That's pretty impressive.

2005-11-29T18:03:00.000-05:00

Can't Keep Up With The Colts...

Many people believe that when healthy, the Steelers are the 2nd best team in the AFC... Well if that's the case, the rest of the league should just give up because there's no stopping the Colts. It amazed me how the Colts made the Steelers look like a 4-7 team, they made it look so easy. The only points for the Steelers came after a Manning INT was returned to the 7 yard line. Of course there's always the playoffs, and if the Colts lose... Then that's just sad.

1) Colts (11-0; unchanged) - I would really like to see them finish undefeated, but in order for that to happen the back ups will have to step up the last couple of weeks. Their defense is fast and their offense is unstoppable... They'll be fun to watch in the playoffs.

2) Broncos (9-2; unchanged) - I almost picked the Cowboys last week, but I'm actually beginning to have faith in the Broncos. They're unbeatable at home and are learning how to win on the road. When Plummer plays smart like he has been, they're a dangerous team.

3) Seahawks (9-2; unchanged) - I'm assuming Seahawk fans will be sending Jay Feely thank you notes for last weeks performance, they certainly owe him one. The Seahawks don't deserve to be this high, but since they're 9-2 and have 7 straight I'll give them some credit. They're too one-dimensional though. Shutting down Alexander = shutting down the Seahawks...

4) Chargers (7-4; unchanged) - I feel like the Chargers have the best shot of downing the Colts. If they get into the playoffs no one's going to want to face them because they'll be coming in with A LOT of momentum. Tomlinson is amazing to say the least. I sometimes wonder what it'd be like to have him instead of Vick... Oh well.

5) Bears (8-3; unchanged) - The defense struck again. I like them, but it's beginning to annoy me that people are suddenly considering them serious contenders... I'm actually looking forward to the CHI/ATL game now. I want to see if Vick can overcome their defense and if our defense can keep their anoemic offense from putting up more than 24 points... Should be interesting.

6) Bengals (8-3; 7) - The Bengals made everyone forget that the Ravens are known for a strong defense. Chad Johnson is hilarious and can't be stopped. Carson Palmer will be the 2nd best QB behind Peyton for years to come. If they can beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh this week, that would be huge. I'm hoping they do.

7) Jaguars (8-3; 6) - Down goes Leftwich... It was only a matter of time. I've seen him take so many big hits and never understood how he always shook them off. He's out 4-6 weeks, but the Jaguars should still make the playoffs thanks to that remaining schedule of theirs. Not to mention Garrard isn't a bad guy to have as a back up.

8) Steelers (7-4; unchanged) - Dont look now, but the Steelers may actually be in trouble. This weeks game is a must-win against the Bengals. The last spot in the AFC is going to come down to the Steelers, Chiefs, and Chargers and I've got my money on the Chargers. But we'll have to see if Big Ben has any magic up his sleeve.

9) Panthers (8-3; 10) - I'm beginning to buy into the fact that these guys aren't as good as advertised. But who cares, all that matters is this week against the Falcons. If they can win, they'll most likely have the NFC wrapped up.

10) Falcons (7-4; unranked) - Ok, I hope the Falcons saved some Thanksgiving leftovers for this week. If they can play like they did last week then I think we can win. Vick (6-0) has had his way with the Panthers. They CAN'T fall behind and expect to win. Hopefully the Falcons will come out hot and control the clock.

2005-11-28T14:26:00.000-05:00

Farewell Mariucci...

Mariucci was fired today as the Lions head coach and it leads me to wonder... Are head coaches overrated? What's so great about them? The Lions came into the season as a sleeper pick to make it deep into the playoffs, but after a disappointing 4-7 start it was time to make some changes. In my mind, Harrington hasn't progressed at all since joining the league, which is sad. Charles Rogers has been a complete bust. Kevin Jones has been a huge disappointment this year. And I feel like Mariucci deserves most of the blame for the lack of development of those players. So it makes me wonder how good Mariucci really is as a coach... Don't you think just about any coach could've won with Steve Young, Jerry Rice, and Terrell Owens on your team? I think so. Not to mention his postseason record is 3-4. Impressive.

Let's move over to basketball. We'll start off with Phil Jackson, head coach of the L.A. Lakers. Critics have always said he's only been successful because he's coached the best talent in basketball. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen on the Bulls, and Kobe Bryant and Shaq O'Neil on the Lakers. I'm going to have to agree with them because once again I think anyone could've won with that much talent on their team. Phil took last year off, Shaq left the Lakers for the Heat and the Lakers struggled and missed the playoffs for only the second time in their history I believe. So this offseason Phil decides to return. Everything will return back to normal right? Apparently not. I know the season is young, but the Lakers are currently in 5th place (last) in their division at 5-7.

Next up... Flip Saunders, in his 1st season as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons. I guess you can say he's been pretty successful as a head coach in his 10 years (411-328), he's coached a talented Timberwolves team that has had MVP Kevin Garnett on it. However he's only 17-30 in the postseason and was fired last season after a 25-26 start... The Timberwolves went 58-24 the year before. Now he is on Detroit and they're off to a 10-2 start. Obviously we have to wait until playoffs come around to see how he does, but the point I'm trying to make is that the Pistons are going to win whether Saunders is coaching the team or Larry Brown is coaching the team. It really doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

As for Larry Brown, the other highly recruited coach this offseason other than Phil Jackson, is now on the N.Y. Knicks. They gave him a ridiculous contract and so far Brown has led them to an amazing 4-8 start. This is completely irrelevant but Brown is the most dull, uncharismatic person I've ever seen in my life. When he is talking during a press conference I just want to shoot myself. But anyways, for someone as amazing as Brown supposedly is... Don't you think he could atleast lead the Knicks to the playoffs like the "experts" predict? He doesn't have to make it far, but atleast coach them into the playoffs.

There are two obvious examples here in Atlanta...

The Falcons - We win and win and win when Vick is our QB, everything usually looks smooth for the most part, we look like a well coached team. But without Vick I think we're something like 3-13. Doesn't make much sense, to me atleast. A few players aren't supposed to effect a team that much. A team is supposed to be able to overcome situations like that because of good coaching...

The Braves - The Braves are an exception to what I'm talking about. There's an exception to every rule. Bobby Cox may be one of the best coaches in all of professional sports. No matter how much we have to cut because of salary cap reasons, he still produces a first place team year after year. Mediocre pitchers have been brought to the Braves only to have Cox and Mazzone produce break-out years from them. Russ Ortiz, J.D. Drew, Jaret Wright, and Jorge Sosa to name a few were average or underacheiving players before coming to the Braves. When they play for us they put up great numbers, then usually leave because they seek larger contracts. Then when they join their new team they put up mediocre numbers once again. I honestly don't think it's a coincidence, it's happened to too many players after leaving the Braves.

So to sum all this up. Yeah there are a few brilliant coaches out there. But for the most part I think it all has to do with the talent on the team. To have a successful team I think it's much more important to have a great GM than a great coach. But that's just my opinion.

2005-11-23T17:35:00.000-05:00

Let's Make Big Plays Instead of Giving Them Up

Football already?? Good. I didn't get to watch any on Sunday so it works out perfectly. Since the games are tomorrow, I'll go ahead and make my picks for this week.

Update: Well I'm pleased the Falcons listened to me. The defense forced turnovers and played pretty well overall. And also... The Hawks have won 2 straight games!! Playoff-bound Hawks?? Maybee...

Last Week (13-3) Overall (22-8)

Atlanta @ Detroit - Atlanta (Pleeeaase)

Denver @ Dallas - Denver (Going against my gut feeling)

Baltimore @ Cincinnati - Cincinnati

Carolina @ Buffalo - Carolina

Chicago @ Tampa Bay - Tampa Bay (I figure if I get this pick wrong, that'll mean Tampa loses so that works for me)

Cleveland @ Minnesota - Minnesota

New England @ Kansas City - Kansas City

San Diego @ Washington - San Diego

San Francisco @ Tennessee - Tennessee

St. Louis @ Houston - St. Louis

Jacksonville @ Arizona - Jacksonville

Miami @ Oakland - Oakland

Green Bay @ Philadelphia - Philadelphia

NY Giants @ Seattle - Seattle

New Orleans @ NY Jets (haha what a great Sunday night game) - Umm New Orleans

Pittsburgh @ Indianapolis - Indianapolis

14-2 After Monday... 36-10 overall

I expect the Falcons to step up in front of a national audience tomorrow, but if they do somehow manage to lose to the Lions, yet another team with a weak offense... I will begin my campaign for a 6-10 season so we can get a stud CB to compliment D-Hall. And the Chargers will be my new team for the rest of the year... haha.

2005-11-21T18:07:00.000-05:00

Colts Pass Another Test...

In this weeks power rankings the Falcons have dropped out of the top 10... Rightfully so. Two straight home loses are unacceptable. The defense isn't playoff calibur and once again, it's a shame because our offense is becoming something special. As for the power rankings... 4-10 are basically a toss up. So many 7-3 teams, so don't be mad if I have one 7-3 team ranked higher than the other because right now everything is up in the air.

1) Colts (10-0; unchanged) - Remember when the Colts' offense was struggling? Me neither... They won the shoot out yesterday against the Bengals, and the offense made it look pretty easy. No, they won't go undefeated. But if Peyton played the entire season then they most likely would.

2) Broncos (8-2; 4) - "No Mistake" Jake has now gone 8 straight games without an interception. Who saw that coming? Well I've been skeptical of them all year, but I've decided they're legit. I can only imagine how much fun they had playing the Jets (Vinny). They're rolling on all cylinders and it may very well come down to them and the Colts in the AFC Championship game.

3) Seahawks (8-2; 6) - Surprise, surprise... Shaun Alexander had another monster game. Even though the Seahawks almost lost to the Division II-A 49ers, they have the NFC West wrapped up and they're a pretty dangerous team. I don't think they'll do much in the playoffs, but who knows... Anything can happen.

4) Chargers (6-4; unranked) - I know, they came out of nowhere. But the only reason I took them off last week was to make room for the Bears. The Chargers have won 3 in a row and 6 of 8. After a 48-10 blowout of the Bills, a lot of teams will begin to notice San Diego again. L.T. had a terrible game by his standards (68 rush yds, 1 TD), and they still put up 48 points.

5) Bears (7-3; 10) - Well I doubt many people gave them a chance last week against the Panthers (including me), but the #1 defense in the NFL got it done. It's gonna be funny to see how well their offense suddenly does when Atlanta comes to town. The Bears aren't a serious contender, but winning 6 straight is impressive and it'll be fun to see how long the streak can go on.

6) Jaguars (7-3; 7) - The Jaguars are going to continue to rack up the wins... I can never tell how good they are though. One week they look impressive, the next week they don't. But whoever they play they will always put up a great fight and they aren't a fun team to play against.

7) Bengals (7-3; 5) - Another loss at home against a top AFC team can't have too many people feeling optimistic. If they can't win at home against playoff teams, they certainly won't on the road. This is still a good team, but they're a year or two away from being serious contenders.

8) Steelers (7-3; 2) - I know Big Ben didn't play, but losing to the Ravens is still pretty bad. It's 2003 all over again with Maddox, except this time he has half the arm strength. Pittsburgh will be fine though, it wouldn't surprise me if they go on another 5 game winning streak now.

9) Cowboys (7-3; unranked) - I think they're the top team in the NFC East... As long as Bledsoe doesn't screw them over. The defense has been solid and the offense has done enough to get the job done. In the end it's going to come down to the Giants and Cowboys with the Cowboys finishing on top.

10) Panthers (7-3; 3) - Boy did they lay an egg last week in Chicago, which makes it hurt twice as bad if you're a Falcons fan. Just when you think the Panthers are unstoppable, the Bears make it look easy. Like most other NFL teams, I don't really know what to think of them now. I feel like they'll still end up taking the NFC South.

Bucs Can't Stop Vick, but Falcons Can't Prevail...

Falcons - 27 Bucs - 30

I picked them to lose... at home, and they did. Luckily I didn't see the game because I would've flipped out. Interesting stat:

The Falcons are 6-6-1 when Vick throws for 200+ yards.

I was just watching Sportscenter, and Tom from NFL Countdown goes, "Vick has thrown for over 500 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions over the last 2 weeks... And the Falcons have lost both games. They need to make him get out of the pocket again."

UGHHHHHH!! Are you kidding me?! It's impossible for Vick to do anything right apparently. So let's see, he can pass for 150 yards and win, and everyone criticizes him. Or he can pass for 250 yards and lose, and everyone can say he needs to get back to being a scrambler.

I think Tom is completely wrong though. I'm so happy to see Vick playing like this. The wide receivers are producing and Vick is looking like a great passer. I want him to pass 80%, scramble 20%. That is a good ratio for him. He'll still be able to pick up 40 yards on the ground, but hopefully he'll only scramble when he sees a huge hole, not because he feels like he has to. Vick still needs to cut down on careless fumbles (4 over the last 2 games).

In a way I want the Falcons to finish 6-10 now just so we can get a great pick and hopefully a great defender from somewhere like Miami. I want all 7 of our picks to be on defense. I HATE having a bad defense. And it just really hurts because the one team that's stopped us from advancing further in the playoffs, the Eagles, won't even be a factor this year. We need a couple great, fast cornerbacks... And hopefully they won't turn out like 'Pacman' Jones, haha.

As for Tampa Bay:

Everyone has jumped back on their bandwagon, well good for them I don't care. But what does bother me is how everyone thinks Cadillac Williams is the Rookie of the Year again just because of what he did against the Falcons...

2005-11-20T11:59:00.000-05:00

It's O.K., You Can Cry Mr. Reid...

NFL Picks:

Arizona @ St. Louis - St. Louis

Detroit @ Dallas - Dallas

Jacksonville @ Tennessee - Jacksonville

New Orleans @ New England - New England

Philadelphia @ NY Giants - Giants

Carolina @ Chicago - Carolina

Miami @ Cleveland - Cleveland

Oakland @ Washington - Washington

Tampa Bay @ Atlanta - Tampa Bay

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore - Pittsburgh

Seattle @ San Francisco - Seattle

Indianapolis @ Cincinnati - Indianapolis

NY Jets @ Denver - Denver

Buffalo @ San Diego - San Diego

Kansas City @ Houston - Kansas City

Minnesota @ Green Bay - Minnesota

Last Week: (9-5) 13 - 3 (22-8 overall)

Well unfortunately I'm going to have to miss my first Falcons game of the season since I'll be at work. But I have a feeling it might be a good thing for me, I don't think I can deal with much more stress and I don't think it's going to be very pretty today...

2005-11-16T22:19:00.002-05:00

Why We Don't Need T.O.

1) Greg Knapp wants nothing to do with him - I'm sick of people being like, "Well Mora and Knapp have coached T.O. before..." Umm that's exactly why they want nothing to do with him, they've seen his ugly side firsthand. Everyone saw the sideline confrontation between Knapp and T.O. and it wasn't pretty. I am convinced that T.O. is the most self-centered player in the NFL and he'll never be a great leader so the coaches aren't going to want to deal with that drama.

2) It would ruin the progression of Roddy White and Michael Jenkins - Those 2 WR are the future for the Falcons and bringing T.O. here would only ruin that. Even though I'd love to have a big play WR right away... In the long run it'd be better to develop our young receivers.

3) T.O. doesn't play defense - If we're going to spend a lot of money on a FA, I want it to be on the defensive end of the ball. Our offense is just fine and it will only get better as Vick and the WR continue to bond. Where the Falcons need help is on defense and that's an area I'd much rather them address.

4) It's just much more fun watching him destroy a different organization - Wouldn't you agree it'd be more fun to watch him throw fits on an opponent's sideline rather than ours? I do.

I mean there's always a chance that T.O. will behave professionally on his next team just to rub it in the Eagle's faces. And I think there's a really good possibility that he does that. But more realistically he's going to once again act like a brat. I honestly feel like some of the drama is McNabb's fault... Mike Vick would NEVER sit there and let T.O. trash him in news conferences; and Vick already said that the Falcons are "HIS" team and that if T.O. came here, he'd have to understand that. Mcnabb is supposedly the leader of the team, it's just too bad he didn't take charge of any situation and because of that T.O. walked all over him. If you take a step back and look at the Eagles' situation, you just have to laugh. They were a respectable organization with everything running smoothly... 3 straight NFC Championship games. Enter T.O., enter chaos. Two years later T.O. leaves the Eagles as a pile of ruble...

It couldn't have happened to a more hated team/city.

So to sum everything up... I personally don't want him on the Falcons anymore, and I never thought I'd be saying that. But we have more important needs to address and we've spent 1st round picks over the last 2 years on wide receivers, so let's not throw those picks down the drain. I know it'd be amazing to have Vick and T.O. but it's not worth the baggage he brings and the potential disaster that'd always be waiting around the corner.

2005-11-14T19:52:00.000-05:00

Here Come the Bears!! Haha

Well they've made it... The Bears are #10. I'm officially off the Giants bandwagon thanks to the emergance of obnoxious Giant fans and I've hopped onto the Bears. Giants fans just came out of no where and started claiming they were Super Bowl bound so that rubbed me the wrong way. I want my bandwagon team to be a humble team and that would be the Bears (and I'll probably stop liking them after they beat Atlanta in Chicago lol).

1) Colts (9-0; unchanged) - To the surprise of no one, the Colts won last week. Many people are predicting an upset this week against the Bengals... I'm not one of them. I don't think the Colts will lose until after they clinch and start playing Sorgi at QB. And if that's the case, teams better be praying for a miracle against them in the playoffs. The only 2 teams that I could see knocking them off in the playoffs are the Steelers and the Chargers. No team in the NFC would stand a chance.

2) Steelers (7-2; unchanged) - Another win without Big Ben, and another boring win. Once again there's nothing flashy about this team but they're so consistant and physical. Before you know it, you're trailing by 2 touchdowns against these guys. It amazes me how they're such a good running team with the running backs that they have... Hines Ward (UGA) became the all-time leading receiver for Pittsburgh, congrats to him.

3) Panthers (7-2; 6) - Well as of now they've arguably established themselves as the top team in the NFC. 6 straight wins for a team that's known to be a great 2nd half team. I'm about 90% sure they'll be winning the NFC South because even if they lose once to the Falcons they won't lose to anyone else in the division for the rest of the season. Steve Smith is emerging as a strong MVP candidate and Stephen Davis (12 TD) is looking like a more effective Jerome Bettis. I know the Falcons have dominated them in the past, but they don't match up at all against this years Panthers.

4) Broncos (7-2; 3) - "No Mistake" Jake continues to roll. 7 straight games with no INT I believe. I'm beginning to believe in this team as an actual contender seeing as how they run the ball well, don't turn it over, and have a solid defense. Not to mention they're virtually unbeaten at home. Unfortunately for them they're gonna have to go through Indy again most likely and everyone remembers what happened when they played in last years playoffs...

5) Bengals (7-2; 4) - Well this is their chance... Beat the Colts and everyone can declare the Bengals as a legit contender. I don't see that happening but you never know. It's a home game so atleast they have that going for them, even though that didn't seem to help them too much against the Steelers.

6) Seahawks (7-2; 8) - Pay the man his damn money! Shaun Alexander is simply amazing and it doesn't appear anyone can stop him. He leads the league with 1114 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. All NFL players searching for a big contract, take notes... This is how you get a fat contract, don't run your mouth just go out there and put up huge numbers. This team can easily finish 13-3 or 14-2 (by the time they play the Colts, Peyton most likely won't be playing).

7) Jaguars (6-3; unranked) - Like the Falcons, the Jaguars tend to play to the level of their opponent... Until they handed the Ravens a 30-3 beating. I just looked at their next 3 games and I had to laugh a little (Tenn, Arizona, and Cleveland = 3 easy wins). Then they face Indy before another tough stretch of San Fran, Houston, and Tenn. Wow can we just go ahead and hand them a 12-4 record? This is a good team and they'll most likely have a ton of momentum heading into the playoffs.

8) Falcons (6-3; 5) - Last week was painful... They finished their stretch of 4 easy teams 3-1, but they HAD to go 4-0. Now we head into the brutal part of our schedule and quite honestly anything can happen. We don't have a championship calibur defense and that'll slow us down for the rest of the season. Hopefully we can fix this problem in the off-season because that'd be really sad if Vick was hindered by a lame defense. The Falcons have everything else in place...

9) Giants (6-3; 7) - Wow, 4 interceptions for Eli!! Let's put him on special teams, he's not a QB! It wasn't even fulfilling saying that, I don't understand what Vick critics get out of saying "Put Vick at RB". The Giants blew this one big time and hopefully that'll silence some people. As long as Eli doesn't blow more games in the future, the Giants appear to have the NFC East won (assuming the defense miraculoulsy keeps up their play).

10) Bears (6-3; unranked) - After a 1-3 start I doubt anyone saw them reeling off 5 straight wins. Since there's no telling how long this will last, I figured I'd go ahead and throw them up here. I hope they can keep it up because I can't stand any of the other NFC North teams. I still don't think Orton was the "steal of the draft" but he's played well enough to get the Bears in this position. Rex Grossman should be back soon, but for how long no one knows...

2005-11-14T09:59:00.000-05:00

Another Loss to Top Off the Weekend...

Well in yesterday's post I said "Let's Kick the Poor Guy While He's Down"... I was talking about Brett Favre, not me. This was just a terrible weekend for me. Parkview (Jeff Francoeur's High School) beat Roswell (my High School) 28-27 in the 2nd round of the playoffs after we blew a 27-14 lead. UGA loses to Auburn 30-31 after a number of stupid mistakes and fumbles. So should I be surprised that the Falcons lost to a 1-7 team last night? Nope. I mean besides parties and downtown Athens, the one thing I look forward to on the weekend is football... And when all you're teams lose (in painful ways) it really hurts. Not to mention the Hawks continue to find ways to lose, but I'm fine with that because they're on a mission to get the #1 pick.

Anyways... My thoughts on the game...

By the time I got home the Falcons were already losing 14-0 thanks to Sam Gado, and a Warrick Dunn fumble. Luckily I saw this coming, so I picked up Gado in my fantasy league earlier this week and that resulted in 23 points for me. I mean it's just really sad, Gado is the Packers 5th running back this year... And even he can pick up 103 yards and 3 touchdowns against us. Look at him! Look at how cocky he is now because of us and it's really annoying. Oh well he'll once again realize that he's nothing special after he plays next week. A few weeks ago when I said our defense will make any QB look like a Pro Bowler... Well I'd like to modify that. Any OFFENSIVE PLAYER will look like a Pro Bowler against us. If the Bears put up 350+ total yards and score more than 24 points on us, then I'm officially giving up on the Falcons. We put NO pressure on Favre, didn't stop the run, and of course couldn't cover any of Green Bay's talented WR... I don't even want to know how much that defense is getting paid because I have a feeling it'll make me sick.

So the Falcons are down 14-0 to an injury-plagued Packers, but Vick provides a quick little comeback. Completing a 21 yard TD pass to Dunn, then (after a Brett Favre INT) Vick takes it in himself for a 1 yard run to tie it up 14-14. At this point, after scoring 2 TD in about 4 minutes, I figured things would be fine. We had all the momentum and it was in the Dome. But at the same time I know our defense can easily deflate our momentum by giving up 10 yard pass after 10 yard pass, and that's exactly what they did. Ryan Longwell kicked a 46 yard FG right before halftime to make it 17-14.

The 3rd Quarter was just ugly. The offense didn't do anything... Vick just couldn't break a big play yesterday, which I guess I should give the Packer defense credit for. Meanwhile Favre and Co. were pulling off long drives and tacking on field goals... Slowly and painfully adding to their lead. So as the quarter came to an end the Falcons trailed 14-23 and it wasn't looking good at all.

The Falcons were given good field position after Rossum actually did something productive for once by returning a punt. But a fumbled snap on 3rd down only allowed us to kick a field goal. Of course Ryan Longwell then answered with a 51 yard field goal (it's funny how he came into the game struggling but magically he goes 4/4 with 46, 23, 53, and 51 yard FG's). Then after a Roddy White fumble that was returned to the 2 yard line, which was very similar to a UGA fumble that was returned for a TD, I turned off the game and went out to get Christmas decorations with Brandon because quite honestly that's the only thing that could cheer me up and if I had stayed around the apartment I probably would've broken something or hurt someone.

In my mind the Falcons blew it last night. And I'm talking about the season, not the game. Seattle and Carolina have pulled away (most likely for good) and I don't see the Falcons beating Carolina once this year. I really don't even want to watch the Falcons anymore, I can't stand watching pathetic defenses, and the Falcons defense really emphasizes "pathetic". I mean week after week we give up so much yardage, and to awful teams. I would really like to see what Vick could do to our defense...

Game notes:

* Vick was sharp again (besides a careless fumble that I'm used to) going 20/30 for 209 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. He also rushed for 24 yards and a TD.

* Favre was 26/39 for 252 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.

* Falcons fumbled 6 times!! And lost 3 of them.

* Falcons had 8 penalties for 58 yards.

* Packers had 4 penalties for 58 yards.

* Falcons lost time of possession and coincidentally lost the game, surprised?

Today's Winners:

1) Michael Vick - You saw his numbers. His second straight impressive game, but it'd be nice if the offensive line could BLOCK for him. Hopefully he's found his rhythm and can continue to produce good passing games. It appeared his awareness was down today because he took some stupid hits and didn't protect the ball well.

2) Demorrio Williams - 12 tackles, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble. I'm really impressed with this guy and if he continues to progress he could end up being an amazing linebacker.

3) Brett Favre - You saw his numbers. I don't think anyone can be surprised that he did this to us. I wasn't atleast. But I guess I'm happy for him. He's a good guy and has had a rough season. He juked his way out of a few sacks and all I could do was just shake my head at my impressive defense. I don't know how he does it...

Today's Losers:

1) Falcon's Defense - 1 sack. And let me tell ya, the Packers O-Line is REEAALLL impressive.

2) Falcon's Defense - Allowed 351 total yards (107 rushing, 244 passing). Allowed 103 rushing yards and 3 TD to a Division 2-A running back.

3) 6 Falcon Fumbles - The 3 lost fumbles were extremely costly, resulting in 14 points. I hate fumbles 10 times more than interceptions.

2005-11-13T10:39:00.000-05:00

Let's Kick The Poor Guy While He's Down

I'm not doing a game preview this week because anyone who follows football knows what's going on with each of these two teams. The Packers are struggling to say the least, they've had more costly injuries than any other team. The Packers (1-7) and Brett Favre are having a terrible season and those 2 reasons have me 90% sure Favre will return next year, which I don't think is all that big of a deal. Favre doesn't want to end his career on this note and I don't blame him. Favre hasnt lost much so if the Packers can bring back key offensive weapons Favre and the Packers should have a much better season next year.

The Falcons are playing decent. Most of their wins have been ugly, but a win is a win and in the playoffs it doesn't matter if you win 41-10 or 21-17. Vick needs to have another solid passing game if he wants to continue to prove that he's a legit passer. But I don't care if he passes for 200+ yards or not... That's not Vicks game, there are no other QB's similar to Vick so I hate how people try to tell him how to play. If he only throws for 150 yards, who cares? Because chances are he'll add 50+ on the ground. In my mind all that matters is that he cuts down on turnovers... Meaning don't force passes if no one is open and protect the ball when he scrambles. So when he can limit his mistakes he'll be an amazing weapon and hopefully then people will realize, "Ok so maybe he doesn't have to throw for 300 yards a game, because that's not his game. He just does what it takes to win, he can make the throw when he has too or he can scramble for 20 yards when he sees the opportunity. Fans of Vick have been right... When you're that dangerous on the ground, don't take his legs out of the equation by making him purely a pocket passer."

But whatever, I don't care what critics say about him anymore. The most important stat in football is wins, and Vick is one of the best at that. As he and his WR continue to mature, Vick will begin to put up better numbers.

Just watch NFL Countdown if you want a preview.

NFL Picks:

San Fran @ Chicago - Chicago

Kansas City @ Buffalo - Kansas City

Arizona @ Detroit - Detroit

Houston @ Indy - Umm... Indy?

New England @ Miami - Miami

Minnesota @ NY Giants - Giants (but I really want to pick Minn)

Baltimore @ Jacksonville - Jacksonville

Green Bay @ Atlanta - Atlanta

Denver @ Oakland - Denver

St. Louis @ Seattle - Seattle

NY Jets @ Carolina - Carolina

Washington @ Tampa - Washington (I wonder if any Redskins cheerleaders had a good time in Tampa last night)

Cleveland @ Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh

8-5

Dallas @ Philly - Dallas

2005-11-10T22:12:00.000-05:00

Oh Boy... It's Gonna Be A Long Season...

And we're off! To an 0-5 start... I'm a sucker for hype, and I bought into it this offseason. I wasn't expecting too much, but I thought maybe we did have a chance to sneak into the playoffs (there are usually 1 or 2 teams in every sport that come out of nowhere). Well... That clearly isn't going to happen, and now I'm not even sure if we'll improve on last years 13-69 record, which would be extremely hard to do.

During the offseason the Hawks brought over Joe Johnson from the Phoenix Suns to be our point guard. They signed him to a $70 million contract, and I was ok with that because it showed that Hawks management is finally willing to spend money on the team. Johnson is only 24, can handle the ball, and is a great shooter. In the draft we took Marvin Williams with the 2nd pick, which is fine by me... He has an amazing upside and was probably the most talented player in the draft. We took Salim Stoudamire in the 2nd round and in my mind he may have been the steal of the draft. Stoudamire led the NCAA in 3-point shooting last year so it's good to load up on some shooters. Josh Smith, winner of last years slam dunk contest, and Josh Childress are two rookies from last year who have a lot of people excited.

There are two main problems with the Hawks that everyone knew about before the season even started:

1) Lack of a dominant big man - We have Zaza Pachulia and he's been solid so far (13 pts 8 reb/game) but he's not dominant and it's a situation where any center in the NBA can put up those numbers when he plays 30+ minutes a game. The Hawks have 2 options. They can either draft a center in next years draft and wait a couple years for him to grow into his potential, or we can sign a FA big man who's on the brink of breaking out. I'd prefer option 2 simply because I'm ready to put together a playoff team.

2) "The Hawks entire team consists of small forwards" - Yeah so we have 6 on the team (Joe Johnson, Al Harrington, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Josh Childress, and Donta Smith). All of them ranging from about 6'6 to 6'9... Yes, they all have great potential, but thats way too many and the Hawks are going to have to swap a couple of them to get talent in another position (PF or C). Harringtons name has been mentioned the most in trade talks, which is fine with me. He's about to reach his prime to let's sell him while he's worth the most value.

I guess all we can do is sit back and hope that these young players can progress into potential all-stars. The Hawks have the youngest team in the NBA, and an important thing about that is that they'll grow up together and hopefully learn how to play well together. We have a core of good young players and all we can do now is build around them. Since things have gotten ugly fast, I'm going to go ahead and start a "Race for the #1 pick".

There was a T.O. sighting tonight at the Hawks game... Poor guy, he's so bored that he actually went to a Hawks game. I almost feel bad for him. lol

I'll update sometime explaining why I think it'd be a terrible idea to ever want T.O. to come to the Falcons...

I reached 1,000+ hits in about 6 weeks, that's pretty awesome. Thanks for coming to my site.

2005-11-07T18:39:00.000-05:00

No Surprises This Week...

The top teams continue to separate themselves from the rest. While the Panthers appear to be the favorites in the NFC, I've still got the Falcons ahead for now for 2 simple, meaningless reasons... 1) Panthers lost to the Dolphins at Miami, while the Falcons won at Miami. 2) Vick is 6-0 against the Panthers. This could all easily change, but for the most part everything is the same this week since there were no major upsets.

1) Colts (8-0; unchanged) - Can we just end the season now and give the Super Bowl to the Colts? If the Patriots can't even keep it close in Foxboro, then no other team stands a chance (yes, this is a serious jynx I'm attempting here). So the Colts had one mental barrier to overcome this season, and that was winning at Foxboro. And they did so, to say the least. While they may not finish 16-0, they won't finish any worse than 14-2 and the only potential threat I see for them in the playoffs are the Steelers.

2) Steelers (6-2; unchanged) - Well that's 11 straight on road victories for the Steelers, and I have to admit that's pretty impressive. These guys have become the most consistant team in the NFL. There's absolutely nothing flashy about this team, but they play great as a team and that's the equation for success. Last week's win without Big Ben should give them some confidence. They have 2 easy games against the Browns and the Ravens before they head to Indy for what should be an amazing game.

3) Bengals (7-2; 4) - Carson Palmer (18 TD, 5 INT) has in my mind been the MVP so far this season. Good win last week over the Ravens, a team that used to always beat the Bengals. Now they head into their bye week preparing for the Colts, the game is at home so they'll have a chance to redeem themselves after what happened against the Steelers.

4) Broncos (6-2; 3) - No game last week. This is about the time of the season when the Broncos tend to collapse, so we'll have to see how they hold up. Next week at Oakland could very easily equal a loss, especially since Denver is only 1-2 away from home.

5) Falcons (6-2; unchanged) - The Falcons were rolling last week and the score would've shown that if it hadn't have been for 2 costly turnovers. Vick showed that he does have the ability to stay in the pocket, and the more that he does that the easier it should be for him to catch the defense off guard for a long run. Next week the Packers come to town and hopefully the Falcons can finish off this easy stretch 4-0.

6) Panthers (6-2; unchanged) - This team is looking extremely impressive... They're running on all cylinders right now and it's scary if you're a Falcons fan. This team right now is better than the Falcons in my opinion and I expect them to win the division. Stephen Davis has 11 rushing TDs, Steve Smith has 900+ yds and 9 TD, and the defense is amazing against the run (all of which don't equal good news for the Falcons). With 3 laughers in a row (Jets, Bears, and Bills) this team should easily be 9-2 when they welcome the Falcons to town. The only bad thing goin for them is that two of their freaky cheerleaders got kicked off the squad yesterday. I'm sure they'll be able to find replacements rather easily.

7) Giants (6-2; unchanged) - Eli got his first win away from Giants Stadium... Against the 49ers. For all the hype they're beginning to get, I don't expect much in the playoffs (as you shouldn't with any team who struggles on the road). Eli is looking much better than Peyton at this point in his career, which is pretty scary because you can't imagine Eli ever being better than Peyton. The Giants are beginning a really tough stretch that will make or break them (Minn, Philly, @ Seattle, Dallas, @ Philly, @ Wash, @ Oak). After seeing their remaining schedule, I'm not so sure I can declare the Giants the favorite in the NFC East anymore with almost gauranteed losses at Seattle and at Philly.

8) Seahawks (6-2; unchanged) - Shaun Alexander is a beast. The Seahawks had a relatively easy first half so I really doubt they'll finish 6-2 in the second half. I think they'll finish the year 11-5 but I don't think they'll do much in the playoffs. I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually want the Rams to win this week...

9) Redskins (5-3; unranked) - I have to give these guys some love... They beat the Eagles while they were down. I love Portis, but he's been too inconsistant lately and after watching Walt Harris fly by so many tackles, it made me feel lucky to have Webster on my team. The Redskins are 2-3 over the last 5 so I'm not expecting much from them especially in this division.

10) Chargers (5-4; unchanged) - Well there are two ways too look at last weeks game... You can either think they got lucky, or that they're finally winning the close games. I'm leaning torwards the 1st one, because almost anyone other than the Jets would've scored a TD in that situation. And I'm disappointed in LT... He didn't throw a TD, but he did score 4 TD's and possibly had the juke of the year on Ty Law.

As for the Eagles... They AREN'T better without T.O. and they won't make the playoffs without him. They may have better chemistry, but they aren't better talent-wise. Eagles WR may now be worse than the Falcons WR so McNabb will get to go through what Vick has to go through every week. It'll be fun watching them struggle for the rest of the year. Somethin like 3 out of 4 Super Bowl losers haven't made it to the playoffs the next year. I don't understand why that happens...

2005-11-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

Now Can We Call Him a 'Quarterback'?

Or do we have to wait and see how he does next week? The Falcons won today 17-10 and the main reason was Vick's composure in the pocket. He actually put up QB-like numbers... So hopefully critics can shut up for atleast a week. He finished the game 22/31 for 228 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT; he also added 38 more on the ground. Those look like decent numbers to say the least and it just goes to show that if Vick gets time to throw the ball and his receivers get open, he can get it done through the air.

The score doesn't justify how the Falcons played. The game was pretty much one-sided and the score could've been lopsided if it wasn't for a couple of turnovers. The first was a fumble by Griffith on the 3 yard like, which prevented the Falcons from going up 14-0 in the 1st quarter. The second take place when Mr. Rossum muffed a punt then kicked it 15 yards further into Dolphin territory right before the half which resulted in a Miami field goal making it 14-10. But to show how the Falcons dominated, just look at some of these stats:

First Downs : Falcons - 27 Dolphins - 11

3rd Down Conversions : Falcons - 11/17 Dolphins - 0/9

Penalties : Falcons - 4 for 28 yds Dolphins 7 for 60 yards

Time of Pos. : Falcons - 36:15 Dolphins - 23:45

Total Yards : Falcons - 382 Dolphins - 208

I don't think it's much of a coincidence that Finneran was the top WR when Vick has a great game. Finneran had 8 catches for 92 yards and a touchdown, he did drop a TD pass but I won't hold that against him since we won. I wouldn't mind seeing him in the starting lineup... If not, atleast get him in the game more. Crumpler made his usual clutch catches that resulted in 65 yards, and Dunn finished the game with another strong performance (111 total yards and a TD). The offense looked good despite only 17 points, hopefully we can get Duckett back soon... That'll make things A LOT easier up at the goal line.

On the other side of the ball, I guess you could say the defense played a pretty good game. They held the Dolphins to 10 points and 208 yards but they finished with only 1 turnover, 0 sacks, and put hardly any pressure on Frerotte. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting sick of the opponent getting an extra 5 yards every other play because the Falcons are standing around trying to strip the ball instead of just making the tackle. Atleast Carpenter became the only other player in the Falcons secondary to intercept a pass besides Hall. It was surprisingly the Falcons 19th straight game with a forced turnover, 2nd longest active streak.

Today's Winners:

1) Michael Vick - He was impressive all game. Didn't force any passes, stayed composed, and only ran when he had to. Hopefully he silenced a few critics today and hopefully he'll continue to play this well against the Packers next week.

2) Warrick Dunn - Another great game from the 180 pound RB. Had a great run on 3rd and 6 with 2:18 left to seal the game for the Falcons. Continues to be the main constant on the team who can be counted on week after week to put up solid numbers.

3) Brian Finneran - It'd be nice if he can continue to put up good games like he did today. That's the main problem with the Falcons, they don't consistantly get good games out of their WR. Finneran is Vick's favorite WR so hopefully he'll start getting more playing time.

Today's Losers:

1) Gus Frerotte - One of a few QB's who have failed to capitalize on a weak Falcons secondary. Finished the game 13/22 for 103 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT. And that interception couldn't have come at a worse time... Trailing by 7 with just under 3 minutes left.

2) Jason Webster - A pathetic tackle attempt on Ricky Williams during his 23 yard TD run. He just kinda fell down in front of Ricky and hoped that Ricky would trip over him. Unlike Hall, it appears that Webster shies away from the big hit... It's funny (in a sad way) watching him run into the blocker so that he can avoid making a tackle.

3) Justin Griffith - I like the guy, but he was disappointing today. He took a few big hits, one that resulted in a fumble that prevented the Falcons from running away with the game. He finished the game with only 18 total yards, but that's ok because he's still a great blocker.

2005-11-05T12:36:00.000-05:00

Falcons at Dolphins Preview

This week the Falcons head to Miami to take on the Dolphins and I have a feeling it'll be a much tougher game than everyone's making it out to be. The Dolphins have a pretty decent defense that ranks 11th overall and a rushing game thats beginning to play up to its potential (117 ypg). I haven't been too impressed with the Falcons offense the past few weeks against the Jets and Saints but we still lead the league in rushing (188 ypg). Hopefully last weeks bye gave Vick time to straighten out his mechanics and get healthy, over the last two weeks he's thrown 4 interceptions and only 1 touchdown.

Last week the Dolphins had one of their best rushing games, Brown had 106 yards and Williams had 82 yards in rout to their 21-6 win over the Saints. Gus Frerotte (8 TD, 8 INT) is an average at best QB but it'll be interesting to see how much success he may have against the Falcons' secondary. Thanks to the Dolphins good run performance last week, they were able to control the ball for 36 minutes... Which equals bad new for the Falcons defense if they do the same this week.

* Dolphins are 3-4 (Won 1) 2nd in AFC East

* Falcons are 5-2 (Won 2) Tied for 1st in NFC South

* T.J. Duckett, Michael Jenkins, Brady Smith are questionable

* David Boston, Sam Madison, Junior Seau are questionable

Owens Suspended Indefinitely

Hoge on T.O. situation
I'll be shocked if we ever see Terrell Owens in an Eagles uniform again. He's going to have to be traded because he's completely burned the bridge with this team and his teammates.
When the Eagles and coach Andy Reid allowed Owens to come back after a chaotic offseason spent bashing the organization and players, they set themselves up for this to happen. I said then that the organization was going to have to deal with the T.O. mess eventually, and now Philadelphia is dealing with him. This team should've put its foot down earlier and made sure this didn't happen again by either trading him or suspending him for a couple of games.
Instead, the Eagles sent him home, let him off with a lazy apology and showed him that he was more important than the team. That was a mistake, but it's good to see that they've rectified it, albeit too late.
If the Eagles are smart, they'll try to get a power running back for Owens. Unfortunately for them, if the Randy Moss trade is any barometer, the market for a talented but troublesome receiver may be limited. -- Merril Hoge

2005-10-31T14:29:00.000-05:00

Owens Can't Save Eagles

While watching the game Sunday, I heard an interesting stat... The Eagles had never lost a game in which T.O. scored a touchdown. Well know they have. Eagles got thumped by the Broncos in Denver and fall out of the top 10.

1) Colts (7-0; unchanged) - The Colts had a bye last week and hopefully they put it into good use by preparing for this weeks game of the week against the Patriots. The Colts haven't won in Foxboro since 1995, but now is as good a time as ever to change that. I've got my money on the Colts with their improved defense. With no Harrison or Poole, Peyton should be able to do what he does best by picking apart the Patriot secondary.

2) Steelers (5-2; unchanged) - Another gutsy win for the Steelers... They just always seem to find a way to get it done game after game. It's not surprising that last nights game against the Ravens was close. That's the one thing the Ravens have going for them, that the defense can potentially keep them in games. Reed made another clutch kick to win the game, potetntial Rookie of the Year Heath Miller caught 2 more TD passes, and Big Ben threw a career high 30 times. Easy schedule ahead of them... @ GB, then vs. Cleveland.

3) Broncos (6-2; 4) - The Broncos continue to roll at home (5-0), but if you finished 1st grade you'll realize that this means they're 1-2 on the road. And for that reason I'm still kind of skeptical of them. Plummer has been amazing this year to the surprise of many and he continued to roll last week when he threw 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Last week the Broncos became the first team to have a 300 yard passer to go along with two 100 yard rushers.

4) Bengals (6-2; 6) - They bounced back with a win last week against the struggling Packers. Yes the Packers, but the point is good teams win games that they're supposed to win and that's what the Bengals did. The defense recorded 5 interceptions for the 3rd time this year... That's pretty impressive if you asked me. Next week they face a tough defense in Baltimore but I expect the Bengals offense to prevail.

5) Falcons (5-2; 3) - Well the AFC teams pushed their way back to the top, but here are the Falcons leading the way for the NFC. No game last week but in my mind we have a tough one next week in Miami. I just hope the defense doesn't get run over by Brown and Williams. The Falcons are in the middle of a nice little stretch that could put them at 7-2, they've won the first 2, now let's win the last 2. Like I said, good teams win when they're supposed to, hopefully the Falcons can do that.

6) Panthers (5-2; 10) - Ok well they're beginning to look like a scary team. The Panthers have won 4 straight and it looks like they're going to continue to roll this week against the Bucs. Steve Smith has been tearing it up so far this season and has been the MVP of the team so far. The Panthers ended last season on a huge run, but they waited a little too late and missed the playoffs. It appears they've decided to get hot a little earlier this year.

7) Giants (5-2; unranked) - Look what happens when the defense steps up. Meanwhile the offense has been solid even though Eli's numbers don't show it sometimes. I love Shockey's determination and heart, he is clearly the emotional leader on that team and he's been a great target for Eli. As long as the defense can perform, it looks like the Giants are the best all around team in the NFC East.

8) Seahawks (5-2; unchanged) - Bye last week. Easy win at Arizona this week. If this team can learn how to win on the road, they may be a serious contender for NFC Homefield throughout the playoffs, which would make them pretty dangerous. Notice how I said IF they can win on the road. They most likely won't which means they'll be out of the playoffs early.

9) Cowboys (5-3; unranked) - The Cowboy's could easily be better, but it could easily be worse. Last week's win over Arizona was impressive and it keeps them on pace with the rest of the NFC East. They have a bye this week before their showdown at Philly on Monday Night Football.

10) Chargers (4-4; unranked) - San Diego should finally get over the .500 mark this week against the Jets. But the real story is... Will LT throw more touchdown passes than a Jets QB? As of now Tomlinson has 3 touchdowns in 3 attempts (158.3 rating) while the Jets QBs have 3 touchdown passes in 207 attempts (67.8 rating). It will be interesting to see, I've got my money on LT haha.

I Guess Brett Favre Thought he was in a Burger King Commercial(Where does this guy come from?? Get him on the Falcons!)

2005-10-30T20:00:00.000-05:00

Falcons Watch as Bucs Sink and Panthers Cruise

Watching the Bucs pathetic performance today against the 49ers (2-5) has to ease the Falcons, but at the same time seeing what the Panthers did to the Vikings today had to make the Falcons just as uneasy. There is currently a 3-way tie atop the NFC South between the Falcons, Panthers, and Bucs at 5-2. Next week is a huge showdown between the Bucs and Panthers, and the clear favorite has to be the Panthers. Meanwhile the Falcons will face an easier task taking on the Dolphins in Miami, hopefully the Falcons will improve to 6-2. After what I saw today I'm certain the division will come down to Atlanta and Carolina, let's hope our dominance over them will continue this season (Vick is 6-0 against the Panthers).

NFL Recap:

Broncos Stampede Philly - Jake the Snake continues to impress and the Broncos continue to beat tough teams at home. Plummer was 22/35 for 309 yards, 4 TD and 0 INT to lead the 49-21 rout of the Eagles. McNabb started off 0/13 and before you knew it, Denver had jumped out to a 28-0 lead. McNabb and the Eagles attempted a comeback making it 28-21 but the Broncos would pull away for good. Denver improves to 6-2 while Philly drops to 4-3.

Bears Claim 1st After Win Over Lions - Yes, there is finally a team over .500 in the NFC North, and I'm glad it's the Bears. If you love big hits then you'll love what happened to Garcia today because that guy got LIT UP a few times. It doesn't appear Garcia will be the answer at QB as he threw an INT in OT to lose the game. The Bears defense continues to be impressive and I'll be pulling for them to keep it up. Chicago has won 3 straight to go to 4-3, Detroit is 3-4.

Giants Crush 'Skins in Honor of Mara - Well this game was over as soon as Mara's grand daughter (who is really cute if I may add) sang the National Anthem. Tiki torched the Redskins for 206 yards on 24 carries and the Giants defense stepped up big time, holding Washington to a misely 125 yards as the Giants shut out the Redskins 36-0. The Redskins are on the verge of a collapse as they face the Eagles next week, I'll be praying for them to somehow pull off a victory but it doesn't seem likely. The Giants on the other hand are moving in the right direction and I've jumped on the bandwagon. As long as the defense can play similar to how they played today, this team has a chance to win 11 games and win the division.

I'll finish the rest later but I'm off to see Saw II with some friends so peeeeeace. And Go Bills!

2005-10-29T19:13:00.000-04:00

Gators Have Their Way with UGA... Again.

Welcome to the World's Largest Cocktail Party aka a win for the Gators. With todays 14-10 victory over UGA, Florida has now won 14 of the last 16 in this pathetic rivalry. I've come to the conclusion that UGA could come into the game with a 15 game winning streak and Florida could come into the game with a 15 game losing streak and somehow the Gators would win. A simple simile: When UGA plays Florida they choke like the Braves do against anyone in the playoffs... No one can explain why this happens year after year, but it does.

There was obviously an exception this year... Shockley, UGA's #1 QB and one of the top passers in the nation, was out for the game. Enter Joe Tereshinski III and his 0 career TD passes. I'm not gonna lie I was impressed with all the support he got and the false sense of hope that was created because of it. But Georgia fans sobered up real quick after two early 3 and outs and two touchdowns for Florida. Fortunately, Georgia's defense settled down and didn't allow anymore points.

Georgia eventually clawed their way back making it 14-10, but with all the opportunities they were given, they should've taken the lead. Two missed field goals, the inability to score touchdowns in the red zone and the lack of a passing attack doomed the Dawgs.

Tonight's loss dropped #4 UGA to 7-1 (5-1) and now the game against #19 Auburn 6-2 (4-1) in 2 weeks is a must-win if the Dawgs plan on making it to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. In an attempt to sound optimistic about tonight's loss... I guess it doesn't really matter seeing as how USC/Texas/Va Tech most likely won't lose. So even if UGA did finish undefeated, I doubt they'd be going to the Rose Bowl. As long as Shockley returns and stays healthy and we win out and beat whoever we play in the SEC Championship game (hopefully Bama) then we'll still get a BCS bowl game.

The game stats are pretty much dead even...

First Downs:

UGA - 18 Florida - 17

Total Yards:

UGA - 284 Florida - 277

Passing Yards:

UGA - 109 Florida - 109

Rushing Yards:

UGA - 175 Florida - 168

I have a problem with this rivalry... It's clearly lopsided and you would think there would be attempts made to make it more competitive. I'm not someone who comes up with excuses when my team loses but this situation bugs me a lot.

Problem #1 is that Florida coincidentally receives a bye before the UGA game every year, something Georgia could've benefited from this year to heal Shockley. I think either both teams should get a bye week before this game, or Florida should have a bye week earlier in the year like Georgia does.

Problem #2 is that the game is played in Jacksonville every year. Technically it's a neutral site, but the fact of the matter is that JACKSONVILLE IS IN FLORIDA. Why don't they toss things up a bit and alternate every year between Jacksonville and Atlanta? I mean Atlanta is as much of a neutral site for UGA as Jacksonville is for UF, right? I'm sure if the game took place in Atlanta every year, Gator fans would be complaining too.

Oh well, get well soon Shockley...

2005-10-28T13:35:00.000-04:00

Who's Playing Big... And Who Isn't

The season is almost halfway over, sad I know. So I figured I'd write about the players/teams who are doing better and worse than expected. Obviously the Colts are the top team, Peyton and Brady are a couple of the top QBs, and LT is the top RB, but that's not what I'm writing about. I'm writing about teams/players who are getting the job done quietly or unexpectedly.

We'll start if off with the surprise teams... The good and the bad.

The Good:

1) Cincinatti (5-2) - They showed signs of life last year, but no one expected them to be in 1st place at this point in the season. Nor did anyone expect Carson Palmer to already be one of the top passers in the NFL. Cincy should be a sure bet to make the playoffs, as a wild card atleast and Palmer is already a MVP candidate in only his 2nd year.

2) Tampa Bay (5-1) - Did anyone expect the Bucs to be leading the NFC South? At any point in the season? Nope. The NFC South was supposed to come down between the Falcons and Panthers, with the Bucs carrying up the rear. But Cadillac has been a pleasant surprise along with a solid defense. Greise went down for the season and we have yet to see how Simms and Rattay can manage the team.

3) Washington (4-2) - Joe Gibbs looked like he had lost his magic after a terrible season last year. But Washington is currently contending for 1st place with the other 3 teams in the NFC East. I personally don't think they'll be able to keep it up once division play starts.

The Bad:

1) San Diego (3-4) - The Bolts were supposed to pick up where they left off last year, but unfortunately for them that hasn't been the case. I'm still undecided about them. Had they won last week like they should have, they would've been 4-1 over their last 5 games, which is pretty damn good. But they have a tendency to blow close games, which won't get them very far in this league.

2) Green Bay (1-5) - I feel bad for Favre. Yeah so he hasn't lost his talent yet apparently, but his team has. With his teammates dropping like flies I can imagine Favre must be questioning his return this year. Things are only going to get worse for the Packers in the future after Favre leaves. I don't feel bad for them though.

3) Minnesota (2-4) - So much for them being better without Moss. So much for them being Super Bowl contenders. Who would've imagined the Vikings would have more off the field problems without Moss. The team is falling apart and apparently Dennis Green will be luring Culpepper to Arizona this offseason.

QB's

The Good:

1) Carson Palmer - 1800 yards, 13 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 104.0 QB Rating. Yeah not bad for a 2nd year player. He's led his team to a 5-2 record and is currently a front runner for the MVP.

2) Mark Brunell (Comeback Player of the Year) - 1492 yards, 12 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 98.3 QB Rating. I can honestly say the Redskins wouldn't be 4-2 with Ramsey leading the way. Brunell is earning that fat contract he got two years ago and his good play is definately making his teammates look better.

3) Drew Bledsoe - 1799 yards, 12 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 94.9 QB Rating. Bledsoe single-handedly blew last weeks game against the Seahawks, but up until then he had been impressive. I don't know if he'll be able to continue putting up these numbers but I know Buffalo wishes they still had him.

The Bad:

1) Joey Harrington - 798 yards, 4 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 55.6 QB Rating. The offense was supposed to come together this year... Mike and Roy Williams, Charles Rogers, Kevin Jones. Too bad Harrington is the QB. The Lions had their best week of practice with Jeff Garcia... When he was only 70%.

2) David Carr - 769 yards, 5 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 71.6 QB Rating. This guy is on the ground every other play. The Texans are a complete mess as a team. This may be Carr's last season with the Texans unless they pick up his $8 million bonus.

3) Michael Vick - 723 yards, 5 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 63.0 QB Rating. Yes Vick. He wins games, which is all that matters in the NFL. But for someone who is getting $130 million, I would like for him to look better in the process. Even if he'll never pass for 30 touchdowns and 4,000 yards, I would love for him to atleast cut down on the stupid mistakes (protect the ball when he scrambles and don't force unneccesary passes).

RB's

The Good:

1) Edge James - 801 yards, 4.9 average, 7 touchdowns. So much for Manning being a ball-hog. James is quietly leading the league in rushing yards for the undefeated Colts.

2) Shaun Alexander - 776 yards, 5.1 average, 12 touchdowns. He's the best back the no one hears about. Leads the league with 12 touchdowns and was 2 yards away from being the rushing leader last season.

3) Warrick Dunn - 732 yards, 5.4 average, 2 touchdowns. Leads the leagues best rushing team in rushing yards. One of the most underrated backs in the league but he's finally getting credit for his good work.

The Bad:

1) Jamal Lewis - 326 yards, 2.9 average, 1 touchdown. According to Lewis he doesn't want to risk injury since it's the last year of his contract. So it must be nice for his teammates to know that he's not going all out. The Ravens are just pathetic on offense so I don't expect anything to change in the near future.

2) Curtis Martin - 461 yards, 3.4 average, 4 touchdowns. Couldn't get it done last week against a weak Falcon defense. As long as the Jets don't have a pass offense, Martin won't be an effective runner. It's kinda hard to run with 8 or 9 men in the box expecting the run.

3) Fred Taylor - 401 yards, 3.8 average, 1 touchdown. Putting up average numbers at best. Isn't the star that people were expecting to see this season. Injury prone.

WRs

The Good:

1) Santana Moss - 38 rec, 743 yards, 5 touchdowns. What a bounce back season he's having. Moss must be the happiest guy in the NFL that he's no longer a Jet. He has great speed and can score a touchdown on any given play.

2) Chad Johnson - 43 rec, 655 yards, 5 touchdowns. Johnson is a favorite of the reporters. You can always get a great quote out of him. The good thing about him is that he backs up the trash that he talks. He has a great QB in Palmer so you can continue to expect amazing numbers from him.

3) Steve Smith - 39 rec, 596 yards, 7 touchdowns. Leads all players in receiving touchdowns. A lot of people forgot about him after being injured last year, but he's proved that he hasn't lost a step.

The Bad:

1) Jerry Porter - 25 rec, 303 yards, 0 touchdowns. It doesn't appear Porter will ever be anything more than an average WR. With Moss coming to town, Porter was supposed to get better matchups, but he's still putting up mediocre numbers.

2) Javon Walker - 4 rec, 27 yards, 0 touchdowns. This reminds me so much of Jamal Anderson... Misses the preseason because of a hold out, then misses the season because of an injury. Walker got his huge contract, then tore his ACL. He's not on Favre's good side...

3) Andre Johnson - 10 rec, 76 yards, 0 touchdowns. Johnson has the potential to be one of the top WR in the league, and that's what everyone was expecting out of him this year. But as you can see he's been a bust. The Texans can't get a break...

2005-10-27T00:34:00.000-04:00

It Couldn't Have Ended Any Sooner...

I wasn't even planning on writing about this series, but what the hell. I'll keep it brief. The White Sox swept the Astros... That's two straight sweeps for the American League.. Yaaawwwnn. Unfortunately for the White Sox, the Red Sox stole their thunder last year. America just wasn't as interested this year, I was told that this was the lowest rated World Series. Doesn't surprise me. No A-rod, no Manny, no Pujols, no star power. Does the average american know who Crede is? Or Uribe? Doubt it. MLB needed the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, or Braves in the World Series.

White Sox vs. Astros drew no interest even though they were decent games, apparently. I wouldn't know, I didn't watch more than 15 minutes of any particular game. The White Sox got a couple controversial calls (a theme for the playoffs), there was a walk-off homerun from a guy who hit 0 homeruns in the regular season, and the White Sox won for the first time since 1917. It's too bad no one outside of Chicago cares. And a painful stat for the Astros... The White Sox won all 4 games by a total of... SIX runs, tying an MLB record.

In my mind the whole playoffs were a bust as soon as the Yankees and Red Sox lost in the 1st round. America wanted another epic ALCS battle. Oh well, I have 4 1/2 months of no baseball to enjoy. Time to focus purely on football.

White Sox went 11-1 in the playoffs.

Before the playoffs began, Ozzie Guillen (41 years old) said he'd retire if the White Sox won the World Series because he would've accomplished everything he ever hoped to...

Well the White Sox won, it'll be interesting to see if this nutcase keeps his word.

2005-10-25T16:56:00.000-04:00

The Good Teams Continue to Win, the Bad Teams Continue to uhh... Suck.

Week 8 NFL Power Rankings:

1) Colts - (7-0; unchanged) - Surprise, surprise... The Colts keep on rolling. Not much of a test last week against the lowly Texans but they continue to win impressively. They have a bye week this week before their showdown with the Pats on Monday Night Football. The game would be an easy win at home, but since it's at chilly Foxboro the Colts may struggle and be handed their first loss.

2) Steelers - (4-2; 6) - Big Ben and Ward return the line up and what do you know, the Steelers win. Last week was a statement win at Cincy proving that they are still the team to beat in the AFC North. Next week's Monday Night game against the Ravens will be an easy win with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed likely out, and Green Bay the following week will be even easier. Cincy missed their chance to distance themselves in first, now it's not looking good for them.

3) Falcons - (5-2; 5) - 2 straight wins heading into the bye week and with Miami and Green Bay coming up the Falcons should be looking at a 7-2 record. The two losses coming by a combined 6 points should have the Falcons feeling pretty good about themselves. Vick plays to the level of his opponent, but he steps up when needed. So expect him to come up big as soon as the Falcons have a respectable opponent to play. The run defense proved that they're fine by holding the Jets to 37 yards last week on the ground. I found it funny to see the Falcons still selling Peerless Price jerseys at the game... Atleast they were $36?

4) Broncos - (5-2; 2) - Well the Broncos could easily be 6-1 but they blew it in New York last week. Broncos fans better hope this isn't the beginning of a collapse. They have a tough test at home this week against the Eagles, a win and they'll be right back on track. Trust me, I'll be pulling for the Broncos big time...

5) Eagles - (4-2; unranked) - Why do good things happen to the Eagles? Their fans don't deserve this, they're evil. But I have to give the Eagles credit, they held LT to 7 yards rushing and snapped his streak of 18 straight games with a TD. They didn't deserve to win but they found a way. They have 2 tough games coming up... At Denver this week and at Washington in 2 weeks. Hopefully that'll equal 2 losses, the Eagles are 1-2 on the road.

6) Bengals - (5-2; 3) - The Bengals got showed up at home last week against the Steelers. Last week was their chance to prove themselves as a legit AFC contender but they failed... They're still a great team but maybe a year or two away from being one of the top teams. They have a great offense but it needs to get more physical (Rudy Johnson) before they can take that step to the next level. They're heading in the right direction to say the least.

7) Bucs - (5-1; unchanged) - No game last week but they have a laugher this week against the 49ers. Rattay would love to lead the Bucs to a victory more than anything. This week's game will be a good prep for the Panthers next week and the Falcons the following week. Should be a great division title race in the NFC South.

8) Seahawks - (5-2; unranked) - Two good signs for the Seahawks so far this season... They beat the Rams and they won a game last week that they normally would've been on the losing side of. Not to mention they're in an incredibly weak NFC West. Should be smooth sailing for these guys. It wouldn't hurt if they'd learn how to win a few games on the road.

9) Jaguars - (4-2; 8) - The Jags can easily win their next 6 games to go to 10-2... No joke, check their schedule yourself. This team has an amazing defense and an offense that finds a way to get it done. The Jaguars are honestly one of the few teams that I wouldn't want to face. Everyone is sleeping on them right now, but check back in with them in a few weeks and see what their record is.

10) Panthers - (4-2; 9) - They've won 3 straight heading into a potential upset this week against the Vikings. This is a must win for them in order to keep pace with the Falcons and Bucs. Delhomme will be back behind the center after leaving the game hurt a couple weeks ago.

To all the Vick haters...

Moe (Minnesota): It seems people don't understand what we are seeing from Mike Vick. A quarterback with his stats should not win a game, or even be in the league. But I have to admit it; he's a winner. All he seem to do is win. Whether his passing is ugly or flashy, we are seeing a new level of quarterback, right?

Len Pasquarelli: I think that, in assessing Vick, we have to throw out the normal measuring sticks that we use with other quarterbacks. He will never be a great passer, will never be a 65-percent completion rate guy. But he wins, and even if he does it a different way than any quarterback we've ever seen, that's what counts.

2005-10-25T00:44:00.000-04:00

Stumblin Rumblin FUMBLIN Vinny Causes Jets to Crash and Burn

I guess Testaverde took my ad from last week about the Falcon's defense making any QB look like a pro bowler a little too seriously... There's an exception for every rule, CLEARLY. Vinny completed 11/18 passes against the Atlanta secondary which is expected, unfortunately he fumbled the ball away 3 of the first 4 possessions. Note to all NFL quarterbacks: In order to have success against the Falcons, you need to be able to throw the ball... As long as you throw it, the pass will most likely be completed.

The Falcons jumped off to a 20-0 lead in the 2nd quarter thanks to Vinny's mistakes. Then of course in typical Falcon fashion they allow the Jets to creep back into the game. The score was 27-14 with about 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter... Jets had the ball on their 20 yd line, 4th and 1. A touchdown and the Jets are very capable of stealing the game. Luckily the 18 play drive came to an end after Demorrio Williams swatted down the attempted pass to Martin. After a couple first downs by Dunn, Falcon fans can finally breathe again... We can run out the clock.

Michael Vick put up his typical numbers... 11/26, 116 yds, 0 TD, 3 INT (HAHA you look at that and have to wonder how a team can win). He ran the ball 9 times for only 18 yards, but scored 2 touchdowns. 16.3 passer rating... Just pause and look at that number, astonishing I know. OK look at the passer rating one last time before we move on... Ready? OK. I'm not gonna lie, it hurts me that we don't have a passing game. There are just times when you have 0% confidence in it. And after this weeks game all you're going to hear about is how Vick isn't a great QB, and that annoys me more than anything. Because as Herm says, "You play to win the game"... Well that's exactly what Vick does and that's all that matters. Peyton Manning puts up the best numbers of all QBs and how many Super Bowls has he won?? (Obviously that may change this year) But my point is, stats aren't everything.

Now to the running game... Falcons: 205 yds. Jets: 37 yds. Do any Jets fans want to explain that? Where was "Hurricane" Vilma to stop the run? Where was Curtis "my favorite" Martin's repeat of last weeks performance against the Bills? All I know is that Martin ran 14 times for 28 yards and got LIT UP by Antwan Lake for a loss of 3 on the play. Falcon's rushed for 200+ yards for the 4th time in 7 games, they are the first team to do so since 1980 and currently have the highest average per game (188.8) in the history of NFL. Warrick Dunn had his best game of the season 24 carries for 155 yards (6.5 avg) included an amazing 65 yard run. We could've used Duckett for the goal line carries though.

Once again the pass defense was weak, especially considering their opponent. They gave up a combined 23/38, 234 yds between Vinny and Bollinger... Once again I'm not impressed. Apparently the Falcon DB's aren't talented enough to play man seeing as how we give opposing WR a 10 yd cushion. Maybe we should start playing a zone. D-Hall got his 4th interception today, too bad no other cornerback or safety has even 1 interception. The "bend but don't break" defense is the most stressful, frustrating thing to me and any other Falcon fan. Atleast our front 7 is one of the best in the NFL... 72 sacks over the last 2 seasons is tops in the league.

Falcon's have a bye week and it's nice to go into it 5-2. Then we face the Dolphins and Packers so hopefully we'll be 7-2 heading into our showdown with the Bucs.

Top 3 Losers:

1) Vinny Testaverde - Shocker, I know. But I did manage to squeeze him onto this week's list. 4 turnovers are impressive, especially 3 fumbles right out the gate. Left the game with a strained achilles, it'll be interesting to see if he maintains his starting job.

2) Curtis Martin - Rejuvinated? Apparently not. Hopefully he'll hang up the cleats after this season. 2 yard per carry average tonight... Atleast he found the endzone once. I don't see how he can tolerate this offensive line for another year.

3) Chad Pennington - He's just a loser, period. I can't believe people used to think he'd be a superstar and more successful than Vick. Well guess what Chad, your team is 2-5 and the Falcons are 5-2. You've also found a way to get injured more than Vick... How is that possible?

Offensive MVP:

Warrick Dunn - Once again the only constant in this offense. He is a Pro Bowl back and people are finally realizing that. Keep up the great work.

Defensive MVP:

Demorrio Williams - Turning out to be our best linebacker. He's been impressive so far this season, 9 tackles tonight and a sack. Also swatted down the 4th & 1 attempt on a blitz to seal the victory.

2005-10-23T09:51:00.000-04:00

Potential Upset in Houston?

Haha... I figured I'd start the day off with a laugh. The 6-0 Colts have no reason to fear that their winning streak will come to an end against the 0-5 Texans. If the Texans can stay within 21 points of the Colts I'll consider that a victory for them. The Falcons play tomorrow so today I'll list the top 3 games (and after looking at this weeks schedule these are about the ONLY good games).

1) San Diego (3-3) at Philadelphia (3-2) 1:00 pm

Tomlinson will be making history today, by scoring a touchdown in his 19th consecutive game. LT scoring touchdowns has become about as sure of a thing as the sun rising in the morning. It's up to the Eagles though to limit him to 1 touchdown and they're also going to need to contain Gates. But that's obviously easier said than done. The only thing the Eagles have going for them today is that it's a home game, and that may be enough to get it done. However, I'm going to go with the Chargers because Tomlinson has arguably been the MVP so far and good things happen to the Chargers when they get him the ball 30+ times, not to mention I despise the Eagles and the city of Philadelphia in general.

- San Diego has 11 players questionable.

- Philly has 1 player questionable.

- Chargers 4th in the NFL in rushing (148.2 yards per game)

- Eagles 23rd in rushing defense (118 yards per game)

- Eagles last in NFL in rushing (64.2 yards per game)

- Chargers are 3rd in rushing defense (84.7 yards per game)

2) Pittsburgh (3-2) at Cincinnati (5-1) 1:00 pm

Well Steeler fans, you can breathe again... Roethlisberger is back. Your week-long nightmares of Tommy Maddox are over now. But now you have to fear the Bengal offense. Carson Palmer and Co. have the #2 ranked offense in the NFL. Chad Johnson has been one of the best WR's in the league and Palmer has progressed much faster than anyone imagined. The only thing I think the Bengals have going against them today is that they aren't as phsyical a team as the Steelers, and yes that's important. But if the Bengals are themselves offensively and are effective defensively I think they can pull off the win at home. They know how important a 3 game lead would be.

- Pro Bowl WR Ward is a game-time decision for the Steelers.

- Steelers have won 9 in a row on the road.

- Bengals are 2-0 at home this season.

3) Denver (5-1) at N.Y. Giants (3-2) 4:15 pm

Is it time to start considering the Broncos/Plummer legit? I think we better give them a few more weeks seeing as how they've started 5-1 each of the last 2 seasons only to stumble down the stretch. Give Plummer some credit though, I think he's 24-9 as a Bronco QB and this year he's passed for 1,141 yards, 8 total TD ( 7 passing), and only 3 INT. With that being said, you never know when he's going to collapse... haha. Eli has been impressive, especially at home but I'm going to have to go with the Broncos simply because Plaxico (Eli's top receiver) is questionable with a bad back.

- Broncos are 11-1 in games that Anderson gets 20 or more carries.

- Giants are ranked 31st in both passing and total defense.

- Manning has thrown a TD pass in 6 straight games.

2005-10-22T16:46:00.000-04:00

A Costly Win for the Dawgs...

Well this is the perfect opportunity for the whole "good news, bad new" question. Want the good news? UGA beat Arkansas today 23-20 to improve to 7-0 and 5-0 in the conference. Now for the bad news. Shockley left the game with a knee injury in the first half, but he did return after halftime... In street clothes and crutches.

A knee injury... Falcons fans know how scary that can be. And it couldn't have come at a worse time for the Bulldogs, the week before we head to Jacksonville to take on the Florida Gators. The Gators had a bye week this week of course (like they do every year before the UGA game) but I'm not getting into that. Losing Shockley, the top-rated passer in the SEC and 13th in the nation, would mean UGA's season is over. Back up Tereshinski didn't impress against a 2-5 Arkansas team. Completing 5/9 passes for 90 yards, 0 TD, and 1 INT. I don't even want to think about what'll happen to him next week against the Gators, hopefully he won't have to play.

UGA jumped off to a 14-0 lead after a TD pass from Shockley to McClendon, and an interception by Jennings that resulted in a Southerland 1 yard TD run. That was just enough of a cushion to allow UGA (Tereshinski) to hang on for the win. The extent of Shockley's injury will be known later this week. We can only hope it's nothing major. For his sake too. I would hate for a talented QB like him to wait 3 years for his chance to start, and then have his season come to an end after 6 games.

* Redshirt Freshman Darren McFadden ran for 194 yards and 2 TD's.

* Arkansas ran for 242 yards total on 46 carries (5.3 average).

* Georgia ran for 49 yards on 28 carries (1.8 average).

Up next for #4 UGA is #18 FLA at Jacksonville 3:30 pm on CBS.

2005-10-20T23:54:00.000-04:00

Be Afraid Vinny... Be Very Afraid...

I would've liked to have been a fly on the wall when Vinny found out about Mawae's injury. Poor guy, he probably fainted. Then when he came back to consciousness and found out that he wasn't dreaming, I'm sure he fainted again. Vinny was sacked 5 times last week against Buffalo to go along with 2 interceptions and 1 lost fumble. I'm assuming (hoping) there will be much more of that this Monday night in the Dome. Falcons have one of the quickest and most aggressive defensive lines and they should be able to work their magic against a confused Jets offensive line.

Last week Curtis Martin had a season high 148 yards last week, but I expect him somewhere around 100 this week at most. The Jets rank 25th in the league in rushing (80.5 yards per game) and 26th in passing offense (164.2 yards per game). I know that has to be music the the Falcons defenses ears. On the other side of the ball their rush defense ranks 27th (129.8 yards per game), yep Dunn and Vick are drooling, and poor Duckett has to miss out.

The Jets have lost 5 straight on the road and Vinny has thrown 7 interceptions in 2 lifetime starts at Atlanta. Michael Vick is 20-6 as a starter indoors and leads QBs with 284 rushing yards. All this sounds like success to me. I really hope this isn't a close game like last week because it doesn't deserve to be, the Jets don't even deserve to be called an NFL team at this point in the season. Not to mention they don't have cheerleaders and play in GIANTS STADIUM. Not much goes their way apparently, hopefully Monday night won't either.

I'll be there so don't disappoint me Falcons!! And Jets, keep doing what you guys do best... Fumbling those snaps.

2005-10-20T02:38:00.000-04:00

The End of an Era...

Reports are in that Leo Mazzone has signed a 3 year deal with the Orioles... I guess Steinbrenner would've been too controlling. I've always felt that Bobby Cox and Leo Mazzone are the main factors in the Braves' dynasty and that when they split or retire that our division title's run will come to an end.

Leo had spent the previous 26 years of his life in the Braves organization, that's since 1979 for all you people who are a little slow with numbers. He became the pitching coach when Bobby Cox was signed with the Braves in 1990. I feel bad for the guy who's going to have to fill Mazzone's shoes, and it'll be interesting if the Braves will be able to sign mediocre pitchers (Thomson, Wright, Hampton, Sosa, etc.) and turn them into respectable ones.

I have to give the Orioles credit though. Apparently they're serious about being contenders in the AL East. They have the hitting to win their division, but their pitching has been pathetic. By signing a pitching guru they're clearly taking steps in the right direction. It should be interesting to see how easily the Orioles can add A.J. Burnett now that they have Mazzone. They'd be a respectable team to say the least.

Damn that picture makes me sad... Smoltz, Maddux, Glavine... I miss having those three in their prime. I really hate looking back on stuff like this, you realize how fast time goes by. I guess you just have to enjoy good things while they last.

To sum everything up... This is a sad day for Braves baseball. You have to go ahead and say this offseason has been a loss for the Braves no matter what happens, we lost an all-time great.

2005-10-18T00:09:00.000-04:00

They Just May Be Unstoppable...

Week 6 Power Rankings:

1) Colts (6-0; Unchanged) - I can't believe I was actually worried about them losing earlier tonight. They have been absolutely amazing so far this season especially now that the offense has kicked into gear. Tough game next week against Houston... haha. It'll be the perfect warm-up for the Pats showdown in 2 weeks.

2) Broncos (5-1; 4) - This is tough, but I have to give it to the Broncos. Plummer hasn't screwed up [yet], they've won 5 in a row, and they just beat the defending champs. Who saw this coming after the week 1 embarrasment against the Dolphins? Mile High has been a huge advantage for them (they have the best home record in the NFL over the last 5 years). Next week at NYG should be a good game.

3) Bengals (5-1; Unchanged) - A two game lead over the Steelers coming into this weeks matchup is huge. A win at home next week will make it 3 games and will allow them to coast for the rest of the season. Chad Johnson is the man and it appears Palmer will eventually be an elite QB in this league.

4) Chargers (3-3; 7) - See what happens when you get LT the ball 30+ times? In my mind the Bolts are the 2nd best offensive team other than the Colts. Tomlinson got the triple crown last week by throwing, receiving, and rushing for a TD, and he'll make history this week when he gets a touchdown for the 19th straight game. 3-1 over the last 4 games.

5) Falcons (4-2; 6) - A win is a win. Our defense tries to redeem itself with random huge plays. I would just prefer it if they were dominant ALL the time. Vick looked average some plays and like superman in others. Good teams find a way to win and that's what the Falcons did. It felt good to be on the winning side of a GW field goal. Next week at home against the Jets should put the Dirty Birds at 5-2.

6) Steelers (3-2; 2) - Well everyone found out last week that the Falcons are no longer the team that relies on their starting QB the most. I felt bad for Maddox, it was just humiliating... Poor guy. It sure did look like he tried everything in his power to lose the game, while the rest of his team tried everything in their power to win it. Unfortunately for the Steelers, Maddox got his way. This week against the Bengals is a must win otherwise they'll have a HUGE hill to climb.

7) Bucs (5-1; 8) - Greise was forced out of the game but Simms filled in nicely. The defense stuffed Ricky, but I guess that might have been expected. I'm still waiting (praying) for the Bucs to cool off. So far they've been impressive though, especially for a team predicted to finish last in the NFC South. (This just in Greise done for season with torn ACL and MCL, so this may be the last of the Bucs that we see on my power rankings).

8) Jaguars (4-2; Unranked) - Another tough team like the Steelers. They have an amazing run defense and they find a way to get it done on offense. Leftwich may be the one QB who takes more abuse than Vick, I don't know how much longer his body can take it. A gutty win last week against the Steelers, doesn't matter that Big Ben or Ward didn't play... It was still at Pittsburgh and that's a tough team with tough fans.

9) Panthers (4-2; Unranked) - 3 straight wins and a WR by the name of Steve Smith that can't be contained have given the Panthers a good bit of momentum. It's only a matter of time before the defense get's rolling, they only allowed 6 points against Harrington & Co. but that's not saying much.

10) Cowboys (4-2; Unranked) - 2 straight wins over division foes have the Cowboys feeling good about things. Bledsoe has been a pleasant surprise, but we'll see how long that lasts. You can count on the defense staying solid the rest of the year though. So much for Philly running away with this division... The NFC East is up for grabs and the Cowboys are the frontrunners for now.

NCAA Football Power Rankings...

UGA Cruisin...

1) USC (6-0) - That game Saturday hurt me... A lot. Notre Dame had them in their grasps. 4th and 9, under 2 minutes left. Too good to be true, right? Right. USC pulled out the victory, shocking I know. Reggie Bush is untouchable. I can't wait for him to get to the NFL so that I can use him in Madden. He's going to be Brian Westbrook x500. He deserves the Heisman if it isn't Vince Young of Texas.

2) Va Tech (6-0) - No game last week. Easy win at Maryland this week (please let me jynx them). Marcus and the defense have been lights out. Miami is their only remaining threat. But who knows, upsets come out of nowhere.

3) Texas (6-0) - Should be a great game this week against undefeated Texas Tech (6-0). Vince Young ought to be the Heisman frontrunner at this point in the season. Texas Tech is Texas' last test preventing them from an undefeated season. If Texas wins this week I don't see anyone getting in their way.

4) UGA (6-0) - Currently in the cake part of our schedule. Another easy win vs. Arkansas at home this week. Auburn, Florida, and the SEC Championship stand in our way for a undefeated season... Kind of intimidating but very possible. Did anyone expect this from UGA this year? The experts sure didn't, who was their choice to win the SEC..? Oh yeah, Tennessee...

5) Miami (5-1) - Yeah I know Alabama is undefeated but a 13-10 win over Ole Miss is pretty lame. Miami on the other hand has been rolling, 5 straight wins since the opening night loss to FSU. The defense is scary like always. Should be an easy win this week against Ga Tech.

2005-10-16T17:35:00.000-04:00

Big Plays (and a Few Breaks) Get it Done...

Let me begin my wrap-up of the Falcons by saying this. I've never been apart of such a stressful regular season game. At halftime I had to leave my apartment to go to my gym. I watched the entire 2nd half on the elliptical because I just couldn't sit still during any part of the 1st half.

If you want your quarterback to look like a pro bowler... Come play Atlanta. Seriously, all challengers are welcome. Think you have a bad QB? Then you'll be amazed at how good our secondary makes him look, it's gauranteed.

Aaron Brooks:

Last week - 9/22, 146 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT 2 rushes for 32 yards (and that's against a pathetic Packers defense)

This week - 22/33, 259 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT 3 rushes for 28 yards.

This was an extremely ugly game. The Saints completely dominated the first half, they held on to the ball for about an extra 10 minutes more than us. The Falcons offense couldn't get anything going. Two huge defensive plays is the only reason we miraculously had the lead at halftime.

The first one took place with us trailing 3-10 in the 2nd quarter. Antowain Smith was tackled for a 2 yard loss by Boley and in the process the ball came flying out. The fastest guy on our defense, Hall, picked it up and ran it back 66 yards for the game-tying touchdown.

The second big play took place on the last play of the half. The Saints were attempting a field goal but Boley made an amazing play to block it by leaping over his blocker. Williams pick the blocked kick up and ran it 59 yards for a touchdown giving the Falcons a 17-10 lead going into the half.

Halftime stat the bugged the hell out of me... Saints rushing :: 132 yards... At halftime!!

Should our offense play defense too?! I'm serious, the defense has been absolutely ridiculous! Bryan Scott looks like a practice squad player out there. To begin the 3rd quarter things looked to pick up right where they left off. 3 and out for the Falcons, while the Saints marched down the field for a touchdown making it 17-17.

The Falcons next possession was the most impressive drive of the game... 19 plays and almost 11 minutes. We got back to running the ball effectively. I actually laughed from something an announcer said (not because he made a stupid comment but because it was actually funny). "I wouldn't really call what Mike Vick does a slide, it's more like he hydroplanes." So the offense had awoken and taken the lead again 24-17.

The Saints continued to match our scores until it was tied up 31-31 with 46 seconds left. A good return by Rossum and clutch catches by Crumpler and Roddie White ( I shouldn't have to write "Roddie" because pretty much everyone knows "Dez" wouldn't do anything productive). This all set up a 41 yard field goal by Peterson, who's made something like 22/23 from inside 45. Well he misses with 2 seconds left... I drop to my knees, look down and close my eyes until I heard "flag, defensive holding". Phantom call, I don't know how a ref could make that call but I love him for that. 36 yard field goal... It's good. Final score: Falcons win 34-31.

Vick didn't have an impressive game, but what makes him great is that we can still win even if he's having an off game. He can convert 3rd and 10's with his legs or he can scramble until someone gets open. He can make anything happen on any given play. I just love how you can tell he has a ticker going off in his head. He's so scared at times it seems like lol. He'll have the ball with no rush but after the 5 second timer in his head goes off he JETS, it's hilarious I love it.

Today's top 3 losers:

1) Dez White - The Ultimate Loser - He single-handedly ruined our passing game. 3 dropped passes in the 1st quarter, a holding play that nullified a huge gain on a screen pass to Dunn, and a deflection off his hands that resulted in a interception.

2) Bryan Scott - Technically I could say the entire secondary other than DeAngelo, but Scott looked the most pathetic today. You'd see him fly by the guy he was trying to tackle. "What was that blur? Oh, it was probably just Scott trying to make a tackle". Not to mention he had about 3 of Brooks' passes hit him right in the hands.

3) Aaron Brooks - Bro, just because you put up great numbers against our secondary, I don't want you to forget how much of a loser you are. You didn't do anything special today, every quarterback does this against us. You still have 4 TD, 8 INT on the season... Don't forget that.

Today's MVP:

Offense - Warrick Dunn - 100 rushing yards, 15 receiving yards, 1 touchdown. A huge factor in that 3rd quarter drive that lasted 11 minutes. The offense needed him to step up and he did.

Defense - Michael Boley - Forced fumble and blocked field goal, both resulting in touchdowns. Amazing job today, keep it up.

Denver is currently stickin it to the Pats 21-3 in the 2nd quarter. The Boston fan who said I had the Patriots ranked too low on my power rankings, lower than the Broncos I believe... I hope you understand now.

2005-10-16T12:08:00.000-04:00

Welcome Back Stud...

A sold out Alamodome will be fun to see, but it'll more interesting to see who the actual home team is. I have a pretty good feeling that there will a lot of Michael Vick fans, and that's understandable, who else are the going to cheer for? Aaron Brooks? Don't make me laugh.

Vick will sport a sleeve on his right knee so it shouldn't hinder his mobility. Steve Young said the Falcons had their best week of practice all season and expects a great game from them today. I sure hope so... Duece is done for the year with a torn ACL, Aaron Brooks is just embarrassing, and Joe Horn is questionable with a sore hamstring.

I mean it really can't get any easier for the Falcons, and with the Jets coming to the Dome for next weeks Monday Night Game hopefully we'll be sitting 5-2 in a couple weeks.

All I want out of this game today...

* Vick plays an amazing first half, stays away from any big hits.

* For the defense to... PLAY DEFENSE! Force some turnovers, stop the run, cover you're man.

* Just run it down their throats, hopefully we can get 200+ yards today.

* For the Falcons to be up by a couple touchdowns after the 3rd quarter so Schaub can come in in the 4th and rest Vick.

UGA won last night... FSU lost! And Notre Dame is on the ultimate shitlist for blowing a 31-28 lead with 2 minutes left to USC, ND had them 4th and 9 but couldn't stop them. I'll give a college wrap-up tomorrow.

A Falcons wrap-up after the game. No predictions because I'm supersitious but I expect good things from the Falcons today.

Oh yeah, Erik Love... You're boy Jeff Schultz... 7-7 last week straight up, 35-24 overall. 6-7-1 last week against the line, 29-29-1 overall. Pathetic! It makes me wonder how he got a job writing about sports, but it'd be nice to read about sports from someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

2005-10-15T11:38:00.000-04:00

He's a Mobster... There's Nothing Like a Good Thrashing...

* Thrashers had 87 penalty minutes... 73 in the 3rd period.

* 6'6, 245 pound Andy Sutton crushed 5'10, 178 pound Darcy Tucker into the glass resulting in 21 stitches for Tucker.

* Sutton received a match penalty for the hit.

* Toronto's head coach Pat Quinn on Hartley's history of violence, "He promotes it. That's his history."

* As for Sutton's hit on Tucker, Hartley called it a routine play (Haha that's pimp).

This is what I want to see when I watch a hockey game. If you're team is losing, go down fighting. Make them afraid. Toronto had 16 powerplays last night. And of those 16 power plays 10 of them were probably 5-3 advantages haha. Toronto scored 5 goals in the 3rd period, but the Thrashers clearly didn't care. The score of the game was completely irrelevant, clearly the Thrashers had other things on their mind... Fighting, and that's awesome.

I can't wait until these teams play again November 19th... You can definately count on some fireworks.

On a sad note... Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier died this morning at 9:30 of an apparent heart attack. He was a fifth year pro out of Georgia Tech, drafted 15th overall in the 2000 draft. He was 28.

2005-10-14T12:37:00.000-04:00

Curse of Turner Field?

It's only a matter of time before this becomes a bona fide curse. The last World Series victory for the Braves? 1995. When did Turner Field open? 1996. Coincidence? Probably, but calling it a curse is more fun. The Braves have never lost when I go to the game, but I only go to about 3 a year so unfortunately that doesn't factor into much.

Well, what about the Braves chances in the future. We all got to see our newest crop of rookies this year. Unfortunately I don't see much change. Yeah Francoeur has a lot of personality, which is good. I want to see that from the Braves, instead of their same stoic looks everyday as if they're not happy to be making millions and going to the playoffs every year. McCann, Langerhans, and Kelly Johnson will be following down that path unfortunately. Johnson is already the dullest looking guy in the dug out. The fans feed off the excitement of the game, of the players, Boston Red Sox for example, have a fun team and great fans. The Atlanta Braves have a boring team and bored fans.

Why can't Chipper show that excitement more often? I love that guy but he's TOO PROFESSIONAL! Tim Hudson commented on this topic in ESPN the magazine earlier this year. How when he first got to the clubhouse how unlively it was. He said throughout the year he's been bringing out more life in the team which is good.

But anyways... Time to break down the team and their chances in the future.

Catcher - Brian McCann - Solid catcher, he's impressed me this year and he's only going to improve. As long as he stays healthy he should become our #1 catcher over Estrada and put up good numbers for years to come.

1st Base - Adam LaRoche - He's good defensively but he's a mess offensively. I wish we had a better option at 1B... He has no control of his swing, he just flails his bat over the plate on hopes to make contact (which he doesn't do very often). He's got plenty of room to improve.

2nd Base - Marcus Giles - An above average 2B, I'm impressed with what he's turned into. A good doubles hitter and solid in the field. Hopefully he can continue to progress.

Short Stop - Rafael Furcal - I'm guessing he's on his way out. I heard the Cubs were really interested in him and I doubt the Braves will find a way to pay him $8-$9 million a year. He's a great SS, good range in the field with one of the best arms and he has great speed on the bases. Wilson Betemit will be our SS if Furcal parts ways. Betemit is good, but an obvious downgrade.

3rd Base - Chipper Jones - If he can stay healthy next year you can pencil in 30 homeruns, 100+ RBI. He's been good in the field too. Unfortunately, I don't seem him ever playing a full season again.

Left Field - Ryan Langerhans/Kelly Johnson - I can see both of them turning into pretty solid players. This time last year no one had heard of them, but they're beginning to make names for themselves. A couple more years of experience and they should be fine.

Center Field - Andruw Jones - Best in the game arguably at CF. Best defensively for sure. However no one expects him to put up 50+ homeruns again. Doesn't bother me, I'll happily trade 15 less homeruns for a .300+ average and maybe he can improve on his .218 average with runners in scoring position.

Right Field - Jeff Francouer - Future face of the Braves. Already is to some people here in Georgia. Rookie of the year candidate, hopefully he can develop a better eye at the plate. Great defensively... 13 outfield assists in half a season. Ready to become a star in the league.

Bullpen - Sorry I almost vomitted... - Umm... what a mess. I took for granted all those years we had the best bullpen in the game. What an important part of the team. Farnsworth is a free agent and won't be returning. I never want to see Foster's or Reitsma's faces again. Devine has a bright future despite what you may have seen this year. McBride and Boyer were also good rookies. Obviously this is where we need much improvement.

Starting Pitching - Smoltz is getting older... It made me sad when I was reading something the other week and it said he was 24 back in 1991. I wish he was still young... He'll still be solid but we'll see how his body holds up. Hopefully we can get a better season out of Hudson. Hampton is still injured, no telling when he's coming back. There's potential that Sosa's season was a fluke, hopefully that's not the case. Thomson is a free agent. Kyle Davies will fight for a spot on the rotation.

Coaching - No doubt best in the game in Bobby Cox and Leo Mazzone. They get it done year after year. I will never take the two of them for granted. It'll be disturbing the year both of them are gone.

Overall I give next years team a C+...

I honestly don't see them making the playoffs. Our hitting will be like it has for years, nothing special. Except this time it'll most likely be without our table-setter, Furcal. The only difference is that our pitching will be average. Decent SP but a pathetic bullpen once again unless we can sign some good free agents.

My prediction how the NL East will finish? Well this is early as hell and this is mostly based on my feeling that Manny may be headed towards the Mets...

1. NY Mets - Manny Ramirez, Carlos Beltran, David Wright would be potent.

2. Philadelphia Phillies - Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are studs.

3. Atlanta Braves - Just an average team... Honestly, missing the playoffs will be good for them.

4. Florida Marlins - Miguel Cabrera is a superstar but that team just doesn't have chemistry.

5. Washington Nationals - Not really an impressive team...

2005-10-13T16:17:00.000-04:00

Whatever You Do... Don't Piss Them Off

I figure once a week I'll report on another team in the NFL since you can only write so much about the Falcons (Vick). Not to mention E-Lov is taking care of everything in that department. This week I've decided to pick... Baltimore. Mainly because I love Miami Hurricane football and the Raven defense is full of Miami studs. I know I could've written about the party boat orgies that went on in Minnesota but that would've been too easy.

Imagine... Just imagine for one second what things would be like if the Ravens had an actual NFL calibur offense. Yeah, they'd be pretty unstoppable. So what the hell is wrong with upper management in Baltimore??

Apparently Derrick Mason was supposed to be the answer, along with rookie Mark Clayton, the return of Jamal Lewis, and a healthy Todd Heap. Kyle Boller was supposed to break out this season... It's funny how optimistic all that sounds, I almost bought into it even though I've never been a fan of Boller. It's funny how any team in the NFL can come up with scenarios like that to hype up their team. Too bad there's a thing called reality.

The Baltimore offense, led by back up Anthony Wright and an ineffective Jamal Lewis, have scored 47 points this season in 4 games (less than 12 points a game). The Houston Texans are the only team to manage less than that (44 points in 4 games). Of course it would only be a matter of time before the defense, a group consisting of pure athletes from Miami who are used to winning, began to self-destruct.

21 penalties... 2 ejections... Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs each fined $15,000... Personally, this is not a team I would want to face. Brian Billick has absolutely no control of this defense. Going against that defense would seem like going through a dark alley in New York City. The Raven's defense right now is like Randy Johnson... With no control of his fast ball. I mean, do I need to go on with these analogies?? The fact is... Even though they're giving up points, they'll still kick your ass, and refs that obviously goes for you too.

Watch out Cleveland... My advice to you, let the Raven's offense score a couple touchdowns. The last thing you guys need to do is kick the Ravens while they're down... Because it won't turn out good for you.

Imagine if these guys had a solid quarterback with a healthy and in-shape Jamal Lewis...
Maybe it'll happen if they can get a Matt Leinart or Chris Leak or anyone... Just not Boller or Wright.

That's all for this pathetic offense. Tomorrow I'll talk about a different one, the Braves, and their chances for next year...

2005-10-13T00:43:00.000-04:00

Chi-Town Steals One...

What an ending... In my opinion the White Sox clearly got a break. The ball didn't appear to hit the ground from what I saw, and I don't understand how the umpire was in any position to say that it did. Either was, it made for a classic ending as the White Sox went on to win 2-1.

This is the first time that I've ever seen ESPN show umpires being interviewed by the press. I almost felt bad for the guy, he must regret more than anything not calling Pierzynski out on strikes. No umpire wants a game to end the way it did tonight.

Oh well, Angel's catcher Josh Paul should've tagged him out just in case. Coaches crack me up... In all sports. I love the reactions, they're classic. Mike Scioscia wins the award tonight. When he came running out of the dugout tonight... Absolutely hilarious.

I have no interest in the playoffs anymore... In a way I wish it was Yankees/Red Sox again, but I guess as long as the games are exciting it'll be fine. In the NL, the Cardinals will probably win pretty easily. I think it's their turn this year, they've got an all-round solid team.

Ed Hartwell is done. I know I'm supposed to feel upset about it, but honestly, I haven't been impressed by him so far. He was brought here to stop the run, yet 3 out of 5 games the Falcons' opponents have rushed for over 100 yards. But I guess we'll have to see how this effects us. Obviously I wish he wasn't done for the season though.

2005-10-11T11:42:00.000-04:00

Ouch.

NFL Power Rankings... I will rank these teams based on how they have done up to this week. Obviously if Big Ben has torn something in his knee and is done, the Steelers will drop next week. But as for now the teams will be ranked by what they've done so far.

1. Colts (5-0) - The last remaining undefeated team. Manning and Co. are starting to roll on offense, and as long as the defense can keep up their great play then they should be the team to beat.

2. Steelers (3-1) - "The Bus" has made his debut and he did so by scoring a touchdown. Obviously Big Bens health is a major factor here, but as long as he's healthy this team is damn tough to beat.

3. Bengals (4-1) - Yeah so they lost this week to a tough Jacksonville team, but if they are to prove themselves as a great team they're going to need to bounce back this week with a win before their showdown with the Steelers in 2 weeks.

4. Broncos (4-1) - Denver has won 4 straight and have a pretty good home field advantage, but don't worry Plummer will screw things up for them eventually. Huge test for them this week vs. the Patriots.

5. Patriots (3-2) - Yeah, they're slipping a little... A lot actually. But as long as they have Brady leading the way, they're a great team. Last week's game against Atlanta may be what Dillon needed to get rolling. Patriots have a tough test this week at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

6. Falcons (3-2) - We needed an NFC team up here and with Philly playing so poorly I give the title of the NFC's best team to the Falcons. Last week's loss to the Patriots was productive atleast, we found out we have a legit backup QB. This week should be an easy win with Vick back in the lineup against a Saints team that's coming off a 3-52 thrashing by the 1-4 Packers. Not to mention Duece tore his ACL.

7. Chargers (2-3) - I know they have a losing record, but that doesn't mean anything. They're 2-1 over their last 3 games... So are the Steelers. With LT and Gates, the Chargers have 2 of the most talented players at RB and TE which equals a lot of redzone TD's. This is a great team (with the best uni's in the game, the powder blue) and they'll continue to win. They could just as easily be 3-2 after last night.

8. Tampa Bay (4-1) - I'm not sold on them honestly. As a Falcons fan though I don't like seeing them in first because they are the one team in the NFC South that we struggle against. If Greise doesn't implode and if C. Williams can run the ball well they'll be a good team with that defense of theirs.

9. Giants (3-1) - Eli is growing up fast, and so is that offense. Eli to Plaxico is becoming a nice combination. This week they face a huge division game against the Cowboys, who are coming off an impressive win over the Eagles. Should be a good game.

10. Eagles (3-2) - Sure I guess I'll give them some brotherly love. I don't know what the deal is with this team. The defense is allowing 20 points per game, which isn't like them. McNabb is playing hurt and if the losing keeps up theirs no telling when T.O. will start acting up.

NCAA Football Power Rankings...

1. USC (5-0) - They've had some scares over the past few weeks. Hopefully this week in South Bend it'll be more than a scare. Reggie Bush has a sprained knee, it's said to be minor (but ask Falcon fans how sure you should be about that). USC remains to be the team to beat, and until they are they will be the clear #1.

2. Va Tech (6-0) - This was a tough one. It's a virtual tie between Va Tech and Texas, but I've been too impressed with their defense and special teams to go along with the fact that Marcus Vick is gaining more and more experience and confidence with every game.

3. Texas (5-0) - They probably have the Heisman frontrunner in Vince Young and as long as they beat Colorado this week and Texas Tech next week, they have a real easy chance of finishing undefeated. It'll be interesting to see how Mack Brown blows it.

4. UGA (5-0) - UGA went into Tennessee last weekend and dominated. Like the Longhorns there are only two tests left (Florida and Auburn) before a legit shot at going undefeated. D.J. Shockley has been impressive for the most part to go along with a powerful defense.

5. Alabama (5-0) - Damn that was an impressive win over the Gators. This is a dangerous team that looks likely to face UGA in the SEC Championship game in the Dome. The only thing going against them is their schedule. Bama still has tough games against Tennessee, LSU, and Auburn.

2005-10-11T01:51:00.000-04:00

Not Bad... Not a Bad Game at All...

Hmm... The 1st two games, the Chargers forgot who their MVP was, and they started off 0-2. The next two games, LT was all over the place. Result? Impressive wins over the Chiefs and the Patriots.

So feed the ball to LT 25+ times tonight and the Super Chargers will win right? Nope, not tonight. The Steelers kept Tomlinson in check despite 130 total yards and a TD. Pittsburgh is just a tough, stingy team and the Chargers were unable to get any rhythm during the game.

Big Ben led the Steelers to another come from behind win. Unfortunately (I guess) Roethlisberger took a helmet to the knee... Willis McGahee style. He appeared to be in a good bit of pain, but from what I saw on the sideline it doesn't appear to be too serious. The damn Steelers win again, oh well.

No coach cracks me up more than this guy. When the ref was explaining to Cowher why a fumbled punt was overturned in the Chargers favor, I had never seen a guy more furious in my life. I give the ref credit for continuing with his explanation even while he saw Bill Cowher had the look of a psycho killer on his face.

Yankees ruined my prediction by the way. I guess I'm going to have to go with the Cardinals to win it all now.

2005-10-10T17:58:00.000-04:00

Get Used to it Rookie

If you didn't think I was going to rip into the Braves, then you were wrong...

What is the definition of "clutch"? Well whatever you do, don't ask a Braves player. Here, I'll provide the definition for you:

adj. Informal
1) Being or occurring in a tense or critical situation: won the championship by sinking a clutch putt.
2)Tending to be successful in tense or critical situations: The coach relied on her clutch pitcher.

The Braves continue to amaze people... In all the wrong ways. Four straight years now that they can't find a way to make it past the first round. Atleast they were thoughtful this year by losing in Houston instead of in Atlanta in front of 43,000 fans. For anyone who questioned why I wasn't excited about the Braves chances this year, now I hope you understand why. I just feel bad for all the 12 and under braves fans who probably spent all Saturday night crying in their rooms. They will learn eventually to laugh it off and not get so attached to the Braves, a team that may be the biggest tease of all time... 14 straight playoff appearances, 1 World Series. Clutch.

As for the game itself...

I was home in Atlanta with my dad flipping back and forth between this game and the Falcons/Patriots game at home. The Falcons game had just gotten really interesting, it was 20-28. The Braves were currently up 6-1... LaRoche aka "5 second delay" as some of his teammates call him was thrown out at home after jogging home. At the time, big deal... He's a moron, what do you expect. It would later prove to be the game-winning run.

My dad kept changing it back to the Braves. It was 6-1, I didn't care. I had to watch the Falcons, I made him leave so he could watch the Braves on another t.v. 10 minutes later, "Farnsworth just gave up a grandslam!" I don't even flinch, my heart doesn't even skip a beat. "Dad, what the hell did you expect? It's the Braves bullpen. We're going to lose, it's inevitable, don't waste your time watching. Just focus on the Falcons, a team who can win in the postseason."

How does this always happen!?

Enter the bullpen... Enter Farnsworth... A guy who had been a solid pick up and appeared to be a good closer. But seeing as how he's a Brave, and seeing as how it was playoff time, it was time to collapse. Farnsworth's line: 2 IP, 2 hit, 3 er, 1BB, 2 HR (one of them a grand slam and another a game tying solo homerun with 2 outs in the 9th).

Miraculously the Braves bullpen pulled off 8 shut out innings after the Farnsoworth implosion. Meanwhile, the offense played as expected. McCann 1/8 (10 LOB), Furcal 0/6, Chipper 1/6, Andruw 1/6... CLUTCH!

11th Inning, runners on 2nd and 3rd 2 outs, Franco grounds out. My favorite... the 14th Inning, bases loaded 1 out... Can we get a sacrifice fly..? Please? Nope sorry, it's the Braves. Here comes McCann, strikeout. Next up Orr, fielder's choice... End of inning.

I just laugh. It's classic Braves baseball, I love them. They continue to find ways to lose in the first round which equals a loss of fan interest.

It reaches the 18th inning, I'm telling all my friends "I just want this game to make it through 30 innings, I don't care who wins, I just want the wierdest shit to happen". In comes poor Joey Devine, our first round pick this year who clearly isn't ready. He gave up two grand slams during the regular season. And now he can add a series ending, season ending homerun to Burke in the bottom of the 18th.

Top 3 Losers:

1) Anyone who believed in the Braves - Not trying to be mean, but it's true. I just hope no one got their hopes up too high.

2) Braves Bullpen - You guys screwed us all season... No reason to change in the postseason right?

3) Braves offense - Post-season choke never fails. 13/62, 16 strikeouts, 35 LOB.

Well that's enough for today. I'll break down their future later this week and then I'm done with them for 4 months.

NFL and NCAA power rankings tomorrow...

2005-10-09T16:46:00.000-04:00

No Vick but More Importantly No Defense

The Falcons lost the the defending champ Patriots 28-31 today, but Matt Schaub proved to us that he isn't Doug Johnson or Kurt Kittner. He proved that the Falcons and the fans will be able to count on him to provide a solid performance when needed. His numbers were impressive today totalling 298 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions on 34 attempts. Crumpler (99 yards, 1 touchdown), Dunn (106 total yards), and Finneran (103 yards and a 2 point conversion) also had great games.

I feel like I'm forgetting something... Hmm... Oh yeah, the Falcons defense or lack there of. The Falcons secondary forced an amazing 5 incomplete passes, too bad Brady completed 22 for 350 yards and 3 touchdowns. Corey Dillon had more yards at halftime (77) than he had total in any previous game. Falcons defense had 1 sack after accounting for 9 against Culpepper last week. But I guess that is expected against Brady, I give him credit he gets rid of the ball quick.

DeAngelo Hall had 10 tackles and Jason Webster had 7, which isn't a good thing seeing as how that means their man caught those passes. The Falcons "bend but don't break" defense won't work against legit teams and it's something they seriously need to improve on. Good teams aren't going to get to the red zone and settle for field goals like the Bills do. I'm not even going to get into our special teams, but they're just as pathetic. It seems like not a single punt or kick off can be returned without a block in the back or holding penalty.

Todays top 3 losers:

1) Ike Reese - The proclaimed special teams leader. His block in the back (2nd in 2 weeks) right before the half after a nice punt return by Rossum resulted in a penalty of about 52 yards. 2nd play of the 3rd quarter he allows a 33 yard touchdown pass to Ben Watson (UGA!!).

2) Falcon's Defense - Allowed 31 points, 491 yards of offense. Accounted for only 1 interception and 1 sack.

3) The Line Judge - Midway through the 4th quarter Matt Schaub scrambled for a 5 yard run on 3rd and 4 only to have it called back because the line judge said he stepped out of bounds 4 yards short of the first down. Replays showed that Schaub's foot was 6 inches from being out of bounds. The play wasn't allowed to be challenged. Good eyes ref, you were looking right at it.

To sum it up, I'm disappointed in the loss and the defense, but I'm impressed with how well Schaub and the offense played. I would love another shot at New England with a healthy Vick. Speaking of Vick, get well soon. The defense doesn't seem to play for anyone but you.

Since Vick has been on the Falcons:

25-12-1 as a starter

3-12 when someone else starts

That's called an MVP

Today's surprise game - Dallas 33 - Philly 10 Way to go Bledsoe

2005-10-09T11:18:00.000-04:00

No Vick, No Problem?

Schaub has been declared the starter for today's game. Vick isn't even the 2nd string so it doesn't even appear he'll dress for the game. I still have hope though seeing as how 3 starting DBs along with Richard Seymour won't be starting today for the Patriots. This is Schaub's opportunity to prove himself as a legit back up and I think he's got it in him to be one. I still like the Falcons' chances today as long as we get solid play from our defense, don't turn the ball over, and still run the ball effectively.

The only thing I find a tad bit humorous is that Schaub now has the label as a "mobile QB" simply because of last week. If he does scramble today I don't expect more than 7 or 8 yard runs...

Well this was just a quick update, more later. Back to NFL Countdown.

2005-10-08T19:26:00.000-04:00

#5 Georgia Steamrolls #8 Tennessee in Knoxville 27-14

The motto "We must protect this house" clearly doesn't apply to the Vols, as they have now lost 6 straight games at home against top 10 opponents. The Vols have had great teams for years now so it amazes me how 109,000+ fans can't give them the extra boost that they need to beat a good team.

UGA was in complete control defensively throughout the game. The only Tennessee points came of a 1 yard QB sneak by Claussen after a Shockley interception was ran back to the 1 yard line, and a meaningless touchdown as the game expired.

Shockley looked sharp for the most part. He passed for 205 yards and ran for 57 more. But like Vick he's prone to careless mistakes that allow an opponent to stay in the game. His interception and fumble didn't cost Georgia the game tonight but hopefully he can minimize them in the future.

Tennessee was clearly overrated with their preseason #3 ranking. They were also picked to win the SEC this year. Now UGA is clearly the team to beat as they improve to 5-0 and 3-0 in conference play while Tenn drops to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference. The only threats left on UGA's schedule is #22 Auburn (4-1) at home and #13 Florida (5-1) at Jacksonville. If Georgia goes on to win those 2 games, we have a real shot of going undefeated this year. The SEC Championship game will be a tough one though as it looks like we'll be matched up against #7 Alabama.

Up next for Georgia is Vanderbilt (4-1)... Should be an easy win for the Dawgs.

Game notes:

- Mark Richt improves to 16-2 on the road as the coach of UGA.

- Tenn has allowed an average of 67 rushing yards per game.

- UGA totalled 212 rushing yards.

- The winning team of this game has gone on to win the SEC East the last 3 years

*Go Braves*

Vick has been DOWNGRADED to QUESTIONABLE and that has me really worried. It's smarter though to get fully healed and take a loss than to come back too early and injure it worse and possibly be out for a long period of time.

2005-10-07T13:54:00.000-04:00

Signs of Life/Clutch Hitting...

The Braves bounced back last night against the Astros with a 7-1 win over Roger Clemens. After falling behind 0-1 in the 1st inning I figured it would be another typical Braves game that would continue to slip away as the game went on. However, in the 2nd inning Brian McCann made history when he blasted a 3-run shot off of Clemens to make it a 3-1 game. McCann became the first Brave to homer in his first postseason atbat.

From there the Braves added a few more runs while Smoltz continued to dominate. Smoltz and Clemens will go down as a couple of the best pitchers in the game, but postseason play is a different story. Clemens' teams are 15-16 in his postseason starts, while Smoltz just became the winningest pitcher in postseason history with a 7-0 record in the division series and 15-4 overall.

Up next the Braves have surprise 13 game winner Jorge Sosa against Roy Oswalt (20-12). Sosa's performances aren't pretty but they usually get the job done. Oswalt was a potential Cy Young winner this year so the Braves will once again need clutch hitting if they plan on going up 2-1 in the series.

Saturday 10/8

7:30 p.m. ET FOX

Goodluck Braves

And to my roommate Brandon. The Red Sox face elimination today, and even though you have a false sense of hope that "this is right where the Red Sox want them". I know you understand that this could potentially be the last game played by Manny, Damon, and Schilling in a Red Sox uni. I'll be in Atlanta tonight so I won't be here to console you in the event of a catostrophic loss (even though I'd probably make it worse by rubbing it in your face), but anyways take it easy on downtown Athens tonight. You can't drink away your pain... haha. Ashley, Lila, and Heather will be at Bourbon St. tonight to make you feel better.

If the Red Sox do lose tonight, feel free to leave him cheerful comments as to why he shouldn't kill himself. http://jetsox.blogspot.com/.

As for my predictions:

White Sox over Red Sox :: Correct White Sox win 3-0

Yankees over Angels :: Yankees 1 - Angels 1

Cardinals over Padres :: Cardinals 2 - Padres - 0

Astros over Braves :: Braves 1 - Astros 1

2005-10-06T15:48:00.000-04:00

Why is Atlanta considered a bad sports town?

I'm guessing it has to do with the Braves and the Hawks. But let's understand why...

On one hand you have the Braves, the winningest organization since the 90's. 14 straight division titles, impressive I know. Unfortunately only 1 World Series Championship to show for it and even worse 3 straight Division Series exits... 4 if they lose again this year. The motto here is "we'll go to the games when the Braves make it to the World Series". That's understandable right? It's hard to stay interested in something that has been pretty consistant over the past 15 years. Quite honestly it's beginning to get a little embarrassing. I'm tired of sports writers talking about the fact that the Braves only have 1 World Series to show for all their regular season glory.

Part 2 of the Braves is the fact we don't have a huge superstar to bring fans to the park. Andruw never lived up to his hype until this year even though he still only hit .263 and finished the year on a 6/53 slump. Chipper is Mr. Consistant, and I respect him for that. But like the Braves he tends to be boring. Francoeur was honestly our biggest star this year, the hometown hero out of Parkview High School. He along with other homegrown rookies were the most exciting part of the team and they did bring in a good bit of fans.

The point is, when you have a team that does the same thing year after year it's hard to stay excited and sell out games.

The Hawks on the other hand are just a mess. They almost lost 70 out of 82 games last year and that's all that needs to be said. Shame on you, Atlanta fans for not going to support you're Hawks!

Well that's my defense for our two teams who struggle with attendance.

Falcons? Ask the Eagles and Vikings if we're a bad sports town. I am really impressed at what Arthur Blank has done with the team and how he (with a lot of help from Vick) have brought fans to the game. The Ga Dome has to be one of the toughest places for opponents to play with it's noise. Even during a meaningless play it's almost impossible to hear what the person next to you is saying.

Thrashers? Yeah we got a taste of success and potential last season. Fans were excited and showed up for games. I've never been to one but I hope to go to a couple this year.

Are Atlanta fans fair-weathered fans? Yeah, sure, whatever. Most fans are. I will always love the Falcons, but if Vick were to go down for the season and the Falcons were just flat out awful, I'm not going to pay $100 to go to the game.

It just bothers me that Atlanta has been labeled one of the worst sports towns. A city that is going to host the Sugar Bowl this year, Peach Bowl, and potentially the Super Bowl in a few years...

Why not L.A.? Why not Arizona? I don't see the Dodgers, Trojans, D-Backs, or Cardinals selling out.

2005-10-05T18:27:00.000-04:00

It's time for defenders to finally realize that Michael Vick is better than they are.

I always get a good chuckle when I hear opponents complaining after a game about how the officials protect Michael Vick too much. When will they just accept it? When will they realize that Vick means 10 times more to the NFL than whoever the hell they are?

Any hand to the face, any hit after the ball has been released from his hand, or any hit when he's 1 foot out of bounds will result in a 15 yard penalty everytime. It still amazes me how many defenders try to test the officials and then bitch like there's no tomorrow. Michael Vick has a huge target on his chest, but fortunately the refs have an eye on him constantly and for the most part do a good job of protecting him.

Opposing defenses, just remember... 3 Monday Night Football games, 1 Sunday night football game, and 1 Thanksgiving Day game is purely due to Vick. If you think you're going to get away with a cheap hit on him, then quite frankly you're a complete moron.

Now if only they can somehow coach him to avoid high speed head on collisions. I have a fear of needles, but I feel like I'd rather watch a doctor stick needles in me than watch Vick get drilled at the end of a long run.

As for the Braves...

I figured I'd show 1 of 2 positive things that happened to the Braves today. A 2-run homerun by Andruw (the other postive thing being Chippers solo homerun). Unfortunately the Astros have had about 3 positive things happen EACH INNING.

The game isn't even over but I conceited defeat about 2 innings ago. Well technically I conceited defeat about 3 weeks ago when they clinched. The Braves are playing true to form... What's new. So much for that hope that the veterans would be motivated by the rookies' enthusiasm and that the rookies would be motivated to impress the veterans. Hudson was just lights out, not. The Braves strategy today was apparently to load the bases as much as possible. Braves pitchers have given up 9 walks (3 intentional, and 2 of those 3 loaded the bases) so far and 10 runs. It's currently 10-4 in the 8th inning.

Loser of the day - Tim Hudson 6.2 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 K

2005-10-04T20:31:00.000-04:00

The next Deion Sanders?

He's got the confidence. He's got the talent. He's got the speed. And most importantly, he's got the talk.

DeAngelo Hall has been cocky since day 1. He's now backing that up with 3 interceptions in 4 games. However, in my mind his most impressive accomplishment in his sophomore season came week 1 when he held T.O., arguably the games best WR, to 0 TD. The Falcons finally have a shut down cornerback to hopefully build around.

For many years the most frustrating thing to me about the Falcons defense was their secondary. No matter who we played and no matter how bad the QB or WR was on that team, it seemed like we couldn't shut them down. Even though the Falcons still sport the "bend but don't break" defense, atleast we now have a big play cornerback in Hall who can change the game on any given play.

At the age of 21, Hall is currently the youngest player on the Falcons roster. It amazes me that someone 2 years older than me can already dominate his position. I can't imagine how much he can progress over his career, but I'd imagine the sky's the limit.

His young age also gives the Falcons plenty of time to add more young studs around him via free agency or the draft. As long as the Falcons don't draft or sign any busts, our defense should continue to improve year after year.

Let's hope he has a long, healthy, successful career and turns out to be one of the best.

As for my Braves prediction...

Houston wins in 5 games to face the Cardinals.

Yankees over Angels

White Sox over Red Sox

ALCS - Yankees over White Sox

NLCS - Cardinals over Astros

WS - Yankees over Cardinals

2005-10-03T17:03:00.000-04:00

I don't know what tapes of the Falcons they've been watching in Minnesota, but I guess they forgot that we run the ball... A lot!

Minnesota (1-3) is better without Moss? Usually they atleast wait until the second half of the season to start their inevitable downfall. The only thing they have going for them is their division, the NFC North (arguably the weakest in the NFL). A team can probably win that division with a 7-9 record.

The Falcons came out ready to run all over the Vikings yesterday. The Viking defense had the brilliant idea to focus more on the Falcon incredibly unproven receivers than the most athletic QB in the game. Vick went on to rush for 58 yards on only 4 carries... Shocking, I know.

Vick was on pace for another 100 yard rushing game until Erasmus James delivered a late hit. "Why God... Why do you torture me like this" is the consensus thought going through every Falcon fan's mind. Vick stays down, clutching his knee in agonizing pain. Immediately, worst case scenarios go through my mind... "Torn ACL, the season is over for both Vick and the Falcons..." Trainers surround Vick and then FOX cuts to commercial. I keep my composure but inside I'm freaking out, just like every Falcons fan. Luckily a few minutes later we realize it is only a sprained knee and our hearts begin beating again.

In comes Matt Schaub, and thanks to the Viking defense, he too makes it look easy (56 yards on 4 rushes). 285 rushing yards later, another late hit by Erasmus James(this time on Dunn), 9 sacks and a couple interceptions by the Falcons defense,the Atlanta Falcons wrap up a 30-10 rout of the once dangerous Vikings.

Up next:
Patriots (2-2) @ Falcons (3-1)

Vick is likely to start. Patriot's defense is struggling. Hopefully it equals another victory for the Falcons.