29Dec/0810:50 AM

Falcons’ fans considering Cardinals game a gimme?

By Vince Marotta

The Atlanta Falcons are truly one of the amazing turnaround stories in recent memory in the National Football League. Last year at this time, they were suffering through one of the worst single seasons for a professional sports franchise. Their marquee player, Michael Vick, was making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Their coach, Bobby Petrino, bolted on the team in his first season to take the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas. Oh, and they weren’t a very good team either. They finished 4-12.

One year later, Vick is in prison, Deangelo Hall, their outspoken former cornerback is gone, and Mike Smith is their new head coach. Rookie quarterback Matt Ryan is their new signal caller, and hasn’t looked at all like a rookie this season. Michael Turner, a free-agent signing from San Diego, finished 2nd in the league in rushing. And, unlike a year ago, they are a good football team. The Falcons finished 11-5, and are the #5 seed in the playoffs.

And despite playing on the road in the first round of the playoffs, the Falcons have been installed as early 1-point favorites for their NFC Wild Card matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

Some in the Atlanta area are considering this game a gimme, and a tune-up for the Falcons before they head to Carolina or New York for the second round of the playoffs. By some, I mean Adam Krohn of the Dalton Daily Citizen.

Krohn’s column today is entitled “Falcons will at least beat Cardinals“.

In the piece, Krohn calls Edgerrin James a free-agent signing bust. Sure, James’ production dropped off this year, but in his first two seasons as a Cardinal, he was 7th in the league with 2381 yards, more than Larry Johnson, Fred Taylor, Thomas Jones and Willis McGahee in the same time frame. I guess that’s a bust?

He calls the Cardinals the “least intimidating team of the playoff contenders”. What’s not intimidating about a passing game that put up over 4800 yards and featured three receivers who each amassed over 1000 yards? What’s not intimidating about a team that is 12-4 on their home field in the last two seasons, which is the 2nd-best home record in the league in that timeframe? What’s not intimidating about an offense that put up the 3rd-most points in the league?

Krohn says this should be “an easy win” for the Falcons. He calls Kurt Warner “an 84-year old quarterback” trying to resurrect his “Greatest Show on Turf” days.

Why is it that columnists from other cities take off their objective hat when the playoffs roll around? Oh, yeah, I forgot. It’s a desperate attempt to bond with their readers, and ultimately, sell newspapers. And Phoenix sports fans are familiar with the tactic. Los Angeles writer Mike Downey wrote in 1990 that the Suns would “fold like a tortilla” against the mighty Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals. They didn’t. In 1993, Bernie Lincicome, then of the Chicago Tribune, wrote that Phoenix is “the city where America’s dirt is swept” and that the Bulls would beat the Suns in the NBA Finals in 5 games. Mark Kiszla, of the Denver Post, insulted Phoenix and Diamondbacks’ fans for their behavior in Game 1 of the 2007 National League Championship Series, saying “This ballpark has all the charm of a comb-over and all the energy of 93 degrees in the shade…” and called Phoenix “a joke” of a baseball town. Whatever happened to objectivity?

I’m not saying the Cardinals will win on Saturday. All I’m saying is, there’s no such thing as a gimme in the National Football League–especially when you’re the Atlanta Falcons, and you’re a year removed from a 4-12 record. It should be a very competitive game pitting two up-and-coming teams against one another.

I guess maybe we should take this all with a grain of salt. Krohn also picks the Falcons to win the Super Bowl. What was it I said about a desperate attempt to bond with readers?

If you want to do what I didn’t, and spew some anti-Atlanta venom back to the South, feel free to e-mail Mr. Krohn… it’s adamkrohn@daltoncitizen.com.

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Ben

The scoreboard does the talking.....Arizona 30, Atlanta 24. See you guys next year Atlanta with much respect for both teams, both are up and coming.

Long John

how's it feel to lose to a team that didn't deserve to be in the playoffs?

Arizonastillsucks

Hey Long John,
Thank you for commenting on my joke of a response. I'm glad I got you to speak your mind. Remember that time when you responded to my comment and brought up a bunch of stereotyoes about Georgia, then left your name on the response as Long John(SFF*((So freaking funny)) it doesn't get that cold down yonder in the South, so I'm bringing that name up at the next family reunion, how ironical and down right silly it was)? The kicks I get from this!! Hey, leave me your shipping address so I can send you a Kurt Warner jersey. I'm not sure if it's the economy or the lack of talent that let me buy one for a couple of bucks. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Long John

Sounds like some Falcons fans are getting nervous? Thinking your team will win is one thing, but "below average leadership" and Kurt Warner should have called it quits 5 years ago? What an idiot. Maybe you're too busy watching reruns of Dukes of Hazzard, or ogling your sister's goodies, or whatever it is you do in Georgia, but might I inform you that Kurt Warner is an MVP candidate.

Oh, and great zinger on that gymnastics joke. LMAO!

That was sarcasm.

Arizonasucks

I strongly agree with Adam. The Cardinals measly regular season record is only a miracle considering the below average leadership of their new coach and quarterback who should have called it quits five years ago. If Kurt Warner would have retired five years ago, he could have went out on average. The Cardinals will be dominated and you will be regretting ever wasting your time writing a whole article based on a small town writers column. And even if the Cardinals do win, you still lose. Arizona should sell all of their proffesional teams and make gymnastics the state sport.

LongJohn

Aquaman, Orko and Snarf? What the heck is that guy talking about?

Tron5000

It is a universally accepted fact that using three exclamation points officially initiates one into the Not-To-Be-Taken-Seriously Club. Congrats; you have just joined Aquaman, Orko and Snarf.

Tron5000

I am typing this on my iPod, whch can be quite laborious, so I'll keep this simple; that should suit you.

This is notnAdam Krohn. Were you any kind of real journalist, you would have been able to discern the differences in structure and syntax. We are, however, friends, for which you should be thankful, since judging by the cmments on your site, you could use all the traffic one can direct to you.

And you didn't refute my claims. Nice shirt, though. Did Mommy find a sale at Ross?

Vince Marotta

Hey Tron5000, or should I call you Adam Krohn? If you're not him, I'm sure he appreciates you having his back.

First of all, it's Edgerrin. The guy's #11 on the all-time rushing list, maybe you could get his name right. And I forgot, yards don't count unless you play for a playoff team. Sorry Drew Brees, your yards this season have an asterisk by them. The point was, "bust" is a pretty strong word for a guy who had back-to-back seasons of 1000+ yards, and became the first running back to do that for the Cardinals since Ottis Anderson did it 24 years ago! Edgerrin James wasn't the reason the Cardinals had an 8-game losing streak in 2006, I can tell you that. Yeah, he's had a bad season, and got benched. The Cardinals aren't a running team anyway. But the Falcons' defense will get a good look at a future Hall of Famer with fresh legs on Saturday.

Yeah, I mentioned their 12-4 record on their home field, making the point that they're pretty good at home, brainiac!!! Even when they haven't had a great team, they're still pretty tough to beat in Glendale. You following me? By the way, teams can't control how good their division is. Everybody's ragging on the Cardinals for going 6-0 in their division. And you're right, the NFC West was lousy. But shouldn't they have received more criticism if they didn't beat those teams? It's not like the Cardinals lost a bunch of games to bad teams this season. In fact, they didn't lose to a sub-.500 team all season (just like your beloved Falcons).

Why is the Falcons' west coast record of 2-0 (including one stellar win over the Raiders) relevant, while the Cardinals' home record isn't? You can't have it both ways.

Using your "logic", the team with the better record should always win, right? That's why the New England Patriots, the most dominant team ever easily won Super Bowl XLII...oh wait, I guess there's a hole in that argument too. I guess that why the Falcons lost the NFC Championship to the Vikings after the '98 season right? Oh yeah, they won, despite being a huge underdog! There's a reason they play these games on the field and not on paper.

The back-to-back loss stat? That's not relevant either, the Falcons are coming off of 3 straight wins--so it doesn't mean anything.

And finally, I (the author) brought up points about 1990, 1993 and 2007 about Phoenix teams being insulted by out of town hack columnists who, yes, are desperately trying to bond with their readers, and make a name for themselves in other markets. See, I write for a Phoenix website--a lot of this was intended for Phoenix fans, and I was illustrating a point that this happens pretty often when one of our teams make the playoffs. That was kind of the whole point of the article. It's called reading comprehension, you might want to look into it. It makes the process a whole lot more rewarding if you actually understand what the words you're mouthing to yourself mean.

If you'll notice, I didn't disparage the Falcons. Instead, I applauded them for a tremendous turnaround. Furthermore, I didn't go as far as saying the Cardinals would win the game, or even offer a prediction. I very easily could have made some negative remarks about the Falcons or their fans (God knows there's a lot to choose from) in order to get the Phoenix fans into a frenzy. Yeah I passed on that too.

And did you quote Chris Berman, and refer to him as immortal? Just asking.

Enjoy the game on Saturday, and good luck to your Falcons.

Tron5000

Also, The Edge is being paid $5 million this year. Based on his production, he earned $1.67 million per TD, $37,594 per carry and $9727.63 per yard. Yeah, I'd call that BUSTED. At least not a good return on your investment.

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Falcons’ fans considering Cardinals game a gimme?

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