
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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