@Bob
Vick is in the dog house this year, what's the situation with Falcons this year ?
In a word, abysmal.
Over the summer they let their backup QB--Matt Schaub--go to the Texans, where he's now the starter. Then the Vick thing blew up. So now our starter is Joey Harrington, whose stench may have wafted your way if you turned your nose toward Miami last year, or Detroit for several years before that.
Meanwhile, our aging RB Warrick Dunn is recovering from back surgery--no problem; it's not like you get hit there much as a running back in the NFL, right? The backup is Jerious Norwood, a second-year guy who's talented, but has already developed a few lingering injuries--a sure sign that his agent has told him to prepare his cover story. Of course NFL players are always injured to some degree, but you NY football fans may have noticed over the past few years that these same injuries suddenly become debilitating when the team has no hope of making the playoffs. I swear there was one year recently where the whole Giants secondary was out for the year by week 10--a stunning coincidence, surely.
Anyway, the Atlanta receivers are the usual mongrel bunch, with the addition this year of Joe Horn, whom you may recall from a famous cell phone call he made some years ago from the end zone on Monday Night Football. Joe was an excellent receiver in his day, which today is not.
On defense, we had two stars last year. One of them, Patrick Kerney, was injured basically all last season and is now gone--having his back spasms in Seattle this year, I believe. The other--DeAngelo Hall--started last season by proclaiming himself the league's premier "shut-down" corner. His performance last year has hopefully convinced him to become a "shut-up" corner, as he was routinely torched by receivers both good and otherwise. Fortunately for him, the Falcons run defense has been among the worst in the league for the past two seasons, which cuts down on the number of occasions on which he is apt to be embarrassed.
About the only thing that the Falcons have going for them is a good offensive line, but the coach who taught them how to block is now performing that service for the Seahawks, leaving one to wonder how much of their success was scheme, and how much was actual ability. Even if it was the latter, it may not really help, since they may be blocking for the mascot.
So...there: More information than you ever wanted about the fortunes of the Atlanta Falcons.
