One of the things that comes with being a really good team the previous season is that some of the time you don’t get a lot of high draft picks. If you add a trade up from last year that cost picks as well, you end up with the Falcons at 55.
Atlanta Falcons
Asante Samuel was willing to restructure his contract so that he could be dealt to the Falcons, and the Falcons gave up a mere seventh round pick for him. However, I have to ask–isn’t this a little bit too much like Philadelphia? I mean, they had too many people playing corner, and, now they have the same issue in Atlanta. I know that new DC, Mike Nolan, is brilliant and all of that, but I just don’t understand how it can work any differently. Carrying three corners that make a ton of money means you have to cut one spot from the team somewhere else.
Whatever Arkansas and even college football fans think about the dismissal of Bobby Petrino as coach, it is done and over. Petrino made his bed, so to speak, and now he must lie in it.
Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long announced at a press conference Tuesday night that Petrino has been terminated for “abusing his authority” and “jeopardizing the integrity of the football program” following the aftermath of his motorcycle accident on April 1.
Speculators would say Petrino finally got what was coming to him. After years of less than scrupulous dealings with his bosses and players, those sins have come back to haunt him in the worst way possible.
Should Arkansas cut off the head of their head football coach or leave that for another day. That seems to be a possibility after the latest Bobby Petrino escapade last week.
Yes Bobby Petrino has made bad choices. Yes he can be morally questionable at times. Yes he has several questions to answer. But let’s make one thing clear.
Those questions are not answerable to the Arkansas football fans or the media. That is not a popular stand right now. Arkansas fans and the media think Petrino should stand up and air all his dirty laundry. Why? Simply because he is the Head Football coach of a major state University.
The Falcons are going to allow John Abraham to test the market waters and see what kind of deal he can get from other teams instead of just locking him up. This is wise because of how Abraham is perceived in the eyes of most people in the league. Sure, he’s a good player, but he’s my age (34) so that means that he is no spring chicken. Sure, he could still play well, but he’s not worth spending extra money on just to lock him up.
We keep hearing the news that, while Baltimore has played well this season, Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense isn’t that great. Ed Reed said almost as much on the radio when he answered questions about Flacco. He thinks, rightfully so, that Flacco is along for the ride. However, the ride isn’t any better for Matt Ryan.
See, we have a MAJOR homer problem in Atlanta, and even sports talk radio hosts think that, somehow, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco are somehow different. The Falcons defense isn’t great, but Matt Ryan has done FAR less than Flacco in this league. However, somehow, Flacco gets all the grief even though the Ravens have won playoff games, been to the AFC title game, and are in good position to make it to the Super Bowl.
The Atlanta Falcons are in complete restructuring mode after 2 straight seasons of making the 1st round of the playoffs and advancing no further.
They are now without an offensive or defensive coordinator. In my opinion, neither is a bad thing. The team needed to replace both of these positions and the openings in the NFL and college helped them be able to do just that…without having to make the decision themselves to fire someone. Both of the men in these positions moved on to other jobs and now the Falcons are free to start restructuring and rebuilding and not a moment too soon….in fact probably a season too late, but better late than never.
Coaches are on the move in the NFL, but some of the moves make more sense than others.
Apparently, the Falcons told Brian VanGorder and Mike Mularkey that they could pursue other opportunities. So, VanGorder went to Auburn to be their defensive coordinator (a really good move for them,) and the Jags added Mularkey as their new head coach.
The Jags don’t have much of a chance to win anything, but I think they believe that if they hire Mularkey they will have a good chance at altering their offense and managing Blaine Gabbert properly. If that is their intention, then they have made the right hire. If they want to be able to have an offense that can perform no matter what–they’ll have to hire an offensive coordinator that is more creative than Mularkey.
The NFC playoff picture is a bit more complete. There aren’t quite as many spots left to be filled and not as many scenarios to play out as in the AFC, but you still might need to print it out for this weekend’s games.
The teams that are locked in so far are the Packers with the NFC North and home-field advantage, the 49ers with the NFC West, the Saints with the NFC South, the Lions with a playoff spot and the Falcons with a playoff spot.
Still up for grabs, the 49ers clinch a first-round bye with a 49ers win OR a 49ers tie plus a Saints loss or tie OR a Saints loss to the Panthers.
I live in Atlanta, so, it stands to reason that many of my friends on Facebook would be from Atlanta and Falcons fans. So, when they are complaining about much the announcers are fawning over how good the Saints are, I know that we’ve got something good going on. Drew Brees broke Dan Marino’s single-season passing mark and the Saints put down the Falcons with a very convincing victory.
