This blog has moved! Yes, already!
As of Thursday, Feb. 12, this little blog has relocated to a new home on AJC.com. It’s the same newspaper, the same Web site and the same writer (feel free to groan) — there’s just a new URL.
New features: Bigger type, more graphics, comments that load 10 times faster and a larger and more recent photo that makes me look pretty doggone old. I think you’ll like it (the blog, not the photo). But I am, as we know too well, often wrong.
Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2008 > September > 02
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Falcons won’t be as bad as you think
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Numerical estimations have ranged from bad (four guys at NFL.com say 3-13) to worse (Paul Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated says 2-14) to just about the worst record possible (Sporting News says 1-15). I’m saying the Falcons will be better than that, and it will happen this way …
Detroit, Sept. 7: Michael Turner goes for 120 yards. Matt Ryan looks pretty good. Brian VanGorder’s defense, which was terrific in preseason, looks even better. Falcons 20, Lions 14.
At Tampa Bay, Sept. 14: Ryan has his welcome-to-the-NFL moment in a place where the Falcons have had their share of crummy moments. He’s 9-for-22 with three interceptions. Bucs 21, Falcons 10.
Kansas City, Sept. 21: Showing the desired resilience, Ryan throws two touchdown passes. Chiefs rookie Glenn Dorsey, whom many wanted instead of Ryan, tweaks a hamstring. Falcons 20, Chiefs 14.
At Carolina, Sept. 28: The Panthers are annually the NFL’s most overrated bunch — Julius Peppers had 2 1/2 sacks last season — but they’ll slip past the Falcons at home. Panthers 20, Falcons 13.
At Green Bay, Oct. 5: Michael Vick nearly won in his first trip to Lambeau Field and did win in his second. But Vick, as you’ve doubtless heard, is otherwise occupied. Packers 24, Falcons 14.
Chicago, Oct. 12: Even if some Falcons fans aren’t sold on Ryan, the Bears would take him in a heartbeat. The Chicago defense is still among the best, and it has to be. Bears 10, Falcons 9.
At Philadelphia, Oct. 26: Not getting any easier, is it? The Falcons get handled in Philly, prompting a gut-check session from Mike Smith, who nearly busts a gut in the process. Eagles 27, Falcons 13.
At Oakland, Nov. 2: Lo and behold, Smith’s men respond. The thoughtful DeAngelo Hall aids and abets his old team by being flagged three times on a pivotal drive. Hee, hee. Falcons 20, Raiders 17.
New Orleans, Nov. 9: The Falcons haven’t beaten the Saints since Sean Payton and Drew Brees and Reggie Bush arrived in New Orleans, and nothing changes here. Saints 27, Falcons 20.
Denver, Nov. 16: Remember when Mike Shanahan was the Mastermind? He might, but everyone else has almost forgotten. Chance for an upset gets flubbed at the end. Broncos 19, Falcons 17.
Carolina, Nov. 23: You’ve lost six of seven. You face the choice all struggling teams must confront. Do you pack it in or fight on? Here’s the encouraging answer. Falcons 23, Panthers 14.
At San Diego, Nov. 30: A fighting spirit is no match for an elite team. LaDanian Tomlinson outgains his former backup by 50 yards. An overmatched team suffers its worst loss. Chargers 34, Falcons 10.
At New Orleans, Dec. 7: You have to score big to beat the Saints in the Superdome, and the Falcons aren’t yet capable. But they might be by 2009, which by now is the focus. Saints 31, Falcons 16.
Tampa Bay, Dec. 14: The Falcons shake off two deflating weeks and give a stout effort. As has been the case most Sundays, the talent imbalance is too much to override. Bucs 16, Falcons 13.
At Minnesota, Dec. 21: The scene of the most famous victory in Falcons annals becomes the scene of just another defeat in a season that has featured a slew of them. Vikings 24, Falcons 14.
St. Louis, Dec. 28: But here’s one to grow on. Ryan has his best statistical day, showing he’s not just tough but talented, and his team, all things considered, finishes a fairly honorable 5-11. Falcons 30, Rams 17.
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Bradley’s Buzz: Pats, Colts … and Falcons?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Call him a bald-faced optimist
If you read these blogs, you’ll know I’ve been accused of being kind to the Falcons. But I haven’t yet likened them to the Patriots or the Colts. Writing for Sporting News Today, that’s exactly what Brian Baldinger does.
He compares Matt Ryan to Peyton Manning. He writes that the Falcons have “a nice, fluid, well-functioning [offensive] line.” He avers that the local NFL team “could be building a Patriots-like, Colts-like offense for the long run. How’s that for a bold statement?”
Certainly it’s bolder than the prediction offered by the venerable Paul Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated, who sees the Falcons going 2-14. Dr. Z’s colleague Don Banks is sunnier in his appraisal — he has them going 4-12. And four different voices for NFL.com arrive (separately, I assume) at the conclusion that the Falcons will go 3-13.
About here, I should note that I’m sticking with my 5-11 forecast. (And soon now I’ll delineate just how the Falcons will get there.) I should also point out that Baldinger, who works for Fox during the regular season, served as color commentator for WXIA’s coverage of the four exhibitions.
A confession: In those games I thought I saw a team that wasn’t half as bad as advertised, but not once did I leap to my feet and cry, “Pats reincarnate!” And maybe that’s why Baldinger is an “expert analyst” and I’m just a newspaper hack.
Destination for Dogs: Big D?
Esteemed former colleague Mark Schlabach keeps the faith and has Georgia headed for the BCS title game against Southern Cal in ESPN.com’s bowl projections. (I’m old enough to recall when bowl speculation commenced around Thanksgiving, not Labor Day.) Bruce Feldman is less enthused, ticketing the Bulldogs for the Cotton Bowl, which isn’t even an BCS game.
Rascal that he is, Schlabach serves up an intriguing postseason destination and opponent for Georgia Tech — the Congressional Bowl in Washington, D.C., against Navy, the school Paul Johnson just left. Not so scintillating is Feldman’s pairing for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. He has Clemson playing LSU, which would give the orange Tigers a chance to become the first collegiate team ever to lose inside the Georgia Dome three times in 367 days.
The SEC’s the greatest! Somebody tell UCLA!
I hesitate to post this one because I know — too well I know — how it feels to have one of your columns shot down before it takes flight. But Gregg Doyel of CBSsports kinda sorta picked the wrong day to crown the SEC the greatest conference ever.
He makes an interesting and fairly compelling argument — that two SEC teams should play for the BCS title — and runs down the list of SEC powers. And then Tennessee had to go out and lose to unranked UCLA in overtime. Reminds me — too well it reminds me — of the genius who said the Braves would be in first place on the Fourth of July.
So: What if the Stanford band had parachutes?
I’m sorry. I know I promised to keep this Buzz thing local, but I cannot resist posting the link, courtesy of YouTube, of a skydiver landing at Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium, as opposed to the targeted North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium eight miles away.
Note that the parachutist — there were two, actually — lands amid James Madison players who are busy warming up. Note that he receives a smattering of applause for his feat. Note also that Mike Krzyzewski is in the corner of the frame, already yelling at the refs. (Little hoops joke.)
Vick speaks!
Because it wouldn’t be Bradley’s Buzz without a Michael Vick item, here’s Dave Forster’s story from The Virginian-Pilot recounting the quarterback’s participation — via speakerphone — in a hearing regarding his deteriorating finances. We’ve all heard a lot of strange things regarding Vick and his legal issues, but this latest chapter is particularly odd.
Vick claims a man named David Talbot, whom he’d apparently never met, visited him in prison and claimed he could expedite a release. Over the advice of his attorneys, Vick hired Talbot as a financial adviser. Subsequently (according to Forster’s account), $50,000 went missing from Vick’s bank account, as did a $20,000 chain Vick had given his brother Marcus.
Vick has since dismissed Talbot. And, according to Forster, Vick hinted in the hearing he would make claims of up to $2 million against Larry Woodward, his longtime lawyer. And Vick said his representatives, whoever they might be at the moment, are talking to the NFL about him being reinstated.
It’s the story that never goes away. And it never seems to get any prettier.
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