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 > 08 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USBradley’s Buzz: Matty Mania!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Official Matt Ryan hyperventilation index
Remember all those folks who wanted the Falcons to take Glenn Dorsey instead of Matt Ryan? Jay Clemons of SI.com says the Falcons took the right man even if Dorsey turns out to be Bob Lilly or Mean Joe Greene or Warren Sapp. And Clemons calls Ryan’s touchdown to Michael Jenkins “the greatest-ever first pass by a rookie.”
(Technically, Clint Longley’s bomb to Drew Pearson on Thanksgiving Day 1974 was the 20th pass of the quarterback’s first NFL game. But I only know that because I checked.)
Remember all those folks who said it was crazy to start a rookie quarterback? Don Banks, also of SI.com, praises the Falcons for their sagacity. So take that, Boomer Esiason!
And it was with great chagrin that local writers watched Boston College lose its home opener to Georgia Tech without Ryan. Steve Buckley of the Herald and Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe essentially wrote the same thing: That Chris Crane, who’s now the Eagle quarterback, is no Matty Ice. Here’s Buckley’s take, and here’s Shaughnessy’s.
Having spent the weekend in New England, I can attest that the BC community regards Ryan as irreplaceable. (There’s a life-size photo of him on the press box stairwell, for what that’s worth.) And Chris Cameron, the astute BC publicist, says the thing the Falcons liked most about Ryan — above his arm, his smarts and his toughness — was his ability to shrug off bad games.
That attribute might not seem like a big deal the morning after a bravura NFL debut. But it will become a big deal soon enough.
Then again, it was just Detroit
And those who follow the Lions are already in high dudgeon. Here’s Mitch Albom of the Free Press ripping the local team for getting ripped by the Falcons. And here’s Bob Wojnowski of the News doing the same.
You know, I’ve written one or two of those columns over the years while following the Falcons. It’s kind of refreshing when the vitriol flows the other way.
A Georgia team and its schedule, but not that one
We all know Georgia’s road looks difficult bordering on cruel, but Thomas Neumann of ESPN.com notes that Georgia Tech has had the nation’s third-toughest non-conference schedule over the past 10 years.
Yes, playing Georgia every year fluffed up that ranking some. But let’s not forget that the Jackets played Auburn and BYU and Notre Dame home-and-home, and they won four of those six games.
So does that mean Chan Gailey wasn’t so bad after all? Sorry, but you won’t find any takers for that argument this week. Not after the first big win of the Paul Johnson era.
Blank, Vick and The New York Times
Here’s a little parlor game: Read any profile of Arthur Blank and see how far down in the story Michael Vick is mentioned. Joe Nocera, a business columnist for The New York Times, waits until the sixth paragraph to drop Vick’s name, which signifies some restraint.
There are a few nuggets included — trying to distance himself from Vick, Blank notes that he “had dinner with him maybe once a year” — but there’s also an oversimplification. Nocera writes that “Blank turned a blind eye to Vick’s previous brushes with the law, choosing instead to re-sign him to a contract that included a $20 million signing bonus.” Not exactly.
On Dec. 23, 2004, the day Vick signed his famous contract, there was only one slight smudge on Vick’s record, and that was the strange case of the Rolex in the airport security line. (And that hadn’t yet come to light publicly, and no charges were ever brought.) The Ron Mexico lawsuit hadn’t been filed. The water-bottle thing wouldn’t happen until January 2007. The dogfighting allegations wouldn’t surface until April of that year.
Perhaps Blank should have known, somehow, that Vick wasn’t as a nice a guy as the Falcons had hoped. But, two days before Christmas in 2004, there was little to indicate as much.
Smoke goes racin’ and gets racy
Tony Stewart is my favorite NASCAR driver because he once drove me around Atlanta Motor Speedway for three laps with either making fun of my skittishness or crashing into the wall. And Mike Guy’s profile of Stewart in Rolling Stone didn’t make me like him any less.
A word of warning, though: Guy’s story includes R-rated language and imagery, so kids under 17 shouldn’t click on the link. (I’m reasonably confident this admonition will deter no one, but I offer it all the same.)
Oh, and Stewart makes it clear how much he hates Kurt Busch, which isn’t objectionable in the least. Because everyone hates Kurt Busch.
Permalink | Comments (41) | Post your comment | Categories: Bradley's Buzz
Services »
Comments
By Bo
September 8, 2008 7:48 AM | Link to this
Mark ~
I’ve agreed with your assessments all along of Ryan and Dimitroff. I think time will prove them both to be winners. Ryan is a winner on the field and off.
One game doesn’t make a season or a career, but this is a great start.
Great call.
By David
September 8, 2008 8:36 AM | Link to this
Blank is to blame because everyone around the Falcons knew Vick did NOTHING over and above what was expected of him. He never took any initiative, no extra workouts with the WRs outside of scheduled practices, no extra film work other than what was asked…no leadership. If he was a RB, WR, etc…he could’ve gotten by with it but he was the QB, the face of the franchise and Blank should’ve done his homework to find out just what kind of leader he was. You notice if you look for it but everyone was blinded by his athleticism.
By mountain jim
September 8, 2008 8:39 AM | Link to this
Mark’s up early with some good links - me likey.
By JB
September 8, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this
Looks like having “Normal” real NFL people running the show is working for the Falcons. A good start. Should win 6-7 games this year…….
By FB FALCON FAN
September 8, 2008 8:57 AM | Link to this
What a great game. Nice work on the O-line. Turner is a beast. Liked hearing the announcers say the lions couldn’t handle the more physical falcons. WTF..what a turn around. This is awesome. Let’s see em do the same to the B-aneers.
Also, I move to ban mentions of you know who from future blogs.
By Lowcountry Bulldawg
September 8, 2008 9:24 AM | Link to this
I second that motion!
Matt Ryan has the look, the arm and the moxie of another QB in the New England area. I was thrilled by the selection and feel some sort of vindication if only after one game for defending the selection for all the gooofs who wanted a D-Tackle.
GOOO DAWGS!!!
By Mark Bradley
September 8, 2008 9:33 AM | Link to this
It was a terrific start, absolutely, for everyone involved with the Falcons. But — and I’ll probably write something along these lines later today, so consider yourselves warned, — it was still just the start. As Thomas Dimitroff keeps saying, this is a process.
By Eric
September 8, 2008 9:41 AM | Link to this
Listen, This is going to be a better team then 3-13 team “the burner” very well could be the rushing leader all year don’t know if Matt Ryan will rookie of the year but he’ll be talked about all year but my predictions is 9-7 and a trip to the play-offs
By Lowcountry Bulldawg
September 8, 2008 9:42 AM | Link to this
Mark,
You are right. I predicted in your article earlier a 3-13 season for the team. One of those losses was to this Lions team. After watching the running game a 6 win season now looks possible.
In my comparing Ryan to Brady, you just see that look in him. He doesn’t seemed fazed by the attention and pressure on him. Also with Dimitroff coming from New England it might be a similar character trait he may see.
Now its time to get my 4 year old son that Matt Ryan jersey!
GOOO DAWGS!!!
By Steve
September 8, 2008 10:06 AM | Link to this
So where are all of those thug loving Vick lovers? This proves what a great QB Ryan will be. Especially compared to the Vick thug. May he rot in jail.
By Big Al
September 8, 2008 10:09 AM | Link to this
Man, one could actually get excited about the Falcons. I wish them well.
By woodie
September 8, 2008 10:10 AM | Link to this
where’s Shockley ?
By smyrna man
September 8, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this
On T. Moores jock
By Bk Hawk
September 8, 2008 10:43 AM | Link to this
Mark- great Week for the State of Ga. Falcons win, GT wins,UGA wins, and GSU wins.
I love T. Steward as race car driver. not what he does otherwise.
Braves need to do what GT and Falcons have done….Clean House!! and that means Cox too.
By GEORGIE
September 8, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this
Turner was great…was that all ability or do you think the offensive line had something to do with it. how about detroits defensive line were they that bad.
By GEORGIE
September 8, 2008 11:34 AM | Link to this
Turner was great…was that all ability or do you think the offensive line had something to do with it. how about detroits defensive line were they that bad.
By GEORGIE
September 8, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this
Turner was great…was that all ability or do you think the offensive line had something to do with it. how about detroits defensive line were they that bad.
By dc
September 8, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this
i’m ready for the new atlanta falcons! lookin good!
By Kelvin
September 8, 2008 11:41 AM | Link to this
The Vick lovers will be out as soon as Matt has a bad game. Great start to your career Matt. We know they all won’t be that easy and you’re going to have your ups and downs, but I was pleased to see the poised you showed in the pocket. The coaching staff has done a terrific job in managing you so far. Keep it up!
By Dawgbyte
September 8, 2008 11:45 AM | Link to this
I hope “expert” Terence Moore has the stones to apologize to the Falcon’s O-line that he trashed and who(the line)then went out and opened holes for the runners and protected(1 sack)Ryan in a real gutty performance. But then, they(the line)probably—like everyone else—didn’t paylany attention to that idiot.
By You got to be kidding me
September 8, 2008 12:05 PM | Link to this
Remember this was a team that couldn’t beat a Girl Scout flag football team last year (no offense to girl scouts BTW) and whined and cried all season long at each other and the coaching staff and then the panty-waist head coach up and bolts in the middle of the night! This team looks like an NFL caliber team! I’m finally excited again about Falcon football! May not be this year but I think great things are in store for this team!
By bb
September 8, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this
Interesting look at non-conference schedules in the linked article.
Not surprising that the SEC is not represented in the top 10 (actually 13). Yet of those 13 teams, 7 are ACC teams.
By bill
September 8, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this
Good stuff Mark.Enjoy your work although as a Gator fan I don’t always agree with you.
Concerning Busch are you sure Tony wasn’t talking about Kyle instead of Kurt?
By DHD
September 8, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this
AJC….you ALWAYS mention Vick in EVERY Falcons article, so don’t blame the NYT. You are ALL the same.
By Mark Bradley
September 8, 2008 12:40 PM | Link to this
I believe I’d remarked on these blogs — not that I’m ever right about anything — that the Falcons were rather encouraged by their line play during the exhibition season. But did I — or they — expect 318 yards rushing the first time out? Uh, no.
Bottom line: Everything worked. Which you probably knew from the score.
By A fan
September 8, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this
Michael who?!?!?
By marko
September 8, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this
I suggested a while back that the Falcons where a lot more gifted than Petrino had made them appear. I enjoy being right almost as much as I enjoy watching the Falcons win. Look for opposing defences to stack up and try to stop the Burner. If Ryan makes them pay for that kind of nonsense, we could be in for a helluva season.
By Rufio
September 8, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
I love how our O-line has been regarded as one of the worst in the league by seemingly everyone. Then after game one, I read on either ESPN.com or SI.com (I dont remember which) that we had one of the best young tackle-gaurd combos in the league with Baker/Blalock
talk about doing a 180
I also loved hearing the guys on 790 the zone this morning bash the people wearing Vick jerseys at the game refusing to cheer for the falcons and matt ryan. how pathetic those people are.
Good win. Go Falcons.
By Unbiased_Blogger
September 8, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
So my grandma just brought me a plate of chocolate chip cookies down to my bedroom in her basement where I live. Mmmmm I can’t wait to have these inside of me. Falcons stink
By Orlando
September 8, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this
Here’s the problem that bothers me about your article Bradley: you need to give more credit to Norwood and Turner than you do Ryan.
Do I believe Matt had a solid game? Yes I do. However, he doesn’t deserve nearly as much credit as that awesome duo who teams will be hard pressed to stop this year.
I understand the situation Ryan is coming into and how QB is the glamour position in all of sports. However, it just seems to me that we can’t put this all on him. The Falcons have another Michael that the fans can get behind! He could be this year’s Adrian Peterson if that line stays healthy.
By D.Ellis
September 8, 2008 1:52 PM | Link to this
Maybe the line deserves a lttle more credit as well. I eman we know the lions aren’t the best team in world….but some of those holes you could literally drive a small car through.
By Adrian's Perspective
September 8, 2008 2:09 PM | Link to this
I want to win, period. I don’t care who the QB is. The Vick bashing is childish and unnecessary. People please grow up and Go Falcons.
By bigeasy830
September 8, 2008 2:20 PM | Link to this
The Falcons will lose at least 13 of their next 15 games. The Lions should fire their head coach now. That team melted down in the first quarter. That was the worst job of coahing and having a team prepared ever in the NFL. Great job by Falcons coaching staff. If you noticed Ryan never attempted the out patterns the kept all his throws safe. They work to his strengths. Thats what good coaches do. Work to their players stengths. Great Job Coach Smith, Mularkey and Van Gorder. If we salvage this franchise it will be because of those guys and the entire coaching staff. No way any player will scream at a coach on the sideline the way Kitna did and remain with this franchise, even though those Lions coaches deserved it. Good job Falcons but, it will still be a long year.
By Duce
September 8, 2008 2:41 PM | Link to this
This TEAM deserves the credit. Ryan, Turner, Norwood, O-line, Receivers, Defense went out and played as a TEAM. The Coaching staff coached this TEAM well yesterday. Blank and Dimitroff have laid a good foundation for this TEAM. None of them went out and won the game alone. I saw an NFL TEAM win yesterday and that has been something that the Atlanta Falcons have not been in a long time.
By vick is da victim
September 8, 2008 2:41 PM | Link to this
dat matty white boy yall think hes god. he’s a glass joe looking scrub dat got lucky.
wait for vick to come back. then da atl will have a real qb.
suckaz.
By oldmike
September 8, 2008 3:00 PM | Link to this
Regardless of who they played this was a great way to start. They looked like a real football team out there - not a bunch of schemes created to exploit one players’ special skills. Hey there vick is da victim are you for real?
By Mark Bradley
September 8, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this
Nope. Tony Stewart was talking about Kurt Busch. At least he was in Guy’s story.
By This Gets Old
September 8, 2008 4:35 PM | Link to this
Mark:
I’m curious as to why the AJC allows some of this stuff. The people who want to come to just discuss the victory really can’t do that. Yeah, we can ignore them but why should we have to?
“By vick is da victim
September 8, 2008 2:41 PM | Link to this
dat matty white boy yall think hes god. he’s a glass joe looking scrub dat got lucky. wait for vick to come back. then da atl will have a real qb.
suckaz.”
Profilers call this a “tell” It’s obviously written by someone who thinks that this is how African-Americans speak. Even if it is how someone would speak they wouldn’t type it this way. It’s really disappointing that it has continued for over two years now.
I am in no way blaming you but the decision to continue to allow this is more than questionable. The paper obviously wants people to come to the site but apparently care about the number of people that are turned away.
I can tell you for a fact that this type of thing affects the attitudes of people who don’t have any idea about the culture or beauty of Atlanta.
Puzzled.
By The Dean 21
September 8, 2008 7:33 PM | Link to this
It appears to me that FOOTBALL is one of many subject matters of racism in Atlanta. You don’t have these idiots posting on the Thrashers, Hawks and Braves blogs. The Falcons and it’s players seem to attract these poetic monsters that prey on the AJC Falcon message boards. Hopefully, the Federal Government can take over these AJC blogs and lower the idiot rate.
By alan
September 8, 2008 8:53 PM | Link to this
jeff garcia has an ankle injury and yall play the falcons next. i hope for yall that its not bad cause if it is, lol yall are goin to have a long day. i dont think yall will be able to stop the run since yall had a problem doing so all last season. now the new orleans just showed how easy it is to pass on yall now. i feel sorry for yall this sunday. turner will have well over 100 yards this game. i also think jerious norwood will have a great game, this defense is old and i dont think wants to tackle anymore. yea they are a very talented veteran group, but this falcons team has been getting better and better each game since the preseason. they are SO PHYSICAL. the lineman block all the way down the field till the end of the play.
before we played detroit everyone said we would get killed. now we beat them there saying its was just a bad lions team, well when we beat the tampa bay bucs. what will the excuse be then. i would like to save a lot of yall from looking stupid and jump on the band wagon now. i know it sounds stupid but his team is even closer then the 11-5 falcons in 04. take notice cause we are goin to be a BIG surprise this season and thats what is goin to get us some wins cause teams are not goin to take us seriously this year. Turner has the ability to challenge LT this year for the title.
By OutOnaLimb
September 8, 2008 9:02 PM | Link to this
By Unbiased_Blogger
September 8, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
So my grandma just brought me a plate of chocolate chip cookies down to my bedroom in her basement where I live. Mmmmm I can’t wait to have these inside of me. Falcons stink
Un-Bi-Assed Blogger. I have your some Cookies right here, with some hot cream to share with you and NaNa. Get off the blog you F* Bast__rd.