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DEL.ICIO.USFalcons leave Hall speechless
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oakland — This was an ugly blast from the past on Sunday along the way to the Falcons’ 24-0 shredding of whatever you call the Raiders these days. There in the tunnel at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium, with everybody else minding their own business as they hustled to their locker rooms at halftime, DeAngelo Hall jawed at everybody in his path.
Call it vintage MeAngelo Hall, the famously mouthy cornerback spending his first season with the Raiders after four years with the Falcons. Despite a few shoves and reprimands from his new teammates along the way in the tunnel, Hall kept swinging his head around to deliver sizzling words to his old teammates.
What was THAT all about?
“I was with [the Oakland players] in there trying to pull him away from arguing, man, because I told him, ‘You’re better than that, be a good person and don’t get caught up in mouth talk,’ ” said Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jackson, recalling Hall’s silliness, with the Falcons roaring toward 453 total yards to the Raiders’ 77.
Hall bolted unseen after the game without comment, but Jackson added from the visitors’ locker room, “I told him at halftime in the tunnel to be a good sportsman and just to keep on playing, man.”
You know, like Hall’s old teammates this season. They are a surprising 5-3, because of a lot of things. To name a few, there is Matt Ryan, the brilliant rookie, who had a passer rating of 138.4 in this one. There is Michael Turner, the brilliant free agent, with his fourth game of rushing for more than 100 yards (139 against the Raiders). There is a clutch defense that features John Abraham, the brilliant veteran, who had three more sacks on Sunday to stay among the NFL leaders with 10.
There also is a Falcons bunch overall that often does what Hall hasn’t during much of his career: Stay focused.
The Detroit Lions are bad, and the Falcons pounded them. The Kansas City Chiefs are bad, and the Falcons pounded them. The Raiders are worse than the Lions and Chiefs, and the Falcons responded accordingly. They were ruthless on offense and defense. In fact, they led 7-0 soon after the game’s opening drive when Michael Jenkins blew past Hall to complete a 37-yard play in the end zone. Jenkins scored again in the second quarter after he was wide open for a 27-yard pass from Ryan for a 21-0 lead at the time.
“Every week in this league, you have to come ready to play,” said Jenkins, who is responding efficiently as the Falcons’ other receiver, with Roddy White as the Falcons’ rising star. “We saw some of the earlier games today, where Kansas City was beating Tampa Bay and Cincinnati was doing well. So you can’t go by a team’s record. Our coaching staff does a great job of letting us know that and of helping us keep that focus every week.”
Such an emphasis didn’t shield the Falcons from blowout losses at Tampa Bay and Carolina. Still, those happened earlier in the year for this youth-dominated team. Afterward, the Falcons beat the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears, both among the NFL’s better teams. They also stayed competitive at always tough Philadelphia, and then they ignored the taunts from Oakland’s Black Hole crazies in the stands to flatten the Raiders.
Said Turner, “We looked at this as a business trip. We just wanted to get the job done and go back home.”
They did. Ask Hall.
If you can find him.
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