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Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Falcons’ ‘A’ game can beat Eagles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Flowery Branch � The Eagles have been the NFC’s best team over the last four seasons and have twice eliminated the Falcons from the playoffs. If the Falcons are to reach the Super Bowl, they’ll have to beat Philadelphia at some point. At what point might they be ready to beat Philly?
Why, right about now.
Said Michael Vick: “We’re ready to beat anybody we play.�
Said Ike Reese: “There’s no reason we can’t beat them. But they’re not a team that’s going to be intimidated by being on the road in any game against any opponent. We’re going to have to be on our ‘A’ game.â€? And if the Falcons indeed bring their best come Monday night? Will their best suffice? “Oh, yeah,â€? Reese said. “Our ‘A’ game is good enough to beat anybody in the league.â€?
Reese has more standing in this matter than anyone else on either side. An Eagle for seven seasons, he’s now a Falcon. He was brought here not so much for his skills as a linebacker — he’s technically a substitute — as for his capacity to carry himself in the manner of a consistent winner. Put simply, the Falcons want a little of Reese to rub off on everybody else in his new locker room. Thing is, Reese doesn’t believe much rubbing needs to be done.
“When you play a team in a championship game [as the Eagles did against the Falcons in January],â€? Reese said, “you’re not going to be a lot better. We knew the Falcons had things they did very well — they were the No. 1 rushing team in the league, and we were 22nd [16th, actually] against the run. But the key to that type of game is imposing your will on the other team.â€?
The Eagles made most of the impositions that cold day, winning 27-10. There were, Reese conceded, extenuating circumstances. “The weather was a factor. So was us being in our fourth NFC championship game.�
Lest we forget, the Eagles needed four tries to book Super Bowl passage. Many of these Falcons also lost in Philadelphia in January 2003, which isn’t to say the Falcons are now incapable of beating this opponent. The Eagles were simply better both times, but the Falcons are getting really good themselves. That’s one of the reasons Ike Reese is here.
“This team reminds me of the way we were in Philly in 2001 when we lost to the Rams in the NFC championship,â€? he said. “They’re on the cusp of winning big and being in the Super Bowl for a long time to come. … Nobody’s settling for second-best here; nobody’s happy just to be the NFC South champ. A lot of these coaches came from San Francisco, where they won five Super Bowls, and Rich McKay won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay. The expectations are very high, and the tempo is very similar to what I’d been used to in Philadelphia.â€?
In football, “tempoâ€? means doing what you want to do and doing it with dispatch. The best teams have a tempo; the lousy ones mill around. If you watch the neo-Falcons — and not just in games, but in practice — you’ll see no milling. They mightn’t be as far along at this winning thing as Philadelphia, but they’re making up ground. On a charged Monday night in the Georgia Dome, they’re fully capable of being the aggressors. They’re ready, in sum, to win this game.
“The great thing about us in Philly was that we’d get teams to play at our tempo,� Reese said. His new team is getting close to doing the same. “We’re a young team, up and coming. We’ve got players capable of imposing our will.�
The Eagles will be a great team no matter what happens Monday night. The Falcons can only achieve greatness by showing they can beat a team like Philadelphia. For the Eagles, this is just another big game. For the Falcons, it’s the chance to prove something to the watching world. They’ll prove it all night. They’ll win.
Permalink | Comments (64) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Mark Bradley
Dimry memories still burn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
October 14, 1990.
That’s a date which will live in infamy for Falcons fans. That’s also a date which historians will remember as when Jerry Rice’s bust for the Pro Football Hall of Fame was unofficially bronzed.
Charles Dimry STILL is chasing Rice’s back toward an end zone.
October 14, 1990.
I was there that day at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium to see one of the most incredible performances ever by an individual during an NFL game. Of Rice’s five touchdown catches (yes, FIVE), four involved the 49ers wide receiver burning the Falcons cornerback early and often in the most embarrassing of ways.
It wasn’t just Dimry who helped send Rice to the Hall of Fame. It was the Falcons in general. During Rice’s 16 years with the 49ers, San Francisco and Atlanta were in the same division. As a result, they played twice a season, which means Rice had two chances each season to play out of his mind.
Which he did. See October 14, 1990, and now 15 years later, Rice is retired.
That’s about 15 years too late for Dimry and the Falcons.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
