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Friday, December 23, 2005
A game for Vick to earn his pay
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
There comes a time when a Franchise Quarterback has to take his franchise by the scruff of the neck and make it win no matter what. This is such a time. Michael Vick isn’t being paid $130 million to be one of the guys. He’s being paid to win games like this.
Vick has had an odd season. He has had a handful of productive games, but overall it hasn’t been the breakthrough he and his coaches — and yes, this correspondent — foresaw. His team, tabbed to make a Super Bowl run, is on the brink of elimination. His completion percentage, never high, is down from last season’s. Even if we agree that the NFL’s convoluted passer ratings don’t offer an entirely accurate appraisal, it’s still jolting to see the $130-million man ranked 27th among quarterbacks. (His rushing numbers — 902 yards on 120 carries last season, 534 on 90 this time — are also down, presumably by choice.)
Yes, Vick made the Pro Bowl again, and this tells us two things: 1. The NFC is lacking in big-time quarterbacks and 2. Name recognition is a mighty commodity. The Franchise Quarterback hasn’t even been his team’s MVP — Warrick Dunn has — and in the two games the Falcons needed most to win, the famous Vick presided over an offense that couldn’t generate a touchdown.
He has another chance today, a last chance. History teaches that Vick is capable of winning games by himself, and that’s what he’ll need to do in Tampa Bay. His wide receivers still aren’t ready and T.J. Duckett hasn’t done much lately. That leaves Vick, with Dunn and Alge Crumpler as wingmen, to outdo a defense that has traditionally trumped him. It won’t be easy, but if being a Franchise Quarterback were easy then we’d all hold contracts for $130 million.
For all that has (or hasn’t) happened on the field, the most distressing part of this season has been the change in Vick’s mindset. He has gotten caught up in trying to Answer His Critics, which is human nature but seldom the wisest course. After an uncommonly precise showing in Miami, he told the world never to question him again. Well, the world is a funny old place, and not everyone in it is apt to look on the sunny side. Heck, Peyton Manning has detractors. (Can’t win the big one, et cetera.) Vick needs to grasp that nitpicking comes with the exalted territory of being rich and famous and outrageously gifted. Heck, Bob Dylan got booed at Newport.
This was Vick’s exasperated response, via conference call, to Tampa Bay writers who asked this week about his lack of success against his nemesis: “You’re still saying it’s tough for me to handle that defense after what I did to them last time?” He passed for 306 yards against the Bucs in November, but he fumbled late and Tampa Bay won. And now Vick seemed to be using a statistically bountiful loss as proof of his excellence. Over the years, Vick’s many fans have written off his tepid stats by noting that he wins games. Are we to believe the bottom line has shifted?
Neither Vick nor his team has been as good as anticipated this season, but there’s still time, just, to salvage something. The Franchise Quarterback has to forget about naysayers and numbers and do whatever it takes to win this immense game. If that means rushing for 200 yards while completing only two passes, so be it. He can’t worry about how he looks or what people will say. He can only concern himself with the final score.
He couldn’t beat Carolina in Charlotte or Chicago in the cold, but that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of beating Tampa Bay on Christmas Eve. He’s still Michael Vick, still the most talented player in his sport. He has greatness, and great games, within him. He can do this.
Permalink | Comments (141) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Mark Bradley
Pro picks: Birds can’t block, won’t win
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
On the first day of Christmas the Falcons promised you, win number 9, which like playoff hopes are dying the vine.
On the second day of Christmas, the Falcons promised you, the future’s looking bright, dismissing signs that reality might bite.
On the third … anything clean rhyme with Duckett?
Sorry, it’s the best I can do. Besides, Edgar Allen Poe stunk against the spread.
The Falcons play today, which is one more guarantee than they have two weeks from now. If they lose to Tampa Bay, postseason hopes could officially be declared kaputski. If they beat Tampa Bay — which they have done only twice in the 10 meetings — they’ll still need another win against Carolina and help from another dimension.
Which is fine, I guess, because owner Arthur Blank said this week that missing the playoffs would not make this season a failure. Right. I’m sure that’s what every season-ticket holder would be thinking. “The Redskins made the playoffs instead of us. Let’s throw a parade.”
There is hope. There is always hope. You gotta have hope.
Of course, it’s better to have an offensive line.
The Falcons don’t protect Michael Vick. They pour honey on him in the huddle and yell, “Bees! Attack!� And then Greg Knapp opens the playbook and releases the bees.
This team is hanging its hat on wins over Detroit and New Orleans in the last six weeks. Not a great hat rack.
The line says Tampa by 3. Wrap this one up for the holidays. Bucs cover.
4-BAGS Cowboys at Panthers: Bill Parcells has come down with Falconitis. His team has lost three out of the last four, but he wants everybody to know: “I know we have a better team now than when I came here. I know that. So, that’s what I know.� Thank you, Mr. Wizard. And pay no attention to that season fizzle behind the curtain. Carolina puts a wrap on the South and covers 5.
Giants at Redskins: The Skins’ resurgence under Joe Gibbs is one of the season’s great stories, unless of course you work for the organization that let him get away. New York will win the East, but fortunately there has been a market correction in the Eli Manning Hype Machine (2 touchdowns, 6 interceptions in the last 3 games). Washington covers 3.
3-BAGS Chargers at Chiefs: Beat the Patriots, lose to the Eagles, beat the Redskins, lose to the Dolphins, beat the Colts. In Indy. If you can figure out the San Diego Chargers, you’re on the same hallucinogens they are. And thanks, but I’m trying to cut down. Chargers win in KC. Don’t ask me why.
Colts at Seahawks: There are only two things keeping this from being a Super Bowl preview: 1. Indianapolis won’t get there; 2. Seattle won’t get there. Trust me. I’m all knowing. By the way, your shoe’s untied. Neither team has much to gain and has shifted into protect thyself mode. When bubble wrap collides: Seattle wins but take Indy and 8.
2-BAGS Bills at Bengals: Chad Johnson claims he accidentally drove into a deer and he’s going to use it as a prop in a touchdown celebration Saturday. Now that’s what you call burning a Blitzen! (Sorry. Maybe I will take that hallucinogen after all.) In other news, Buffalo quarterbacks coach Sam Wyche gets to see what his former team looks like when it’s well-coached. Cincinnati covers 13 1/2.
Steelers at Browns: Pittsburgh’s final two opponents (Browns, Lions) have a combined record of 9-19. Coach Bill Cowher called this week’s game: “a big challenge.� Yeah? Well, blow it and the challenge may be making back into the city limits. Steelers win but take Cleveland and 7.
Titans at Dolphins: Miami has gone from a 3-7 start and a 22-0 loss to Cleveland to winning four straight. “I think we’re building on something,� Nick Saban said. Tennessee isn’t building. Tennessee is the landfill. Fins cover 5 1/2.
Eagles at Cardinals: Rule of thumb in Week 16: When there’s a game matching two teams not going anywhere, take the one that didn’t make the Seahawks look like the ‘62 Packers. Arizona covers 1.
Raiders at Broncos: Oakland’s offensive line has allowed 18 sacks in the last four games, give or take a kidney. Denver can clinch its first division title and first home playoff game since 1998, the year it met the Falcons in the Super Bowl and Eugene Robinson went looking for love in all the wrong places. But I digress. Broncos win but take Oakland and 13.
Vikings at Ravens: Speaking of love brokers, Federal Express dropped stripper skipper Daunte Culpepper from commercials. There’s a line there somewhere about the hazards of overnight shipping. Ravens win, 4-2.
Reggie Bush/Implosion Derby Texans: Dan Reeves is 1-0 as Houston’s consultant. My guess is he’ll be shopping for a house in a few weeks, assuming all of the knife wounds have healed from Flowery Branch. Jaguars win but won’t cover 6.
Phoney Niners: Just what San Francisco needs, another No. 1 pick. Last year’s fine selection, Alex Smith, has developed nicely: 0 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. But when you’re guaranteed $24 million no matter how much you stink, it’s all relative. Rams cover 9.
Saints: The NFL reaffirmed this week that it wants to keep the Saints in New Orleans. My God. Hasn’t the city suffered enough? But this week: Saints win, but take Lions and 3.
Jets: Because sitting in a cold stadium in New Jersey to watch a 3-11 team play a night game apparently isn’t torture enough, the Jets banned beer sales for the New England game. Think of it as root canal without the Novocaine. Patriots obliterate 5.
Packers: Brett Favre will start his 240th straight game. Considering his 239th straight game was a 48-3 loss to the Ravens, I’m thinking he’s not in the mood for cake and ice cream. Chicago covers 6 1/2.
Last week: 9-4 straight up, 7-6 against the line. Fiscal season: 143-60 straight up, 109-86-8 against the line.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Reindeer Games
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ajc
Nothing says Christmas like the holiday hit “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” The man behind the song, Elmo “Dr. Elmo” Shropshire, listed the five sports personalities he wishes would get run over by a reindeer:
Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants: You can say here’s no such thing as BALCO, but as for me and Jose Canseco, we believe.
Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers: Better a reindeer than another linebacker.
Terrell Owens, Mouth of the South: And we just can’t help but wonder, should we keep him off the field or send him back?
Reggie Bush, USC Trojans: Before the 49ers draft him and ruin his career.
Jean-Marie LeBlanc, Tour de France president: It’s not a Tour without Lance Armstrong, all the sponsors dressed in black. Jean-Marie, don’t point your finger. Just get on you knees and beg him back.
OK fans, it’s your turn. Who else would you like to see trampled by Santa’s fleet?
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