AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > January > 05 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USWorst field ever begins NFL playoff race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
He always was perceptive as a Falcons player, which made Jeff Van Note an interviewer’s delight. Even today, when his head and his beard feature enough gray to serve as a clue that he hasn’t made an NFL snap from center in 21 years, he is as wise as they come.
So why is Van Note hugging this parity mess with a slew of others among the misguided? Well, he is suffering from flashbacks, and we’re talking about ugly ones. He played on those frequently shaky Falcons teams from 1969 through 1986, when the lack of parity (or shall we say mediocrity?) brought them only three playoff appearances.
If those Falcons had the advantage of living in today’s NFL that has the New York Giants in the postseason despite losing six of their last eight games, then those Falcons could have played in January enough to turn the Smith family’s reputation into the Waltons instead of the Clampetts when it comes to competency.
“We used to enter every season thinking that it was going to be our year — you know, by thinking we’ve just added this guy and that guy, we’re more mature, we’ve worked hard and those things,” said Van Note on Thursday, before sighing. “Once you did all of that and entered that thought process, there always was a realization at some point as the season progressed as to where you were going to finish.”
If you were those Falcons, the finish usually was bad. If you were among those back then reaching NFL immortality, the finish usually was great.
You won’t hear “immortality” regarding teams during this postseason that lacks a Superman but has plenty of Jimmy Olsens and Lois Lanes. You can blame it on several things. The salary cap. Free agency. Fundamentally challenged players. Pete Rozelle’s ghost. The dwindling number of future Hall of Fame players (there were more on the Steelers of the 1970s than there are now in the whole league). Money trumping winning for players and coaches. (See Bill Cowher trying to maneuver his way to a bigger contract by retiring from a solid Pittsburgh team before returning someday to the highest bidder).
Thus parity. Thus the reason why the playoffs begin this weekend with the worst set of teams ever in pursuit of the Lombardi Trophy. There is no Pittsburgh of Bradshaw, Mean Joe and Franco. No Washington of Theismann, Riggins and Gibbs (the effective one, not this one). No Dallas of Staubach or Aikman, no San Francisco of Montana or Young, no Oakland of Stabler or Plunkett.
Simply put, there isn’t anything close in the NFL to those suffocating playoff teams from Van Note’s past, when the likely suspects for a world championship each season caused folks to greatly like them or greatly hate them, but not to ignore them. Such dominance by a few forced many to get better. That’s opposed to the horror of now, when shaky teams reign.
Even the heavily flawed Falcons were among five 7-8 teams with a chance to make the playoffs on the last day of this season. “The beauty of the game any more is that the fan — and I’m a fan — can see that his team can get better very quickly if you’re sharp about acquiring free agents, and if you’re drafting well,” Van Note said. “What was it? (A record) 20 out of the 32 teams in the league still had a shot at getting one of the 12 playoff spots entering the last weekend of the season?”
Yep. The NFL set an attendance record for the fourth consecutive season, and only seven of the league’s 256 games weren’t sellouts. That means the majority of folks agree with Van Note about parity. That means the majority of folks won’t get it until the quality of play in the league keeps falling off the face of the earth.
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Terence Moore
Comments
By DOM
January 5, 2007 07:32 PM | Link to this
THE TEAMS WITH A CHANCE HAVE GUYS WHO CAN EVALUATE TALENT. THE FALCONS NEED A GUY WHO HAS PLAYED THE GAME AT THE PRO LEVEL. WE NEED A GUY WHO CAN DEVELOP AND EVALUATE SECOND STRING PLAYERS IN THE CASE OF A CATASTROPHIC INJURY TO KEY PLAYERS! THAT IS THE KEY FOR ATLANTA. BECAUSE MCKAY CLEARLY CAN’T EVEN EVALUATE OUR STARTERS ACCURATELY. REMEMBER WEBSTER,HARTWELL,REESE, WHITE,DUCKETT,JENKINS,LEHR, DEZ WHITE,LAST YEARS SAFETYS, OFFENSIVE LINE SIGNINGS, ETC….! THATS ALOT OF WASTED SALARY CAP ROOM! THESE SALARY CAP ERRORS WILL CRIPPLE A FRANCHISE FOR YEARS. SO LETS BE REALISTIC ABOUT OUR CHANCES FANS! ATLANTA DOES NOT A HAVE A FOUNDATION OR NUCLEUS. WITHOUT VICK WE WOULD BE 2-14!
By BirdDawg
January 5, 2007 07:49 PM | Link to this
I was kinda hoping that Terence Moore’s head would have exploded after the Sugar Bowl.
I mean, there is no guy in the media, at ESPN or SI, who has been more of a Notre Lame apologist than Moore.
Hey, how about those Fighting Drunk Irish, Moore!
Yeah! Notre Lame!
By PJM
January 5, 2007 08:02 PM | Link to this
Moore is right, and that’s why some of thte smarter pundits say the NFL has become a “Coach’s League”. Relatively equal talen among all teams leaves the hard work to the coaches. I maintain that the Falcons should have stuck with Mora (fire Knapp). Also, the emergence of the college game is steady. Compare the second rate post season games: Philly vs. NY Giants or LSU vs. Notre Dame. You half to be more intrigued by the latter. GA - Va Tech was a 4th rate bowl game and it was far more interesting than anything the NFL playoffs offer. The NFL has been at the top for a while, but has it peaked? Remember how hot the NBA was in the late 80’s/early 90’s? In conclusion, how pathetic is Saban? I’m sorry, but if there is any shred of karma in this world, he (and Alabama) will fail.
By tnbird
January 5, 2007 10:13 PM | Link to this
In any good sports league there will be parity. When one or two teams always won there was no reason to watch for most fans. Parity is why the National Football League is the greatest sports league EVER!!!
By bradyfan83
January 6, 2007 01:26 AM | Link to this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrAIL9MlWJY
By Navigator
January 6, 2007 01:45 AM | Link to this
You are absolutely correct Terrence. Just like the Sugar Bowl with Notre Dame. When you cannot even imagine whose going to win the NFC championship, that’s really a lot poor teams.
By dirrtybird
January 6, 2007 02:14 AM | Link to this
Has Terrence Moore ever written a positive article?
By Some guy
January 6, 2007 02:23 AM | Link to this
Word up tnbird… no sport thrives like the NFL. Seeing teams like the Titans, Jets, Saints, Eagles post McNabb injury, and others resurrect themselves and fight into or darn near the playoffs makes for great games to watch, whether you are a fan of the team or not.
There are some great matchups that we will see in these playoffs. Just this weekend, we have Larry Johnson against the 7th worst run defense in the history of the NFL AND one of the most efficient offensive teams of all time taking on a Chiefs team that really has no chance to stop them (all in the same game). The Eagles/Giants game is a good matchup, despite the fact that the Giants are not playing well late. These teams went to the wire twice with the road teams winning each time this season.
Obviously, you can’t predict specific matchups further into the playoffs, but Saints/Bears, Chargers/Colts, Chargers/Patriots, Colts/Patriots, Ravens/Chargers, the possibility of some of the matchups, and possible Super Bowl matchups are astounding.
There are a lot of good teams in the NFL that didn’t make the playoffs, and not so good teams that did. The Broncos, the Bengals, the Steelers, the Jaguars, the Rams, the Falcons (despite what Terrence and you other fairweather fans might think) are all good teams with a lot of talent and/or good coaching, and they didn’t make the playoffs.
I’d take any NFC team vs. any AFC team from these playoffs over a terrible LSU/Notre Dame matchup any day. Notre Dame doesn’t deserve to be on the field with the top teams of a conference like the SEC. No one deserves to be on the field with Ohio State. Think the national championship game will be exciting? Think again. We’ll all be asleep by halftime when OSU’s linebackers have demoralized every Florida offensive player and Troy Smith hits his 5 wide receivers for long touchdowns repeatedly.
Parity makes a sport great. Period. Don’t be retarded. There is nothing fun about watching 3-4 great teams manhandle 28 other teams. Why do the Falcons sell out every game and the Hawks can’t give away tickets for free?
By Manweez
January 6, 2007 02:49 AM | Link to this
Terence, please consider that the labor agreements that existed in the NFL during the “Dynasty Years” were tantamount to serfdom. The salaries and terms locked players and coaches to teams that exploited their workforce. Players and coaches stayed because they couldn’t leave.Cheap labor is the first principle of business. This is the true principle on which America is founded. Slavery is about the cheapest labor you can get.It’s what enabled America to build the richest economy in the world in just under two hundred years. NFL salaries now are a classic over correction of it’s earler times. And yes, quality of play has suffered.
By Manweez
January 6, 2007 03:02 AM | Link to this
Yes dirtybird, Terence has written positve columns. Usually they have been “buddy pieces” about black players or coaches he likes or PR pieces on behalf of ATL sports teams who want to sell a positive image for incoming personel to the ATL sports public. Mans gotta eat.
By Manweez
January 6, 2007 03:06 AM | Link to this
Hey,Some Guy! Nicely observed.I find myself in agreement.
By Najeh Davenpoop
January 6, 2007 04:15 AM | Link to this
Terence, if parity was around for the NFL’s entire history, the Falcons might have had back-to-back winning seasons by now. Parity is the reason why the league is littered with “historically bad” franchises surrounding the few “prestigious” franchises. Before the salary cap, there were about 8 teams that dominated everything while the other teams (like the Falcons) watched and wished they could just spend more money. If they got rid of the salary cap now, the Falcons would probably be one of those elite franchises, thanks to Arthur Blank, but that doesn’t change the fact that the league as a whole would be much more boring. Maybe you want the NFL to be like baseball, where 70% of the league has no chance of winning a title in any given year?
By Greg
January 6, 2007 09:47 AM | Link to this
No great teams? No Hall of Famers? San Diego has a stiffling defense and a potential HOF running back. Terrence may have looked too long at the NFC, where there are no great teams but two great stories (Philly and N’awlins). But San Diego, Baltimore and perhaps one day Indy are all looking like solid franchises.
By One Voice
January 6, 2007 10:24 AM | Link to this
This is a perfect example of why I never read Moore’s articles. I clicked on this one and was reminded why he is by far the worst writer on the sports staff.
The first 5 paragraphs were devoted to telling us how poor the Falcons were 30 years ago. Why? Then he goes on to list plenty of Hall of Famers without ever really giving any support for his theory that today’s teams don’t live up to former standards.
Terrence, as I tell my high school composition students, you must support your opinions, which you rarely do and haven’t done here at all.
I agree this is a weak crop of playoff teams, mainly because the NFC has been mediocre at best and more often horrible. The Giants (8-8), Cowboys (9-7), and Seahawks (9-7) are all severely flawed. Even the top seed, the Bears, have serious questions and are far from dominant. But the same has often been true about the AFC in years past. Remember the dominance of the 49ers and Cowboys in the 90’s?
To dispel Moore’s claims regarding a lack of elite teams and Hall of Famers now, I believe the current Patriots have already won 3 Super Bowls. From the current playoff participants, LaDamian Tomlinson, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Ray Lewis, Marvin Harrison, Tony Gonzalez, and Adam Vinatieri are all definite first ballot Hall of Famers. Players like Tiki Barber, Shaun Alexander, Steve McNair, Drew Brees, and Larry Johnson could certainly be there, not to mention young players like Demarcus Ware, Shawn Merriman, Phillip Rivers, and Reggie Bush, whose careers may put them there if they live up to the hype. So because the current crop of players are not in the Hall yet means that this field is the weakest ever? Could Moore have come up with a more absurd argument?
Silly, silly, silly. This article would have received a “C” if it had been written
By One Voice
January 6, 2007 10:28 AM | Link to this
by a 10th grader.
By D-Man
January 6, 2007 10:47 AM | Link to this
Terrance Moore is the Broke Back Mountain of articles!!
By The Rabid Rabbi
January 6, 2007 12:34 PM | Link to this
Terrance Moore is full of Schultz.
By vcthree
January 6, 2007 04:25 PM | Link to this
Waah! There isn’t a dominant team to root for in the NFL anymore! Waah!
Shut up. This is the typical sportswriter griping about nothing piece, suggesting that the sky is falling—when the evidence suggests the opposite. To call this the “worst field ever”…how would Terrence Moore know? That’s a blanket assumption based on watching old NFL Films highlights and reminiscing over teams that once were. I wish that sportswriters would stop trying to put every otther player in Canton, and every other team with a plethora of talent in the Super Bowl.
Whatever. I’m going to stop writing now, settle in, and watch the mediocre Chiefs play the mediocre Colts in a mediocre Saturday Wild Card Playoff game.
By One Voice
January 6, 2007 06:15 PM | Link to this
It seems as if Moore’s nonsensical rant has not even drawn enough interest to garner 20 comments. Try again, Terence.
By mrejr
January 6, 2007 07:37 PM | Link to this
When a professional journalist writes “The dwindling number of future Hall of Fame players (there were more on the Steelers of the 1970s than there are now in the whole league)”, I am forced to assume that he is a)exaggerating for effect or b) agressively stupid. Perhaps AJC readers can tell me: Which is it? I can come up with 22 HOFs off the top of my head very easily, and a few more that have a very, very good shot by the end of their careers.
By Orlando Rivera
January 6, 2007 08:34 PM | Link to this
Enough of Moore, who else thought it was a hoot to see Mora on NBC today during the pregame show? Having Peter King sitting there talking about who the new Falcons coach was going to be with Mora sitting there looking so oblivious was absolute GOLD!
Speaking of what King said, did anyone else check out his report that Blank prefers to hire Mike Singletary (I hope so) but McKay preferred to hire Jeff Tedford from Cal? A COLLEGE COACH? Please tell me I didn’t hear that! This is one time I hope Blank does step in and make this hire if this is true.
Tedford or Singletary? Discuss.