AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > September > 09
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Hard to be positive after opener like that
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Minneapolis — If this is indicative of things to come for the Falcons, they already are history for so many reasons. We needn’t go further than this: Courtesy of their 24-3 blowout Sunday at the Metrodome to begin the post-Michael Vick era, they were more defensive after the game than they were during it.
Such is the way of losers. When your offense is pathetic for an entire afternoon, and when your defense gets torched by a gifted running back who nevertheless is making his debut as a rookie, and when your play is lethargic in general, you whine in the aftermath about anything or anybody but yourself.
What a mess, and not only because the Falcons were a deadly combination of bad and boring. If one corner of the visitors’ locker room wasn’t imploring media folks “to stay positive” and to stop “being so negative,” the other side was doing the same.
So what about the stuff that really should matter to the Falcons, which is having a team under first-year NFL head coach Bobby Petrino flashing signs of imploding with another horrific outing or three?
“I mean, we want to be great, because we spent this whole minicamp and training camp running to the ball, trying to stop the run and that whole mentality, but we didn’t respond the way that we should,” said cornerback DeAngelo Hall, among those who refused to ignore the Falcons’ horrors by trying to shift the conversation. “We obviously had spurts where we did stop the run, but we had them backed up too many times and let them off the hook. We all have to look in the mirror to see what we have to do to get better and to get this team better.”
Just in case that mirror is a little foggy for the Falcons after their silly yapping about criticism, here’s some help. They allowed Adrian Peterson to rush for 103 yards and catch a pass for 60 more yards and a touchdown. They had no hurries or sacks of Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, not to be confused with Fran Tarkenton anytime soon. They relinquished six sacks. Their offense never reached the red zone. They saw quarterback Joey Harrington throw two interceptions and saw his 61.8 passer rating drop his record as an NFL starter to 23-44.
Sounds like the Falcons miss the other guy who is headed for prison after his dogfighting issues. In fact, five years ago, when the Falcons were last at the Metrodome, the other guy weaved his way through the Vikings’ entire defense in overtime for victory and continued his sprint from the end zone to the locker room.
Added Hall of Vick, who, if nothing else, was as dramatic as the current Falcons are dull, “We haven’t been preparing with him. He hasn’t been on the field with us. I mean, it’s not like the guy has been with us in minicamp and throughout training camp, and all of a sudden he’s not there for the game.”
That’s true, but there only was one No. 7, among the all-time elite of athletes. Given his highly publicized fall from NFL star to convicted felon and his sentencing that is three months away, the Falcons are smothered by his shadow. Whether they wish to admit it or not.
“I know what people are getting at when they ask [about Vick], but how do I lead? How do I take care of these young guys and keep them focused on the task at hand?” said tight end Alge Crumpler, one of the Falcons’ five captains. “When I get home and shoot a text message to Mike, that’s on my time. When I walk through the door at Flowery Branch, I’m working for the guys we’re suiting up. Period. I’m not going to sit here for 16 weeks and play the ‘what if’ game.”
The Falcons just need to play the game. Period. That’s opposed to the blame game.
(Commenting has closed and will resume Monday morning.)
Permalink | Comments (65) | Categories: Terence Moore
Tormentor enjoys the flashback
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Athens — Feeling nostalgic now, are we?
Steve Spurrier comes to town and suddenly a football team buckles at the knees. The offensive coordinator can’t call a play. The quarterback can’t spot or hit an open receiver, and when he does, somebody drops the ball.
The head coach feels bold enough in the third quarter to rubber-stamp a trick play on fourth down, but he talks himself out of going for a tying touchdown on fourth down from the opponent’s 15 - with less than five minutes remaining.
“This wasn’t a shock,” Spurrier said Saturday.
What would you expect him to say?
As a Gator, Spurrier was 11-1 against Georgia. As a Rooster, he was 0-2. Consider this a market correction. The Bulldogs lost 16-12.
One coach was beaming. The other should have felt humiliated.
Mark Richt hadn’t lost to South Carolina since 2001 (then coached by Lou Holtz). That also was the last time the Georgia offense failed to produce a touchdown (14-9 loss). It was in Richt’s first year in Athens and his first SEC game. More wonderful memories.
Spurrier would have you believe these teams are relative equals. Nothing coming in said that.
A week ago, South Carolina allowed 252 rushing yards to a school from Munchkinland, Louisiana-Lafayette. Its starting quarterback Saturday, Blake Mitchell, has spent a career being a knucklehead and was coming off a suspension. The Bulldogs merely were coming off a dismembering of Oklahoma State, during which quarterback Matthew Stafford played as advertised and as needed.
Because Stafford is young, you expect a slide back once in a while. You don’t expect a face plant. Last week: 18 of 24 passing, two touchdowns. This week: 19 of 44, no touchdowns, one interception, three sacks.
When somebody asked about drops, Stafford responded appropriately. “I missed guys,” he said. “They were open. Personally I could’ve played a whole lot better.”
Players could’ve played better. Coaches could’ve coached better. Spurrier basked in it all.
It was like a bad acid flashback.
Fans booed Georgia’s offense, and booed Spurrier as he was heading into the tunnel at halftime. He acknowledged them by waving.
He commented he was getting an ovation. Or was it boos? “I didn’t realize I was that important to them.”
In his first year in Columbia, Spurrier won games at Tennessee and at home against Florida. Those were big.
Last season, he came within a point of the Gators in Gainesville and upset Clemson. Also big.
But this was a victory in an SEC opener against the school he has tormented most. Bigger.
Everybody played a role, particularly Richt and play-caller Mike Bobo. The Bulldogs went 3-for-18 on third down. Two red-zone possessions netted two field goals.
Stafford was buried in the third quarter on a fourth-and-2 play, a delayed play-action in which he played out the fake too long and got smacked by a blitzing Gamecock.
Spurrier: “They tried that sleeper play. They tried that two years ago. It was funny. I think they might file that play.”
The man never misses an opening.
Late in the game, the Dogs trailed 16-9. They were driving. But after consecutive runs by Knowshon Moreno netted 21 yards, Bobo didn’t call his name again. Oops. Three straight incompletions left a fourth down on the South Carolina 16. But Richt elected to kick a field goal rather than go for the tying TD. Why?
“We thought we could stop them and get the ball back and we did,” Bobo said. “But we couldn’t execute in a two-minute situation.”
How does this happen?
Opportunities, they had. On the opening drive, Gamecocks cornerback Carlos Thomas twice kept Georgia drives going with personal fouls (one for a late hit, the other for yelling at an official who presumably called the late hit). When one player gives you 30 yards, you should come away with something. The Dogs came away with a missed 48-yard field goal.
Georgia was blessed with another extended possession late in the half when Carolina was flagged for roughing the punter. But that was followed by three straight incompletions. Boos rained down. Spurrier loved it.
Welcome to reruns.
Permalink | Comments (86) | Categories: Jeff Schultz
