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Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Falcons reacting late, correctly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
If you’re Arthur Blank, this is what you’re thinking: It’s the week of the home opener, there’s the prospect of several thousand empty seats Sunday and a good chance your starting quarterback may be booed the moment his feet hit the turf (which presumably will happen before his butt hits the turf, though we can’t be certain).
If you’re Bobby Petrino, this is what you’re thinking: You came to Atlanta with a reputation as an offensive whiz, and your team has one touchdown in two games, which basically means Joey Harrington, the aforementioned soon-to-be-booed quarterback, is making you look bad. And you don’t like to look bad.
If you’re Rich McKay, I have no idea what you’re thinking. But I’m not sure that matters much anymore.
The Falcons signed Byron Leftwich on Tuesday. This came a day after they met with him, which came a day after McKay said: “We’re not doing anything this week.”
Either McKay has no concept of time, or the flames coming off the heads of Blank and Petrino singed McKay’s ill-laid plans.
Blank, whose office e-mails are written in red, denies he exerted any pressure on McKay to make a move. He sounded relaxed on the phone Tuesday night after finishing a round of golf. He insisted that every personnel decision is “a Falcon decision,” even if Leftwich is the same quarterback that McKay never seemed enamored of in the past.
But neither was Blank mute.
“He didn’t feel any pressure from me,” Blank said. “It’s not my position to sit down with Rich and say, ‘Sign this guy.’ But I certainly raised the question [about Leftwich’s availability]. Given his experience and the fact he’s had some good results and he went to the playoffs, and all of his stats are pretty good, I thought he was somebody we should look at. He’s a big guy with a strong arm. I certainly encouraged Rich to look at him and then make the right decision.”
This is the right decision. It’s just a late decision.
The Falcons’ offense is a mess partly because of Michael Vick’s insanely stupid pastime but also because of the way the Falcons reacted to it. The front office appeared either paralyzed or in denial when Vick was indicted July 17 - when it was clear that he was done for the season and done as a Falcon. Had Leftwich or another competent veteran quarterback been acquired a month ago to compete with Harrington, maybe they’re not sitting at 0-2.
Leftwich is not perfect. He is not magically going to make the team’s other problems go away or likely turn the team into a playoff contender. But he is the best option out there. His career numbers (51-36 touchdown-interception ratio, 58.7 completion percentage, 80.5 rating) indicate he has a better chance of succeeding than Harrington (72-79, 55.5, 68.3 rating). He certainly can’t be worse.
Petrino spoke almost glowingly of Harrington at times in camp. But we haven’t heard a lot of good since. On Monday, Petrino said Harrington is playing too conservatively because he’s overly concerned about throwing an interception. That’s somewhat coach-speak for: The man has no guts.
Leftwich has flaws. He has been injury-prone and, like Harrington, has been known to take too many sacks. But this is the NFL. It’s Week 3. Did you expect Unitas? Anybody available at this time is going to have flaws: too old, too green, too slow, too injury prone, erratic, never developed. It’s what you get now.
“I feel hope - I don’t feel anger or sadness,” Blank said about the rest of the season. “This is a 16-game season. It would be the worst thing to write the season off after two games. It wouldn’t be fair to the players, the coaches, the fans or anybody.”
Leftwich will be on the sideline Sunday. But it won’t be long before Petrino exercises his new option. It shouldn’t have taken this long.
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Falcons could use more mulligans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
The Tuesday Countdown:
10: Rich McKay said the Falcons wouldn’t consider bringing in another quarterback until they were further “downstream.” On Monday, Byron Leftwich was in the building.
9: I’m guessing McKay just got a geography lesson: streams can lead to falls.
8: What would the Falcons’ primary concern be in Leftwich’s physical? That he has a pulse?
7: But wait! There’s hope! This is the 15th time in franchise history the Falcons have started at least 0-2 (ugh). They finished with a losing record 12 times. The other two years, they actually made the playoffs. If you can remember when, you truly have no life.
6: Dazzle your friends at keg parties with this: 1991 — Jerry Glanville (aaaagggh!) started 0-2 in his second season, but finished 10-6 and won a wild-card game before losing in Washington. 2002 — Dan Reeves started 0-2 but finished 9-6-1 under Michael Vick, who engineered a wildcard upset in Green Bay before losing in Philadelphia.
5: The Carolina Panthers are coming off a loss to Houston. Well. They should be in a good mood.
4: It can’t be just coincidence that Roger Goodell announced on NBC that his investigation into “Spygate” is still open only after he was criticized for not suspending Bill Belichick. Count this as the commissioner’s first reversal.
3: Nothing against Morten Andersen. But wouldn’t it be great if every NFL team received a mulligan after two games? Just think. The Falcons saying, “On second thought, we’ll take Matt Schaub back.” The Chargers: “On second thought, Norv Turner’s a wallflower.” Bobby Petrino: “On second thought, I like Louisville.”
2: If Fan Appreciation Day is like other Braves’ game, they’ll be giving away leads.
1: How do you choose sides between O.J. Simpson and whatever degenerate wants to buy or sell his memorabilia?
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