Eagles put Falcons playoff hopes on life support

By D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Once hale and hardy, the Falcons' playoff hopes are officially on life support.

A season that started 4-1 with so much promise appears set to careen back down that familiar Falcons' path to a non-winning season. With injuries to key personnel starting to mount, the Falcons are in an uphill battle to salvage one of the two NFC wildcard berths.

And as for erasing the franchise's ignoble blemish of never posting back-to-back winning seasons since its inception in 1966, that became much more difficult task Sunday after the Falcons were routed by Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles, 34-7 on a bleak afternoon at the Georgia Dome.

The defeat dropped the Falcons to 6-6. The New Orleans Saints meanwhile improved to 12-0 and clinched the NFC South Division title.

"The season is not over," cornerback Chris Houston said.

But three-quarters of it is. The Falcons were 11-5 last season and earned a wildcard berth. The best they can finish is 10-6 with a unlikely sweep of the Saints, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The NFL record book is littered with 10-6 teams that spent the playoffs watching TV from their recliners.

"We're not in the NFC South," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "We're in the Wildcard Division. That's really where we are. That's where we started last week."

Despite having lost three of the last four games, Smith still likes the Falcons chances of closing out the season strong.

"There are number of teams that are basically mathematically in the race for the (playoffs)," Smith said. "It's not a do-or-die situation. This was not a do-or-die game."

But the Falcons, with five starters already out versus the Eagles, suffered more injuries. Center Todd McClure, tight end Justin Peelle, cornerbacks Chris Houston and Christopher Owens and backup linebacker Tony Gilbert all left the game Sunday. Only Owens was able to return.

It is uncertain when starting quarterback Matt Ryan (turf toe) or running back Michael Turner (high ankle sprain) will be able to return or how close to 100 percent they will be if they attempt to come back. Also, wide receiver Michael Jenkins (ankle), right guard Harvey Dahl (ankle) and left tackle Sam Baker (elbow) did not play against the Eagles.

"There are no excuses," Smith said. "Injuries are a fact of life in the NFL. ... The next man up has to step up and do the job. We will not make excuses."

Chris Redman, the next man up for Ryan, didn't have a very good day. Of course, the next men up for Turner -- it takes two running backs to replace him -- Jerious Norwood and Jason Snelling, didn't help Redman out much, either. They ran for a combined 53 yards in 21 carries.

"We are playing hard, but not hard enough," said wide receiver Roddy White, who caught nine passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. "We have to play harder to make up for the guys being out. We have to play harder than normal."

The Falcons were battling with the Eagles, trailing 13-0 late in the first half, when a Philadelphia goal-line stand turned momentum in their favor. With Atlanta facing a first-and-goal at the 7-yard line, the Eagles stopped the Falcons on four straight runs by Snelling. He came up short of the goal line on fourth down from the 2-yard line.

"I felt that it was imperative for us to get seven," Smith said. "It was important for us, the way we had been moving the ball through the first half. We had not been moving it effectively."

The Eagles took the ball to start the second half and Vick, the Falcons's Pro Bowl quarterback before he was convicted on federal dogfighting charges in 2007 and later released from the team, scored on a 5-yard run to put the Eagles up 20-0. On the Falcons next possession, Sheldon Brown intercepted a Redman pass and returned it 83 yards for a touchdown that sent most of the Falcons fans to the parking lot.

A host of Vick fans remained and Philadelphia coach Andy Reid obliged them when they started chanting "We want Vick. We want Vick." In his 10th game back in the NFL, Vick came on to throw a deep pass to Reggie Brown and an ensuing 5-yard touchdown pass to Brent Celek. The two scores were Vick's first since he resumed his career.

The Falcons contended that they were not distracted by the Vick-a-palooza atmosphere at the Dome.

"No, not at all. It was no different," Smith said. "Believe me, when you are out there on the field, you're not listening to the crowd noise. You are focused on the task at hand."

Only a 3-yard Redman-to-White touchdown as time expired allowed the Falcons to avoid a shutout.

"We're 6-6, we're still in it," Redman said. "We're going to fight until the very end."