Happy Halloween week, my friends.
We’ll get to Freddie Freeman, Georgia-Florida and high school football in a moment, but first: a few thoughts on Atlanta’s spookiest team.
PATIENCE OR A POUND OF FLESH?
Here’s a nasty little hypothetical: The Falcons lose this weekend’s game at New England (which is 6-2). A week later, they go all the way over to Germany and lose to the Colts (currently 7-1).
They look unprepared and outcoached. Again. The offensive play-calling? Uninspired and unproductive. Again.
What happens after that?
Do they abandon offensive coordinator Zac Robinson right there in Berlin — nein, danke, please find your own ride?
That would certainly make some sections of the fan base happy, particularly after Sunday’s shockingly bad showing against the Dolphins. Because although putting up a measly 17.1 points per game (fourth-worst in the NFL) is one thing, analysis like this from Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner is another:
- “Predictable … boring (same plays over and over) … don’t like the spacing often … lots of miscommunication … just don’t really get it??!”
Not what anyone wants to hear.
But does that mean we should be ready to leave Robinson out to dry with the leftover lederhosen?
To get to the bottom of things, I touched base with our amigo D. Orlando Ledbetter for this week’s edition of “ask a beat writer.”
🤔 What should we make of Robinson and his game-planning/play-calling at this point?
“There have certainly been some questionable calls. I don’t like finesse formation in short-yardage situation. Don’t get in the pistol on fourth-and-1. Don’t throw passes on fourth-and-1. Run the ball down the opposition’s throat. Red zone offense is shaky.
🤔 How hot is his seat?
“He’s not on the hot seat according to coach Raheem Morris, who was asked on Monday, ‘Just to make sure I’m clear, you’re not considering any offensive staff changes this week?’ Morris said, ‘No.’ Teams have 24 game tapes of Robinson calling the offense. He has to come up with some counter moves and different and/or more diversified route combinations.”
🤔 How hot should his seat be?
“I don’t think his seat should be hot. You hired a young coordinator with potential. You don’t kick him out the door at the first sign of trouble. You help him through this rough patch, with a perhaps more senior play-caller with NFL experience, knowing that greener pastures are ahead.”
Patience and tutelage — now there’s a thought. And on the purely logistical side of things:
- If you ax Robinson, the realistic(?) in-house options essentially amount to passing game coordinator TJ Yates calling plays for the first time ever.
- Ken Zampese, a “senior offensive assistant” for the Falcons, also was the Bengals’ offensive coordinator for one season back in 2016.
As infuriating as it was to watch the Dolphins debacle (and the 49ers game, and the Panthers game before that), I tend to agree that all is not for Robinson.
I’m less optimistic about his boss surviving beyond this season.
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VIBE CHECK, FREDDIE FREEMAN EDITION
So. Freddie Freeman hit an epic, 18th-inning walk-off homer to win a World Series game Monday, adding to his already lengthy list of postseason exploits with the Dodgers.
Which brings us to this question again: Are we still salty about the Braves not re-signing Freeman after the 2021 season?
- A. Saltier than a box of fast-casual fried chicken.
- B. It is what it is — and it’s a bag of those low sodium potato chips.
- C. Salt? What salt? Matt Olson ain’t too shabby, man.
Send your answers to tyler.estep@ajc.com. We’ll have the results next week.
🧐 And in the meantime, read columnist Ken Sugiura’s latest offering on the Braves’ managerial search.
THINGS I FAILED TO FIND OUT THIS WEEK
Even failures can be informative!
1️⃣ There’s a new push to get Braves great Dale Murphy into the Baseball Hall of Fame — via the reconfigured and renamed Contemporary Baseball Era committee, which votes in December before going dormant for three years. The “national fan-driven campaign” kicked off with a cool new video written by ESPN’s Wright Thompson and narrated by country music guy Jason Aldean. You should watch it.
I tried to suss out who, exactly, is behind the effort … and did not succeed. Although WSB Radio’s Mark Arum says he’s “part of” it, whoever’s running things declined to provide further intel for now. Nevertheless: Murph said he’s “humbled” by it all, and initial supporters of the cause (via social media and otherwise) include Govs. Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis, actor Michael Kelly and longtime ESPN reporter Ed Werder.
2️⃣ After the NBA’s latest gambling scandal broke (ban player prop bets), I spent a few days trying to get details from some sizable local universities about how they would approach things with their players — because, come Saturday, rule changes were set to make betting on pro sports kosher for NCAA athletes.
Gambling-gambling is obviously illegal in Georgia, but I wondered how everything would work with “daily fantasy.” Or, say, road trips to states with legal sportsbooks. Never really got a straight answer, and I think I now know why: As of last night, the change is officially pushed back a couple weeks, with the possibility of a vote to undo the decision. Probably a good idea.
STREAKING IN JACKSONVILLE
I’ve been to Jacksonville for the Georgia-Florida game only twice, in my final years of college. Both were “Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow slaughter the Bulldogs” kind of deals, so not the fondest of memories — in the stadium or while stumbling around the Landing (RIP).
As it turns out, those kinds of results are pretty standard in the rivalry.
- Georgia’s gunning for its fifth straight win in the series and its eighth in nine years.
- Average Bulldog margin of victory over that span: 21 points.
Not a lot of close games in there, especially in the past quarter-century or so (the longer the bars in the chart above, the bigger the difference in the final score). That seems unlikely to change Saturday, with Florida down bad and Georgia ranked fifth in the country — but with the game slated for Atlanta in 2026 and Tampa in 2027, a quirky little Jacksonville send-off isn’t out of the question.
😬 May want to bring your own toilet paper if you’re headed to St. Simons Island and “Frat Beach” beforehand, too.
THE PEOPLE’S HEISMAN
Guess what: You (yes, you) can be a Heisman Trophy voter.
Regular ol’ fans can cast up to two votes for college football’s highest honor every day — one on social media (write “@HeismanTrophy I want to vote for #PlayerName”) and one on this website.
At the end of the season, the cumulative results will count as one bona fide ballot among the … 900 or so others.
At last check, Georgia Tech’s Haynes King and Georgia’s Gunner Stockton both ranked among the top eight vote-getters, but just barely.
Other odds and ends
- Hawks star Trae Young popped up on “The Tonight Show” ahead of Wednesday’s game against Brooklyn. He said he wants to win a title.
- Thursday night at State Farm Arena: Exhibition basketball games between the South Carolina and North Carolina women, plus the Auburn men vs. Memphis. Tickets here.
- YouTube TV customers could lose access to ESPN programming Thursday. Isn’t cord-cutting grand?
MY NEW FAVORITE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM
It’s the final week of the high school football regular season, which means three things:
- There are a ton of region-deciding, playoff-shaping games on tap.
- A whole lot of referees are opting out of work because of Halloween and the aforementioned Georgia-Florida game (really).
- It’s also almost time for the AJC Varsity playoff bracket challenge, which is exactly what it sounds like and drops Tuesday. More details soon.
😤 Come Friday, though, we’re rooting for one team and one team only: the Johns Creek Gladiators.
- The Glads just fired their coach after starting the season 0-9 — while failing to score a single, solitary point. Not one. They’ve been outscored 482-0.
- As our friend Todd Holcomb reports, the last time a Georgia high school football team completed a scoreless 0-10 season was 1963.
Not the kind of history one wants to match … but fear not. Friday’s date is with Chattahoochee, a team that’s 1-8 itself and has surrendered at least 26 points in each of its games this season.
I foresee a score or two in Johns Creek’s future.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Coach Jerry Mack and your Kennesaw State Owls are bowl-bound for the first time after topping UTEP on Tuesday night. More photos here.
Thanks for reading to the bottom of The Win Column! Questions, comments, suggestions? Email me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
