Weekend Reflections: Winning NL East title still means a lot for Braves

The Braves clinched the National League East title on Sunday. That won’t mean much to a lot of people, perhaps including some players, if they don’t go on to win the World Series.

That’s not the case for me.

Believing that winning the division is a greater accomplishment than winning the World Series probably makes me a weirdo. But baseball teams that outlast the competition over a full season are more impressive to me than those that catch enough breaks during the small sample size of October.

Don’t get me wrong: The baseball postseason is exciting because every game matters so much. It’s a nice change of pace from the grind of the regular season.

But that grind is what makes division titles so satisfying. There is no way to luck into it. The Braves certainly didn’t.

They had lots of bad breaks this year, yet they never gave back the division lead after taking it on April 8.

The Braves got just 39 innings from former strikeout king Spencer Strider (5.31 ERA) before he was shut down. Future ace (still, hopefully) Spencer Schwellenbach gave the Braves zero innings. Elite setup man Robert Suarez has been on the injured list since June 19.

Braves starters still posted the fourth-best ERA since the All-Star break. Three of the team’s top relievers all have a 3.16 ERA or better during that span. Good pitching is the best reason to believe the Braves can make a deep postseason run.

The Braves have scored the eighth-most runs in MLB this season. That’s with a bad year for $22 million third baseman Austin Riley and a terrible year for $20 million shortstop Ha-Seong Kim. Former MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. has had an ordinary season by his standards, and slugger Matt Olson has been in a slump since July.

None of those setbacks prevented the Braves from becoming NL East champs. That should mean a lot even if they don’t end up being World Series champs.

No good answers

There has been little evidence of good coaching for the Falcons through two weeks, but Kevin Stefanski already has proven to be a master at deflecting and speaking generally when he’s asked specific questions.

Just look at this sample of questions and answers after the Panthers gave the Falcons their worst-ever beating at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Question: What is your confidence level in quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Jack Strand?

Stefanski: “Yeah, I wouldn’t even go there. I’m disappointed in our performance as a football team. That’s all of us. That’s just not one position.”

Question: Television cameras showed frustrated players on the sideline during the game. Do you think the lack of success at the quarterback position is having a trickle-down effect on the players?

Stefanski: “I think lack of success, period, has a trickle-down effect to all human beings.”

Question: Was Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd supposed to be accounted for when he stopped Drake London for a loss on a fourth-down end-around play?

Stefanski: “Not going to get into specifics of the play, but they certainly made a play that we did not.”

When I listen to Stefanski, I’m often reminded of the classic “disturbance in the kitchen” scene from “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” It’s kind of impressive how he avoids saying anything specific about the poor performances of his players.

Stefanski is under no obligation to give good answers. That doesn’t have anything to do with his job of winning football games.

But if the Falcons keep losing, then Stefanski’s tendency to avoid saying anything substantial could eventually become grating for fans of his team.

Georgia’s defense bends but doesn’t break

Arkansas is in the SEC like Georgia, but the Bulldogs are on another level. The Razorbacks used two quarterbacks against Georgia on Saturday because one wasn’t good enough through the first two weeks. Arkansas also doesn’t have much of a running game.

Those factors are why it was a bit alarming that Arkansas completed three passes longer than 20 yards against Georgia (not counting a 40-yard gain against backups in the fourth quarter). But the good part for the Bulldogs is they didn’t yield much after the big gains during the 45-17 victory.

The Razorbacks finally got something going when AJ Hill passed to Chris Marshall for a 37-yard gain to Georgia’s 34. Two plays later, Hill pitched left to wide receiver Monte Harrison, who threw it back to Hill on the right side.

Bulldogs linebacker Quintavius Johnson sniffed out the play and stopped Hill for a 5-yard loss. Justin Williams sacked Hill on the next play. Arkansas punted.

The Razorbacks made it to Georgia’s red zone after pass completions for 22, 14, and 17 yards. They had a second down at the 14-yard line when linebacker Raylen Wilson blitzed and forced an intentional grounding penalty by KJ Jackson. Arkansas ended up kicking a field goal to trail 21-3 at the half.

Arkansas ended its third-quarter drives with a fumble, punt and punt. The Razorbacks trailed 38-3 by the time they scored again. The big plays didn’t amount to much against Georgia’s bend-but-don’t-break defense.

My Weekend Predictions were 6-5

I got what I deserved for believing Rush would play better in his second start. I thought I was cooked when LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt suited up after he was listed as doubtful, but Ole Miss ended up winning outright.

I picked against my alma mater, Louisville. Naturally, the Cardinals beat SMU while playing their best game since beating Miami last October.