In just the fifth week of the NFL season, the Falcons find themselves backed into a must-win situation.
While the injuries have mounted and they’ve been stumbling over themselves in the red zone, the New Orleans Saints have raced out to a 5-0 start and are early front-runners to dethrone the Falcons as the NFC South champs.
“There is one team that’s off to a good start,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “But there is a lot of football still to be played.”
With fans across the nation watching on “Monday Night Football,” the Falcons (1-3) plan to start digging out their hole against the New York Jets (2-2) at 8:40 p.m. at the Georgia Dome.
“The time is now,” running back Jason Snelling said. “We have to start winning. We all know that. There isn’t any panic, but it’s about wins and losses and right now we haven’t won as many as we’ve lost. There’s some urgency.”
The Falcons have opened the season 1-3 on 12 other occasions. Only the 2002 and 1978 teams were able to rebound and make the playoffs.
In 1978, under Leeman Bennett, the Falcons won their fifth game and won six of their next seven to get in the playoff hunt.
In 2002, in Michael Vick’s first season as the full-time starter, the Falcons went 7-0-1 after their 1-3 start to get in the playoff hunt. The team would go on to make some history and become the first road team to win a playoff game in historic Lambeau Field.
After facing the Jets, the Falcons have a bye week before hosting Tampa Bay and playing at Arizona and Carolina. Like the 1978 and 2002 teams, the Falcons plan to cobble together a streak to turn the season around.
“Obviously, it’s now or never,” tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “We have to be able to get on a roll here pretty soon.”
The Falcons remain confident despite their injuries, red-zone woes and high penalty rate.
“We know that we have the capability of going out there and putting a streak together,” Snelling said. “With that confidence, there is no point in panicking.”
At the outset of the season, the Falcons, after going 13-3 and reaching the NFC championship game last season, were considered Super Bowl contenders. They were given 12-to-1 odds by Las Vegas oddsmakers, bovada.lv. Last week, the odds were dropped to 33-to-1.
NFC teams Seattle ( 9-to-2), New Orleans (9-1), San Francisco (12-1), Green Bay (14-1) Chicago (28-1) and Dallas (28-1) all have better odds than the Falcons.
Falcons defensive end Osi Umenyiora, formerly of the New York Giants, has been on a couple of streaky teams.
The Giants started the 2011 season 6-2, but then went 1-5 over their next six games. The Giants won their final two games to land a playoff berth.
On their way to the Super Bowl title, they pummeled the Falcons 24-2 in the wildcard round.
“It’s better to lose early than to lose late,” Umenyiora said. “That was just my experience. You don’t want to lose games late because you can’t recover. Now, we’re still in a position where we can recover. We have a couple of games where we really have to go out and play well in and get this thing back on track.”
Umenyiora doesn’t see any glaring similarities between the two teams.
“These are games that every single one of them, we should have won,” Umenyiora said. “We could have won. In New York, we were getting blown out.”
Umenyiora did learn a lesson during that season of peaks and valleys that he can share with his new teammates. He wants the players to stick to the team’s plan.
“This is a very good program over here,” Umenyiora said. “Things are going to get better for sure. All we have to do is believe in the coaches. Believe in what they are telling us to do and believe in the players. I think we’ll be all right.”
That the Falcons will have the opportunity to get things turned around on national television is just a bonus.
“All games are special for me at this point,” said Gonzalez, who returned for his 17th season to chase a Super Bowl ring. “I guess we’ve got one more Monday Night game, god-willing that I’m able to stay healthy until that game. …it’s special for me knowing that this is my last year.”
Even with the poor start, Gonzalez, who did sign a two-year contract, remains steadfast that this is his last season.
“You can’t keep chasing it,” Gonzalez said. “You can’t. I’ve chased it long enough. I’ve tried and I think I’ve chased it about three or four years longer than I thought I would.
“This is it. I’m going to enjoy it no matter what happens and go play my heart out every week. Hopefully, we’ll turn this thing around.”
About the Author
