They are the highest scoring team in the NFL, have a quarterback who’s probably going to win the MVP award and are one victory away from being Super Bowl champs.
But the Falcons nevertheless are a boring football team, controversial commentator Skip Bayless opined on Fox Sports 1’s “Undisputed” show.
Bayless was arguing that the Super Bowl would be so much better if the Dallas Cowboys were in it. Never mind that the Cowboys lost at home in a divisional playoff to the Green Bay Packers, who then were dismantled by the Falcons in the NFC championship game.
“No disrespect to the Falcons,” Bayless said. “They are really, really explosive. They’ve got weapons everywhere.”
Then he said this:
“The truth is, the truth is, the Atlanta Falcons are pretty boring as a football team. All told, they’re boring. They’re not Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.”
The buzz about TV ratings
A decline in the NFL’s television ratings was a big topic of conversation around the league for much of the season. The issue also has come up during Super Bowl week.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank, during a media tour in New York on Wednesday, said he was encouraged that ratings rebounded after the presidential election.
“What happened was that through Week 10 of the season our ratings were down by 14 percent. After Week 10 on through Week 17, the ratings were actually only down by 1 percent,” Blank said on Fox Business Network. “So clearly it was affected by the race and by the election.
“I think the league is in a fairly good position when you normalize for the election process.”
Still, he said the league is looking at all aspects of how TV viewership habits are evolving.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suggested in Houston that some changes will be made in the flow of the games.
“What we’re trying to do is make our product as exciting and our games as action-packed as possible,” Goodell said. “We have not dismissed any theories about how we can continue to engage our fans more extensively either on television or in the stadium.”
He said the competition committee, chaired by Falcons President and CEO Rich McKay, will focus on several issues during the off-season, including speeding up instant-replay decisions and eliminating “unnecessary delays” between extra points and ensuing kickoffs.
“We think we can shorten the management of the game, focus less on stoppages of the game and more on action,” Goodell said.
He also expressed interest in reducing the number of commercial breaks from five to four per quarter, which the league has tested.
“We think less is more in this area,” Goodell said.
Atlanta group gets stadium tour
About a dozen representatives of the Atlanta committee planning the 2019 Super Bowl will tour Houston’s NRG Stadium on Friday. They also will tour various venues being used for ancillary events and will meet with Houston organizers and NFL officials.
The Atlanta group will be joined by similar delegations from Minneapolis, which will host the 2018 Super Bowl, and Miami, host of the 2020 game.
“It’s similar to the trip we made to San Francisco for last year’s Super Bowl,” said Atlanta Sports Council President Dan Corso, who also is president of Atlanta’s 2019 host committee. “We were in the middle of the bid process then, and it was a great experience to watch and learn. It helped us put finishing touches on our bid.”
This time, Corso said, the Atlanta group is in “pure planning mode.”
Atlanta was awarded the 2019 Super Bowl in a vote of NFL owners last May. The game will be played in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, slated to open this summer.
The Metro Atlanta Host Committee delegation in Houston includes Corso, committee executive director Carl Adkins, committee chief operating officer Brett Daniels, Georgia World Congress Center Authority executive director Frank Poe, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau president William Pate, Mercedes-Benz Stadium general manager Scott Jenkins and others.
Their itinerary includes a meeting with organizers of Houston’s 10,000-person Super Bowl volunteer force, a tour of the Super Bowl Live outdoor fan festival downtown, a tour of the NFL Experience attraction and media center in the downtown convention center, a lunch with NFL officials and an afternoon tour of the stadium and surrounding area.
“It’s a good chance for everyone to kind of compare notes,” Jenkins said.
Numerology
180: Countries in which the Super Bowl will be broadcast, in 25 languages
$107,000: Bonus that players on the winning team in the Super Bowl will receive
$53,000: Bonus that players on the losing team will receive
Sound bites
“We’re aware of the conversations that are going on and the division. As commissioner of the NFL, I’m singularly focused on the Super Bowl right now. We have a unique position to have an event on Sunday that will bring the world together. They will have an opportunity to be entertained, feel good about what we’re doing.”
— NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, asked if he is concerned political events are overshadowing the Super Bowl
“If you’re a rookie, it’s like, ‘This NFL thing, the Super Bowl, this is a breeze, my first year.’ Well, it does not always happen that way. And there are a lot of great players who have never made the playoffs, so appreciate this moment. It’s a real special moment.”
— Falcons defensive end Dwight Freeney on his advice this week to young players
“It’s going to be an intense experience. My goal is to try and take a little in, remember that, and then try to remember it’s still just a football game and go out there and play that first snap.”
— Falcons center Alex Mack on playing in the Super Bowl
