State of the Falcons and Other Thoughts About the NFC
During his weekly radio interview on 790 the Zone, Atlanta Falcons head coach, Jim Mora, Jr., admitted that his 11 year old son is concerned that the Mora family will have to pack up and move soon.
The wee Mora's anxieties are justified.
Jim Mora was calm about his son's reaction. Jim Mora seems like a pretty nice guy and he has a positive thinking, Zen like, Dr. Phil type approach to coaching. That's all good and fine, but there is no guarantee that karma is going pay dividends within a 16 game season. The ugly loss to Detroit reminded Falcons fans that the team's successes are often due to little more than luck and chance. There is no consistency to the Falcons. There are no trends with the Falcons. That's why there is no general outrage in the city after losing to Detroit. We are numb, resigned that they are just the same old Falcons. Mora has to be versatile enough as a head coach to win games, regardless of what his fundamental philosophy is. But he hasn't proven that versatility. And that's why his family has U-Haul on speed dial.
Michael Vick is still throwing accurately, but his justifiable lack of confidence in the receiving core gets the best of him. And he didn't exactly take full responsibility for the side show in Detroit. He said, "Maybe I could have done some things better." I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that after he watches the game film, he'll add a "definitely" to that statement.
Wide receiver Roddy White (and I use the term "wide receiver" loosely) is still allowed to suit up. That is obviously problematic. But he's stepping his game up - in the wrong direction. Not only did he drop a well thrown ball on 3rd down, he then bitched loud enough to cause the coach to challenge the play. We lost a timeout.
Our supposedly upgraded defense is not upgraded at all. I think we were 22nd on defense in the NFL last year. We're currently 21st. Our secondary is painful to watch. I'm undecided as whether it is the players or the zone coverage that we use as a crutch, but anybody can throw the ball on the Falcons at will.
And the team has significant injuries. John Abraham, newly minted multi-millionaire, is MIA. Kevin Mathis is still hospitalized in Detroit from his neck injuries. His season is over, if not his career. (Allen Rossum is on bedside vigil duty. Nice.)
But there's is good news to be had.
Everybody else in the NFC lost too.
Our playoff outlook is still in good shape. A few weeks ago, I believed that there was really only 1 wild card sport available in the NFC. This was because Minnesota has such a soft schedule that they could easily compile a high win total despite losing the division to Chicago. Well, Minnesota is 4-4 now. Needless to say, they don't have any wild card slots locked up. The Falcons may need that wild card cushion.
Although the Falcons could still win the division, the Saints are for real. Carolina is still an unknown. Tampa Bay is done, but they can't be overlooked on the Falcons' schedule.
The NFC East is the conference of most concern for any team potentially needing a wild card spot. It's completely unsettled. NY is leading right now, but they barely slipped by the Texans. They are far from dominant (except when playing the Falcons) and now they are dealing with mounting significant injuries. Dallas is all over the place, but they are still the team that has the most upside in the NFL. Coach Bill is still learning how to be a happy coach. He'll relearn to coach from his gut and not his laminated chart. Romo looks to be solid. Witten is still involved. And, although I am concerned, there is no reason to doubt that Owens will stop dropping balls. I think Philly is probably done, but we'll know for sure in a couple weeks. And Washington has a lot of ground to make up, but they have some momentum. "Unsettled" is a mild characterization of the NFC.
The Bears have been knocked down a peg. Good news for us.
The wee Mora's anxieties are justified.
Jim Mora was calm about his son's reaction. Jim Mora seems like a pretty nice guy and he has a positive thinking, Zen like, Dr. Phil type approach to coaching. That's all good and fine, but there is no guarantee that karma is going pay dividends within a 16 game season. The ugly loss to Detroit reminded Falcons fans that the team's successes are often due to little more than luck and chance. There is no consistency to the Falcons. There are no trends with the Falcons. That's why there is no general outrage in the city after losing to Detroit. We are numb, resigned that they are just the same old Falcons. Mora has to be versatile enough as a head coach to win games, regardless of what his fundamental philosophy is. But he hasn't proven that versatility. And that's why his family has U-Haul on speed dial.
Michael Vick is still throwing accurately, but his justifiable lack of confidence in the receiving core gets the best of him. And he didn't exactly take full responsibility for the side show in Detroit. He said, "Maybe I could have done some things better." I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that after he watches the game film, he'll add a "definitely" to that statement.
Wide receiver Roddy White (and I use the term "wide receiver" loosely) is still allowed to suit up. That is obviously problematic. But he's stepping his game up - in the wrong direction. Not only did he drop a well thrown ball on 3rd down, he then bitched loud enough to cause the coach to challenge the play. We lost a timeout.
Our supposedly upgraded defense is not upgraded at all. I think we were 22nd on defense in the NFL last year. We're currently 21st. Our secondary is painful to watch. I'm undecided as whether it is the players or the zone coverage that we use as a crutch, but anybody can throw the ball on the Falcons at will.
And the team has significant injuries. John Abraham, newly minted multi-millionaire, is MIA. Kevin Mathis is still hospitalized in Detroit from his neck injuries. His season is over, if not his career. (Allen Rossum is on bedside vigil duty. Nice.)
But there's is good news to be had.
Everybody else in the NFC lost too.
Our playoff outlook is still in good shape. A few weeks ago, I believed that there was really only 1 wild card sport available in the NFC. This was because Minnesota has such a soft schedule that they could easily compile a high win total despite losing the division to Chicago. Well, Minnesota is 4-4 now. Needless to say, they don't have any wild card slots locked up. The Falcons may need that wild card cushion.
Although the Falcons could still win the division, the Saints are for real. Carolina is still an unknown. Tampa Bay is done, but they can't be overlooked on the Falcons' schedule.
The NFC East is the conference of most concern for any team potentially needing a wild card spot. It's completely unsettled. NY is leading right now, but they barely slipped by the Texans. They are far from dominant (except when playing the Falcons) and now they are dealing with mounting significant injuries. Dallas is all over the place, but they are still the team that has the most upside in the NFL. Coach Bill is still learning how to be a happy coach. He'll relearn to coach from his gut and not his laminated chart. Romo looks to be solid. Witten is still involved. And, although I am concerned, there is no reason to doubt that Owens will stop dropping balls. I think Philly is probably done, but we'll know for sure in a couple weeks. And Washington has a lot of ground to make up, but they have some momentum. "Unsettled" is a mild characterization of the NFC.
The Bears have been knocked down a peg. Good news for us.
So that's where the Falcons stand right now. They have no one to blame but themselves.
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