I'm going to be rooting for four teams to win their final games of the regular season: the Eagles, the Panthers, the Packers and the Giants. Why, as a Falcons' fan would I be rooting for these teams? Because if they all lose, the Falcons back into the playoffs, which is not a place they deserve to be. Go ahead, call me a fair-weather fan. I don't really care. Next year, I'll be just as excited about the team, I'll believe in them, and probably even proclaim they are Super Bowl bound. I will do this, not until they start losing but, until they stop trying. They can go 0-16, and I will still be there, supporting them, as long as they leave everything they have on the field during those 16 losses.
Too many times this season, the Falcons have played soft, and that, as a fan, is unacceptable. We don't need Super Bowl titles every year, or even to be in the playoffs, although it would be nice. No, as fans, we just need to feel our team played as hard as they could. We need to feel like a loss hurt them as much as it did us, as we try to make it through the rest of our Sunday afternoons deflated.
Even though people are going to continue to scream that Michael Vick is the reason the Falcons failed this season, the problems are bigger than one guy. They are bigger than Jim Mora, Jr., and bigger than Greg Knapp, both of whom will likely be fired in the off-season. There are 53 players that wear the Falcons uniform, and until each of them decides to play each game like it's their last, and appreciate the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they've been given, Atlanta will not be among the elite teams in the league. All they will do is continue to disappoint with their half-hearted performances and empty excuses. Falcons' fans and the NFL deserve better.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-26-2006 @ 12:59PM
jake said...
as long as vick is the quterback for us in atlanta we will never get to the superbowl,vick needs to be gone from atlanta,he is not going to take us anywhere put him out for a pass and let our backup qb.
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12-26-2006 @ 9:22PM
HUGH said...
yes i agree,i have suffered through way to many disappoining seasons with the falcons,the one chance they had to win a super bowl and what did they do?went to florida to party ,that is what they did instead of making winning the super bowl their # 1 priority .i don't know what the answer is but i know vick is not it, so the sooner they let him slide the sooner they have a chance of getting on a winning track.
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12-26-2006 @ 3:57PM
SHEPDOG said...
The elder Mora had it right, but had the parties switched up, Mora is a QB killer ...
As AJC sportwriter commented re: Reggie Ball and Chan Gailey, Vick and Mora share the same pedigree.
Vick has not grown as a QB under Mora and the current system and the problem is not his alone.
U have an immensely talented QB who unfortunately is not being given the opportunity to blossom because of what appears to be senseless playcalling.
and as much as everyone seems to believe SCHAUB will be the answer, as Tony ROMO can attest, an inferior system will catch up with even the most talented QB!!!
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12-27-2006 @ 4:05PM
John Lovelace said...
What everyone needs to understand about the Atlanta Falcons is that the people and the media of Atlanta are the ones that have kept the Falcons from ever being A competetive football team. They hype up the players and make Vick think he is the eighth wonder of the world. Then he and the players walk around with their heads so big that football is not important to them. They want fame and recognition. When one of them makes a simple play they jump and swing their arms like it was the winning play of the Superbowl. They need to grow up!
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12-26-2006 @ 5:25PM
Jim From Smyrna said...
Excellent Thoughts, well preesented. I am an Atlanta fan since 1966. Remember the Braves back then. Or,even in 1986. If the fans stick,through bad times and good, the Falcons have the potential now to do what the Braves did starting in 1991. Mr. Blank is a fan. All he wants is consistent performance.But, he is a businessman and will not settle for less than we do.
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12-26-2006 @ 7:17PM
George B Vieto said...
Compared to the Atlanta Hawks the Falcons are a Super Bowl champion by comparison. About Michael Vick he needs a coach that can work with his strengths and improve his mental toughness under pressure. And receivers who can catch the ball not play hot potato.
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12-27-2006 @ 5:10AM
Tanjala Renea snapp said...
I think it is unfair that Mike Vick has to not only carry the the team, but be responsible for plays that he has no control over. This one man has put a spark back in ATL and no one gives him any credit for. I thought it was very disrespectful for the fans to BOO him when there were other players at fault. Don't worry Mike, I'm still with you!
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12-27-2006 @ 8:21AM
NIck said...
You all make good points and i am only a falcon fan for 17 years. To me they don't have any heart they are scared to succeed and make any thing of them self. I personally like Vick he has done what he has been told and done it to the best of his ability. So i think it is the coaches and the owner. They someone who can catch the ball and someone other than Dunn to run the Ball.
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