PhotoDude.com

Mon. Oct 04, 2004

Beginning to Believe

In January of this year, I wrote “no-longer-rookie owner Arthur Blank has now run out of corners to sweep with his new broom. It took him two years, but he finally got the general manager he wanted. And together, they’ve now chosen their new coach. They’ve made their own bed. I guess in eight or nine months, we’ll see how well it sleeps.”

Well, I guess it sleeps OK, as the Falcons are 4-0 for only the second time in team history. And speaking of “team history,” it’s also important to note that in the previous 4-0 start (1986), they ended up with a losing season. That is indeed typical Falcons history.

You see, that’s the ever present apprehension of the long term Falcons fan. Even in their “Cinderella” year, 1998, I simply didn’t trust their excellent 12-4 record during the season, figuring they would blow it in the playoffs. I didn’t “believe” until they actually won the NFC and guaranteed a trip to the Big Game. And then in the Super Bowl, of course, they choked (Eugene Robinson didn’t even wait for game time, getting arrested the night before).

But that was during the Reeves era, and since Dan was replaced by Jim Mora as head coach, this has been a quite different team. Their first three games of this season were very different wins. They barely held on to win 21-19, they rolled to a 34-17 win, and then had an ugly 6-3 game of fumbles (8, along with 11 sacks). The process of converting to an entirely new offense has caused some sputters, but the defense has literally gone from worst to near first. They are much of the reason the Falcons entered the weekend 3-0.

But Sunday they faced a real test taking on the Carolina Panthers. Not only was it their first game against a division rival (heavy on the “rival”), the Panthers are the defending NFC champs. They are the first serious measuring stick these “new” Falcons have encountered. Crunch time.

Last year, when it was crunch time, the Falcons made crackling sounds. This year when such moments arise, they have been the cruncher, not the crunchee. And though this started out looking like a shootout of a football game, it quickly turned into a footbrawl. There were 21 penalties, six of them personal fouls, and one good sized fight when Michael Vick took exception to a late hit. These teams do not like each other. This was a game where one team could quickly and easily lose their composure.

That team wasn’t the Falcons. The final score was 27-10, with the defense strangling the Panthers in the last third of the game. Afterwards, Carolina’s players said they mostly beat themselves. In their own house. They shouldn’t expect Atlanta to return the favor when they visit the Georgia Dome later this year.

Because as linebacker Keith Booking shouted after the game, “We own the South!” He meant the NFC South division, where the Falcons hold a two game lead four games into the season.

And I’m beginning to believe.