Sun. Nov 05, 2006
A Falcons Rerun
Last year at mid-season, the Falcons were 6-2 and overly cocky, headed into a game against the 1-7 Green Bay Packers. They got their butts handed to them, and finished the season with a 2-6 slide to go 8-8 overall, ensuring that their four decade streak of never having two winning seasons back to back would be maintained.
Today the 5-2 Falcons headed into a game with the 1-6 Detriot Lions. Surely they saw the parallels to last year. Perhaps so, and they simply obliged by looking like the only 1-6 team on the field. Had their butts handed to them, just like last year.
That’s why you haven’t seen me posting here to gloat when they beat the world champs two weeks ago, or Cincinnati last week. Both were great games. But I’ve been following this team long enough to know that, when it really counts … when that moment comes when you find out which team wants it more … don’t bet on the Falcons. They’ll come through just enough times to tease you into thinking “maybe this year.” But in the end, they will find a way to squander the tons of talent they have on both sides of the ball.
Today, if you went to the place nearest you where nuns gather on Sunday, selected the four youngest among them, and took them to the stadium to exchange habits for helmets, they could have played as well as the Falcons secondary did today.
So there’s your Falcons mid-season report: Nuns better, same old, same old.
Published 07:37PM, Sun, Nov 05 2006
Category: Local Sports
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We’ve had a little of that syndrome in Atlanta, too. In the 80’s, it seemed only the Hawks could go to the playoffs among the Atlanta teams (in the late 80’s the Braves and Falcons both truly sucked). From ‘92 on, it was the Braves that were Our Playoff Team … up until this year.
The Falcons? They had a big year in 1998, when they went to the Super Bowl. And self-imploded before the game even began. Beyond that, they’ve been a marvel of consistent inconsistency.
As of mid-season, they are now on a pace that would see them end the season 10-6, with a wild card berth in the playoffs (assuming the Saints don’t self-destruct, which is not exactly a low percentage bet).
This team has not played like a 10-6 team. I’ll be surprised if they end up that way. Or go further than the first round of a wild card berth in the playoffs.
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I feel for you, Reid – but only a little bit.
The Rams are doing the same thing here in St. Louis – a great start under a new, young head coach, then three losses in a row, the latest this past Sunday against our cross-state rivals, the Chiefs.
But I knew this would happen. You see, there’s this curse that is associated with my town, much like your Falcons back-to-back seasons curse. It is, simply, that only one sports team in town can have a winning streak going at any one point in time.
Time and time again, it’s proven to be accurate. This year has been no exception. The Cardinals played up a storm all summer long – until the Rams moved into regular season play. The sheep win a couple, and the birds scatter to the bushes. Then the Rams start losing, and the Cardinals regroup.
So, our St. Louis Cardinals won it all this year. Which means that for the remainder of the year, no other team in town can do anything that looks remotely like a run for a title. Which means that Sundays are gonna suck big-time around here.
Yeah…..