Atlanta is known for traffic and smog, and apparently both are doing something to the Falcons.
They went from sexy - albeit in part because of too much makeup - to homely, and it's hard to figure out, on the surface, why.
Atlanta upgraded the passing game with Julio Jones, but downgraded the offense by letting lineman Harvey Dahl go.
We thought there was an upgrade on the defensive line, but Ray Edwards is doing a frighteningly good imitation of the departed Jamaal Anderson.
One would have thought it difficult to screw up the punting position, but the Falcons are doing it. It'd be shocking to think Matt Bosher will remain this brutal all season.
Unfortunately, we can safely say that the Dunta Robinson signing, until further notice, was a huge bust. The secondary, or least what it's told to do, is a negative. Youth is less and less of a reason for it, because it's fundamentally iffy in execution and scheme.
Figuring out the plan on offense is more difficult.
No, Michael Turner isn't over the hill, and not quite trade bait yet.
But I'm trying to figure what Jason Snelling did to whom to be banished. He has three carries, one more than Julio Jones and a quarter of Ryan's 12.
That's absolutely absurd. Snelling can run, block and catch. He does have 10 catches, fifth on the team. And he's still being wasted beyond belief, even with missing virtually all of the Tampa Bay game - he played five snaps - and all of the Seattle game with a concussion.
I've always been a fan of split-back sets, with two backs of the same style in there together, so the defense doesn't really read a tendency. Like Snelling and Turner, or fullback Ovie Mughelli and Snelling or Turner, and give the underused guy the ball more.
Clearly, though, the game plan, play calling and selection of plays leaves a lot to be desired.
And what some of us saw last year - a team not nearly as good as its record and very fortunate to have that record - is legitimized this season.
The secondary is a weakness, the offensive line is aging, Ryan is a nice quarterback and great to talk about but not much more, and you can only go so far with a don't-beat-yourself mentality.
Only the knee-jerkers are writing the Falcons off for the season, as if none of this can be fixed.
They should beat Carolina, but need to be sharp to gain some momentum for the trip to Detroit, which precedes a bye week.
After a visit to flailing Indianapolis, Atlanta has a three-game homestand against New Orleans, Tennessee and Minnesota.
Some tweaking and fine tuning, and the Falcons can win all three. We'll call Carolina and Indy wins and Detroit a loss, putting Atlanta at 4-4 entering that stretch at home.
Take two of three and they're 6-5 and probably gaining some momentum en route to Houston and Carolina.
After that, yeah, it's a crapshoot. If the Falcons have the operation to extract the cranium from the backside, it'll be an interesting crapshoot to watch.
Too bad they can't play the Eagles again.
PEACH STATERS
Georgia at Vanderbilt: The Bulldogs need to finally do a little hammering, although Vanderbilt won't go quietly. The Dores never do, and they've had some success and attention this season.
Vandy has a good secondary, and Aaron Murray better be careful or he'll get pick-sixed.
Georgia Tech at Virginia: There's still skepticism out there on Tech, most of it deserved because of a weak schedule and weak conference. Tech's schedule, as per Sagarin, is 99th, five better than Virginia.
The Jackets are digressing, and making some games closer than some think they should be. Virginia sees that. But Virginia also saw itself with by one over Idaho.
Tech 31-20.
Furman at Georgia Southern: Any sunny Saturday when Southern Conference contenders play each other is a great Saturday.
And this one is a great series.
Little Furman leads it 14-8. The home team has lost the last four games, and Furman has won the last two in Statesboro.
Tis but a memory.
Georgia Southern 35-28.
KICKIN' IT OFF
At noon kickoff, it's sunny and 72 outside my front door. May there be more retractable roofs in homes in the next generation.
Florida State at Duke: Have I heard some people actually worry about FSU in this one?
But a 10-point line? The Noles are likely to be hacked and ready to rumble.
FSU 40-10.
LSU at Tennessee: The Vols aren't bad, and yet another Simms kid showed a little something at the end of the Georgia loss, which should have been by more points.
LSU won't win by less than it should.
LSU 37-13.
Florida at Auburn: Early on, Auburn was favored. Not sure why that's changed.
Neither team is playing particularly well, and neither is overly healthy. The Gators have been hammered by Alabama and LSU, and the Tigers were thumped at Arkansas.
Home crowd, happy with an Auburn team that's better than expected, provides the juice.
Auburn 28-23.
Oklahoma State at Texas: The mantra continues. Go anybody, beat Texas.
The Horns gave up 55 to Oklahoma, and the Cowboys put 70 on Kansas. No, Kansas and Texas aren't much alike, OU and OSU are.
Oklahoma State 43-22.
Two "call the bookie" games:
South Carolina minus five at Mississippi State: The Gamecocks have had a tumultuos week, what with Stephen Garcia finally taking the called 27th strike, and Steve Spurrier having a tantrum at a writer four months later.
The Bulldogs are struggling, and there's just enough crap going on for USCE to mobilize on the road. Connor Shaw is a better QB than people think, and the Kentucky game was perfect for him to get his feet wet.
Take the Gamecocks.
Navy at Rutgers minus 2.5: Navy's defense has been a problem this season, like last week, when it gave up 63 to Southern Miss.
The Middies have lost three straight (USCE and Air Force) and the Scarlet Knights have won three straight (Ohio, Syracuse and Pitt). Navy's played a tougher schedule, and Rutgers sees 63 points and gets excited.
Sorry. Take the Middies.
LOUGHDMOUTHINGS
Joan Rivers on freakin' Gameday: Are ya bleepin' kiddin'?
Isn't Holtz for 12 hours enough punishment?
Next week: Kate The Pimp Plus Eight and any Kardashian hooker. Let's hope they don't do any Rutgers games, or Jersey Hor, er Shore will be the day's theme.
And in cross promotion, Corso argues with Snooki in an episode. "Not so fast, my skank."
Wow. ...
"I'll take 'befuddling football' for 300, Alex."
"OK. 'We are bumfuzzled."
"What is Florida State?"
Correct.
After losing to Wake Forest, whom we all had forgotten about since they were a player during a 28-12 run from 2006-08, the Noles were 12-point favorites over Duke, and people started betting on Duke.
Oh my. …
How does French's Mustard not considering giving Tiger Woods a little endorsement action? That could be a funny spot. ...
Our legitimate national championship contenders, in alphabetical order:
Alabama (needs improved QB play in big games to be safe);
LSU (needs Miles to avoid Milesing things with Jordan Jefferson)
Oklahoma (I'm not sold, but getting closer)
Stanford (quietly rising, cozy schedule)
Wisconsin (that pounder of Nebraska had to impress skeptics, especially with the balance).
Our darkhorse contenders:
Boise State (ranking of remaining opponents in Sagarin earlier this week was No. 121 Colorado State, No. 57 Air Force, No. 137 UNLV, No. 27 TCU, No. 64 San Diego State, No. 103 Wyoming, and No. 184 New Mexico).
Sagarin has that schedule strength at 18, again making one wonder what flavor moonshine programmers are drinkin'. That average ranking for the opponents is 99.
And Boise has the 18th-toughest schedule?
Clemson has one big conference and one big non-conference game left, and Clemson's better than both. Oklahoma State has some tough games, and has to improve on defense.
Oregon's lone loss is to a top-2 team, and you can't ignore the Ducks. Stanford has nice balance and some interesting games left.
Note that Oregon is at Stanford on Nov. 12 in an elimination game for the national title conversation. ...
Random Unrelated Thought: Hank Williams Jr. still has the First Amendment right to say idiotic things, and he has a network that will let him say them.
A business decision was made. Nobody said he can't insert foot.
His narrow-mindedness, which has become epidemic in this nation, is part of the problem. Politicians aren't supposed to be enemies, and to think so indicates somebody might be pretty blasted ignorant.
Exercising freedom of speech allows one to shut up, as well, and most should really exercise that part of the right substaaaaantially more often.
His blathering isn't what America stands for, and to think it is indicates somebody might just be a moron who doesn't get what America is actually supposed to stand for.
Of course, the last few years, it's harder and harder to figure out what that is.
More was made of it than should have been, to a point. Anybody taking seriously the words of a nitwit using Hitler in any argument - other than about evil and the Holocaust - needs a thwack themselves. Ditto the empty ignorance about socialism. ...
Went to the Murray State-Georgia State football game last week at the Georgia Dome. The "crowd" might've fit in Mercer's University Center with standing room. Officially, it was about 10,000. Realistically, a couple thou, maybe, excluding workers.
You can't trust attendance figures from anybody in college except the major schools. The rest are lying or deceiving.
And I can't even imagine the river of red that Georgia State will face in a year or two because of football. ...
I won't do end-of-season crap until at least October. Bowl predictions - you ESPN and CBSSports dingbats, and blogging losers - before the season starts are sad.
So it's October, and 73 degrees at noon, it's safe to list this voter's Heisman top 10, in alphabetical order:
Robert Griffin III, Baylor
Melvin Ingram, South Carolina
LaMichael James, Oregon (depending on elbow status)
Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina
Andrew Luck, Stanford
Tyrann Mathieu, LSU
Kellen Moore, Boise State
Trent Richardson, Alabama
Desmond Robinson, Michigan
Russell Wilson, Wisconsin
And let's happily note the defensive representation of Ingram and Mathieu. ...
Crazy: Report of Boise State to the Big East.
Boise's shortest football conference road trip would then be 1,900 miles, to Louisville. And thus, all the Big East teams would have a flight of perhaps on average 2,500 miles.
As Jerry said in the airport scan line years ago: "I implore you."
If the NCAA would just take over football and go to my previously unveiled conference plan, we'd be good. ...
A high five to Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel:
True story: Royce Reed, the mother of Dwight Howard's son, announced on Twitter that she would not be returning to Season 4 of VH1's "Basketball Wives" due to "artistic differences."
Good grief, are you kidding me? Artistic differences? Dogs Playing Poker has more "artistic" value than "Basketball Wives."
No comments:
Post a Comment