madman88 Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 The Falcons can make the Super Bowl: Do they know that?9:02 am October 25, 2010, by Mark Bradley"Stand aside, striped stripling! I'm bound for glory!" (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)The bye week arrives at a propitious time. The Falcons are 5-2, owners of the NFC’s best record. (The Giants would likewise be 5-2 if they beat Dallas tonight.) They’ve done good work. They’re capable of better.The bye week brings time to refocus and recalibrate. Everything the Falcons believed about themselves when they reported to training camp has been borne out: They are indeed a massively gifted team. We saw as much Sunday when the Bengals brought a bunch of brand-name players — Carson Palmer, Cedric Benson, Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens, Adam “Pacman” Jones — to the Dome. The Falcons built a three-touchdown lead, tossed it away and then surged backed ahead by two touchdowns.And therein we bore witness to both the Falcons’ inherent potential and their one liability. They’re good enough to beat anybody, but sometimes they don’t seem to grasp how good they can be. Oh, they talk about it. They pay lip service. But I’m not yet sure that there pulses within this team the rock-solid belief — as opposed to the suspicion — that its manifest destiny is the Super Bowl.New England bears that belief. Pittsburgh, too. But those teams have been there and won it all, and the Falcons have graced the game with the Roman numerals only once, and that was four coaches ago. The Falcons are 25-14 under Mike Smith but haven’t yet won a playoff game, losing at Phoenix in January 2009 as a road favorite. And for all the fine players imported by Thomas Dimitroff — Michael Turner, Tony Gonzalez, Mike Peterson, Dunta Robinson — not one of them wears a Super Bowl ring.And that’s really the only flaw I see. This offense is capable of great things. This defense is getting better as it goes. (Yeah, Palmer threw for 412 yards Sunday, but that can happen when a team gets that far behind.) My issue with the Falcons isn’t what they can do but in how often they do it. They played wall-to-wall in the signature overtime victory in New Orleans. They got away with a half-effort against San Francisco. They didn’t get away with it in Philadelphia.To me, the game that still resonates was the opener in Pittsburgh. The Steelers were without Ben Roethlisberger and still carried themselves as if they expected to invent some way to win, which they did in overtime. The Falcons messed around and managed not to score a touchdown. Yes, the Steelers can play some D, but still … no TDs for the offense of Turner and Gonzalez and Roddy White and Matt Ryan? Seriously?What needs to happen over the bye week is that these Falcons look both without and within. Check around the NFC and they won’t find one team with more talent. Those touted most in preseason — Dallas, Minnesota, Green Bay and New Orleans — have all wobbled. The Falcons have climbed to 5-2 and have already played their most difficult road games. They’re not just playing to win the NFC South; they’re playing for the No. 1 seed.And that’s the reason for the look within. The Falcons have to say, “We’re doing this.” Not: “We can do this.” They already know, or at least have reason to suspect, they can. The test now is simply to do. No more slack Sundays. No more sluggish starts with a blocked punt thrown in. Only big-time professional football from here on, the kind the Steelers and the Patriots play as a matter of course.This doesn’t mean the Falcons can’t lose another game. They probably will. (Baltimore at the Dome on Thursday night — tough duty.) What it means is that the belief/expectation needs to grow within the complex at 4400 Falcon Parkway that this is now the home office of a fully expectant champion.Mike Smith has a Super Bowl ring from his days as a Baltimore assistant. He should pass it around and let his men assess its size and importance. Because these Falcons could all be wearing such a ring very soon. Their sin would be in waiting too long to grasp what’s at stake. This team is good enough to be playing in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 6, 2011. It absolutely is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCEagleATLFalcon Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Yes, yes, I know I'm miles and miles ahead of myself with the statement I'm about to make, but I'm a fan, not a player, so I can do that.The team needs to play its collective butts off to secure home field advantage in the play-offs. If we secure that, I firmly believe we go to Texas. We are an inch short of unbeatable at home with our starting O.Can't wait for the second stretch of the season. I see us coming back rested, healthy, on fire, and with vision and purpose to retain our current position at the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoooooooon4MVP Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 superbowl through atlanta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madman88 Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 its starting to get out how good this team really is, but they also relize we need to have that KILLER instinct like the steelers and PATS to finish off games... thats why giving up 400+ yards to cincy is a big deal, the steelers wouldnt have let that happen nor the old PATS.... they wouldnt have let this game get that close, but shows how good we are to over come it tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoooooooon4MVP Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 its starting to get out how good this team really is, but they also relize we need to have that KILLER instinct like the steelers and PATS to finish off games... thats why giving up 400+ yards to cincy is a big deal, the steelers wouldnt have let that happen nor the old PATS.... they wouldnt have let this game get that close, but shows how good we are to over come it thonah were under the radar pti didn't even mention us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slamee101 Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 The thing is if we stay healthy, we have so much room to improve. I couldn't really say that about other teams we've had that made the playoffs but the ceiling for this high is much greater than the level that they've played at and that's still pretty good.That said, I refuse to get excited. I will continue to keep my, "We'll see" attitude until January. :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madman88 Posted October 26, 2010 Author Share Posted October 26, 2010 nah were under the radar pti didn't even mention us!so who cares, the most public network is NFL NETWORK and they mention us more then enough... so were ok in the media.... if we didnt lose last week there would be no question to who is the best, and all the ppl couldnt say noone is trying to distant themselvs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebird310 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Farking Bradley ....he was one of the rats jumping ship right after the Iggle loss .......what a flip flopper ........freaking tool ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madman88 Posted October 26, 2010 Author Share Posted October 26, 2010 Farking Bradley ....he was one of the rats jumping ship right after the Iggle loss .......what a flip flopper ........freaking tool ...... i think it was more of fustration then anything else.... u can kind of feel it in his words on this artical... almost like saying '' i kno yall can win this thing. but do yall kno how to tho?'' i dnt think he was tryin to jump **** after the loss but just fustrated.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebird310 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 i think it was more of fustration then anything else.... u can kind of feel it in his words on this artical... almost like saying '' i kno yall can win this thing. but do yall kno how to tho?'' i dnt think he was tryin to jump **** after the loss but just fustrated....Well, at leat he's not Terrance Moore, LOL ....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madman88 Posted October 26, 2010 Author Share Posted October 26, 2010 Well, at leat he's not Terrance Moore, LOL ....... tell me about it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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