Tribal Chief Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 That was one of the more balanced seasons I've ever watched from this team. No flash and dazzle, just straight up football. I know the blame goes to Robinson for what happened to him but that Broncos team was the better team imo. DonDaLuvMaker and Emmitt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midas_whale Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Wife and I were on vacation in Key West and watched the NFCCG from there. Two most memorable details were watching that game from our rental, and getting around the island on a tandem bike! Will never forget either one. We lived in ATL at the time and took in a couple home games that year too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midas_whale Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) BTW, any of you young guys thinking about getting married or recently got hitched - you'll learn a lot about what you have in the relationship on a tandem bike together. Edited January 31 by midas_whale RetroRoq 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kschreck Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 That was an amazing season labradford 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroRoq Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) Falcons headquarters were still in Suwanee then and word got out for their time of arrival, so me and some neighbors headed out and waited for them to return from the Minnesota win. There was a pretty good crowd by the time the busses arrived with the team. Everyone was pretty liquored up and it was very cold, so there was no interaction with the players, but it was good times with a group of crazy Falcon fans celebrating. People were chanting, doing the dirty bird, but man, it just was really cold and windy that night. I remember as the busses came in, there were a few faces that I recognized and they have remained in my memory. It was a unique experience - definitely a great day/night to be a dirty bird. Edited January 31 by RetroRoq Emmitt, midas_whale, labradford and 1 other 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xfactor Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 13 hours ago, Jesus said: I think this current run game is more like the guy who replaced Reeves in Denver: Mike Shanahan. Everyone who came in became a 1000 yard rusher. After Elway retired he struggled to find a replacement QB eventually losing the job after a few losing seasons. Reeves Atlanta offense was built on the back of Jam but also on the deep balls to Mathis and Martin. They both averaged 17.9 ypc. If you haven't already dig into this. Maybe the greatest football game of all time... Thanks for posting I watched it again listening to Summerall and Madden and the game brought back a lot of memories. Jesus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmitt Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 46 minutes ago, Tribal Chief said: That was one of the more balanced seasons I've ever watched from this team. No flash and dazzle, just straight up football. I know the blame goes to Robinson for what happened to him but that Broncos team was the better team imo. Same, I honestly didn’t have much hope in winning that game. I didn’t think we would beat Minny either though. Tribal Chief 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardc Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 7 hours ago, Voice of Reason said: Not really. What gets lost is that Arthur stated from the start that he idolized the Steelers and the way they hired young coaches and just stuck with them until they retired. He loved the stability and used to preach about it. Knowing this, Reeves publicly stated that he told Arthur to tell him if he ever decided to go with a new coach. Once our winning began to wain, Arthur made up his mind and told Reeves he planned to move on at the end of the year. Reeves decided to quit mid season rather than see the season through. Many thought he did this to give his good friend Wade Phillips a chance to take over and prove himself a viable head coaching candidate. No matter, Arthur went out to find himself his own version of Tomlin…a young defensive up-n-coming coach…and that’s how we got Mora. Good breakdown. labradford and Voice of Reason 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardc Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 10 hours ago, kiwifalcon said: Remember the win in Foxbough as the catalyst they clowned the Patriots that day. Also the Niners in the playoffs watching Jam run roughshod over there defense. 2 games outside of the obvious that stood out for me that season. It was a great season. My wife and I went to every home game that year, including the playoff against San Fran. That playoff was the loudest game I attended until the NCFCG against Packers. we would drive down to dome and buy scalper tix. Sat all over the dome upper, lower/endzone/club. My favorite game…I think it was that year, was the home game against the Saints. I can’t recall all the details, but I think we scored like 3 TD’s in about 90 seconds or something. I think we had an offensive score, they fumbled the kickoff and we got a special teams TD or our O scored on next play, then a pick six. It was crazy. **EDIT - it was Carolina 3 TD in like 48 seconds my favorite play to this day was the infamous flea flicker. That was always awesome! kiwifalcon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroRoq Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 7 hours ago, Voice of Reason said: Not really. What gets lost is that Arthur stated from the start that he idolized the Steelers and the way they hired young coaches and just stuck with them until they retired. He loved the stability and used to preach about it. Knowing this, Reeves publicly stated that he told Arthur to tell him if he ever decided to go with a new coach. Once our winning began to wain, Arthur made up his mind and told Reeves he planned to move on at the end of the year. Reeves decided to quit mid season rather than see the season through. Many thought he did this to give his good friend Wade Phillips a chance to take over and prove himself a viable head coaching candidate. No matter, Arthur went out to find himself his own version of Tomlin…a young defensive up-n-coming coach…and that’s how we got Mora. So many people forget this part of the story. Thank you for bringing it up. Blank has followed along with this throughout. Mora broke loyalty and chased college opportunities. Petrino was a mess and chased college opportunities. Mike Smith let the game get away from him, I truly think he needed to get away for a few seasons to clear his head. Dan Quinn was probably the closest to the model, but he became Coach Bro. I think Blank may have finally found his guy. AS has no desire for college, he's in the game til the end and he shows absolutely no signs of being Coach Bro. (Though, it was cool when he took the OL for beers in the stadium that one game.) gazoo and richardc 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUsualStuff Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 12 hours ago, Kaptain Krazy said: That was my response upon seeing the thread title... old timers go all the way back to the late 90s? 😂 Kaptain Krazy, Peteshweddy and midas_whale 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsJustMe Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 13 hours ago, TheUsualStuff said: 97-98? I remember 77-78 Bart and our first ever playoff win over the Eagles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Long Shot Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 13 hours ago, Hard2BaBirdWachr said: Remember those seasons like yesterday. I walked out of the room before the missed kick in the championship game against the Vikes because I knew he was gonna nail it. Only to come back to overtime. I was SHOCKED. Hah. I was 13. I remember I was throwing a fit that entire drive leading up to the kick, one of the most incredible moments when he missed and the Falcons drove the length of the field to tie on that Mathis TD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conn Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 15 hours ago, richardc said: I’m sure I’ll get flamed on this, but WTH. Has AB come full circle? He bought the team and fires Dan Reeves. DR was a coach that came in and applied discipline to a faltering team. A late pick RB named Jamal Anderson emerged as the RB1 and punished defenses. An O-Line that wasn’t great, but could maul defenses when run blocking. DR loved TE’s (who doesn’t), and everyone thought he was crazy for drafting them with high picks. In 97 after a rough start, we hit a 6 or more win streak and carried that into the 98 season. Even with a 14-2 record, nobody believed in the Dirty Birds because they were not a fancy offense, but they were a low penalized, run first and run often, grind the clock team with a young nobody defense that just won games. Not a 100% direct analogy, but pretty close. I know many of you hate the AS offense, but I love it. A punishing run game does so much in setting you up to win in the NFL. YES, you do need to be able to hit some passes, but it: - Burns the clock, shortens the game, and keeps the opposing offense in the bench, minimizes opponents opportunities on offense. - Demoralizes and wears down a defense & nullifies a pass rush - Allows you to close about a game Eager to see how our defense improves. Go Falcons and it’s time to bring back the Dirty Bird! Proved even back then that you can get to a superbowl with just a good QB. Chandler was not great but still helped to get them there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runshoot Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) oh no! I'm an old timer now? 😢 I figured I had some years left. Edit: I had season tix in the June Jones era, so Im close. Edited January 31 by runshoot labradford 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonDaLuvMaker Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 2 hours ago, Tribal Chief said: That was one of the more balanced seasons I've ever watched from this team. No flash and dazzle, just straight up football. I know the blame goes to Robinson for what happened to him but that Broncos team was the better team imo. Yeah, they also were reigning and defending SB Champs after beating Farve and GB the previous season. I knew the Falcons had a huge hurdle to make. I think Broncos also had huge motivation going in knowing that was going to be Elway's last game. Tribal Chief 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribal Chief Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 1 minute ago, DonDaLuvMaker said: Yeah, they also were reigning and defending SB Champs after beating Farve and GB the previous season. I knew the Falcons had a huge hurdle to make. I think Broncos also had huge motivation going in knowing that was going to be Elway's last game. That whole season was just one for the ages for both them and the Falcons. I had only just started watching football like 2 seasons prior so seeing that was a one of a kind type of thing at that point. 2 teams with great offenses and defenses. 28-3 lit a fire under the Falcons that season DonDaLuvMaker and labradford 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthGaBoy Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Still got the T-shirt with the entire roster on it. We were a running offense. Chandler had the reputation of throwing the best long ball in the NFL. It did not matter if that was deserved or not. He had it and it influenced defenses. Our defense was opportunistic. They did not wait for a lead to pin the ears back. They went for that football as soon as they hit the field. In long standing Falcons tradition, '97 and '99 were losing seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthGaBoy Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, RetroRoq said: So many people forget this part of the story. Thank you for bringing it up. Blank has followed along with this throughout. Mora broke loyalty and chased college opportunities. Petrino was a mess and chased college opportunities. Mike Smith let the game get away from him, I truly think he needed to get away for a few seasons to clear his head. Dan Quinn was probably the closest to the model, but he became Coach Bro. I think Blank may have finally found his guy. AS has no desire for college, he's in the game til the end and he shows absolutely no signs of being Coach Bro. (Though, it was cool when he took the OL for beers in the stadium that one game.) I believe Bill Bellichic broke this team when he recommended Thomas Dimitroff as the Falcons GM. Blank believed what BB told him. And, maybe it was true. He did have some talent for skill players. He could not recruit a line. And, that tells me he did not listen to his scouts. I think this in combination with a disdain for working with his HC prevented the Falcons from sustained success. Mike Smith would have been good if TD was fired instead. We will never know if Dan Quinn could have been a good HC. He could not call plays, but with the right OC, he may have been good. But, something was really wrong between DQ and TD. Terry Fontenot and Arthur Smith seem to be a good team. Both appear to be good at their jobs. I have hope. RetroRoq 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardc Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 9 minutes ago, NorthGaBoy said: Mike Smith would have been good if TD was fired instead. 100% agree. Two years of no depth on o-line with many injuries killed smitty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 3 hours ago, Xfactor said: Thanks for posting I watched it again listening to Summerall and Madden and the game brought back a lot of memories. There's so many great moments in this game. Like when John talks about how his hands are sweating from excitement on the Falcons last drive before OT. Or when they spot William Andrews on the sidelines. They both reflect on how great he was and how hard he was to tackle, then they say... Madden: he still looks tough (laughs)... Summerall: you're gonna need longer arms to take him down. Great stuff. The way they talk about Jam. No one talks about Falcon players with such love and respect anymore. Also everyone should watch the tackling clinic Tuggle puts on in that game. I don't think anyone else on the field wanted that win more than him. rounz, richardc and RetroRoq 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey563 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 18 hours ago, TheUsualStuff said: 97-98? I remember 77-78 Drinking/Drugs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyFranchise Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 20 hours ago, Jesus said: I think this current run game is more like the guy who replaced Reeves in Denver: Mike Shanahan. Everyone who came in became a 1000 yard rusher. After Elway retired he struggled to find a replacement QB eventually losing the job after a few losing seasons. Reeves Atlanta offense was built on the back of Jam but also on the deep balls to Mathis and Martin. They both averaged 17.9 ypc. If you haven't already dig into this. Maybe the greatest football game of all time... as a sports fan that might be the proudest i've ever been of a team. they just kept battling. went nuts when santiago caught that corner on the game-winning drive 🇨🇦 Jesus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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