The Falcoholic
If you had to associate the Atlanta Falcons with one thing over the past decade, it would unfortunately be blowing games. Choking away a big lead, letting a win slip away in the final moments, squandering a golden opportunity; they did it all and they did it frequently. That’s how you go from Super Bowl team to playoff team to seven straight losing seasons in what seems like the blink of a very tired eye.
In this one, the Falcons we knew seemed destined to ruin it. The offense couldn’t take advantage of red zone opportunities. They had to settle for field goal tries again and again. They put it all on the defense. That recipe has made a lot of nasty stews over the years.
And yet they didn’t just win, they won on the road. They didn’t just win on the road, they beat the Minnesota Vikings, a quality team they’ve struggled to earn victories against over the past decade. They didn’t just beat the Minnesota Vikings, they ended up winning 22-6, capping things off with a punt where the Vikings returner muffed the ball because Mike Ford came screaming in to disrupt him, and then Ford picked it up. It was close until late, but when we blinked those tired eyes again, the Falcons won by 16 points.
It’s one game, and we are all guilty of reading too much into one game. But didn’t this Falcons team hold the Buccaneers to 23 points despite giving them favorable field position, regularly pressuring Baker Mayfield, and then put J.J. McCarthy in hell? Didn’t they show adaptability, going from a game where they couldn’t run to a game where pretty much all they could do is run? Isn’t there suddenly the whiff of a rock solid defense, an edge that’s been missing, a team willing to make a hard decision on a beloved player like Younghoe Koo in favor of a kicker who came in and banged home Atlanta’s first 15 points? Didn’t this team win tough where they’ve wilted so many times in the past?
There’s something here. Perhaps it blossoms and the Falcons are the team we’ve dreamed of, or perhaps we’ll only glimpse it in some games and some moments, but it’s here nonetheless. A quarterback who avoids the fatal mistakes, a cast of playmakers capable of shaking up games, and a rookie class that looks as good as any the Falcons have had recently mean that low-burning flame of hope is catching the kindling again. We might be burned by that, but I know you’re sticking your hands over that fire as eagerly as I am. It’s not nothing, and neither are these Falcons, for at least one week.
On to the full recap.
