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Written by Dan Rakusan on Saturday, 06 February 2010 19:42
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 Personally, I hate excuses, so I refuse to make any for the Atlanta Falcons and a season that disappointed many fans. I will, however, offer some reasons for the expectations we all had going unfulfilled. Injuries are a major player in this sad tale, but there's more to it than just that.
First, we have Matt Ryan. Ryan, playing in his second NFL season, simply made some sophomore mistakes. The youngster started fairly strong, but relied too heavily on Tony Gonzalez as an outlet when coverage downfield took away primary weapon Roddy White. It's an easy mistake to make, but realistically, Ryan would have been better served checking down to other players as well as Gonzo, if only to keep the defences on their toes. Ryan's turf-toe injury didn't help either, but in a physical game, injuries are a de facto part of life. I expect this offseason will see Ryan working on strength training and overall fitness more than any technical aspect of his game.
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Falcons Mirror My Preview |
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Written by Dan Rakusan on Wednesday, 04 November 2009 16:54
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Well, I'm fairly pleased with myself and how I chose to re-surface on these pages with a pre-game writeup that in fact came true. Hooray for me!!! Unfortunately, that means the Falcons also lost to the vaunted Saints in a game that looked attainable.
If you will recall, I predicted a final score of 31-24 for New Orleans, meaning an 8-point spread, despite Vegas lines calling for the Saints by 12.5 points. While I didn't get the exact score, I did in fact get the right number of points, as New Orleans won the game 35-27.
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Falcons Vs. Saints - Preview |
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Written by Dan Rakusan on Sunday, 01 November 2009 15:50
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First of all I'd like to apologize for my lack of blogging lately. Life has been inordinately hectic of late, leaving me with little time to do the things in life I enjoy. I promise to be more vigilant now that things have calmed down!
Anyway, tomorrow night's tilt between the 6-0 Saints and 4-2 Falcons should be a telling one. Both these teams have aspirations of deep playoff runs, and both were considered among the NFC's potential contenders for the Superbowl. Thus far, the Saints look much more likely to win it all than the Falcons, who have sputtered through the past two games.
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Written by Dan Rakusan on Saturday, 01 August 2009 14:36
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According to several reports, star receiver Roddy White has not shown up to the Falcons' training camp, likely holding out on his contract. This creates a huge problem for the Falcons, who may have to re-up at a higher cap value to get their prodigy into the lineup by the time the season starts. I'll have more on this, as well as other Falcons' training camp news later in the week. The only good thing about this is that clearly football season is getting closer...
Allegedly, White is seeking a multi-year deal that would put him among the top earnering wide receivers. This isn't the first time he has been a holdout, as he was a no-show for six days last year before signing his current $2.5M deal.
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Will This Dawg Get His Day? |
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Written by Dan Rakusan on Thursday, 30 July 2009 22:01
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To be honest, I rather hesitated to write this blog, as there's so many bleeding heart dog-lovers out there who will find my opinion rather ass-backwards. However, I implore you to judge this on the basic facts, and the consistency that exists in the world of human beings with regards to law. IE - You pay your dues, and you should be alright to re-join mainstream society.
Now... My colleague Sandy Gemmiti and I have gone back and forth in his piece about the Broncos, and I respect to some extent his distaste for Vick joining his beloved team. For that reason, I'll avoid that possible scenario. In place, I'll look at where I think Vick would actually be welcomed and productive upon his almost undeniable return to the NFL. If you don't like it, I'm alright with that. Opinions are like a-holes... As the saying goes...
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