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**Tuberski** · December 6, 2004, 00:40

From the way they looked today, they should be 5-7.

ACK!

**Jaguar** · December 6, 2004, 00:41

Atlanta gets most of its wins from easy teams. No doubt it's 2nd best in the NFC right now, but ATL would be lucky to make the playoffs in the AFC.

**Imran Siddiqui** · December 6, 2004, 01:14

From the way they looked today, they should be 5-7.

Hence the they had a bad game

Atlanta gets most of its wins from easy teams.

San Diego? Denver? St. Louis? The rest of their wins are no more from 'easy teams' than most other teams in the league.

They have a pretty decent schedule compared to their division. And they've beaten a team that would be in the playoffs in the AFC and another team that would just miss based on conference record.

**pchang** · December 6, 2004, 01:23

So - is there any doubt about rookie of the year?

**Jaguar** · December 6, 2004, 01:32

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

From the way they looked today, they should be 5-7.

Hence the they had a bad game

Atlanta gets most of its wins from easy teams.

San Diego? Denver? St. Louis? The rest of their wins are no more from 'easy teams' than most other teams in the league.

They have a pretty decent schedule compared to their division. And they've beaten a team that would be in the playoffs in the AFC and another team that would just miss based on conference record.

San Francisco, St. Louis, Arizona, Carolina, San Diego, Denver, Tampa, NYG, and New Orleans.

Only two of those teams have winning records. Now those two wins against SD and Denver are impressive, but other than that they haven't beaten a single decent team.

And then look at their losses. The three opponents who beat them racked up a combined score of 110-20. And these weren't teams like Philadelphia or Green Bay. These teams were Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Detroit.

**Jaguar** · December 6, 2004, 01:37

Their opponents have outscored them 242-232. And only two of their opponents have winning records right now.

**pchang** · December 6, 2004, 01:45

Atlanta just doesn't inspire confidence. They are a bit too unpredictable. It is hard to generate consistent reasons for their running game and wins while their losses just leave you scratching your head. How is it that a defense that looks really good one week looks really bad another week? Because they are in the NFC, they have a chance to surprise Philly and make it to the Superbowl. However, if they were in the AFC, I wouldn't give them a chance to make it to the Superbowl and they would be struggling to make the playoffs.

**Imran Siddiqui** · December 6, 2004, 01:52

Only two of those teams have winning records.

And Philly has only beaten three teams with winning records. Are you going to diminish them for it?

And then look at their losses. The three opponents who beat them racked up a combined score of 110-20. And these weren't teams like Philadelphia or Green Bay. These teams were Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Detroit.

Which shows that they can be really good and every once in a while just put down a clunker. However, they only put down a clunker every once in a while.

It is hard to generate consistent reasons for their running game and wins

Hard to generate consistent reasons for their running game? Before this week they were #1 in Rushing Yards and Rushing Yards Per Game and in Rushing Yards Per Carry. After this week they'll still be #1 (they outrushed Pittsburgh this week). I don't think it hard to generate consistent reasons for their running game at all.

And that is the reason for their wins. Their losses (especially KC and Tampa) seem to be losses of confidence, when they get away from what made them successful and doubt themselves. But they came back masterfully from the KC debacle, and they'll do it again.

**Jaguar** · December 6, 2004, 01:57

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Only two of those teams have winning records.

And Philly has only beaten three teams with winning records. Are you going to diminish them for it?

Philly is 7-0 against teams with losing records. Atlanta is 6-3 against teams with losing records. See the difference?

And the Falcons are also dead last in their division in number of points scored.

**Tuberski** · December 6, 2004, 01:59

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

From the way they looked today, they should be 5-7.

Hence the they had a bad game

No, hence they got manhandled. Like you said, they still got their rushing yards today. Thet simply got beaten by a better team.

Vick ran for 80+ useless yards.

He threw for about that much too, if he's as good as you claim, then it must have been a better defense that won.

Not King Vick having a bad game.

ACK!

**pchang** · December 6, 2004, 02:01

Atlanta is not a power running team. You cannot point at their O-line and say they will consistently blow people off the ball. A good portion of their running yards come from Vick scrambles. These yards are just not predictable. Sometimes Vick runs for 80 yards and they are key to the win. Today, he ran for over 80 yards and they couldn't score a point.

**Tuberski** · December 6, 2004, 02:05

Atlanta is a smoke and mirrors team. Vick is able to create the illusion that Atlanta is a good team.

But a good defense shows you haw the tricks are done.

ACK!

**Imran Siddiqui** · December 6, 2004, 02:06

Philly is 7-0 against teams with losing records. Atlanta is 6-3 against teams with losing records. See the difference?

And the Falcons are also dead last in their division in number of points scored.

The Falcons are also undefeated against winning teams giving them a great record. And the Falcons are #1 in the division, even though they don't score the points others may. They do well in clutch situations and have a good defense.

No, hence they got manhandled. Like you said, they still got their rushing yards today. Thet simply got beaten by a better team.

The 'better' team is the one with the better record. Atlanta is 3-1 in the NFC South. Tampa is 2-2. The 'better' teams have better records and end up going to the playoffs.

A good portion of their running yards come from Vick scrambles. These yards are just not predictable.

A lot of Vick's rushing is built into the game plan. Most of his runnings yards are from designed QB draws or run/pass option plays.

Sometimes Vick runs for 80 yards and they are key to the win. Today, he ran for over 80 yards and they couldn't score a point.

Not often. With Vick runs for over 50 yards they Falcons are something like 12-2, with the the 2nd loss coming today.

**Imran Siddiqui** · December 6, 2004, 02:07

But a good defense shows you haw the tricks are done.

You mean like when Tampa got beat by the Falcons a month ago?

Keep underestimating them. It bodes well for the Falcons.

**Tuberski** · December 6, 2004, 02:09

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

No, hence they got manhandled. Like you said, they still got their rushing yards today. Thet simply got beaten by a better team.

The 'better' team is the one with the better record. Atlanta is 3-1 in the NFC South. Tampa is 2-2. The 'better' teams have better records and end up going to the playoffs.

Oh so, Utah is a better team than Cal, Michigan, Miami, Florida State?

True, Atlanta will go to the playoffs, but Tampa will be them 7 out of 10 times.

ACK!

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