On January 17, 1999 the Atlanta Falcons upset the Minnesota
Vikings 30-27 in overtime to win the NFC Championship and advance to Super Bowl
33 in Miami. It was the biggest moment in the history of the franchise, which
had been playing in Atlanta since the mid 1960’s.
On January 30, 1999 defensive captain and starting safety Eugene
Robinson was recognized as the winner of the Bart Starr Award for high moral
character. Just hours later, he was arrested when he attempted to solicit a
prostitute on the night before Super Bowl 33. It was one of the many, many low
points in the sad history of the Atlanta Falcons.
The next night, John Elway rode off into the sunset winning
his second consecutive Super Bowl in convincing fashion over the Falcons,
34-19.
It has been 6,581 days since Eugene Robinson was arrested,
and 6,580 since the Atlanta Falcons played in the Super Bowl, and like most
sports teams in the state, there have been a lot more bad days than good in
between those two appearances.
To understand the magnitude of what this game means to this
franchise and to this state, we have to take a few minutes to review the
horrible history that has befallen the Peach State’s sports teams.
First, let’s just take my life time as a point of reference.
Since 1985, if you count Atlanta’s three major sports teams, and two major
football programs, you have a total of 160 total seasons played. In that time
period, those five teams have combined for 1.5 championships: Tech split a
national title in 1990 and the Braves won the 1995 World Series. That equals a
winning percentage of .9%, a tenth of a percent from being one percent. Which
means, that the sports teams in this state lose MORE than 99% of the time.
Those numbers ignore the fact that the city has lost two pro
hockey teams in the last 40 years, an accomplishment unique to Atlanta.
If all of those teams were awful, then it wouldn’t really be
that bad. Look at Cleveland Brown fans right now. They stink. They know they
stink. If they win 5 games next year, they will still stink, but their fans
will be happy because there has been progress.
No, the real curse for Atlanta sports fans is the fact that
there have been so many close calls. Too many to list and go into detail about,
but let me just run down the names and teams that are synonymous with Atlanta
Sports Misery:
Kirby Pucket (RIP), Jack Morris, Brett Favre, Mitch
Williams, Dion Sanders, Steve Spurrier, Jim Leyritz, Eric Gregg (RIP), Livan
Hernandez, the aforementioned Eugene Robinson, Randy Meyers, the 1999 Yankees,
Michael Jordan, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Terrence Edwards, Barry Bonds,
The 2003 Chicago Cubs, Kirk Herbstreet, Michael Vick, Bobby Petrino, Black UGA
Jerseys, Brooks Conrad, Aaron Rodgers, Freddy Gonzalez, the 2012 SEC title game, LeBron
James, Frank Gore, the Prayer and Jordan-Hare, Cam Newton, and most recently,
Josh Dobbs.
Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the bomb that went off during
our Olympic Games in 1996.
There have been some good times, but for the most part, it
has been a deflating existence to be a sports fan growing up in this state.
However, that could all chance tomorrow night.
This time, we have the MVP.
We have the hot team. We have everything going for us, and the media isn’t
giving us much of a chance.
Whether or not football is your favorite sport, the NFL is
the biggest sport in this country, and so by extension, the Super Bowl is the
biggest sporting event each year in America.
When the dust settles tomorrow night, Atlanta will no longer
be the city of almost, we will be the city of Champions.
The entire game will come down to two simple, but crucial
things: pressure Tom Brady, right up the middle and don’t turn the ball over on
offense.
First, pressure Brady. David Andrews is a former center for
the Dawgs, and I love him for the time he spent with us, but he is on the wrong
side tomorrow night. You too Malcolm Mitchell.
Andrews is a second year player starting at center, and the
Patriots also have rookies at both guard positions. When the Houston Texans had
success slowing the Patriots offense in the divisional round, it was because
the exploited the inexperience of the interior of the offensive line. The
entire defensive game plan should revolve around getting pressure right up the
middle and aggravating Tom Brady.
You probably won’t get many sacks, or even hits on Brady,
but you will make him throw before he is ready to, and it will disrupt the
timing of the offense. Now, just in case you can’t get to Brady, you have to
play man to man defense in the secondary. Tom Brady will pick apart a zone
every single time. You have to roll the dice, pressure Brady, and man up on the
receivers and hope that you don’t get burned. It is a risky plan, but it is the
only plan that stands a chance against the best quarterback to ever play the
game.
Offensively, the Falcons can’t be stopped unless they stop
themselves. If the Falcons get 8 possessions, and they don’t turn the ball
over, they are going to score more than 40 points. Period.
You have been
hearing about the Patriots defense, and that is fine, but the NFL is a passing
league and if the Falcons keep the ball, they will score, and they will score a
lot.
The best part of this season is that no one saw it coming.
The most optimistic Falcons’ fan would have thought that this teams’ ceiling
was 9 or 10 wins and maybe making the playoffs. They won 11 games, they won the
division, and now they are playing in the Super Bowl.
The cherry on top of the season would be that in the last
five games this season, here are the quarterbacks that the Falcons would have
beaten: Cam Newton, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady.
Four of the five have won Super Bowls and the other was the
NFL MVP just last season. A win over the Patriots would mean that the Falcons
would have had the greatest playoff run in NFL history.
No team has ever won
the Super Bowl by beating three quarterbacks who have already won Super Bowls.
Since 2000, no quarterback has won the Super Bowl after
being named MVP.
Since 1990, no team with the highest scoring offense in the
league has won the Super Bowl.
Since 1965, the Atlanta Falcons have never won the Super
Bowl.
All of those things change tomorrow night.
Falcon fans, we have the better team! They have the greatest
quarterback ever, and one of the greatest coaches ever, but this isn’t the team
of 2007 or 2004. This isn’t even the team that won the Super Bowl two years
ago, this is the worst Patriots team to ever make it to the Super Bowl.
We deserve this Atlanta, and please, please enjoy it. Who
knows when we will get to celebrate again.
Dirty Birds 41
Patriots 30
